Tag Archives: connecticut

Local Brothers Start Storm Sandy Pet Drive

Dale Participates in the Pet Food Drive Efforts and "Guards" the Donations

It’s no surprise that shortly after storm Sandy hit, Marco Deriu of Waterbury, CT was on the front lines helping with recovery efforts: Deriu has a history of serving the public and for many years was a volunteer firefighter and EMT. He and his brother, Roberto “Chester” Deriu, have an equal hand in this charitable endeavor and made it a joint effort to start a pet supply drive for the animals displaced by Hurricane Sandy. So far their efforts have received both encouragement and donations from Good Samaritans, who have donated food, bedding and toys, but the drive has just begun and will continue until November 26th.
Both brothers are animal lovers. In fact, Marco is also the proud owner of two very lucky rescued canines, Dale and JR.
Marco found Dale running around the intersection of Silver Street and Hamilton Avenue in Waterbury. He stopped in the road to get him out of the intersection. When he opened his door, Dale jumped into Marco’s car before he could get out of the car to grab him! At that time, Marco noticed the dog was beaten, malnourished (so badly that he could see the pup’s ribcage sticking out from underneath his skin) and had terrible ear infections. That day, Deriu took him home, fed him, bathed him and the next morning, brought him to the veterinarian.
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Out of Dough?

Target, Bread Aisle, Hayley Rose 2012

Ok. So it’s hard to believe that we are having another record storm just days before Halloween and exactly one year after last year’s Hurricane Irene disaster.

Last year I was suppose to go down to The City with a girlfriend. We were going to meet up with this tattooed guy I was dating at the time. That Friday, she tried her darndest to convince me to drive to Stamford from Waterbury as the snow storm commenced. I hate to break it to you, I said, but this is going to be a blizzard. She insisted I come. Her Cinderella costume was burning a hole in her hanger. No, I really cannot make it, I told her, and then proceeded to explain that my Kia Sportage would not be able to make it up the slight incline (that is my street) even with a 1/4 inch of snow (ever since the four wheel drive kicked the bucket it has been completely useless in bad weather).

She wasn’t happy and drove off to her stylist to get her hair done. She called me on the way back insisting I drive down (the 1.5 hour trek which would likely take at least four hours to accomplish in the snowy weather if I ever made it). So I stayed here. She insisted on going to The City but ended up camping out in a local hotel with her family. Like me, they had lost power. I was house sitting a bird. If you happen to lose power while house sitting a tropical bird in freezing cold weather, it’s quite stressful. The  key is to insulate the bird’s cage by covering it in tons of blankets.

Several days later power came back on, both the bird and I survived, but other areas, like Manchester and West Hartford went without power for two weeks.  That better not happen this year. It’s bad enough that I went to Target this afternoon and could not get a loaf of their mocha bread. Below is a picture taken at the Southington, Connecticut Target this afternoon at 2 PM ET.

Bread aisle, Target. Hayley Rose 2012

To all my friends, especially Connecticut and Tri-State area peeps, please keep me posted on your weather info, conditions and updates! You can leave comments on this blog, email me or tweet me your Storm Sandy News. I will be reporting on the weather from the CT area on Huff Post Live tomorrow at 12 PM Eastern time and again at 4.

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American Kitsch

Just one of the Paul Bunyon and Babe the Blue Ox I sawon this trip, Northern California

Connecticut has been determined to be the state with the highest percentage of Italian people. Although I live in the best area in the country for Italian food, I don’t go to any of those independently owned Italian restaurants. Being raised by my half Italian mother was enough to make me capable in the kitchen. I don’t like to brag… lol…but most will agree my sauce is better than any they’ve ever tasted, so why would I bother to go to a Italian restaurant? For years, I scoffed at the idea of going to one when I can just make my own food. Indian food is another story, I cannot make Indian food to save my life! It was rare that I ever went to an Italian restaurant until one day when they locally built an Olive Garden. Continue reading

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Playing Dress-Up in Greenwich, Connecticut

*** This is an excerpt from my book about failed relationships coming out at the end of the year!

I remember when I was in elementary school one of my friends told me that when she was on vacation in Disney World if someone asked where she was from and she told them she was from Connecticut, they immediately assumed she was rich. I was perplexed. She had an in-ground pool but certainly didn’t live in a gated community. Our families were predominately from Waterbury, Connecticut, a remnant of the long-gone industrial era.

I discovered when I went to an out of state college that what she said was true, that when you tell people you are from Connecticut they assume you live in a neighborhood on par with one of the most affluent ones in Greenwich. Years ago I had never been to Greenwich and wondered what this place was like. The richest town in the entire country would surely be something to see. I imagined that I would be pegged an outsider from the second my 2001 Kia Sportage crossed over the city limits. I was very wrong.

I got a job working for a holistic beauty company and had to go to various health food retailers. Now I had to drive down towards the Gold Coast for work at least once a month. My first experience there was good and it really hasn’t changed since I began working in that area.

One day I answered an ad on Craigslist. They needed bartenders and servers. I sent them my resume and a picture and was hired immediately and asked to come down the next day. Not only would I be bartending in Greenwich, but on a yacht! I would be lying if I told you I was excited. No, I reacted as I usually do when something really great and exciting happens in my life: I was terrified! I had never answered an ad on Craigslist before and feared it wasn’t legit. A yacht? Really? As usual, I pictured worst-cases-scenarios in my head; the yacht taking off with me and other unsuspecting young “bartenders” on it, carrying us out to sea awaiting some sort of mass-auction, our introduction into sexual slavery. Yes I know, I don’t deny that I’m a little crazy. I lived on the Mexican border for a year and never ventured south for the same reason. It’s funny, how someone who has lived to tell the tale of so many risky and dangerous events can be so scared and cautious. I would wager that it is because I lived to tell the tale of so many risky and dangerous events!

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Surviving Trauma: I Choose To Live

I was surfing the web looking at different statutes of limitations and legalities for rape crimes, when I found an article that proposed a repeal of statutes for certain rape cases in the state of Connecticut. In the article, Governor Jodi Rell is quoted as saying of rape crime, “It is violence of the most personal and devastating kind, as brutal in its own right as murder.”

In the article, Rell points out that rape is not a crime of passion, but rather a violent crime, which is a common misconception for many. The term rapefrom the Latin word Rapere, originally had no sexual connotation, and meant “to seize or take by force.” It simply meant to steal. If you are someone or know someone who has been raped, you can testify that this definition is still applicable to the verb “rape” as we use it today. Because when you are raped, something is taken from you by force.

Justice systems for centuries have considered rape as brutal of a crime as murder. Even in ancient Greece, Rome, and Colonial Times, rape was considered a capital offense within the same category as murder. In the 12th century rape victims’ families were granted the right to carry out the rapists’ brutal and sometimes fatal punishment. In 14th century England, the rape victim was expected to gouge out their rapist’s eyes or castrate him. Today in the United States, current death penalty standards consist mainly for convicted murderers. Modern day rapists typically receive much cushier punishments than their violent predecessors.

Read the rest of the article at The Huffington Post. 

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