Wednesday Morning Trash

I saw the weirdest thing this morning on my way to work.  I was stuck in traffic at the usual bottleneck on Cane Run Road, when I saw the driver of the car two cars in front of me throw something out of his window.  In his hand was a bundled up paper towel, the contents of which he threw down on the road by the median.  The driver wasn't a total litterbug - at least he didn't throw down the paper towel, too; he just thre out what was in the paper towel.

I was curious to see what the guy threw out of the window, so when traffic started moving, I crept along so I could get a good look at his trash.  Traffic stopped again and I was right next to the trash so I could get a good look.  Imagine my surprise when I looked down on the road and saw the outer edges of a Pop Tart.  Yep. There scattered on the side of the road were Pop Tart crusts.

You might ask how I knew they were Pop Tart crusts.  Believe me when I say I know my Pop Tarts.  Many a time have I tossed my Pop Tart crusts into the garbage can after eating the insides, complete with the fruit filling and icing.  The driver must have gotten full, or either didn't like the flavor he was eating, because there was at least a couple of bites' worth of filling and icing left on one of the pieces there on the road.

It was just odd.  You usually don't see people throwing trash out of their window when they're stuck in a line of traffic, in full view of all of the drivers behind them; they usually do it when there's nobody behind them.  I guess this guy just didn't want to deal with his Pop Tart leftovers any more.  I hope the black birds enjoyed them.

Cyber Monday Night

I try to stay up on current events and trends, but every now and then something sneaks up and catches me totally off guard.  Take "Cyber Monday" for example.  Sure, I'd heard about Black Friday - the day after Thanksgiving, that marks the official beginning of the Christmas shopping season, and also the busiest shopping day of the holiday season.  But this year, I heard about Cyber Monday - the busiest online shopping day of the holiday season.  It was a new one to me. 

I'm sure that bosses all over the country were thrilled when they heard that news - it meant that their employees would be spending most of the day online shopping and that not much would get done on the first day back after the long holiday weekend.  But if other companies are anything like mine,  there wasn't too much shopping going on during the work day yesterday.  With us getting spammed and phished alot at work, and with more and more trouble from viruses, a month or so ago they blocked alot of online sites that we all used to visit - including shopping sites.  We all found out about the blocks about a month ago.  A few co-workers were going off about not being able to get to eBay as I was just sitting down at my desk.  Then reports started to trickle in from all over the company - Zappos.com (an awesome shoe shopping site) was even banned.  So I think most of my co-workers who were planning on shopping during the day had to wait till they got home last night.  Unfortunately, it's a few days till payday so there was no big Cyber Monday shopping frenzy for me last night. 

Monday, Glorious Monday

It was a stormy and rainy Monday, but it didn't bother me; and I didn't even mind going back to work after a sweet four-day weekend, either.  It was a great day.  What was so great about it, you might ask?  I'll tell you:  last night, my father was elected as a member of the Mill Creek VFW Post #5421.  And we know that that means for me, don't we, faithful readers? A childhood dream of getting to join the Ladies Auxiliary can finally be fulfilled. 

It took a couple of months of red tape and verifying, but the VFW organization finally agreed that my Dad was in deed a veteran of a foreign war, and could become a member.  So once he gets his official membership card and pays his dues (which will happen this week) I'll be able to join the Ladies Auxiliary.  I absolutely cannot wait. 

I found out the news last night and immediately told Dad; we were originally going to let it be a surprise and he would have found out when he got his membership card in the mail this week, but I never was one for keeping surprises.  After I told him last night, I went to the kitchen to get a piece of Derby Pie that Diva Stacy sent me.  Actually, she sent me two pieces. And she sent Dad chocolate pie and prune spice cake.  I looked on the counter and didn't see it.  I asked Dad if he had a piece of Derby Pie and he said yes.  I asked where the other piece was.  That's when he played me.  "What other piece?" he asked me, with a look of puzzlement on his face.  I said "You know what other piece.  The other piece of Derby Pie."  He was adament.  "There was only one piece of pie in that pan."  Then he busted out laughing.  He said "I didn't lie - there was only one piece of pie in the pan.  It was big, but it was just one official piece."  I shook my head and ate a half a bag of leftover microwave popcorn, which is very pale by comparison to Derby Pie.  Then he quickly reminded me "Just remember - if it weren't for me, you wouldn't be getting into the Ladies' Auxiliary."  Nuff said. 

Link Of The Week

It's hard to believe that this time next month, Christmas will be just a memory.  It's coming way too fast this year - it seems like just a few days ago, it was Thanksgiving.  OK.  A few days ago it WAS Thanksgiving.  But I think you get my point.  I'm sure Christmas is catching quite a few others off guard as well.  When we just have less than four weeks of shopping left until Christmas, shoppers might resort to the ultimate tactic: shopping online.  And if you get stumped for what to buy someone you might think of a DVD - something fairly easy to run out and buy or order online from Amazon or any of the other bizillion sites.  If that someone you're shopping for is a TVholic, then your shopping worries are over - you can buy them a box set of their favorite TV series on DVD. 

Here's where the Link Of The Week can help.  Contrary to what we'd like to believe, not all of the TV shows on DVD that we find on eBay are legit.  Unfortunately, alot are bootlegs - DVDs that someone made at home from their very own TV.  If that special someone has all of the seasons of "Will and Grace" on their Christmas list, you can go to http://www.tvshowsondvd.com and they will list all of the "Will and Grace" seasons that are legitimately out on DVD.  You can enter in any other TV show, but I just used "Will and Grace" as an example, because it's one of my favorite TV shows. 

I'm not totally anti-bootleg DVD; I'm not ashamed to admit that I've bought quite a few bootleg DVDs the past few years, but true to form, they aren't the top-notch quality DVDs that you would buy from Paramount or Warner.  So play it safe and check out tvshowsondvd.com first before you buy something.  Let the buyer beware.

Sorry, Nick and Jessica

TWIT is sad to report that amid much speculation, Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson are in deed splitting up.  The rumors have been flying around for months, but the couple announced Wednesday what everyone had already been thinking.  "After three years of marriage, and careful thought and consideration, we have decided to part ways," the statement says. "This is the mutual decision of two people with an enormous amount of respect and admiration for each other. We hope that you respect our privacy during this difficult time." 

The rumors started last October, when Lachey attended a wild bachelor party, complete with strippers. The couple denied rumors that their marriage was in trouble.  Then over the winter, the couple was apart while Jessica filmed "The Dukes Of Hazzard" and while Nick worked on a solo music project.  Still, the couple denied rumors of marital problems. 

In my unprofessional opinion, this marriage was doomed from the start.  With MTV filming them for three years  - the first three years of their marriage - for their reality show "Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica" it had to put a strain on the marriage.  Maybe if they hadn't had the cameras constantly in their faces for the past three years, these two kids might have made it.  I didn't care much for their TV show, nor did I like their network variety show specials, but I liked the pair.  They seemed like good kids - they weren't into drugs or booze, and other than the stories about the wild bachelor party Nick attended, you never heard any bad press about them.  If MTV and the media had left them alone, they might have made it. 

 

Black Friday?

I did something today that I hadn't done in years - I slept in until 10:00.  And it was nice.  Very nice.  No, I didn't stay up half the night just because I was off today; I went to bed at my normal time, 11:00.  I slept late simply because I could.  It was a good sleep for a change - no sinus problems making my nose stuffy, no indigestion from Thanksgiving dinner - just a good sleep.  I woke up at 5:00 and trudged to the bathroom, and as I climbed back into my nice warm bed, I thought of all of those silly people here in the 'Ville, standing out there in the 19 degree temperatures, waiting for a store to open so they could get a DVD player for $19 or a laptop for $300.  Then I pulled the covers up and went back to sleep.

I'm sorry, but there's nothing they have on sale at any price that would make me get up at 3:00 in the morning and go stand in line with thousands of other people in the freezing cold.  Nothing.  If they were giving away free DVD players, or even laptops, I still wouldn't go wait in those lines.  I talked to a few friends this morning, and they all agreed with me, too.  It's not like we're Snooty McSnoots, or like we've got money coming out of the wazoo - it's just that if we want to buy something, we'll go to the store at a time that's convenient for us and buy it, even if we have to pay full price for it. There was just nothing we wanted to buy bad enough to get up in the middle of the night and go stand outside in line for it.  The way I look at it, paying full price for an item will be much, much cheaper than what my bail would be if I went to jail for kicking somebody's ass that messed with me or my Mother in Wal-Mart at 5:30 in the morning. 

Black Friday was the big story at the noon news on TV today.  They showed all of the aforementioned thousands of people running and pushing to get into the stores when they opened.  UK could use some of the people I saw on the news on their team tomorrow when they play UT. 

Happy Thanksgiving From Lenora and Me

This has been a great Thanksgiving Day.  I'm thankful for my friends and family, and I'm thankful that I don't have to go to work again until Monday morning.  After sleeping in this morning, I headed downtown and picked up our good friend from church, Lenora, and brought her back to The Compound to spend Thanksgiving Day with us.  She had a ball.  She kept saying over and over how thankful she was to spend the holiday with us, but honestly, I think the blessing was ours to get to spend time with this great lady.  She's in her early 90's and gets around better than us.  She's probably one of the biggest U of L fans that I've ever seen.  Her eyesight has faded, but she still watches every Cardinals basketball game on TV, and listens to the radio for games that aren't televised.  She can tell you every player on Coach Patino and on Coach Patrino's teams, and their positions .

We got back home, and got her settled in at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and a minced meat turnover (a family tradition) and we had a great time talking with her while Mom was fixing dinner.  During our conversation she said "Let me ask you something.  I hear people on TV and radio talking about a blog.  What is a blog?"  I almost dropped the relish tray on the floor.  How cool is this? A 90's something lady asking about a blog?  I explained to her that it was basically an online journal or diary.  Then she asked if I had one.  Dad laughed and told her "Oh yeah, she's got one."  I took her into the back bedroom where the desktop computer is and brought up TWIT for her to see.  She was truly amazed.  Not just amazed at my wonderful display of journalism, but at the whole concept in general - in her words "I'm amazed at how you can write something like that and put pictures out there for everybody in the world to see."  I told her that I agreed with her 100% - I'm still amazed at the internet myself. 

I decided to blow her mind a little bit more.  I told her to smile for the camera, and I took her picture and told her that I would post it in my blog today.   She was really amazed then.  I showed her the picture on the display screen on my camera, and she asked where the picture was.  I took out the tiny disk card and showed her.  I  printed the picture out for her, and had her sit in the chair beside me while I typed this journal entry and uploaded her picture.  She watched in amazement.  She said "I never thought I'd see the day when my picture was on the internet." 

After dinner, we went to the family room and watched TV and then she said "Well, let me ask you another thing.  What is this eBay that they talk about?" This time, I brought the laptop to the family room where she was and showed what it was, and explained it to her.  She said "If I ever need to buy something and can't find it, I'll have you look on eBay for me."  Anything for you, my friend Lenora, anything for you. 

Please Send This To 10 Friends

A faithful reader emailed me last night, venting about an annoying thing that happened to her at work yesterday.  In the course of just a few hours, she received 13 emails from a co-worker.  You know the kind I'm talking about - "You're my special friend" or "Please forward this picture of a little girl found wandering the streets of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina."

The faithful reader went on to say how the annoying forwarded emails aren't just from co-workers; she said she receives lots of them from family members, one in particular being an aunt that lives in California.  The aunt is a retired teacher, has a Master's Degree, and was once chosen as the California Teacher Of The Year.  Yet she sends scores of emails warning you not to call the 809 area code because they'll charge you $2200 a minute for the call.  This intelligent, highly educated woman sends the faithful reader a dozen of these emails a week.  The logical person in them seems to step aside when they read these emails and forward them on; if it's in an email, then it must be true . . . right?  The faithful reader said that from time to time, the aunt will forward an email where someone cut and pasted something from Snopes or any of the other hoax-buster sites, saying that it was not true, and the aunt will apologize for sending the original email.  Yet she continues to forward more emails.  WTF?

The faitful reader told of another type of annoying forwarded email comes from people are very sweet and gentle, and who only wish the best for you.  They convey their warm wishes in emails with blinking roses and psychodelic butterflies in them, and they tell you how dear you are to them and how much they value your friendship.  I have no qualms about that - I love to get emails from friends telling me how much they like me.  But when the last line of the email says "Please forward this to your 10 closest friends. One girl didn't, and within a week she lost all of her money and was diagnosed with an incurable disease." If I was really a good friend, would you put this kind of pressure on me?  Life is hard enough . . . do you have to send me a curse? 

Has This Ever Happened To You?

Urine trouble, mein Herr!
Drunk German wets bed, sets fire to apartment trying to dry it

Reuters Updated: 3:28 p.m. ET Nov. 21, 2005

BERLIN - A German man drank too much, wet his bed and set fire to his apartment while trying to dry his bedding, police in the western town of Muelheim said on Monday.

He was too drunk to go to the toilet, said a police spokesman. The next morning he put a switched-on hair dryer on the bed to dry it and left the apartment. When the 60-year-old returned, his home and belongings were in flames.

Firemen eventually put out the blaze.

In some twisted way, I'm thinking of a bad Match Game question gone bad.  It would be something like this:

Gene Rayburn:  Frederick the German  was soooo drunk . . . .
Crowd:  How drunk was he?
Gene Rayburn: Frederick was so drunk that he couldn't make it to the toilet, wet his bed, turned on a hair dryer to dry the bed, left the dryer on the bed while he went out, and burnt down his apartment.  THAT's how drunk Frederick was. 

Monday Updates

Kroger Deli
If you remember, TWIT discussed a co-worker's drama with the Kroger deli this time last fall.  My co-worker BT reports that she's had no rude experiences at the Kroger deli lately.  She said she's been getting their chicken from the deli with no problems from the PATs working behind the deli counter.  Very interesting . . . BT's story was published in TWIT and then she gets good service at the deli.  Coincidence?  I hardly think so.  This just shows the awesome power of the free press.  Evidently, people must pay attention to TWIT.

Angelina Jolie
The story out of Hollywood says that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's appearance at Saturday night's Muhammad Ali Center opening is their first official public appearance as a couple.  And to think it happened here in the 'Ville.  I finally found a couple of pictures of the gorgeous couple, taken Saturday night at the gala. 

Medicare Prescription Drug Plan
After a week of researching, reading, and re-reading, we've finally chosen a prescription drug plan for the 'rents.  They've picked AdvantraRx Premier Plus.  (Incidentally, this plan received a very high rating from AARP, and was recommended by Mom and Dad's health insurance company.) If any of you, my faithful readers, would like some help deciphering the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan for a relative, friend, or for yourself, please email me or leave a note in the comments section and I'll be glad to help you.  I'm an expert now.

Holiday Greetings
TWIT would like to wish T and S a safe trip to Charleston, South Carolina this week for Thanksgiving.  They leave today and will be getting back home next weekend.  They're travelling in S's Beemer, so I hope they will find lower gas prices like we have right now in the 'Ville.  I'd also like to wish a safe holiday journey to PJ's 'rents, P and Dr. J. .  They'll be heading to Memphis for the week.  Word has it they probably won't be visiting Graceland, but I'm sure they'll have a nice trip any way.  And our prayers will be with my fellow Diva Stacy this week, as she prepares Thanksgiving dinner for 19 family members. You can always sneak off to The Compound if you need to seek refuge, my dear friend. 

Link Of The Week

As I mentioned yesterday, the 'Ville is all excited about the opening of the new Muhammad Ali Center - a museum honoring the career and life of boxing legend and Louisville native Muhammad Ali.  Today, the public was able to tour the center after this morning's official opening.  In case you'd like to check it out virtually, you can go to http://www.alicenter.org and see what it's all about.  For those of you from the 'Ville and who are hip on Louisville trivia, the center is located at the site of the old Kingfish. If you don't want to travel to downtown Louisville to see the Ali Center, you can even order some souviners from the website. 

Welcome To The 'Ville, Angelina

A meteor could be on a collision course with earth right now, predicted to hit our planet some time this weekend, and the people of Louisville would be praying that it didn't hit until after Saturday night.  Why Saturday night, you ask?  Saturday night is when Angelina Jolie is going to be in Louisville.

Angelina is expected to appear at the opening of the Muhammad Ali Center.  The city has been abuzz for weeks about Angelina's visit.  She's probably going to attract more attention at the gala event than Muhammad Ali himself.  I think we're more excited about her coming here then we are about Ali's museum opening.  There wasn't this much talk earlier this year when Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst were in town to film some scenes for "Elizabethtown."

The city has rolled out the red carpet for the stars, and have set up bleechers downtown on Main Street close to the Ali Center and to the Center For The Arts, where the star-studded event will be held.  True the stargazers will be kept at bay across the street from the actual red carpet where the stars will arrive, but at least they'll hopefully get a glimpse of Angelina and the others as they make their way down the red carpet.  Joining Jolie will be President Clinton, Jim Carrey, and Jamie Fox to name a few.  Stars scheduled to perform at the event include Wynonna, B.B. King, Ruben Stoddard and James Taylor.  Rumor has it Entertainment Tonight will be covering this, so be sure to tune in Monday night and see if Louisville made it to ET.

There's been lots of speculation but no confirmation on whether or not Brad Pitt will be acompanying Angelina Jolie tonight.  I'm sure the bookies here in town would probably be accepting bets and giving you odds that Brad will be here with her.

It's Happening Again

It's happening again, faithful readers -- for the past three weeks, during the work day mornings, I've been waking up at 6:34.  I thought it was bizarre when this happened before; now, I'm kinda freaked out a bit over it.  It's odd that it's just been Monday through Friday - not on the weekends.  There's no logical explanation for it, either - Mom doesn't set her alarm, so it's not like I hear her alarm clock going off.  And she gets up at usually 6:00 to do her daily Bible reading before me and Dad get up, so it' not like she's roaming around the house making loud noise at 6:34 every morning and the noise wakes me up.  There's honestly no explanation for this.  If any of you, my faithful readers, can explain why you think this is happening, I'd love to hear from you. 

Baby It's Cold Outside

We've had some very bizarre weather here in the Ohio Valley this week.  We went from a high of 72 degrees two days ago to a high of 34 degrees today.  When I left for work this morning, it was a frigid 27 degrees.  As I suspected, the down coats and stocking cap were out in full force this morning, as they should have been.  It's just difficult to comprehend that we live in an area where two days ago we were wearing shorts and short-sleeved shirts outside, and today we had on sweatshirts under our heavy coats.  It's just weird.

My family and I have always followed the weather and the forecasts closely - partly because we've always had a garden, and we needed to plan for planting and harvesting accordingly; but mainly because we like to know what it's going to do outside.  We need to know what type of jacket/coat to wear for the day. I'm the first to admit that we three have too many coats.  We've got rain coats for dress-up, for everyday, and for bigtime heavy rains.  We've got lightweight jackets, we've got heavy coats with Thinsulate that keep us warm in sub-zero temperatures, and we've got many other coats in between. We're truly blessed when it comes to coats.  Yet somehow, when we go shopping, we're drawn to the coat section of the store like moths to a flame.  We can't resist looking at the new coats, and trying them on.  Mom and Dad are stronger than me - when they buy a new coat, they will take another one out of the closet that they don't wear and give it to the DAV.  Not me.  I save them all, thinking they might come back in style some day.  We've each got our favorite coats:  Mom's favorite is affectionately called "Old Blue" - it's a blue down-filled coat that she got for Christmas last year; Dad's favorite is a camouflage, and my current favorite is a Tennessee Titans Starter jacket.  I love it.  It's probably one of my favorite eBay purchases. 

I'm picky about my coats, though.  I've already decided that when I go to the VFW tonight, I'm parking close to the door and leaving my coat in the car.  There's no way I'm taking my coat inside and have it wreak of smoke for weeks.  I'll take my chances and run from the car to the building in just my shirt sleeves to protect my coat. So much for the big smoking ban.

Top Ten Weather Terms Used By The Weatherrazzi During Last Night's Storms

1.  Tornadic
2.  Rotation/Rotating
3.  Seek shelter immediately
4.  Straight line winds
5.  Severe/Severity
6.  Bow echo
7.  Storm cell
8.  Dopplar radar
9.  Super cellular storm
10. Energetic jet stream

Wipe Me

It's been a rough day.  On top of preparing for the upcoming Storm of the Century that is supposed to hit within the hour, I had a very interesting morning.  I was still reeling from last night's dealing with Medicare's website, plus was mentally preparing for a wild day at work with the upcoming Storm of the Century (which, incidentally, is supposed to hit within the hour.)  It was pouring and messy this morning, and my blue jeans were soaked almost to my knees after just walking out to get the newspaper.  I was cruising along down Cane Run Road, about 5 minutes from work, when something very bizarre and unexplainable happened: my passenger side windshield wiper broke off.  No, it wasn't just the blade; it was the entire wiper arm.  For once, I had a slight bit of good luck - it was the passenger side wiper and not the driver's, so I could still see fine as I made my way to work.  And thank goodness it broke off when the wiper was on the down position.  It didn't scratch my windshield nor the hood of the car; it just broke off and laid in the little gully between the bottom of the windshield and the hood of the car.  I felt like hitting my head against the steering wheel.  All I could see were $$$$.

I got to work, and tried not to think about it until lunchtime.  The entire company was abuzz over first, the new smoking ban that went into effect today in Louisville, and second, over the pending storm.  At lunch I drove across the street to trusty  Senn's Body Shop, and had them check it out.  I was expecting to have to fork over a few C-notes for this one, but I almost fell down in a heap when they told me $89 for parts and labor.  I told them while they were ordering that part, to go ahead and order me a new air deflector (the old one has been cracked since I got the car).  Once again, I almost fell down when they said that would be $11.  I thought for sure they left off a digit or two.  My spirits lifted and I went back to work a happy woman.  That is, until all of the reports started coming in about the pending storm.  I'll deal with rain and wind later; for now, I'm getting off with the cheapest repair so far on the BMW.  It was a good day after all.

We Survived

If I had a webcam on my computer right now, focussed on me as I'm typing this, I'm sure viewers would think they've stumbled on a scene from "The Exorcist", with Linda Blair's head spinning around.  I've just spent an hour and a half at the Medicare website, trying to decipher their new Medicare prescription drug plan information for Mom and Dad.  I probably could stop right here and you, my faithful readers, would give me all the sympathy you could muster.

I've been my typical self; procrastinating and putting off the inevitable - actually taking the time to go online to the Medicare site and see what the actual deal is with the new prescription plans.  I already sent off for a booklet from Medicare.  When I hear the word "booklet" I think 5 or 6 pages.  Au contraire.  When dealing with the government, a booklet means 50 or 60 pages.  When we got the book, we were scared to death because it was so big.  But (taking a deep breath) believe it or not, the booklet is actually very helpful.  Not as helpful as the site, but still helpful for those that don't want to venture online.  It's set up by state, and it basically lists all of the plans, the amount of the deductible if they have one, how much the monthly premium is and how much you'd approximately pay per prescription.  The website is much better - you can enter in the exact prescriptions a person has, and the pharmacy you'd like to use, and it will bring up the plans available in your state, with the exact dollar amounts you'll pay for the montly premium and the prescriptions. I have to say I was pretty impressed.  Frustrated and wanting to scream, but impressed.

The first frustration came when the site was busy and took forever for the Medicare homepage to download.  I thought it might have been a glitch in the desktop, so I ran back to my bedroom and got the laptop out, and sure enough, it was slow too.  So I came back to the desktop.  By this time, my audience (consisting of Mom and Dad) had assembled in chairs behind me and were anxiously awaiting me to start spewing forth knowledge and insight about the Medicare prescription drug plan.  Well, the longer they sat there, the more nervous and frustrated I got. They weren't bothering me or anything; they were just thumbing through the "booklet" as I was looking online.  The second frustration came when at the "compare the plans" page on the site.  It brought up 39 plans available in Kentucky that cover all of Mom's prescriptions.  Yet the site would only let you compare three plans at a time. WTF? And of course, my ink cartridge is on its last leg, so was only able to print out 3 pages before it was dry. But in the middle of this, the fog lifted, the clouds rolled back and I had the epiphany - I actually understood what the plan was all about.  It made sense.  Mom had an AARP booklet and was looking things up; Dad had the Medicare "booklet" and was picking plans for me to look up, and I was comparing them online.  After a slow start, we finally made some progress and started to make heads or tails out of it all. 

It was frustrating for all of us, not just for me - a person with no patience.  But we made it through the ninety minute ordeal without even cussing or raising our voices.  Mom and Dad thanked me for taking the time to research that for them, and said how sorry they felt for people who had nobody to help them figure it all out.  That made it all worth the effort. 

Link Of The Week

This wasn't a major election year in Kentucky or Indiana, or the nation for that matter, but I came across an interesting political site the other day.  Yes that seems very odd words to come out from me - the person who usually avoids political sites like surfers avoid smam and viruses.  But I didn't actually do a search for this topic, so that should redeem me.  I was looking line the other day for any new info on my beloved Knots Landing star Donna Mills, and I found a site that listed all of her polital campaign contributions.  I checked out the site, and it was pretty interesting.  They have practically every star listed on there and how much they contributed and who they contributed to.  Pretty cool.  But the fun doesn't stop there.  You can enter a name of a regular person, just like us, find out how much they've contributed to a candidate.  Now that's cool.  Take a look for yourself at http://www.newsmeat.com. And don't waste your time entering my name. 

File Under: WTF?

Customer glued to toilet seat sues Home Depot
Man claims workers ignored cries for help after he was victimized by prank

The Associated Press Updated: 12:06 p.m. ET Nov. 3, 2005

BOULDER, Colo. - Home Depot was sued by a shopper who claims he got stuck to a restroom toilet seat because a prankster had smeared it with glue.

Bob Dougherty, 57, accused employees of ignoring his cries for help for about 15 minutes because they thought he was kidding.

“They left me there, going through all that stress,” Dougherty told The (Boulder) Daily Camera. “They just let me rot.”

The lawsuit, filed Friday, said Dougherty was recovering from heart bypass surgery and thought he was having a heart attack when he got stuck at the Louisville store on the day before Halloween 2003. A store employee who heard him calling for help informed the head clerk by radio, but the head clerk “believed it to be a hoax,” the lawsuit said.

Home Depot spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher said she could not comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit said store officials called for an ambulance after about 15 minutes. Paramedics unbolted the toilet seat, and as they wheeled the “frightened and humiliated” Dougherty out of the store, he passed out.

The lawsuit said the toilet seat separated from his skin, leaving abrasions.

“This is not Home Depot’s fault,” he said. “But I am blaming them for letting me hang in there and just ignoring me.”

I normally try not to post two articles in a row, but this is too good to pass up.  It seems I remember seeing something like this on "AllyMcBeal" or "The Practice" or some other legal-themed TV show.  The judge was hardcore, and ruled his courtroom with an iron gavel.  He would always recess the court at the same time every day for fifteen minutes so he could go to the bathroom to smoke a cigarette while he "concentrated."  This guy was a terrible, unfair judge, and one of the lawyers decided to get even with him.  The judge always went to the same bathroom stall at the same time every day, so the lawyer decided to put glue on the toilet seat so the judge would get stuck to the toilet seat when he went to conduct his business.  Sure enough, in the middle of the trial, the judge went to the bathroom and he got stuck to the toilet seat. 

You'd think you'd see something like this happen on an old episode of "I Love Lucy" but not in real life.  I did some research, and I found out that this guy is suing Home Depot for over $3 million for pain and suffering.  I could see Home Depot paying the hospital bill to get the toilet seat removed from the guy's ass, but not $3 million.  I smell a shiester.

Happy Veteran's Day

I know that I had a similar post on this day last year, but it bears repeating.

TWIT would like to wish all of the veterans a very Happy Veterans Day. I hope these men don't get embarassed, but I would like to publicly acknowledge and thank some of my favorite veterans:

My Dad
Uncle Roy
Uncle Paul
Steve
Boots
Paul
John M
Greg D
John D

Thank you for proudly serving your country.  You guys rock.

It Sure Is A Small World

Pilfered parrot used to stuff bra, cops say
Woman busted while trying to exchange rare Greenwing for vintage car

The Associated Press Updated: 10:40 a.m. ET Nov. 8, 2005

FORT MYERS, Fla. - A woman has been arrested for padding her bra — with a stolen rare parrot.

Jill Knispel, 35, hid the Greenwing parrot in her bra after taking it from her employer, Baby Exotic Birds of Englewood, police said.

When Knispel went to trade the bird for a vintage car, she told the car’s owner how she got the animal, according to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Turns out the car’s owner is friends with the man who owns the $2,000 bird.

DNA tests confirmed the bird’s identity and Knispel was charged with grand theft.

“The circumstances of the case are the most bizarre I’ve ever encountered,” said veteran wildlife investigator Lenny Barshinger.

This raises a few questions.

1. What are the chances that the person you're trying to sell a stolen bird to knows the person you stole the bird from? (Yes, I know I butchered that sentence with my grammar, but please forgive me.)

2. What "vintage car" do you think you can get in trade for a parrot?  Yes, it was a rare parrot worth $2000, but I think you'd need to throw in some more cash for the "vintage" car.  That is, unless you're buying an old Ford Pinto.

3. No matter how buxom you are, don't you think someone just might notice that you have something live inside your bra?

She DID Have Time

From reading some previous entries in TWIT, you already know how much I like Terri Clark. She was in Louisville this evening at WAMZ, one of our country radio stations, and I guess the above picture is pretty self-explanatory.

This was my second time to get to meet Terri, and I've got to say that out of all of the celebrities I've met, she has to be the kindest and and most gracious. She took five minutes out of her schedule to stop in the parking lot on the way to the radio station to talk with me and pose for some pictures and give an autograph. Five minutes out of our schedules might not seem like much, but for a country star on a deadline, I think it was a great act of kindness. 

The DJ said that she would be stopping by today to promote her new CD, "Life Goes On" and to talk about her new single, "She Didn't Have Time." I knew I had to be there to give her a gift I'd had for her since May - a personalized Louisville Slugger baseball bat.  I took it with me to her concert in May, but security wouldn't let me bring it in because it was a dangerous weapon.  I didn't trust leaving it with someone to give it to her, so I decided to just keep it till I got to see her again. I was able to find out that she would be on the air from 5:00 to 6:00. Unfortunately for me, I had a dentist's appointment at 3:30, and was sitting the big chair getting my crown and abssess examined,  thinking the whole time "I'm jetting out of here at 4:45 even if he's not done."  As my luck would have it, I was out of there in a flash and headed on over to the station's building.  I sat patiently in my car, waiting for Terri to come out of her bus, rehearsing what I was going to say. Then at 4:55, out she came. I calmly and politely got out of the BMW, and asked her if I could get a picture with her either before or after her interview, and she walked right over to the car and started chatting. I gave her the bat (gift wrapped in a box, so she wouldn't see me with a bat and think I was some crazed stalker) and she seemed genuinely touched that I went to the trouble of getting it for her. After I gave her the bat, I told her how she was a bizillion times more gracious than The Female Rock Star That Shall Remain Nameless who dissed me two years ago when I gave her a personalized Louisville Slugger.  She laughed at the story, and gave me a hug, and signed a copy of our picture together that I took at the May concert, and then posed for a picture.  Her assistant took my camera and then dropped it. Pieces of the Fuji camera went all over the parking lot.  I was like "Who cares?" But Terri and her assistant were both apologizing as they bent down and picked up the camera and put it back together.  Her assistant tried to take a couple of pictures but the camera wouldn't work.  Her assistant apologized again, and ran back to the bus and got her own camera and took a picture of Terri and me, and got my email address and said she'd email it to me as soon as she got back to Nashville.  Just then, someone from inside the station called the assistant, and she told them that "Terri was speaking with someone right now, and she'd be in when she was finished." Now that's what I call an assistant.  I didn't want to be a pest, so I thanked her for the picture and autograph, and told her I really enjoyed her new CD, and she got all giddy and thanked me for buying it, and asked what my favorite song was on it.  Well, to be honest, I'd only played it once since it came out last week, and I was speechless.  I said "I like them all" but she wasn't buying it.  She wanted to know which one I liked the most.  So I did some quick thinking and said "Life Goes On", since it was the title, and she got even more giddy and clapped her hands like a little kid and said "Yeahhhh, it's one of my favorites, too."

She went in to do her interview, and I stayed there in the parking lot, listening to her on the radio and fiddling with the camera until I got it working.  At 6:00 when she went off the air, I walked back to the station and waited there in the lobby with three other fans, and when she saw me she yelled across the lobby "Did you get the camera working or am I going to have to buy you another one?"  A star that still has a sense of humor - you gotta love that.  She had her assistant take another picture, and told her "Don't drop it this time."  As you can see above, we got the picture, and the rest is history. 

I joined Terri's fan club two years ago, just so I would be eligible for the annual meet-and-greet pass, but from now on, I will pay my yearly dues and be a proud card carrying member of her Hats Brats fan club. I'll support any artist that treats fans like Terri Clark does.  I doubt if she will ever read this, but thank you very much Terri for taking the time to care about your fans.You rock.

French PATs Gone Wild

I've been too busy following the prison escapee stories the past week to keep up with other current events, so last night I made it a point to watch the national news after supper.  For almost two weeks, I've heard snippets about riots in France, but until I took the time last night to watch the news, I had no clue why the people were rioting.  Then I found out:  PATs gone wild.

In case you are like me and didn't know what it was all about, it's pretty simple; the violence started on October 27 as a localized riot in a northeast Paris suburb.  The rioters were rioting over the accidental deaths of two PATs who were electrocuted in a power station while hiding from the police.  The violence has grown nationwide by angry and militant PATs. 

These aren't your ordinary mailbox bashings or displays of rudeness like we have by the PATs on our side of the pond.  In France, thousands of cars have been burned each night since the riots started, and the violence claimed its first victim Monday, with the death of a 61 year old man who was literally beat to death.  And these PATs are carrying around a little more baggage then our PATs - the majority of the rioting PATs are French-born children of immigrants from France's former territories, and have been been neglected.  They complain of lack of jobs and widespread discrimination, and many of these immigrants and their children have never been fully integrated into French society.  These aren't deadbeat PATs, either; these have jobs, pay taxes, and vote - but they just aren't considered part of society. 

 

 

One Fugitive - Off The Streets

TWIT is happy to report that fugitive Charles Thompson has been captured and is again behind bars. Thompson was nabbed last night after Shreveport police received a tip.  They found him drunk and talking on a pay phone outside of a Shreveport bar.  The police said he was too drunk to be interrogated, but he did tell them who he was.  The authorities also said that Thompson had a bicycle with him when he was arrested, but they don't believe he peddled the 200+ miles from Houston to Shreveport. 

I would have thought that Thompson would go down fighting when he was caught - he's on death row, so what does he have to lose?  I would expect him to have been shot and killed by dozens of federal agents and U.S. Marshalls, or something; you know, like in a scene from "Walker, Texas Ranger."  But instead his capture was like a bad scene from "Pee Wee's Big Adventure."

Link Of The Week - Special Edition

My dear friend GoalieGirl has been through quite a time lately with the hurricane season down in Louisiana.  She and her family made it through Katrina, and for that we're grateful.  But she asked me to share a link with you, my faithful readers, and as always I honor [almost] all requests. 

Some friends of GoalieGirl's from Tulane University have set up a website and they're asking for donations to help the hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans and the surrounding area.  I'm sure you've visited and maybe even donated at the Red Cross site or other sites set up, but this one is different.  At this site, you can donate money AND get some cool stuff.  Please take a few moments and visit http://www.nolahurricanefund.org and give a few bucks.  If you can afford it, get one of the cool "Hurricanes Blow" t-shirts like I did.  If not, then you can still donate a few bucks; every little bit helps. 

Link Of The Week

It's hard to believe that the holidays will be here before you know it.  We'll be stuffing ourselves with turkey and dressing in less than three weeks.  Some people cringe when it comes to holiday entertaining; they stress out over "What am I going to fix?"  Not here at The Compound.  When we do our holiday entertaining, we rely on The Peanut Shop to provide the before (and sometimes after) dinner snacks.  I'd like to give a big shout out to Uncle Doug down in Alabama for turning us onto The Peanut Shop's New Orleans Style Spicy Peanuts.  They rock.  For those of you in the 'Ville that know all about Ollie's Trolly fries, these peanuts have the same seasoning.  It will make you want to lick the bottom of the can once you've eaten all of the peanuts.  Go to http://www.thepeanutshop.com and order a can today.  You won't be disappointed.  The Peanut Shop and especially their New Orleans Style Spicy Peanuts have the TWIT seal of approval.

America's Most Wanted

TWIT would like to bring this public service announcement and ask for help from you, my faithful readers. 

Charles Victor Thompson is still on the loose, and is considered armed and very dangerous.  He was last seen around Houston, but a nationwide manhunt is under way.  There is a very nice reward offered for Thompson, so you could make some quick Christmas cash if you can help nab this low-life.  As John Walsh would say, let's get this thug off of the streets.

Another Email Questionaire

1. Did you gorge yourself on sugar yesterday? Does eating a handful of Tootsie Roll Midgies count as gorging?
2. How often do you change your sheets? Every two weeks
3. Do you usually drive within the speed limit? I try, but it doesn't always happen when driving a car with a 12-cylinder engine.
4. Which is more vomit-inducing, The Ashlee Simpson Show or The Simple Life? The Ashlee Simpson Show, and any show with her or her annoying sister
5. Have you ever eaten a booger? Uh, yes.  I'm sure we all have, but there's only a few brave enough to admit it. 
6. If you could become a member of the opposite sex for a week, would you? Yes, and I would use that time to be interviewed for jobs.
7. Have you ever gone camping (in a tent, RVs don't count)? Sure have. In my younger, more naive days (ex: in the days before we had central air conditioning) I didn't mind the summer heat and actually enjoyed sleeping outside in the hot, muggy summer.
8. If you could take a class at no cost to you (at a school, at the gym, any type of class), what would you take? A cooking class, because you know I don't cook.
9. Have you ever won a radio contest? Yes, quite a few.  The first was when I was 8 or 9 years old  - I won $100. 
10. What kind of milk do you drink? Good ol' blue capped 2%

Get Out Of Jail Free?

It's been a rough week for prison officials. It's as if somebody handed out get-out-of-jail-free cards across the country.  Convicts have escaped left and right this week. The first prison break of the week was Tuesday in Columbia, South Carolina.  A murder and a kidnapper escaped from prison by hiding in a dumpster.  Real smart thing to do, since the last convict that tried that was squashed to death at the dump.  These two were captured yesterday at a hotel in South Carolina, after a pizza delivery woman recognized one of the guys.

The second prison break of the week was in Houston.  A death row inmate escaped from a county jail wearing civilian clothes and sporting a fake ID badge.  This con just waltzed right out of the jail.  He convinced guards to let him go to an area of the jail for attorney visits, and once there he somehow changed out of his orange jumpsuit into regular street clothes. He showed a badge that said he worked for the Texas Attorney General's office, and the deputy let him walk right on out.  Oh, I forgot to mention that while he was changing from his jumpsuit to the regular clothes, he also got loose from a set of handcuffs.  As of now, the guy is still on the loose, and is supposedly going after witnesses that testfied against him at his trial.  

The third jail break of the week happened right here in the 'Ville at the jail downtown.  This escaped convict has a rap sheet two pages long, filled with drug and alcohol related charges spanning more than a decade.  He was awaiting a December court date, and was supposedly a model prisoner. He was approved to work as an inmate work aide, and was helping another inmate take garbage out to the dumpster when he simply ran off.  Did I mention that the prisoner was under supervision by a Metro Corrections officer?

So to sum this up, we've got escaped convicts running around all over the country this week, waving their get-out-of-jail-free cards.  And here I thought things were rough at work this week.  All I did was forget to schedule some things to be built - at least I didn't just stand there and let a convicted murderer walk out of jail.

Back To The Cul De Sac

It's hard to believe it's been over twn years since "Knots Landing" ended it's fourteen-season run on TV.  In case you didn't know, "Knots Landing" was my favorite nighttime soap opera, and to this day remains one of my all-time favorite TV shows.  The show is television's second longest running drama (after Gunsmoke) and ran from 1979 to 1993.  For fourteen seasons, we were caught up in the lives and loves of Karen, Valene, and Abby. In addition to being one of the longest-running drama shows in prime time, it was also the first prime time series to have the death of a major character, Sid (Karen's husband and Abby's brother) in season 3.  The show was a pioneer for dealing with social issues - rape, drug abuse, illiteracy, and the environment were things the residents of Knots Landing had to face.  At this time, other nighttime soaps shied away from things like this, and instead focussed solely on the rich and beautiful. 

The show was a spin-off from the popular "Dallas" and gave the opportunity for both shows' characters to crossover from time to time.  Lucy left Dallas and visited her parents Gary and Valene in Knots Landing, and Abby went to Dallas a time or two to see ol' J.R.  Speaking of Abby, my favorite Knots character, she wasn't all bad.  Unlike the other nighttime soaps, the villians on Knots had major soft spots that the writers showcased.   While she would lie, cheat, and steal with the best of them, Abby's vulnerability was her children.  We saw her fight to get her daughter off of drugs, and we even saw her give a kidney to her neice. 

I found out just the other day that Warner Bros. will be releasing "Knots Landing" on DVD in early 2006.  I joined thousands of other Knots fans by signing a petition to get the show on DVD, and I guess it worked.  And please mark your calendars for December 2 - CBS will be airing a Knots Landing reunion.  The show was filmed in July, and from the pictures I saw online, my beloved Donna Mills, Abby herself, looks as good as did when the show was on the air. 

Do you think "Desperate Housewives" will last for fourteen seasons like "Knots Landing?"  My guess is no.  And I think the ladies of Seaview Circle could teach those gals on Wisteria Lane a few things.  After all, they are the original desperate housewives.

Annoying Things Overheard At The ATM

Our new ATM has been in operation a week now at work, and it's been slightly amusing to hear the comments made when people are walking away from the ATM.  No, I'm not stalking the ATM; our cubicle is about 20 feet from the ATM, and we have very good hearing.

1.  I put in a quarter/dollar and didn't get a hit (obviously, the person thinks they're playing a slot machine instead of getting money out of an ATM)

2.  I put in fifty cents and didn't get anything (evidently, this person doesn't use the soft drink machines at work because they cost sixty cents)

3  Let's see if I win anything today.

4. Damn, I thought I had more than that! (Heard after the person saw their checking account balance on the receipt)

5.  Which way do I slide my debit card?

6.  Why is it taking so long to get my money?

Happy Halloween From The Compound, Part 2

We're very happy to report that last night, we broke our record for Trick-or-Treaters.  We had 9 kids.  That's up from the previous 4 year record of 5.  The kids didn't want to leave - they wanted to stay and play in the huge pile of leaves that Dad raked for them.  But their over-zealous parents were yelling "Get out of the leaves - you'll ruin your make-up."  And that came from the kids Dads, not their Moms.  Interesting.

We stayed outside from suppertime until bedtime and had a blast. Our party was a huge success.  We even had a special celebrity guest attend - Elvis. And I have pictures to prove it, too.  But you know something odd? We didn't see Mom all evening long.  Hmmmm.  Oh well - she must have grabbed a pillowcase and went out trick-or-treating with the kids across the street.