Vacation Day 3 Decision Of The Day

Vacation Day 3 Decision of the Day:  I got the BMW out of the shop a week ago, and it's back in action and running like a new one. Should I run it through the car wash one day this week or wait till there is absolutely no rain in the forecast? This might not seem like much of a decision, but I'm not one to wash my old BMW or my old Blazer every few weeks like a lot of people. When I wash them, I like to  make sure there's no rain in the forecast for at least week.  I like to get my money's worth if I'm paying someone else to wash them.

After careful consideration, I decided to wait to wash both cars.  And being the kind person that I am, when I run my cars through the car wash up at the corner, I will also run the 'Rents' mini-van through the car wash, too. 

Vacation Day 2 Decision Of The Day

Vacation Day 2 Decision of the Day: A couple of weeks ago, I promised Dad that we would go shopping and Mom and I would buy him a new suit for his birthday, which incidentally was Saturday, the day after my birthday. (Insert laughs about Dad's "birthday suit"). The decision was whether to go shopping today, Monday, the first official day of my vacation, or to I spend the first week day of my vacation in my pajamas and not leave the house and go shopping for his suit later in the week?

After thinking about it and after finding out what a beautiful sunny day it was going to be today, we decided to head out to the land in the Far East, aka Shelbyville Road, and visit the Men's Warehouse.  Dad got not one, but two suits and a pair of brown dress shoes.  He'll be stylin' and profilin'. 

Vacation Day 1 Decision Of The Day

I'm taking a vacation week starting tomorrow, so we all know what that means, faithful readers - another installment of Vacation Decision Of The Day.

Vacation Day 1 Decision Of The Day:

I got a new suit for my birthday (insert jokes about "my birthday suit") and I want a a colorful new blouse to wear with it. The suit's color makes it look like it is dark blue denim. I have my blouse color choices narrowed down to melon or maroon.

After careful consideration, I decided to go with bright melon for spring.

Party On

TWIT would like to wish my Dad a very happy birthday. We've had an awesome weekend so far and we still have one more weekend day and all of next week to continue celebrating.

The Streak Has Ended

It's my birthday today, and I'm a little bummed to report that the Birthday Snow Streak has ended.  Unless we can get some flurries before midnight tonight, the streak of snow-being-either-on-the-ground-or-in-the-air-every-year-on-my-birthday-since-the-day-I-was-born will come to an end.  Even if it ends, a 48-year streak like that is pretty darned impressive, I think.

Other than the snow streak ending, it's been an awesome birthday.  I was truly overwhelmed at the number of birthday greetings I received today either by phone, text, email or on Facebook.  I am truly blessed to have so many people that care about me.

BOLO Update

I am very happy to report that the Old Man found Grandma's little black book filled with hand-written recipes this morning.  I stopped and got some lemons and a box of tapioca today on the way home, so tomorrow he has no excuse. 

And on a related note, next week while I'm on vacation, I'm going to start typing and scanning in Grandma's recipes so we'll have a digital copy of them.  I think that's a great project to work on during my vacation week.

BOLO

BOLO for Grandma's little black notebook with handwritten recipes.  The book contains her recipe for lemon tapioca pudding, which I have requested for my birthday instead of my traditional chocolate cake.  We just had the little black notebook out a few weeks ago looking for another recipe.  We know it's here in the house, and in the vacinity of the kitchen, but I'm just not in the mood to look for it tonight.  Hopefully the 'Rents will find it tomorrow.

Happy National Peanut Butter Day

In case you didn't know, as is the case with most people, today is National Peanut Butter Day.  I know as I type this it's suppertime for most people, but you can always fit in some peanut butter today.  Run up to the closest store and buy a plain old Hershey bar and come back home and dip the little rectangular pieces in the peanut butter.  Trust me.  You will not be disappointed.

Happy National Pie Day

TWIT would like to wish everyone a very happy National Pie Day.  And in honor of this day, we all three had a slice of homemade chocolate pie tonight after supper.  The pie even had awesome homemade meringue. Oh how my slice of pie rocked.

I hope that others will be able to either bake or buy a pie tonight and have a slice to celebrate National Pie Day.  We did our part at The Compound.  The rest is up to you.

Good Luck, Patriots

We interrupt today's regularly scheduled Link Of The Week so TWIT could wish the New England Patriots good luck in today's game against the Baltimore Ravens.  The winner, who I hope will be the Patriots, will go on to play in the Super Bowl.  I hope that Tom Brady will be in rare form, and that the line in front him will give him all the protection he needs.  Go Pats!

CarlaPalooza

This officially begins the week known as CarlaPalooza aka my birthday week.  One of the guys in my department coined the phrase and I give AK total credit for it.

It's going to be an interesting week, faithful readers.  Weather-wise, they're calling for really bad storms and tornadoes tomorrow night, and by Friday and Saturday, they're calling for our first "significant"snow of the season.  As long as there is snow in the air or on the ground on January 27 to keep the Birthday Snow Streak alive, that's all I care about.

Let the festivities begin!

Flashback Friday

I need your help, faithful readers.  My old friend, coworker and faithful reader SH and I were discussing old school boots today, and we were both ashamed to admit we were stumped that we couldn't think of the top brand of boots from the 80's.  We mentioned Nine West, and I mentioned Capezio, which I found out is the top brand for dance shoes today.  But we couldn't remember any brand names for boots from back in the day.  If you can remember, please send a note.  SH and I both vowed to research online this weekend to see if we could come up with the one brand we were thinking of.  As always, I'll keep you posted.

At Last?

Our neighbors to the south of us in the land called Valley Station are happy tonight.  The official announcement was made this morning telling that after years of waiting and anticipation, there will finally be a Cracker Barrel out in Valley Station on Dixie Highway close to the Snyder Freeway. The big groundbreaking will be very soon, and they hope to have the restaurant open sometime in July.

People might not think this is a big deal, but to those in Valley Station and to us in PRP it's a very big deal. Rumors have been swirling for over ten years about either an Olive Garden or Cracker Barrel coming to this particular spot of land.  In preparation for a restaurant, a church was torn down (although they did keep the bricks to put on the new church) and a chapel built in the late 1800's was physically moved a mile or so away in 2006 -- all to make room for the restaurant. Only the restaurant wasn't getting built.

We'd almost given up hope - especially after a new Waffle House and Taco Bell were built about a half mile from the location of the new Cracker Barrel. But today the big announcement was made and cheering could be heard all throughout Valley Station and PRP.

Now, the big question remains:  would you like cornbread or biscuits?

File Under: WTF?

Woman Offers Sex For McNuggets: Khadijah Baseer Allegedly Propositioned McDonald's Customers

This couldn't have been a very happy meal.

Police arrested a woman outside a McDonald's in Burbank, Calif. after she allegedly offered sex to a customer in exchange for his chicken McNuggets, The Burbank Leader reports.

Khadijah Baseer, known as a local panhandler to police, supposedly opened customers' car doors near the drive-through window on Jan. 11, The Associated Press says.

One man called police after Baseer said she'd have sex if he gave up the breaded and fried pieces of poultry that he'd just purchased, according to KTLA. The man allegedly turned down the proposition.

Police arrested Baseer for suspected prostitution, media reports say.

Now that would have been a very happy Happy Meal.  I wonder if Khadijah asked if they wanted fries with that?

Tornado Tuesday

When I first heard that today's high would be in the lower 60's early this morning and drop to the 30's this afternoon after the front moved through, I knew we would be in for a pretty bumpy ride.  Only I didn't know how powerful the front would be.

At about 11:00 this morning, someone from HR came over the intercom and told all office personnel to come down to the inner hallways on the first floor.  That's when my department went into action.  I immediately got out my portable digital TV and turned it on so we could see what the Weatherazzi was saying.  One of the guys in my department got out our two flashlights just in case.  Then the tornado sirens started going off.  There was no mention of funnel clouds in our immediate are but there were sightings around us. And the winds were very bad. At one point there were six people huddled around my TV in my office.  And if I do say so, my office is one of the safest places in the building.  Just saying.  The storm moved eastward at a rapid pace, and at 11:30 everyone was back in their offices and cubicles.

When all was said and done, there was an official tornado touchdown in the eastern part of Jefferson County, but thank the Lord there were no injuries or deaths.  We can always put a roof back on a building or put back some shingles.

Manic Monday Bigtime

It was a very bizarre Monday, faithful readers.  Last Monday, as soon as I got to work I was greeted by coworkers telling me that another coworker had gotten fired the Friday before.  Nobody had a clue.  That was the big buzz at work for maybe a day or so, and then the news died down and we were on to another drama to talk about.

Today at work, we were faced with a similar discussion.  As soon as I walked through the door this morning I was asked if I'd heard the news about another coworker who had just quit.  Once again, nobody had a clue. 

So now, we're all waiting in anticipation of next Monday to see if the pattern continues.  As always, I'll keep you posted.

Link Of The Week

This past Monday morning before heading to work, I checked email like I always do, and if there's time, I check Facebook for the latest postings on who ate at what restaurant and to see the latest pictures people posted (yes, that comment was tongue-in-cheek).  I was very thrilled to see some pictures that our friends Bob and Mari posted from their trip to the New Orleans Saints playoffs game last Saturday.  They were in one of the upper levels in a suite (which I was very impressed with, by the way) and the close up shots they had of the players on the field looked as if they'd taken the pictures on the sidelines.  I emailed them immediaely and asked about the camera they used.  They said it was a Nikon CoolPix, just like Ashton Kutcher uses in the commercials.  Well, I had to have one. I got on eBay and within a couple of minutes found a refurbished-to-factory-new-condition one from a great company called Adorama.  And it was one-third of the price of a new one.  I did some checking and came across a couple of friends who also bought cameras from Adorama and they said nothing but great things about them.  So if you're in the market for a camera or anything camera-related, or any type of electronics for that matter, or if you happen to need a counterfeit bill detector (only $159) please check them out.  You can visit them at http://www.adorama.com/.  They definitely get the Thumb's Up from TWIT.

BOLO Update

After only an hour of searching this morning, the lost diplomas have been found.  This is good news and bad news.  The good news is obvious; the bad news is that in searching for the diplomas, we found a lot of old pictures and other stuff that is very time consuming to sit and go through and decide to keep or throw away.  But then again, that's not really bad after all.

BOLO

We interrupt today's regularly scheduled Flashback Friday with a BOLO (Be On the Look Out).  BOLO for Puddin's MBA and Bachelor's Degree diplomas, lost somewhere at The Compound.

Last night, The Old Man informed me that he wanted my diplomas so they could get them framed for my birthday. Well, that's all well and good, except for the fact that I don't know where my Bachelor's Degree and MBA degree diplomas are.  Yes, I know they're here at The Compound somewhere, but I have no clue where they are.

Believe me when I tell you I was stressing over this so much last night that I dreamed about it. After supper tonight I will start the search.  I'll begin in the back bedroom aka the computer room.  We'll search through all closets and drawers.  Then if they're not found, the search will continue in the basement, in some plastic storage bins that I filled and hauled down there back in the fall.

You have no idea how this is affecting me.  Like I said, I worried about it all night long during my sleep and continued to worry about it at work today.  It's not like we're hoarders, but I just don't know where they are.

As always, I'll keep you posted.

Snow 2012 Update

In typical fashion, the Weatherazzi had the city all worked up today over a forecasted one inch snow today.  So far, the only thing they've gotten right in the forecast was plummeting temperatures this afternoon.  Other than that, we've had barely a dusting of snow.  And they even let schools out two hours early today because snow was in the forecast.  Once again, I just shake my head in disbelief.

Come In From The Rain

I've been trying to process something for the past couple of days and the more I think about it, the more I end up just shaking my head.

The other day, I had to run downtown to church during my lunch break, and it was raining. At least I got to wear my cool new Gorton's Fisherman type raincoat.  But I digress.  The route I take to our church takes me right through the U of L campus. Keep in mind it was raining.  It was the middle of the day and there were students everywhere.  Out of all of the university students that I saw, none of them were carrying umbrellas.  They were just walking around in the rain.  Now, these were college kids - supposedly intelligent kids - yet they didn't have sense enough to carry an umbrella or come in from the rain.  Maybe they don't pay any attention to the weather forecasts; if they had listened, then they would have known it was going to rain so they should take an umbrella. 

Like I said, I just shook my head in disbelief. These college kids are going to be my generation's leaders in the near future.  And yet they don't know when to use an umbrella or wear a raincoat. That scares me.

BMW Updates

The AAA tow truck was here at The Compound bright and early this a.m. at 6:55, faithful readers.  And after they spent a half an hour attempting to start the BMW, they loaded her up on the flat-bed and hauled her off to the repair shop.  Shortly after lunch today I got a call from the shop with some good news - the problem was a bad battery.  They even put a smaller battery in the BMW and connected it for testing purposes and she fired right up.  To make things even better, the battery was still under warranty from AAA.  So I ran over to the repair shop this afternoon and took care of AAA getting me a new battery. 

But the wait continues.  Now that she's back up and running, the repair shop is going to check out the coolant and hydraulic fluid leaks.  I'm remaining optimistic, however.  It is what it is.  As always, I'll keep you posted.

BMW Updates

Well, faithful readers, the issue contiue with the BMW -- something is staying on after the car is shut off and is draining the battery.  The Old Man and I have tried all day long to get the BMW charged up enough to start so we could get it to the repair shop but to no avail.  We're tired of screwing around with it and if it won't start tomorrow morning, we'll just call AAA and have them graciously take it to the repair shop for me.  As always, I'll keep you posted.

Link Of The Week

I've mentioned before how much I enjoy watching some of the shows on the Food Network. I don't really cook, but I love watching others who do it so well.  Back in the day before there was a  Food Network, the fine folks at PBS would (and still do) air a lot of cooking programs. One of my favorites then and today was a program starring an awesome Italian chef named Lydia Bastianich.  Her show is appropriately titled "Lydia's Italy."  You can catch on PBS.  And you can also find out more about Lydia, her recipes and her very cool family at http://lydiasitaly.com/.  Check it out.  And as Lydia always says as the end of every episode, Tutti a tavola a mangiare, which means "all to the table to eat."

Game On

As I type this, there is a battle raging at The Compound between Mom and Dad over who can make the best cupcakes.  I have no idea what brought this on; I was gone for about two hours this morning running errands and when I got back home, the gauntlet had been thrown down.  Dad is working feverishly on one side of the kitchen, and Mom is working on the other side. 

Believe me when I tell you this is one battle I am not chosing sides.  I'm going to sign off of the computer and retreat to the safety of my bedroom while the battle rages on.

Happy Un-Birthday Update

We interrupt today's regularly scheduled Flashback Friday to bring you a Happy Un-Birthday Update. My dear friend, coworker and faithful reader SH reported today that she received an email from Chuck E. Cheese with a coupon celebrating her daughter's Un-Birthday.  WTF?  Now we have Chuck E. Cheese recognizing people's half-birthdays. I conducted an impromptu survey, and the general consensus at work was if the teachers want to celebrate the six-month Un-Birthday of all of their students, then they need to be the ones bringing in the treats and goodies. Nuff said.

Happy Un-Birthday

As always, we had an interesting and enlightening conversation during lunch today.  My friend, coworker and faithful reader SH was telling us how she had to make a trip over to her daughter's elementary school today to deliver a load of cupcakes for her daughter's Un-Birthday.  It seems that her teacher wants to celebrate not only the students' birthdays, but also their un-birthdays -- which come six months before their actual birthday.

This was big news to me.  I had no idea that people celebrated an Un-Birthday like that.  In years past, our family has celebrated Non-Birthdays here at The Compound; in months when there were no family or friend's birthdays to celebrate, we would get cake and ice cream together and celebrate a Non-Birthday.  But I'd never heard of an Un-Birthday, to be celebrated six months before your birthday.  This might need to become a new tradition at The Compound.

There's a few unanswered questions, though.  First of all, since you celebrate at the half-way point to your birthday, does that mean you should get half of a birthday present?  And does this mean you should only get half of a birthday cake?  And most important of all, does this mean you have to acknowledge the fact that you are officially half a year older?

Nothing Says "Merry Christmas" Like A Gun

I read a very interesting article today. It seems that Christmas 2011 saw record gun sales. According to the FBI, background checks on gun buyers hit a record single-month high -- more than 1.5 million -- in December. On the day before Christmas Eve alone, 102,222 such checks were ordered, making December 23, 2011 the second busiest day in gun buying history, after this year's Black Friday. I like to think I was a tiny little part of the history-making month; although I didn't purchase a gun in December, a background check was performed on me last month when I renewed my concealed carry license.



I know guns really don't go with Christmastime and peacefulness and good will toward men. But it looks like a million and a half people thought they did. I never received a gun as a Christmas present before, but one year in my early 30's, I did get a gun for Valentine's Day. The old High School Boyfriend and I were seeing each other again during that time period, and for Valentine's Day he got me a Ruger semi-automatic pistol. He had one and I had been admiring it whenever we would go to the shooting range, so he got me one for Valentine's Day. I thought it was a very sweet gesture.

Snow 2012

I am very proud to report that we had a half an inch of snow yesterday evening here at The Compound.  I was bored and at about 7:30 decided to go to the hood Wal-Mart which is about a mile and a half away, to walk around and shop and kill time while at least getting a little walking exercise.  As soon as I turned onto our street, it was as slick as all get out.  And I was in a 4WD SUV.  Granted, I didn't have the vehicle in 4WD mode, but it was slick.  My Blazer was all over the road.

I made it to the Wal-Mart unscathed, but the parking lot there was pretty slick, too. 

After all is said and done, the Weatherazzi sure missed last night's half-inch of snow.

Snow Alert: Sorta

The Weatherazzi did not say one word about any snow today, and it snowed here at The Compound for maybe 15 minutes.  You can see a few white spots on the roof of my red Blazer and in bare spots on the ground.  It's far far from an accumulation, but at least you can see it enough to say it snowed, unlike last week when the Weatherazzi said about an inch and it snowed for maybe two minutes. 

Happy New Year

We interrupt the regularly scheduled Link of the Week to bring holiday greetings. TWIT would like to wish you, faithful readers, a very Happy New Year!!