Security Tip Saturday

This week 5 of our "20 Weeks To Preparedness" - putting together an emergency kit for you and your family.  Just buy or gather the items on the list each week, and at the end of the 20 weeks you'll have compiled your kit. If you're just joining us, you can go back to the previous four Saturdays and get your lists.  And remember - when water or met, fruit or vegetables are listed, they mean one for each member of your household.

Week 5

1 gallon water
1 can meat
1 can fruit
1 can vegetables
2 rolls of toilet paper
Extra toothbrush/toothpaste

Link Of The Week

As promised a couple of weeks ago, when our weather expert Dick Frymire published his winter predictions, I would let you know.  Well, I'm letting you know.  Visit http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012309300010&nclick_check=1 and see what Dick and other weather experts in Kentucky have to say about the upcoming winter.

Flashback Friday

Back in the day in elementary and early middle school, car erasers were the thing.  They were a pretty hot commodity at the bookstores, and they would sell out pretty quickly.  But they were the coolest thing in the entire bookstore. 

Some of the kids would snag some staples from the teacher's stapler and stick them in the bottom of the eraser where the wheel axel would be, and this would cause the car eraser to slide across the desks easier when you pushed them.  Of coure I never did that; being the odd kid that didn't want to deface my little car eraser.

And back then, I remember that the pink car eraser was the #1 primo eraser to get.  Nobody wanted the yellow or green ones; but if you were lucky enough to get the pink, you felt like a king or a queen for a day. And the bookstore clerk would never trade out the colors - whatever color she picked up was the color you got.

Hats Off Thursday

I know she won't mind, so today I'm saying an official Hat's Off to my friend, coworker, and faithful reader Big Mama. She is one of the coolest people I know, and I am very proud to post this picture of her and The First Lady, Michelle Obama.

I'm not sure what Big Mama was telling Michelle in this picture, but with the expressions on their faces,  I know it was very important. 

You rock, Big Mama.  And you also rock, Michelle Obama.  We owe you a big thank you for all of the work you've done to get the school kids healthier. 

I'm Worthy!!

After weeks, even months, of anticipation, the time has finally arrived: I report to the big courthouse on Monday morning for Federal Grand Jury jury duty!  After telling me they wanted me, I was beginning to think that they didn't want me after all.

Back in the early summer, I received a notice in the mail saying that I was chosen for jury duty for Federal Grand Jury.  You can't imagine how excited I was just to fill out the lengthy questionnaire. After sending it in, I waited and waited and waited, until I received a notice saying that I was in deed chosen and that I would be on call from the first week in September until the first week in November.  They said they would notify me by mail a week before I was to report.  So I waited and waited and waited some more until Monday when I received my orders to serve starting this coming Monday. I can hardly wait. 

I was priviledged to serve on regular jury duty way back in the day in the mid 80's and I really enjoyed it.  It was a great learning experience, and I wouldn't have traded those two weeks for anything.  Since then, I admit that I was a bit envious when I heard about coworkers and friends serving on jury duty. But I an envious no more.

I can't wait to get to the federal courthouse on Monday morning, and I hope I don't have to wait and wait and wait some more once I get there before they chose me to serve on a jury.  I hope they will find out quickly that I am worthy.

Only 19? Update

Yesterday evening, I posted about a statistic that says the average woman goes to the store 19 times in a month.  Since yesterday morning, I've gone to the store 4 times. At the rate I'm going, I will be way beyond the average of 19 times.  But as I said yesterday, I will not officially start counting the trips to the store until October 1, and will end the count on October 31.  But it's not looking good for the average home team as of now.  Stay tuned - I'll keep you posted.

Only 19?

I heard an alarming statistic on a radio news program this morning on the way to work.  They said that the average mother/wife goes to the store 19 times a month.  I beg to differ.  Now, I'm not married, and I don't have children, but I'm a vital part of my household and I do about half of the grocery shopping, so I think I count even though I'm not a wife or a mother; I'm still partially responsible for the 'Rents, so that counts.  That having been said, I still think that the average of 19 times a month is way too low. And I'm just basing that on the combined number of times that the 'Rents and I go to a store in a one month period.  There are times when I probably go to the store that many times in a ten-day period.  Just saying. When you think about the stops at the store before work, during work, and after work, it starts adding up.

To prove my point, starting on October 1, the 'Rents and I will keep track of the number of times that we go to the store for the entire month.  I'll also keep a separate count of only my visits to the store. We won't count the visits to the local big box home improvement stores or specialty stores; we'll just count visits to stores where you can buy food and things the family normally needs in a month.  I'm telling you right now it will be more than 19. 

On November 1, I'll give my report and final count.  Stay tuned; I'll keep you posted.