Get Well Soon, Hot Rod

I'm sad to report that World Wrestling Federation Hall of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Also known as Hodgkin’s disease, Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a form of cancer found in the body’s lymphatic tissue. The lymphatic system helps filter out bacteria and is important in fighting diseases. Piper was sent home early from an early-November wrestling tour of the United Kingdom and had emergency surgery, where doctors removed a mass at the spinal cord with an enlarged lymph node. The mass was completely removed, but the lymph node tested positive for Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Piper said that he will begin treatment immediately, and that he is determined to win this match.  Rowdy Roddy Piper is best known for his trademark red plaid kilt that he always wears into the wrestling ring.

In old school professional wrestling back in the day, Rowdy Roddy Piper was one of the best.  I remember going downtown to Louisville Gardens and watching Rowdy Roddy Piper in a tag team match with Paul "Mr. Wonderful" Orndorff as his partner.  Yes, I attended an actual live wrestling match.  Actually, I went to three of them.  They were also one of the main attractions at the very first Wrestlemania back in the mid 80's.  I really wouldn't classify Roddy Piper as a villain, though he was definitely one of the wrestlers everyone loved to hate.  And he's still as popular today.  In fact, he was on a wrestling tour in Europe when he doctors disovered his lymphoma.  He was wrestling guys probably half his age, and was winning.  He definitely paved the way for the likes of Stone Cold and The Undertaker and all of the other bad-guy wrestlers.

In a statement posted on his website, Rowdy Roddy said "It seems like I have been fighting someone, something, someplace, in some manner, my whole life. But this fight, is one I am gonna win!” You've got alot of tag team partners behind you on this one, Hot Rod.  We know you'll win. 

Science Experiment Wednesday

A co-worker told me something very interesting this morning at work - he told me about an accidental science experiment that he conducted this morning.   He ate a carton of yogurt this morning a few minutes after he got up and brushed his teeth.  He said that the minty fresh toothpaste flavor still in his mouth, combined with the yogurt, made the yogurt taste like sour cream.  He said he was hungry so he continued to eat the yogurt, thinking it would eventually taste like yogurt instead of sour cream, but unfortunately for his taste buds it never did.  He shared this scientific information with me, knowing I would be intrigued and would want to share it with you, my faithful readers.  Of course he was right.

Not that I doubted my co-workers scientific findings, I felt I had to try this experiment myself to make sure I got the same scientific reaction.  So an hour ago, I brushed my teeth, waited five minutes, and then ate a carton of Blue Bunny blueberry yogurt.  Yep, you guessed it - the yogurt tasted like I had a mouth full of sour cream.  Minty sour cream, to be exact.  I thought it would gross me out, but it didn't.  I continued to eat the blueberry yogurt, thinking that it might suddenly change and taste like blueberry yogurt, but it never did. 

I'm not sure if the combination of toothpaste and yogurt produces some type of chemical reaction or what; I'll research it tomorrow and see if I can find any similar experiments on the internet. In the meanwhile, TWIT doesn't recommend eating yogurt right after you've brushed your teeth. 

Take A Look At The New CPI

As I mentioned yesterday, with temperatures in the 70's, it's hard to believe that Christmas is less than a month away.  With Christmas fast approaching, it's time once again to look at the 2006 CPI - Christmas Price Index.  Every year, good folks at PNC Bank analyze and calculate how much all of the items listed in "The Twelve Days Of Christmas" would cost.  There were substantial increases this year in the price of a pear tree and four calling birds, but when averaged out, the overall increase is roughly even with the cost of living increase that Social Security recipients will receive.  And the Christmas Price Index is almost identical to the actual CPI - the Consumer Price Index. I hope people will still be able to afford those eight maids a-milking.

PNC Christmas Price Index
Item	2005	2006	% change
One partridge	$15	$15	flat
Pear tree	$89.99	$129.99	44.40%
Two turtle doves	$40	$40	flat
Three French hens	$45	$45	flat
Four calling birds	$399.96	$479.96	20.00%
Five gold rings	$325	$325	flat
Six geese a-laying	$300	$300	flat
Seven swans a-swimming	$4,200	$4,200	flat
Eight maids a-milking	$41.20	$41.20	flat
Nine ladies dancing	$4,576.14	$4,759.19	4.00%
10 lords a-leaping	$4,039.08	$4,160.25	3.00%
11 pipers piping	$2,053.20	$2,124	3.40%
12 drummers drumming	$2,224.30	$2,301	3.40%
Total Christmas Price Index	$18,348.87	$18,920.59	3.10%

                                                                       

 

Let's Talk About The Weather

The local joke here in the 'Ville is "If you don't like the weather, just stick around because it will change tomorrow."  That describes the Ohio Valley weather to a tee.  Another joke is that only in the Ohio Valley will you have the air conditioner and the furnace on in the same week.  Once again, that describes the weather here.  This past Thanksgiving weekend was the perfect example.  On Saturday and Sunday, the high was in the low 70's.  The highs are supposed to be in the upper 60's until mid-week, and then Thursday they're calling for highs of the 30's with lows in the teens.  Yes, teens.  We'll truly go from having the air on to having the furnace on in the same week. Not only will our systems have to deal with the temperature changes, those of us that have arthritis will have to deal with our tired old joints aching when the cold front moves through Wednesday night.

While we've all enjoyed the spring-like weather for the past week, it's been very strange wearing short sleeves while putting up the outside Christmas decorations.  It's odd, but we can usually count on one or two days in late November with the temperatures in the 60's, and most people take advantage of the nice weather to get the yard and outside of the house decorated.  I'm the first to admit that it feels weird to see your Christmas lights on when it feels like spring.  As I was driving home tonight, I had the moon roof open and the breeze was filling the car as I was driving by houses that were decorated like the Las Vegas strip, and it just felt weird.  I wonder if this is how people in Florida or California or Hawaii feel at Christmas.

Link Of The Week

They say that everybody has a twin - someone else out there that looks just like you.  I can report that I saw my twin back in the late 80's - I worked with her at a previous place of employment, and she looked so much like me that alot of our co-workers would call her by my name.  What a lucky girl she was, to be mistaken for Puddin.

There are almost three billion people in the United States, so with that many people, it's not I guess it's not that uncommon to find someone with the same name as you.  I found a site that will give you such information.  You enter your first and last name, and the site will tell you how many people in the U.S. have the same first, last and full name as you.  Go to http://www.howmanyofme.com and find out how many people have the same name as you.  Now that's what I call a pretty darned good database.

Attention Faithful Readers In Ohio

47,000 Pounds of Turkey and Ham Recalled

WASHINGTON (Nov. 24) - An Ohio-based company is recalling 46,941 pounds of turkey and ham products that officials fear could cause listeriosis, a potentially fatal disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Friday. (Like they couldn't have told us this BEFORE people ate turkey and ham on Thursday?)

HoneyBaked Foods Inc. is voluntarily recalling the meat, which includes cooked, glazed and sliced ham and turkey, USDA said in a statement.

The meat, which was produced between September 5 and November 13, may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, which can bring about high fever, headaches, neck stiffness and nausea, USDA said.  Healthy individuals are not usually susceptible to the illness, but it can cause infections to infants, the elderly, or people with HIV or cancer. It can also cause miscarriages.

The meat was sold at the company's retail stores and kiosks around Toledo, Ohio, and to customers across the country over the Internet and through the company's catalog.

USDA said it considered the situation a high risk to human health, but it has not received any reports so far of illness related to the meat products.  The company has set up an 800-number for customer inquiries. For more information, call 800-461-3998.

I know that the FDA and other government agencies deserve a day off this week for Thanksgiving, but, like they couldn't have discovered this BEFORE Thanksgiving????

File Under: Isn't It Ironic?

I'm not even going to venture a guess as to how many millions of dollars was spent today during the Black Friday shopping frenzy.  It would probably scare us all.  I will guess, though, that the majority of the money spent today was by parents for gifts for their children.  That's why they started lining up last night shortly after they finished their Thanksgiving dinners, wanting to be first in line at the electronics stores and department stores this morning so they could get the latest greatest toys and gadgets that are on their children's Christmas lists. I have no Black Friday shopping experience to tell - the only shopping I did was a quick trip to the drugstore.  But I did experience something on Black Friday that I won't soon forget:  I was able to witness two little children playing and using their imaginations to have fun.

When our neighbors' grandkids Sam and Sophie visit their grandparents, they usually end up down at The Compound playing.  For me, it's a case of history repeating itself.  For you see, when I was their age, I would go up to visit the family that lived in the house where their grandparents now live, and I would stay up there for hours playing.  Sam, the oldest grandchild, loves to come down and wear Dad's old beat up straw gardening hat and old leather holster.  In the holster, is an old six shooter that is nothing more than an old pellet revolver with half of the pieces missing.  But when Sam straps on his holster and puts in his hat, he's a cowboy.  He's using his imagination and playing and interacting with people instead of sitting in front of a video game in a catatonic state.

Sam's little sister Sophie is the same way.  She comes down to our house to play with some of my old dolls.  She'll line them up on the couch or out on the bench on the back porch, and will talk to the dolls and play for hours.  She's not the least bit concerned with having the latest Barbie doll or Barbie car or whatever it is that little girls want for Christmas these days.  All she cares about is having me or Mom play baby dolls with her. She, too, is using her imagination and interacting with people.

It's just ironic to me that on a day when parents are fighting and shoving in the stores to get a toy that they think their kids just have to have, I was able to see once again what it really means to be a kid.  I don't want this to sound like Sam and Sophie are poor little kids with no toys or games; that's far from the truth.  They have just about everything that most little kids have.  But I guess the really ironic part was how on a day when people are spending millions of dollars on toys, these two kids were playing with old hand-me-down things and were using their imaginations instead of $500 video games.

Happy Thanksgiving

Just a note to let you know we are hoping to see you Thanksgiving Day, but . . . .  Martha Stewart will not be dining with us this Thanksgiving.  I'm telling you in advance, so don't act surprised.  Since Ms. Stewart won't be coming, I've made a few small changes:

Our sidewalk will not be lined with homemade, paper bag luminaries. After a trial run, it was decided that no matter how cleverly done, rows of flaming lunch sacks do not have the desired welcoming effect.

Once inside, our guests will note that the entry hall is not decorated with the swags of Indian corn and fall foliage I had planned to make. Instead, I've gotten the neighbor kids involved in the decorating by having them track in colorful autumn leaves from the front yard. The mud was their idea.

The dining table will not be covered with expensive linens, fancy china, or crystal goblets. If possible, we will use dishes that match and everyone will get a fork.  Since this IS Thanksgiving, we will refrain from using the plastic Peter Rabbit plate and the Santa napkins from last Christmas.

Our centerpiece will not be the tower of fresh fruit and flowers that I promised.  Instead we will be displaying a hedgehog-like decoration hand-crafted from the finest construction paper. The artist assures me it is a turkey.

We will be dining fashionably late. The children will entertain you while you wait. I'm sure they will be happy to share every choice comment I have made regarding Thanksgiving, pilgrims and the turkey hotline. Please remember that most of these comments were made at 5:00 a.m. upon discovering that the turkey was still hard enough to cut diamonds.

As accompaniment to the children's recital, I will play a recording of tribal drumming.  If the children should mention that I don't own a recording of tribal drumming, or that tribal drumming sounds suspiciously like a frozen turkey in a clothes dryer, ignore them. They are lying.

We toyed with the idea of ringing a dainty silver bell to announce the start of our feast.  In the end, we chose to keep our traditional method.  We've also decided against a formal seating arrangement.  When the smoke alarm sounds, please gather around the table and sit where you like. In the spirit of harmony, we will ask the children to sit at a separate table. In a separate room. Next door.

Now, I know you have all seen pictures of one person carving a turkey in front of a crowd of appreciative onlookers. This will not be happening at our dinner.  For safety reasons, the turkey will be carved in a private ceremony.  I stress "private" meaning: Do not, under any circumstances, enter the kitchen to laugh at me. Do not send small, unsuspecting children to check on my progress. I have an electric knife. The turkey is unarmed.  It stands to reason that I will eventually win. When I do, we will eat.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind my young diners that "passing the rolls" is not a football play.  Nor is it a request to bean someone in the head with warm tasty bread.

Before I forget, there is one last change. Instead of offering a choice between 12 different scrumptious desserts, we will be serving the traditional pumpkin pie, garnished with whipped cream and small fingerprints.  You will still have a choice; take it or leave it.

I hope you aren't too disappointed that Martha Stewart  will not be dining with us this Thanksgiving.  She probably won't come next year either.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

File Under: WTF?

Obsessive Shopping: A Disease?

Following a new study published in this months American Journal of Psychiatry, The American Psychiatric Association is considering whether to add obsessive shopping to the DSM as a classifiable medical disorder. According to the study, more than 10 million Americans may be afflicted, including people like Lucille Schneck.

"Lucille Schenk bought $20,000 worth of jewelry a year ago, plunging herself into debt and despair. She knew something was wrong but couldn't help herself.  When Schenk finally sought help, psychologist April Lane Benson advised her to have a "conversation" with the jewelry before she made a purchase, as a way to put distance between herself and her compulsion.

"I would say, `You are so beautiful, I can't live without you; I love the way you sparkle,"' recalled Schenk, 62, who lives in Ohio. "The jewelry would say back, `You need me. You look pretty when you wear me.' I would say, `I do need you. I can't possibly think of being without you. But something has to change. I need to stop this. I can't afford a penny more."'

Lucille is now seeking treatment for schizophrenia.

I really don't know what to say about this.  All I can say to Lucille is to keep your ass at home Friday morning and stay as far away from the Black Friday buying frenzy as you can. 

No Thanks, I'm Still Not Thirsty

Our friends at Jones Soda have done it again - just in time for the holidays, Jones Soda has introduced a new flavor:  green pea.  It makes sense to me - Jones already has turkey and gravy, dinner roll, sweet potato and antacid flavored sodas, so it seems fitting that they would add a vegetable flavored soda to round out the holiday meal experience. These five odd sodas are available for a limited time only in a special holiday pack, priced at $15.95.  That comes to about three bucks per bottle of soda - a bit pricey for my pocketbook.   At $3 a bottle, there'd better be something else in there besides vegetable flavoring.  But Jones Soda is doing their part once again to help the community, and they are donating a portion of every holiday pack sold to Toys For Tots and St. Jude's Children's Hospital. 

A few flavors from last holiday season didn't make it back this year - the broccoli casserole, corn on the cob and brussel sprout flavored sodas weren't popular enough to make it as part of this year's holiday pack.  I honestly cannot imagine what these holiday flavored sodas could taste like.  I did some quick research at the Jones Soda website and read that their holiday pack sodas are completely vegetarian, certified kosher, and contain zero caffeine, calories, and carbs.  This would have come in very handy last year, when I had a double root canal the week before Christmas.  I would have been able to drink my Christmas dinner instead of attempting to chew it. 
 

Not Another Starbucks

An exciting thing happened in our 'hood a couple of months ago; I can't believe I was so remiss and didn't report it as soon as it happened:  we got a Starbucks.  Yep, a Starbucks opened up in Pleasure Ridge Park.  I know - it's hard for us to believe, too.  But it's true.  The Starbucks in the Dixie Manor Shopping Center is part of Starbucks' master plan of having 40,000 stores worldwide.  I did some research and found that Starbucks adds six stores a day on average.  And the majority of their new stores are within a few minutes of existing stores.  The saturation is part of the company's plan - they say that one main complaint they hear from customers is that Starbucks isn't convenient enough.  They say their customers don't want to go too far out of their way to get a latte or Frappucino.  Their researchers also say that would-be customers don't end up buying a Starbucks drink because the line is too long.  So their solution is to open another store nearby. 

That's all well and good,  but I really don't think another Starbucks in PRP would go over.  I'm still shocked that they opened up even one store in our part of town.  It's not that we don't deserve a nice coffee shop like Starbucks - it's just that it's not a big priority in our neighborhood.  Two coffee shops in our neighborhood were open only a few months before closing - and one of them was in the exact spot where our Starbucks is.  We just really don't want a coffee shop; what we really want an Olive Garden.  The rumor of an Olive Garden has been going around for years.  Everytime we see ground being cleared or a building going up, we all get excited at the thought that it might be an Olive Garden.  But no luck.  We're also getting a new Wal-Mart about 3 minutes from The Compound, but we're really not even thrilled about that.  We still want an Olive Garden.  Or how about two of them?  We don't want to have to go too far out of our way for Chicken Marsala. 

Link Of The Week

As I mentioned yesterday, today is the official celebration of the merger of our old church, Fourth Avenue Baptist, with Walnut Street Baptist.  I know most people get the Sunday paper, if for nothing else, just for the coupons and sale papers. So if you've had a chance to read the Sunday Courious Journal, chances are you've read about the merger on the front page of the Metro Section.  I didn't know it was that newsworthy to merit the front page of the Metro section. In case you don't get the paper copy of the Courier Journal, here's a link to the article:  http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061119/NEWS01/611190500.

Farewell, Fourth Avenue Baptist Church

The time has come, faithful readers, to say farewell to an old friend -- Fourth Avenue Baptist Church.  We all knew this day would inevitably come, but it still doesn't make it easy.  Things have moved very fast since the late summer, when the Deacons decided that it just wasn't feasible to keep on meeting at Fourth Avenue with just 20 members each week.  But the Lord has had His hand in this all along - He gave us a buyer for the church building, Louisville Church of Christ, and He gave us Walnut Street Baptist Church  for our congregation to merge with, and everything has fallen into place. 

I'm not going to say it's been easy - at times, taking care of selling the church has been a pain, but we've made it through.  One week last month, I had to go to 5 different financial institutions in one week to close accounts and transfer funds back to our checking account.  Mom and Dad have made countless trips downtown to the church to clean and clear out things.  We did it because we love the old church. 

Tomorrow, a "celebration" service will be held at there to commemorate the merger and the sale, but the 'rents and I won't be there.  We're happy that Louisville Church of Christ will be getting a church home so they won't have to meet in an old school any longer, but we really think that closing our church is not much to celebrate.  Today, we made one last trip downtown to clean the sanctuary for tomorrow's service and to clear out my office.  I'm not going to lie and say it wasn't hard - I was weepy when I closed the office door and locked it one last time.  And we all three were weepy when Dad locked the door and turned on the alarm one last time.

Tips From Toots

I'm proud to introduce a new feature in TWIT - a little something I will call "Tips From Toots."  A dear friend of mine, who I refer to as Toots, was talking to me the other day about TWIT and how she wishes she had the time and resources to start her own blog.  She said she'd like to start a blog about giving helpful tips and advice.  No, not like writing to Dear Abby; we're talking about advice on how to do or not do something.  After chatting with her about this, I told her that when she came up with some good advice she'd like to share to just let me know and I would be more than happy to share TWIT with her.  So here is the first of many Tips From Toots:

If you are involved in a fender bender, use the camera on your cell phone to take photos of the accident scene.  You may even use your phone's video recorder to record what other people at the scene are saying.  I was recently involved in a minor scrape in a store parking lot.  Police will not come on private property to do a report so the lady who hit me and I just exchanged names and phone numbers.  She must have said a dozen times "I'm so sorry.  My foot just slipped off the brake!"  If I'd had my video rolling, I could have discretely held my phone in my hand and recorded her voice confessing her guilt.  As it stands now, who knows if she'll admit she did it and I'll ever get my car fixed?

Give Me An L ! ! !

In case you don't live close to a Best Buy or Circuit City or any other electronics store, you might not know what I'm getting ready to talk about: tomorrow, Sony will start selling its new PlayStation3 video game system.  And for the past few days, people have been camping out and waiting in line to be the first to buy it.  If you drove by any Best Buy in the United States tonight, chances are you'll see tents, folding chairs and people around the building tonight.  The surprising part of this is that most of the people that are waiting in line for days to buy one of the PS3's won't even use the game - they're going to sell them on eBay. 

Now, don't get me wrong - I'm all for making a profit on something that you sell, and after years of business school, I know all about supply and demand and how the invisible hand of the marketplace brings it all together, but isn't this a bit extreme?  I can't think of anything that would be for sale that I would wait in line a few days to buy; no, not one thing.  Not even if I knew I could gouge and make a big profit. It's just crazy.

I know this shouldn't surprise me, given the fact that there were people that waited in line a year (yes, a year) to see the Star Wars sequels.  But when you consider most of the country has had rain, cold temperatures and even tornados the past few days, I'm still very amazed that people would endure this just to make a few hundred, or if they're extremely lucky, a thousand bucks, on the PS3.  Is the money worth it?  I've talked with over thirty people about this, and took an informal poll just to get their opinion, and they all agreed with me:  it's crazy. A few said that the people waiting in line for hours or days must not have anything better to do.  I have to agree. I know people that took vacation days to go wait in line for the PS3 so they could get one or two and put them on eBay.  I know I'm being hardcore, and these people waiting in line for days in the cold and rain just to buy a video game system really has no affect on me, but I think it's still just crazy.

I thought about this throughout the past few days, and honestly, I can't think of one item that they could sell that I would wait in line for days, in the cold and rain, to buy.  Nothing.  Not one thing.  However, I would wait in line to meet Susan Lucci. 

Krispy Kreme Alert

A co-worker won a few dollars this week and he treated the first floor office to Krispy Kreme doughnuts this morning.  I'm here to tell you there's nothing better than fresh glazed Krispy Kreme doughnuts.  Their chocolate iced and jelly-filled come in at a close second and third, though.  Even people on diets can't resist warm Krispy Kremes, especially when someone else bought them.   My co-worker placed three boxes of the doughnuts in our cubicle on the empty desk, and there was a steady stream of people stopping by all day long.  I got a cup of coffee as soon as I got settled in this morning, and started checking the boxes to pick out my breakfast.  The jelly-filled doughnut was calling my name. The first bite is always bland, because it's usually all doughnut and no jelly.  But when I saw the jelly inside, my taste buds got excited.  But my excitement quickly turned to dismay when I looked a bit closer at the jelly - it was like pie filling and not like the usual raspberry jelly that Krispy Kreme uses.  WTF? I took another bite and then the disappointment hit me.  It was NOT the regular jelly, but instead pie filling disguised as jelly.  I ate all of the doughnut, but it just wasn't the same.

During our 2:00 break, I checked online to see if I could find something about Krispy Kreme using a different type of raspberry jelly but I couldn't find anything.  But I find it hard to believe I'm the only person that has discovered this sacrilege.  I'm going to keep searching and maybe somewhere out there in blogdom I'll find someone else who feels the same way that I do.  I urge you, my faithful readers, to go out and get a Krispy Kreme doughnut and check it for yourself.  Please report your findings to me.  This could have been just a fluke.  But if I find more reports of the generic jelly, I think I'll start a petition and send it to Krispy Kreme.  So go eat those Krispy Kreme jelly doughnuts and give me a report.

When Pigs Fly?

Frozen Pigs Fly Onto LA Freeway
POSTED: 1:42 am EST November 14, 2006
 LOS ANGELES -- A big rig collided with a box truck carrying a load of frozen pigs on southbound Interstate 5 near Los Angeles on Monday night, scattering the carcasses all over the roadway.

The California Highway Patrol said the pigs were strewn over 80 feet of the Golden State Freeway near Sylmar. No one was hurt in the collision, which was reported shortly after 7:30 p.m. Monday.

Authorities closed two truck lanes to investigate the cause of the crash.  Caltrans has brought in a dump truck and loader to pick up the carcasses.

 

This gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "When pigs fly", doesn't it? Can you imagine calling your insurance company and explaining damage done to your car as a result of a flying pig?  I really don't know what to say about this, other than I'm sure my dear dear friend Diva Stacy will be very upset when she reads this. 

Seven Wonders Of Puddin's World

In order to compete with the other morning shows during the November ratings sweeps, my beloved "Good Morning, America" is currently in the middle of a special series about the New Seven Wonders of the World. For the past year, a panel of experts discussed and voted and came up with seven new wonders of the world.  I'm guessing that they got tired of the old seven.  Anyhoo, so far in the first three installments, "Good Morning, America" has shown us Potala Palace in Tibet (where all of the Dalai Lamas lived), Jerusalem, and the Polar Ice Caps in Iceland.  I did some thinking, and here are the Seven Wonders of Puddin's World.

1.   Las Vegas Strip

2.   The Compound

3.   Ryman Auditorium

4.   Waikiki Beach

5.   Grand Canyon

6.   Graceland

7.   Painted Desert/Petrified Forest

8.   Golden Gate Bridge

9.   Stone Mountain

10.  Wigwam Village

Link Of The Week

Yesterday, our country honored and paid tribute to our veterans. We thanked the veterans that are still with us, and paid our respects to the veterans that are no longer with us.  Today, I would like for us to say thank you to our active servicemen and women.  Personally, I don't think we do enough for our military, both active and inactive.  Regardless of what you feel about our government or the leadership or any political party, we all need to thank our current troops for serving our country.  Here's something very easy that we can all do - visit http://www.letssaythanks.com and send a thank you card to a serviceman or woman.  It doesn't cost you anything - not even for the postage.  You can pick out the design you want, and you can enter your own message if you'd like, and the printed card will be sent to U.S. military personnel serving overseas.  You can get the whole family involved.  It would also be a good project for your civic or charitable groups, too.  So get to work and keep those cards coming. 

Happy Veterans Day

It's been one full year since I was initiated and installed into the VFW Ladies Auxiliary.  I don't need to tell you that it's such an awesome organization that works had to give the veterans the respect, admiration, dignity and assistance that they deserve.  This Veteran's Day, I have some help with my tribute to the veterans.  We can basically give credit for today's journal entry to Max.

Max is the son of an old friend who happens to also be a co-worker. He's in kindergarten, and as a class project, they made an autograph book titled "My Veteran Friends." Their project was to visit as many veterans as they could, and have them sign their autograph book with their name, rank and serial number.  Well, not really - all they had to sign was their name, branch of service and the years served.  When my friend told me about this two weeks ago, I told her on the spot that she had to bring Max to the VFW to meet the veterans. 

So this past Tuesday evening, we all went to the VFW.  Actually, the trip started prior - Dad and our neighbor Boots signed his book before we went to the post.  Max was a little shy at first, but when Dad handed the book back to him, Max stuck out his hand for Dad to shake and then you heard a little voice say "Thank you for serving our country."  I'm here to tell you I was weepy.   While Boots was signing the book, he pointed to his Navy picture on the wall, and to the pictures of other family members and explained to Max when and where they served.  And just as he did with Dad, after Boots handed the book back to him, Max reached out and shook Boots' hand and said once again "Thank you for serving our country."  Yep, you guessed it - weepy again.

I had already told the post Commander that we were coming, and he had made some calls to get more people there on Tuesday night.  When we walked into the canteen, the place was packed.  We started with the veterans sitting at the bar, and then made our way through the entire room, and each time the veteran handed Max the book, he shook their hands and told each of them "Thank you for serving our country."  During our hour there, I have to say I wasn't the only one that was weepy.  Commander Donnie and Quarter Master Steve, pictured above with Max, were a bit glassy-eyed, too.

To all our veterans, Thank You for serving our country.

Mullet Watch

It's been months since we've spotted any mullets, and now it seems they're everywhere. I'm happy to announce we've had yet another mullet sighting. But this isn't just any mullet sighting - this is another first for TWIT's Mullet Watch: this is a recurring mullet sighting.  My friend and co-worker SH reports that she has spotted this mullet on numerous occasions at our local Meijers superstore; the most recent sighting was just the other day.  She says it's a long, classic mullet - party in the front, business in the back. 

Mullet count: 37

Drama At Hometown Buffet

After seeing the TV commercials for "steakhouse classics" at Hometown Buffet for the past couple of weeks, I had a hankering to go.  So the 'rents and I made dinner plans for this evening.  We arrived there shortly after 5:00, and started to enjoy our supper.  The steak was very tender, and the 'rents both had seconds on the country fried steak.  And I will go out on a limb and say their hashbrown casserole was almost as good as Diva Stacy's.  All in all, it was a pleasant meal.  That is, until the drama started.

Three members of the Louisville Metro Police Department's SWAT unit were dining at our Hometown Buffet this evening.  I think they simply decided to stop there for supper on their way back from the big standoff that about five minutes away. (The SWAT team had been there since about 11:00 this morning.)  Anyhoo, the SWAT guys were there enjoying their steakhouse classics just like we were.  Our table was close to the front of the restaurant, and the SWAT guys were one row over from our table. The 'rents' backs were to the cash register, but I had a very clear view of everyone coming into the restaurant.  I was busy eating my onion petals when out of my periphreal vision I saw a guy at the cash register that resembled a thin Grizzley Adams. He had long hair and a long beard, and was smoking a cigarette while carrying two unopened packs, and he also had a pack in his shirt pocket.  He had to be from out of town, because evidently he was unaware that he couldn't smoke in the restaurant.  I heard the cashier tell him the place was non-smoking and that he would have to throw away the cigarette.  Well he also must have been hard of hearing, because he just walked right on through and started to get his salad, all the while puffing away on the cigarette.  The cashier left the cash register and walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder and told him nicely that he would have to put out the cigarette.  It didn't do any good; he ignored her and kept on smoking.  The cashier went to get the manager, but before she could get back Louisville's Finest took care of the situation.  Two of the SWAT guys got up from their table and walked up to the smoker.  They weren't talking as loud as the cashier was, and I'm not very good at reading lips, but I think I can safely assume they asked the guy to get rid of the cigarette, because the guy stepped outside and then came back in sans the cigarette.  You know you can always count on drama to happen when I'm around.  I must be a drama magnet.  But it sure makes for interesting journal entries.

Mullet Watch

I'm almost embarassed to say that it's been over four months since we've had a mullet sighting.  I honestly don't know what the problem is; maybe mullets have been out of season. It's not that we haven't been looking - my faithful readers and I have been watching with a careful eye but we just haven't seen any.  But the dry spell is over and I have quite a few mullet sightings to report.  Just today at during lunch at work, a co-workers reported his mullet sightings, and on my way home from work today, I was lucky enough to spot one myself. 

Our first four (Yes, four!) sightings come to our courtesy of our faithful mullet spotter JMc.  The first one was from a sighting a couple of months ago that he forgot to report. 

While venturing in the Save-A-Lot in Brandenburg, which is a lie - milk is cheaper at Kroger, I noticed a bark brown mullet wearing a black rock shirt.  Classic.

Also, I was viewing Blue Collar Television and they did a spoof with W talking to the American people about a threat to our country -  a mullet threat.  When the speech was nearly finished a mullet came flying in from off camera and he was fighting it.  The next picture it was on his head.  Very funny, especially after some tequila.

Here's JMc's most recent sightings:

The first mullet sighting was at a Quizzno’s sub on the Outer Loop next to the Fairdale redneck mecca, Wally World.  This happened on Sunday around lunch time.  The mullet seemed a little dazed; he probably just woke up from a hard night of partying and drinking PBR’s at a local strip club. It was dark brown in color.

The second mullet was an apparent victim of trying to achieve a Native American look or something.  I don’t know if Conway Twitty was a Native American, but it sure looked like a Twitty with long hair. This was at the local Boy Scout meeting and it belonged to a little scout who is of Native American descent.  Poor guy - not because he's Native American, but because he's a kid with a mullet that makes him look like Conway Twitty with long hair. This sighting was just last night.

 My mullet sighting was earlier this evening at the aforementioned Wal-Mart.  The mullet was spotted leaving Wal-Mart.  It was black, naturally curly (the trained eye could tell the curls were not the result of a home perm) and long.  I have to say it was one of the prettier mullets I've seen.

Mullet count: 36

I Said You WILL Vote

Voter Says He Was Choked By Poll Worker; Arrest Made

Nov 7, 2006 04:50 PM EST

(LOUISVILLE) -- A poll worker on Louisville's south side was arrested a few hours after the polls opened Tuesday and charged with assault, wanton endangerment and interfering with an election. It happened in the 3000 block of Fern Valley Road at the United Auto Workers Hall around 9 a.m.

Emotions apparently got out of hand and a fight erupted between the poll worker, Jeff Steitz, and the voter, William Miller.

Election officials were not allowed to comment on the incident, but Paula McCraney, spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Clerk's office, says the poll worker was accused of choking and pushing William Miller out the door.

Joe Lannan with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department told us they got a call "about 8:30 or a quarter of nine that there was a problem at a polling place, the United Auto Workers Union Hall on Fern Valley Road. And there was an allegation of a voter being assaulted. We sent some deputies out there to investigate and they found there was a victim and witnesses to an assault on a voter by a poll worker."

Lt. Col. Carl Yates says the dispute began when the voting machine rejected Miller's ballot, and Steitz told him the machine wouldn't accept because Miller hadn't voted for any judges.

That's when Miller told Steitz he knew nothing about the judge's race and had no intention of voting for a candidate he knew nothing about. The two men began arguing and Steitz allegedly grabbed Miller by the neck and pushed him out the door.

Yates says Miller tried to come back in and was pushed back outside a second time. The police were called, and when deputies arrived they interviewed Miller and other witnesses before taking Steitz into custody.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - you just don't mess with South End folks.  They sure will stand by their convictions.  And they'll kick your ass if you don't vote for their candidates.

DNA Test, Anyone?

I love all of the "CSI" shows, and by the looks of the ratings, so do millions of others.  Each episode, we see the investigators and scientists perform DNA tests on suspects to prove they were or weren't at the murder scene. It wasn't until the O.J. Simpson trial that we first about DNA testing.  According to the current crime shows on TV, it's common as our crime fighters running a license plate or matching a fingerprint.  DNA testing has also become popular on the soap operas.  Every now and then we'll see the our beloved male characters have their DNA tested to prove they are or aren't a baby's father.  DNA testing is used quite frequently on "All My Children."  They love to run DNA tests to find out who kidnapped babies actually belong to. 

The other day, I received a first in my AOL mailbox: a spam email advertising DNA testing.  I'm not making this up for the sake of a good story in TWIT, faithful readers.  It was in deed an ad for DNA testing.  For the low price of $125, I could order a discrete and easy-to-use home DNA test kit.  I'm guessing the kit would include a couple of Q-tips and a Ziploc bag.  You swab the person's mouth and send the Q-tip back to the company and they will do the test at their lab and let you know the results.  Now, if you want a test that is guaranteed to hold up in court, that will cost you more - $230 to be exact.  But it would be court admissable; a small price to pay for genetic testing, if you ask me. 

I think that the writers on "All My Children" might want to start having the characters used home DNA testing kits instead of having the test run at the hospital.  Apparently, switching the tests or tampering with the samples is also as commonplace as having the actual DNA test done. I know I'd rather have my DNA test sent off to a lab via UPS Next Day Air instead of running the risk of one of my enemies getting hold of the sample at the hospital and tampering with it.

Link Of The Week

It's hard to believe that it's election time once again.  Well, truthfully it's not hard to believe it, since we have to watch a bizillion commercials for the candidates on TV.  As I've said before in TWIT, I don't delve into politics much, but I will say to you, my faithful readers, to get out this Tuesday and vote.  And before you vote, here's a website that might help you out.  If you're in Indiana or Kentucky, you'll be voting for Congress positions.  It's been a very ugly campaign for both states, with all kinds of mud slinging going on.  But if you'd like to put all of that aside and find some actual facts about the candidates, TWIT can help you out.  Just visit http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/ and enter the Congressman or Congresswoman's name and you can find out how they have voted on every issue in Congress since 1991.  I hope it helps you sort through all of the mud that's been slung and find some truths.   And please vote on Tuesday.

The 'Ville Is In The Spotlight

The eyes of the sports world have been on Louisville for the past few days.  It started Thursday with the big U of L vs. West Virginia football game, and it continues today with the very $$ Breeders Cup races at our beloved Churchill Downs and it will end later on this month with the impressive National Livestock Expo.  Today is being billed as the richest day in racing - even more so than the Kentucky Derby.  We've been watching the Breeders Cup coverage on TV all day long, and while we haven't seen any big celebrities like they show on Derby Day, we've seen very big money - most of the Royal Family of Dubai are here today.  During the past week, all of the talk has been the either the football game or Breeders Cup - the news coverage has been non-stop.  While all of this was going on, the news coverage of another major event has gone pretty much unnoticed: a local man, who is an activist against crime, was almost beaten to death.

The Rev. Jerome Garrison has regularly participated in Louisville prayer vigils against violence and, as a counselor, he works with clients who've been victims of crime. But early this week, Garrison became a victim himself -- beaten by a gang of youths while walking the few blocks home from his office.  Rev. Garrison said he knew immediately he was in trouble.  They began punching him, knocking him to the ground and then stamping on him.   He said it seemed like they wouldn't stop, and he said he could tell they were getting a big thrill out of beating him up.  He said they were cheering and carrying on like they were at a pep rally.  He said that he knew he would be killed by the group of eight or more thugs if he didn't do something, so he managed to get up on his feet and ran into the traffic on Broadway.  Fortunately, no cars hit him, and he was able to make it to a store where he called 911 for help.

So while the sports casters and the Chamber of Commerce are all welcoming people to Louisville for the big events, this story has been pushed aside. I'm sure they think that the tens of thousands of visitors pumping big bucks into the city's economy don't need to hear something like this. But it's real.  It's as real as a big football win, and it's as real as a horse winning a multi-million dollar race. And after the spotlight fades on the Cardinals football team and on the Breeders Cup Classic winner, events like this will still exist; they won't fade away.

I'm A Loser

If anyone remembers, I wrote last fall about being in a fantasy football league at work.  It was my first year to partake in such an endeavor, and I actually ended up with a winning season.  True, I only won one game more than I lost, but that counts as a winning season nonetheless.  The same guy at work that put last year's league together approached me late summer and asked if I'd like to join a league again this season.  Why sure, I told him.  I'd gotten the hang of it last year, and while I still didn't know what I was doing, I wasn't quite as intimidated as I was last year. 

I went into the league with high hopes.  I was still feeling good from last year's winning season, which I can attribute largely to having first pick in our draft last year and getting Peyton Manning.  This year, I got third pick in the draft.  Not an unusually bad spot, so I thought.  Needless to say, we're getting ready for week 9 in the NFL season, and I'm ashamed to say I'm 0-8.  I've got some great players, so it's not like I have all fourth string benchwarmers playing for me.  It's just that I can't get all of my players to have a great week at the same time.  There's been no middle ground in the weekly scores, too -- either I've gotten my ass kicked or I've only lost by a few points.  There is one small consolation, though -- the first week of the season, one of the players (a co-worker up in the Technical Services department) was doing some major trash talking to his opponent that week.  He's currently 1-7. There's a little bit of comfort knowing that I'm only one game behind him. 

File Under: WTF?

Woman unexpectedly has baby boy

26-year-old woman unexpectedly gives birth after gaining 30 pounds

The Associated Press

Updated: 11:41 a.m. ET Nov 2, 2006

BELLEVUE, Wash. - Amanda Brisendine attributed the 30 pounds she gained in the past year to an abandoned smoking habit and rich food. So when she went to the hospital with sharp stomach pain, she wasn’t expecting to leave with a newborn son.

“I don’t know how I didn’t know. I just didn’t know,” Brisendine said Tuesday from her bed at Overlake Medical Center’s Birthing Center, where she delivered Alexander Joseph Britt by Caesarean section.

George Macones, chairman of the OB/GYN department at Washington University in St. Louis, said he’s seen about a dozen cases in his nearly 20-year career in which a woman didn’t know she was pregnant.  The pregnancy isn’t always obvious when a woman is overweight, or a woman will have spotting or bleeding during the pregnancy and mistake it for menstruation, said Macones, who specializes in high-risk pregnancies.

The 26-year-old Renton woman went to Group Health Cooperative’s Eastside campus last Saturday after experiencing several days of abdominal pain so intense that she called in sick from work.  Doctors examined her and performed a pregnancy test that showed she was nine months pregnant.

“I was so shocked. I was nauseous,” said Brisendine, whose boyfriend Jason Britt didn’t believe her at first.  I thought she was lying,” said Britt, 33.

Already mother to a 14-month-old daughter, Melodies, Brisendine said she didn’t experience typical pregnancy symptoms, like a missed menstruation, morning sickness, fatigue or food cravings. “Everything was normal as far as I knew,” she said.

Ultrasounds showed low amniotic fluid in the placenta and the baby wasn’t moving properly, said Brisendine’s doctor, Danica Bloomquist.  “From our assessment, the baby wasn’t doing well in utero,” Bloomquist said. “He needed to come out.”

After an emergency C-section Sunday, Brisendine delivered 7-pound, 5-ounce Alexander.  “We’re in for a really, really big adventure,” Brisendine said.

There's just not much I can say about this other than WTF?  I haven't experienced pregnancy, but I like to think that I would know if I were pregnant.  Surely I would know a large weight gain was due to carrying a baby to full term and not as a result of too many Little Debbies and Doritos.  I'm sorry, but if you're too stupid to realize that you're pregnant after carrying a baby for nine months, you have no business getting pregnant in the first place. 

What Happened To The Seasons?

It was a cold, rainy, dreary day in the 'Ville today, and after a day of gloom, I decided to stay home tonight and crash and watch TV.  After getting caught up on three episodes of "All My Children" I started flipping the channels on the TV.  Imagine my surprise when I came across an NCAA basketball game.  I did a double-take, for I was sure that my eyes were playing tricks on me; surely I was watching a local high school basketball game that happened to be televised.  Nope, I was watching a U of L preseason game.   Maybe this journal entry should have been titled "WTF?" instead.  I shook my head in disbelief.  This is November 1 -- NCAA football and the NFL are almost at mid-season; we just ended the MLB season a few days ago; we just started the NHL season a few days ago; the NBA starts its season tonight; and now we also have preseason NCAA basketball.  It's quite exhausting, isn't it?  Add to this the fact that the Breeders Cup horse races are coming up Saturday and throw in NASCAR for good measure and you've got sports coming at us from all sides. 

Whatever happened to definitive seasons of sports?  Baseball used to be in the summer, football used to be in the fall, and basketball used to be in the winter. Now, they all overlap.  I remember hearing that that there is one day a year (I think in the spring) where there are no sports being played.  I'd sure like to know what day that is, because I don't think there is such a thing.