Farewell, 2007

It's hard to believe that tomorrow we begin a new year.  It seems like just yesterday we were reminiscing on everything that happened in 2006.   As I sit here and think back on 2007, I've tried to come up with one event singular even that had an impact on me this year.  Without a doubt, it has to be the April 16 massacre at Virginia Tech. 

I've never mentioned it much in TWIT, but I am a strong advocate in our right to bear arms.  I just wonder if the college kids on the VA Tech campus had been allowed to carry concealed weapons, how differently April 16 might have been.  Students who were carrying their weapons might have had a chance to fight back, and 32 other students might not have been killed.  But as it was, weapons were not allowed on the campus. 

This was probably the most tragic incident in our country in 2007 - and personally, one that should have had the most impact on us.  But I'm afraid a lot of people will forget about that and instead focus on the Michael Vick dog fighting drama.  It's sad how many people forgot about the 33 lives lost that day at the VA Tech campus, when they are thinking about the cute puppies shown all over the TV that are involved in Michael Vick's dog fighting drama. We see those helpess dogs, and have forgotten the faces of the 32 innocent young adults that were killed that day.

 

 

 

Link Of The Week

It's hard to believe that at midnight tomorrow night, we'll begin a new year.  2007 has just flown by, and at this year end, everybody has their own Top Ten list of the year's news events, songs, movies, sporting events, etc.  You name it, and somewhere out there on the world wide web you'll find a list for it.  This week, I found a great site that gives you not one, but fifty top ten lists of the year.  It's brought to us by the great folks at Time magazine.  Visit http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/top10/0,30576,1686204,00.html and take a look.  And be sure to stay tuned for TWIT's Top Ten list tomorrow.

Way To Go, Fergie

 

                             TWIT would like to congratulate Fergie on the honkin' engagement ring she just received from fiance Josh Duhamel. In case you don't know who he is, Duhamel co-stars on NBC's popular show "Las Vegas."  Props to him for picking out that rock.  And props to Fergie for having one of the best CD's of the year, "The Dutchess."  It's definitely in my top five for 2007. 

Flashback Friday

It's just been three days since Christmas, and I'm sure that a lot of kids are already tired of some of the toys and games they got. Like most kids these days, they get so much that often times they don't even know what all they did get.  I can tell you almost item for item stuff I got Christmas of 1976.  It was one of my favorite Christmases.  I was 13 years old, and it was the year I got a bunch of albums and cassettes for Christmas.  A couple in particular stick out in my memory.

My cousin and his wife knew I was all into music, and they sent me The Eagles "Hotel California" on cassette and Peter Frampton "Frampton Comes Alive" on album.  Mom and Dad gave me a few albums, among which was "Hotel California".  Yep, I had two versions of the same monster hit album, and believe me when I tell you I thought I was all that for having "Hotel California" on album and cassette. That was quite impressive among my circle of friends.  I know I probably drove my family crazy playing "Life In The Fast Lane" over and over, but you know something? Not once did I ever hear them say "Will you turn that down?!!"

That was also the Christmas that I got my first album by Heart, "Dreamboat Annie."  It was also their first album.  I wore it out and saved my allowance to buy another copy.  I had the album memorized, and could sing it frontwards and backwards.  It was digitally remastered earlier this year, and it's as awesome as it ever was, but there's just some little something missing by it not being on good old vinyl.

Good Luck, Paul

TWIT would like to wish the best of luck to my best friend at work, Paul, as he embarks on a new career.  Next Wednesday, he'll start a new job at an engineering consulting firm.  It's very bittersweet as I write this; I will miss him very much, but at the same time I am very excited about his new career.  He's getting more $$, which honestly is what we all strive for at our jobs, and he'll be working just minutes from home. It's truly been a pleasure and a blessing to work with him and eat lunch with him every day for the past five years. 

I know that he's just changing jobs and it's not like he's moving halfway across the world or anything, but I will still miss him very much. He's a hero to some of us at work, whether he knows it or not; he had the faith and backbone to step out and do something that a lot of us wish we could do, but are afraid to.

TWIT and I wish you the best of luck my friend - I know you will suceed in whatever you do. 

Christmas Miracle Update

I'm very happy to report that we had not one but two Christmas miracles at The Compound.  First of all, the missing Ginsu scissors have been found.  In one last ditch effort, Dad and I moved the couch and looked underneath and around it to no avail. Then he tilted back his recliner for the third time as I crawled on the floor and looked up inside of it.  Low and behold, the Ginsu scissors were inside.  They apparently fell from Dad's lap down the side of the chair and were stuck inside.  Hallelujah.

The second Christmas miracle happened later yesterday evening when I drove Mom up to her sister-in-law's house to drop off her Christmas present.  I backed the BMW out of the garage and as Mom got in the car, she noticed the second miracle had taken place: the passenger door handle was working again.  For the past few months, whenever you opened the passenger door, you had to manually press the door handle back down, or else the door wouldn't close.  Once again, low and behold the door handle works again.  Yep, Christmas is the time for miracles. 

Christmas Is A Time For Miracles

We've all read and heard stories of how Christmas is a time for miracles.  The legend has it that at midnight Christmas Eve, animals are given the gift of speech.  I've never been outside in the backyard at midnight Christmas Eve in years past to listen if the donkeys talked, so I can't testify to that one, but a few Christmas TV shows and movies said the miracle happened.  Today, on Christmas day, we could sure use a Christmas miracle here at The Compound; we've lost the Ginsu scissors and can't find them anywhere.

They were last seen and used last night at about 8:30, when Dad used them to open the indestructable plastic packaging on his new Norelco electric razor, and they haven't been seen since.  I rolled up my sleeves and put on latex gloves this morning and went through two bags of garbage piece by piece in case the Ginsu scissors were thrown away accidentally.  But they were nowhere to be found among the coffee grounds, orange rinds and table scraps.  We've search on and under the couch and recliners to no avail, and have looked in every drawer and cabinet in the house.  I even looked in bathrooms, and still no Ginsu scissors.  It's just the afternoon and Christmas Day isn't over yet, so maybe there's still time for a Christmas miracle and we'll find the missing Ginsu scissors.

A Christmas Wish For My Faithful Readers

It's hard to believe it's Christmas Eve.  As a little kid, I remember I would be running on adrenalin all day long.  Now that I'm older, (note: I didn't say "old") Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is wayyyyy more low key.  As I sit here still in my pajamas and sipping coffee, I've been thinking of what I would give to you, my faithful readers, if I had an endless supply of money and power this Christmas.  Here's a few things I've come up with. 

For SH - I would get you a year's worth of no doctors' and dentists' visit for you and your kids.  You've had more than your share of trips to the doctor for you and P and M this year, and you deserve a year of the family being healthy and pain-free.

For JMc - I would give you a gift certificate to the Gibson factory store in Memphis, where you could go there and pick out any guitar that you want.  You work hard with your job, Boy Scouts, and various sports with your kids, and you deserve it.  And if they don't have what you want at the store, just have them custom make one for you. 

For JM - I would give you an acre of land where you could grow and landscape a rememberance garden of flowers and plant an awesome vegetable garden.  Of course, there would be a catch - you would have plant me a few rows of black eyed peas. 

For Big Mama - I would give you an authentic stage outfit that Roy Orbison wore while performing, complete with sunglasses.  I'd also give you a few cases of Tall Boys. 

For ABI - I would give you a cruise to whereever you'd want to go, alone.  You're a working mother and are into a lot of things, and you could probably use some "me" time by yourself.  

For BioTat - I would give you a housekeeper to do all of the cooking, cleaning and shopping at your home, so you would never have to do it again. 

For MP - I would give you an exact replica of Sunkist.  I'd also have it fitted with a sidecar for me to ride in. 

For Diva Stacy - I would give you the tour bus that belonged to The First Lady of Country Music, Miss Tammy Wynette, complete with a driver.  But this gift is given out of partially selfish motives, because I would be on the bus, too. 

 

Link Of The Week

I have a few friends who are elementary school teachers, and I've heard them mention how they end up spending hundreds of dollars a year of their own money to buy supplies for their classes.  Sure, the school system provides some things, but the teachers spend their own money to buy things that could really benefit the students. 

Friday night, I saw a very cool story on ABC's "20/20" - it was about a teacher who designed a website where other teachers could post things that they really need for their class, and people just like you and me could donate money to buy them.  I did some checking, and found out this is a very worthwhile and legitimate cause.  If you have a few bucks leftover from after your Christmas shopping is done, please visit http://www.donorschoose.org and help them out.  Even if it's only a couple of bucks, it will still be very much appreciated.  I'm very happy to say I won some money last week and in honor of TWIT and all of my faithful readers, I made a donation to help a teacher buy white wipe boards for her class.  I don't ask you, my faithful readers, to donate very often but this is a very worthwhile cause.  Donors Choose receives the TWIT Seal Of Approval.

A PC Greeting For My Faithful Readers

I wanted to send some sort of holiday greeting to you, my faithful readers, but it is so difficult in today's world to know exactly what to say without offending someone. So I met with my lawyers last night , and on their advice I wish to say the following:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of the summer/winter solstice holiday (depending upon your particular hemisphere of residence), practiced with the most enjoyable traditions of religious persuasion or secular practices of your choice with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make our country great (not to imply that it is necessarily greater than any other country) and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms:

This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wishor to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wishor. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wishor.

Disclaimer: No trees were harmed in the sending of this message; however, a significant number of electrons were slightly inconvenienced.

Flashback Friday

Today is the last day of school before Christmas break for the schools, and I know there were a lot of excited kids today as the school classes had their winter celebrations.  Yes, you heard me correctly.  They can't call them Christmas parties, lest any non-Christian people be offended. They also can't have Halloween parties; instead they have harvest parties.  When I was in elementary school we had Christmas parties, and would have fought someone if they dared to call it anything else. 

Christmas party day was second only in terms of excitement to the last day of school.  The only  school work we did was the Friday spelling test; other than that, the teacher would give us pages to color or puzzles to work out.  After lunch, the room mothers would come and the partying would begin.  A few weeks before Christmas party day, we would all draw names and back in my elementary school days, there was a $2 or $3 limit on the present.  But you could get a pretty decent gift for a few bucks.  Some kids would get gypped bigtime, and their present would be the dreaded Lifesavers Book, but I always gave and received cool gifts.  After passing out the presents and opening them, the room mothers would hand out the good stuff.  They'd have homemade cupcakes and cookies (another no-no in the schools today -- the kids have to bring in prepackaged items), soft drinks and other snacks.  Everybody would get a clear plastic stocking filled with hard candy, and our teacher would usually give us a pen or pencil shaped like a candy cane.  We'd play games, and the teacher would get a record player from the audio-visual department and play Christmas records. A good time was always had by all.

 

Choosing Battles

I was in quite a mood yesterday evening, but thanks to my visit to the nursing home with my Ladies Auxiliary members, it snapped me out of it, just like the visit usually does.  For an hour and a half last night, I didn't think and stew over something that really irritated me yesterday. Let me preface by saying the parties mentioned in this sordid tale do not read TWIT; but the way I feel about this ordeal, I could not care less if they do, so they'll know how I really feel. 

First, a little background on what put me in the mood.  Basically, I was helping out someone who was ungreatful.  I helped out one of my SF's (School Friends, in case you forgot the abbreviation) by packing and mailing a package from her to her WT daugther et al in Florida.  The other recipients of said package were here WT daughter's live-in boyfriend, his son, and her three kids (each with a different father).  I was helping out my SF because she was working crazy hours this week and because I try to be helpful to my friends. So I went out during my lunch on Monday to pick up a gigantic slow cooker and other items from the SF's office, and when I got back to work I lugged them back to the shipping department out in the factory where they helped pack everything up for me. In doing so, I didn't pay attention to the fact that a receipt for a few of the gifts was in a plastic shopping bag where a few gift cards were. 

The WT daughter had called her mother (the SF) before the package had even been mailed, asking for the tracking number.  I guess you can tell she sure wanted the package, huh?   I got the package shipped from work, and it arrived in just two days, with everything in tact.  I called the SF last night after I had tracked the shipment and told her that it had been received that afternoon.  She said "Yes, I know.  J called me earlier and said that you packed a receipt in the box."  It hit me instantly like a knife in the gut.  I said "OK, sorry about that" and hung up.  I didn't get one "Thanks for taking your time, effort and gasoline to get the packages for my daughter and her kids and mailing this for me." Nor did the WT daughter say "Tell Puddin thanks for much for helping you out and mailing the package." 

As I said, I stewed on it the rest of the day and all night long, and the only time it didn't bother me was when I was at the nursing home.  On the drive back home from the nursing home, I remembered something my best friend Diva Stacy told me about chosing my battles.  After stewing some more, I thought "I'm choosing this as a battle to fight."  When I got back home, I couldn't stand it any more, and called the SF back, and told her how I felt.  Of course, she apologized and said "Oh, don't take it personally - J didn't mean anything buy it."  But I couldn't let it go.  I simply told her that next year, I would not offer to help her out by mailing her Christmas, nor any other holiday, packages to her ungreatful daughter.  And yes, I did use the word ungreatful.  She probably won't speak to me again, but I really don't care.  I'm tired of trying to help people out and getting screwed over.  It's time that Puddin put on her big girl pants and kept them on. 

File Under: WTF?

It's rare that I have two WTF experiences in two consecutive days, but this morning as I was watching the news while getting ready for work, I heard something on the news that definitely made me say WTF.  The breaking news headline was Britney Spears' little sister is pregnant.  That's enough to make Britney herself say WTF.  I'm sure their mother Lynne Spears probably said it when she found out a few weeks ago. 

Yes, it's true.  Jamie Lynn Spears, just 16 years old, announced today that she's three months pregnant. She said she was in "total shock" when she found out.  I'm thinking that her mother might need to have The Talk with her, because it sure seems like she doesn't know very much about all of this.  She said she intends to move back to her home in Louisiana and raise her baby there so it can have a "normal family life."  Maybe it's just me, but "normal" is not a word I would use to describe the Spears family life.

This raises a couple of questions.  First of all, what type of message is this for the millions of young kids that watch Jamie Lynn's hit Nickelodian show "Zoey 101"?  I realize that a 16 year old girl getting pregnant is not earth shattering news, but call me old fashioned for believing something is wrong with it.   She's a kid having a kid.  Maybe I'm too hardcore, but I hope Nickelodian pulls the show from the air and cancels her contract.

And what about her age?  She's 16 years old.  What about statutory rape?  The father of Jamie Lynn's baby is 19; I repeat, she's 16 years old.  Even if it was consentual, there are still laws against that sort of thing. 

I read a little about this online tonight, and one article said that big sister [and apparent role model] Britney was furious when she heard the news.  I think she's just hacked off because she heard the news today - the same day that we heard about it. 

File Under: WTF?

It's 9:15, and I'm happy to say that I completed all of my Christmas shopping in two hours tonight.  Actually an hour an a half, if you factor in a half hour I spent visiting with neighbors at our 'hood new dining and drinking establishment before I came home.  It wasn't that bad of an experience; it could have been a lot worse.  I needed help from a Sales Associate at Wal-Mart and only had to wait 7 minutes before I was helped.  While standing in the electronics department waiting to be helped, I noticed something disturbing.  I started counting and in the 7 minute duration of my wait, I saw 4 young women shopping in the store wearing flannel sleep pants. Sad, sad, sad.

I've never admitted this to anyone, but on Christmas Eve eve 2004, I actually went out of the house in my flannel sleep pants and drove in the BMW up to the drive-thru at White Castle to get burgers for lunch.  It was after spending 5 hours shovelling snow from our driveway. And no, I didn't shovel the snow in the flannel pants; I changed into them after getting out of my jeans and long underwear.  But I never set foot out of the car except in my own driveway; I wasn't traipsing through a crowded mega-store the week before Christmas doing my shopping. 

I don't know where things went wrong.  Somewhere along the way, young women got the impression that it was perfectly OK to wear these flannel sleep pants out in public. I don't know where they got that idea, but they need to rethink. 

Farewell, Dan Fogelberg

 

                            

TWIT is sad to announce that Dan Fogelberg has died.  The singer/songwriter was only 56 years old.  He died at his home in Maine on Sunday after a fight with prostate cancer.  Fogelberg is credited with defining the soft rock era of the late 70's and early 80's with his mega hits "Longer" and "Same Auld Lang Syne."

Fogelberg's voice was very soft, and he relied on his poignant lyrics to convey his emotions in his songs.  Another big hit with touching lyrics was "Leader Of The Band" - a tribute he wrote for his father.  Fogelberg wrote another song that wasn't a very big hit across the nation, but remains a huge hit here in the 'Ville - "Run For The Roses" - a song he wrote about thoroughbred race horses and the Kentucky Derby.  The song is a staple on local TV coverage Derby day. 

Dan Fogelberg was one of my favorite singers and songwriters, and his "Souvenirs" album is in my top ten list of all time favorite albums.  I remember saving my allowance and buying the album in 1975 after hearing a friend's dad play "Part Of The Plan" on the guitar.  After I learned to play the guitar, I learned every song on the album and would play along with it at least once a week.  It was probably the first album that I actually listened to in depth - I would study the lyrics and took the time to really listen.  I wore out my first copy of "Souvenirs" and had to buy another.   

You will be missed, Dan Fogelberg, but your music and your memory will live on forever. 

Link Of The Week

Twas a week and two days before Christmas, and all through the house everyone was singing Christmas carols but they didn't know all the words. How's your Christmas carol knowledge?  I came across a website this week that has a cool quiz you can take that will test how well you know Christmas carols.  Visit http://www.chicagotribune.com/carolquiz,0,4932856.triviaquiz and give it a try. I got an 88%. 

Christmas Shopping Epiphany

As I sit here in my nice warm, dry home tonight, I'm very thankful to be inside instead of outside sloshing around in the almost two inches of rain we've had in the last 24 hours.  Of course tonight when the temps drop, all of that will freeze and everything will be one big ice skating rink.  Other than dealing with round 3 of an upper respiratory infection, it's very peaceful and calm here at The Compound tonight.  Yet I'm reminded of my anxiety attack that I had last night after work. 

I mentioned that the Rents and I passed on our annual shopping trip to the mall, but I still needed to make a trip out there to pick up two gift cards. For the past 8 years, the School Friends and I have bought gifts for the teenage girls at a local school for runaway and abandoned teenage girls, instead of drawing names for the obligatory Christmas gift exchange. I needed to get two gift cards from the popular Hot Topic store, and believe me when I tell you that had it not been for these orphaned girls, there's no way in hell I would have driven out to the mall on a Friday night during rush hour traffic.  What normally would have been a 25 minute trip turned into a 70 minute trip.  While stuck in the rush hour traffic all that time, I think I invented some new cuss words. But I digress.  While having an anxiety attack last night over this frightmare, something dawned on me; an epiphany, if you will.  Next year, I plan on making Christmas mall-free.  I discovered that I can buy my Hot Topic gift cards online and they'll mail them to me.  You can't get much easier than that. 

Flashback Friday

                               

What a difference fifty years makes. 

 

File Under: WTF?

Man drinks liter of vodka at airport line

BERLIN (AP) -- A man nearly died from alcohol poisoning after quaffing a liter (two pints) of vodka at an airport security check instead of handing it over to comply with new carry-on rules, police said Wednesday.

The incident occurred at the Nuremberg airport on Tuesday, where the 64-year-old man was switching planes on his way home to Dresden from a holiday in Egypt.

New airport rules prohibit passengers from carrying larger quantities of liquid onto planes, and he was told at a security check he would have to either throw out the bottle of vodka or pay a fee to have his carry-on bag checked as cargo.

Instead, he chugged the bottle down - and was quickly unable to stand or otherwise function, police said.  A doctor called to the scene determined he had possibly life-threatening alcohol poisoning, and he was sent to a Nuremberg clinic for treatment. The man, whose name was not released, is expected to be able to complete his journey home in a few days.

If I was this guy, I probably wouldn't want my name released, either, for fear everyone would know how stupid I was. 

Always the inquisitive one, I did some research on German airport carry-on restrictions, and found that the same rule applies in Germany as it does here in the U.S..  According to the Overseas Security Advisory Council, "All bottles and tubes of a maximum of 100ml each must be carried separately in a clear plastic zip-top bag not exceeding 20cm x 20cm and presented at the security checkpoint." Actually, you're better off in Europe using the metric system - 100ml converts to 3.8 ounces.  So if I interpret the OSAC rule correctly, the man could have packaged his liter of vodka in smaller 100ml bottles, and then placed each bottle in a Zip-Loc bag and he would have been OK; I didn't read any stipulation on how many 100ml tubes or bottles one could have in their carry-on bags.  If only he had taken the time to read the OSAC website like I did, it would have saved him a lot of trouble and embarassment.  Not to mention emergency room and lawyer fees.

I thought about this from a monetary perspective, too.  I made a quick phone call to the liquor store up at the corner, and asked them for some prices on a liter of vodka.  He gave me the prices of several different brands, but the cheaper (but not cheapest) was $8.00 for a liter.  Now, if I were travelling like this man, I wouldn't want to take the expsenive liquor with me in my check-through baggage, simply because I woudn't take a chance on the bottle breaking and everything in my suitcase smell like Patron tequila; I would have bought the cheap stuff, and would have picked a brand that comes in the plastic bottle (appropriately referred to as "traveller").  I sure would not have stood there at the security checkpoint and gulped down over two pints of straight vodka just because I didn't want to pour it out or put it in my checked-through luggage. 

Glory Of Rome Late Fall Trip Review

Work has been a bear the past few months, with coming in early every morning for new computer system training.  Add to that the usual drama from the VFW,and you've got one stressed out Puddin.  So I decided I needed a little break, so yesterday after work I headed over across the bridge to my beloved Glory Of Rome casino and hotel and spent the night.  It was a welcomed break.  I had a coupon for a room for only $19, and I think I used up that much in water when taking my long bubble bath last night.  I also had a coupon for $10 in free play, and I was able to turn that into a sweet $98, so without spending a dime of my money, my room and steak dinner (served to my by their awesome room service staff) was paid for, plus I had cash leftover. 

When I win any amount of money, I get excited.   In fact, I get as excited over winning $98 as I would if I'd won $9800.   When I won my $98 last night, a woman about my age was sitting at the machine next to me.  She was playing the maximum amount of coins you could play on one spin, and she had just won $303.  If that had been me, I would have had to run back to the hotel room to get some dry pants.  But I digress.  As soon as I won my $98, I cashed out and headed back to the hotel room.  As I was walking away, I heard the woman say "Now I can pay my water bill!"  Do I really need to say any more?

Coincidence Or Not?

I've said before that I believe there is no such thing as coincidence; I believe that things happen because they're meant to happen.  That having been said, on to the non-coincidence event of the day.

As I type this in TWIT, it's my lunch break, and all day long I've been waiting with nervous anticipation for my boss to give me my annual performance evaluation.  I know how I work, and there should be no surprises on the review, but it still nerves me up a bit.  When I got to work this morning, as I was checkign my email, I noticed that in my inbox were 19 identical emails with the subject line of "Do you want a new career?", "What to make more money?" and "Tired of the same old job?".  Coincidence?  Today, I sure hope so. 

Breaking Tradition

Ever since the first Christmas that TWIT was in publication, I've written about my annual trip to the mall.  Yes, I only go to the mall once a year, and that's only because it's a family tradition with the 'Rents and me.  Tonight was supposed to be the 2007 installment of the family trip to the mall.  Note that I used the word "supposed."  You guessed it - it didn't happen.  It was a cold, rainy day, and the 'Rents are still trying to get over their colds and sinus infections, and even though we'd planned to go tonight, we just weren't in the mood to get out in the rain and fog and head out to the mall.  Actually, the trip's fate was sealed earlier this morning when I found out that the only store at the mall that we wanted to buy something from (San Francisco Music Box Company) was no longer at the infamous J-Mall.  So really, there was no need to drive a half hour to get to the mall just to walk through it and fight the crowds.  So when I got home from work, the 'Rents were resting in their recliners, wrapped up in their blankies, and said they really didn't care either way about going to the mall, since the one store we wanted to visit was gone, and they told me to make the call.  I got Mom's debit card and got online and ordered my Christmas present from the Music Box Company, and we stayed home where it was warm and dry and ate pizza rolls and watched Andy Griffith.  Who knows?  Maybe we've started a new tradition.  You don't get much better than a nice night like that with family.

Link Of The Week

When I first got internet access way back in the summer of 1998, little did I know that such awesome things like Elf Bowling would be coming my way via my inbox. Starting around Thanksgiving each year and lasting until New Year, I would get dozens of emails from friends, family and co-workers sending a link to Elf Bowling. It was fun at first, but then it just became annoying.  That craze lasted until this year when another interesting elf-themed email started making the rounds.  It seems Elf Bowling has been replaced by Elf Yourself.  If you're one of the few that haven't received an email with a link to it, never fear - TWIT will take care of that right now.  Just go to http://www.elfyourself.com and join the millions who have elfed theirself.  I have to say it's pretty cool - you upload a picture of a person, and using the surprisingly good editing software at the site, crop the face from the picture and edit it and then in a matter of seconds that face will appear on the body of a dancing elf.  You can make up to four elves, so your elf won't have to dance alone.

Christmas 2007 Update

The 'Rents and I have officially declared that Christmas 2007 is under way.  The declaration came earlier this morning, as we were planning the day's Christmas festivities.  We left The Compound shortly after lunch today, with the Odyessy loaded down with us and the L's and their grandkids. The first stop was Walnut Street Baptist Church for the annual Christmas program.  Let me tell you it was quite a production.  I was wondering how they would top last year's program, but somehow they did. Everybody loved it, especially the L's grandkids. 

After the program, we piled in the Odyessy and headed farther downtown to Fourth Street Live (the 'Ville's version of a non-gambling Las Vegas strip), where we had supper at the Hard Rock Cafe.  The kids enjoyed it as much as the adults, especially when the servers and bartenders jumped on top of the bar and empty tables to sing happy birthday to a patron. 

I drove the long way back to The Compound so my passengers could see the Christmas lights downtown and in neighborhoods along the way.  While we were travelling, we had Christmas music playing on the radio, and at one point we were all singing along to "Angels We Have Heard On High."  We might not have been ready to perform at WSB's Christmas extravaganza, but we sounded pretty good.

All in all, it was an awesome day spent with family, and we do consider the L clan as family.  They had a rough year with Boots' illness and death, and we know it will be a rough Christmas for them, but family helps you get through.  On the way back home tonight the L's said how much a WSB member's testimony on being joyful during the Christmas program meant to them.  The woman said she spent Christmas last year in a women's homeless shelter after she left her house, job, friends and family because she was being abused by her husband.  She said that just a year later, she was able to host Thanksgiving brunch and dinner in her home for 20 homeless people, and how she'll be doing the same on Christmas day.  She said to take an obstacle and turn it into an opportunity.  Let me say that there were quite a few misty eyes in the sanctuary after she gave her brief testimonty during the Christmas program. 

Flashback Friday

                        

Last week on Flashback Friday, we discussed cereal box prizes.  This week, we'll continue with the theme and discuss prizes that were actually on the cereal box.  Of course, I can only be talking about one thing: cardboard and flimsy plastic records. 

I'll be enternally grateful to folks at Post for putting the records on the back of their Alpha Bits and Honeycomb cereals.  My favorite was the above-pictured Bobby Sherman record featuring his song "Easy Come Easy Go."  Mind you, as a small child, I wasn't the best at cutting cardboard with those small safety scissors, so my records from the back of the cereal boxes would never be perfectly round like a record should be, but fortunately I never cut into the plastic so the record would still play.  Even though I wanted to play the cereal box records on the 'Rents' very nice German stereo, I had to play them on my green and white plastic portable record player.

Partial Justice Is Served

Yesterday was a day that Louisvillians had been waiting for since July - a man was arrested and indicted for the murder of 4 year-old Cesar Ivan Aguilar-Cano.  Louisville Metro Police arrested convicted and registered sex offender Cecil New for Cesar's murder.  Of course, he pled not guilty. 

The murder trial is expected to start in February 2009 - over a year away.  As you know by now, I'm a gambling woman, and I'd give you 2-1 odds that Mr. New will probably not live long enough to make it to his Constitutional-right to a trial by a jury of his peers, thanks to the jail justice system.

I read some message boards tonight, and it bothers me that most of the people that took the time to post a message were focussing on the fact that little Cesar's mother is an illegal alien, and according to some, an unfit mother for letting him play outside unsupervised.  Those are two valid facts, and in my opinion they can't be disputed.  But for now, let's just focus on justice for Cesar, and pray that the Commonwealth's Attorney will be able to present the evidence in such a manner that the jury will find Cecil New guilty so justice for little Cesar can finally be served.  I was sick to my stomach last night when I thought about what little Cesar most likely went through before his death, and wished that the same heinous things could be done to Cecil New.

 

 

File Under: WTF?

Monkey business bad for clerk

 

HILDEBRAN - Store clerk Brooke Ross has learned a valuable lesson the hard way: Resist the urge to pet a monkey.

A man with a monkey on his shoulder patronized the Family Food Mart in Rutherford College on Sunday.  When the man, whom Ross didn't know, stepped up to the counter, the small monkey stepped off his shoulder. Ross reached out to pet the monkey and it attacked, biting her on the right cheek near her eye.

"I thought, 'Oh, how cute.' The next thing I know I'm bleeding," Ross said.

The man told Ross the monkey has all its shots then hastily snatched up the monkey and left the store. "It all happened so fast," Ross said. "I was just kind of shocked."  Ross was treated at an area hospital for the bite. Doctors put her on strong antibiotics, she said, and told her to keep the area clean. She has not been treated for rabies, Ross said. Ross was back at work on Monday at a different store, the Family Food Mart in Hildebran.  Her cheek is red with scratches and a larger mark where the bite penetrated her skin.

Because the attack surprised her, Ross wasn't able to give animal control officers a description of the man or the vehicle he was driving, Ross said.  Sheriff's Lt. Steve Massey said it's not the first time he's had reports of a monkey biting someone. He said monkeys may be cute, but warned not to pet one unless the owner invites you to.  "Just leave them alone," Massey said.  Massey said most exotic animals aren't left outside so the chances of them having rabies is less likely because they're not getting exposed to the disease.

Ross was able to joke with customers on Monday about the attack. Most of her customers reacted with surprise when she told them what happened.  The next time she comes across a monkey, Ross said, "I'm running away."

I think that's the thing to do, Brooke Ross.

This article raises a couple of questions.  First of all, why in heaven's name would a person take their pet monkey to the grocery store with them?  I'm sure the monkey has a cage or little monkey house back at its owner's home.  And it's not like the monkey was a big gorilla and could help carry the groceries back home.  Second, I just wonder what type of person has a monkey for a pet. Apparently he takes the monkey everywhere, just like Paris Hilton takes her chihuaua everywhere with her. I wonder if he has little clothes for it.  Personally, I'd love to see the little monkey wearing a Santa Clause suit.

A Few Tons Of Prevention?

The cold front moved through the Ohio Valley Sunday night and brought with it another blast of cold air.  It's not quite Arctic air, but cold enough to make me get my gloves out yesterday morning.  This morning as I was getting ready for work, the weatherazzi was talking about a snow advisory for tonight and tomorrow for nothern Kentucky and the Cincinnati area.  Apparently, the people that work for the Department of Highways didn't hear that news, because the trucks were out all day long here in the 'Ville spraying the roads with brine solution.  I shook my head as I was driving home and saw the white lines of the brine on the roads.  We don't even have snow in the forecast for Louisville, but we have the brine solution sprayed on the roads in case it snows.  On the evening news tonight, the weatherazzi wasn't even calling for a dusting - just a few flurries - but yet they had to get the roads ready just in case. 

We could be surprised tomorrow morning - we got the biggest snowfall in the history of the 'Ville during a night when the weatherazzi said we wouldn't even get a dusting.  Oh January 17, 1994, what the weatherazzi called a thundersnow moved through Louisville and dropped about two feet of snow.  There was truly thunder during the night while it was snowing.  Nobody was prepared for this, especially my family.  We woke to find the two feet of snow and no electricity.  We bundled up and trudged outside and brought in some firewood stored out in the shed so we could at least have a fire in the fireplace.  Fortunately the power came on before noon.  But the city was shut down for about a week.  This time, we're prepared.  We have our generator and snow blower, and on my way to the Post tonight I'll be stopping to fill up two 5-gallon tanks of gas just in case.  I'll keep you posted.  

No Christmas Tree Soda For Me, Thanks

Thanksgiving is just a memory, and Christmas and Hanukkah are jus around the corner, and that means another season of interesting holiday flavors from our friends at Jones Soda.  They've outdone themselves this year.  For a limited time only, Jones is offering not one but two holiday packs -- one for Christmas and one for Hanukkah.

The Christmas pack consists of one each Christmas Ham Soda, Christmas Tree Soda, Egg Nog Soda, and Sugar Plum Soda.  The Hanukkah pack consists of one each Latke Soda, Apple Sauce Soda, Chocolate Coins Soda, and Jelly Doughnut Soda.  The holiday packs sell for $12.99.  Sure, that's a bit steep for four bottles of pop, but you get a free holiday gift in each pack.  The Jones Soda website says that in the Christmas pack you get a "very cool stocking stuffer" and in the Hanukkah pack you get a "completely functional dreidel."  All eight sodas in both packs are certified kosher and are caffeine-free. 

First and foremost, let me say that I have not tasted any of these flavors.  Nor do I intend to taste them.  I honestly cannot imagine taking a drink of Christmas Ham Soda.  As for the Christmas Tree Soda, I have a question for the Jones people -- Is it supposed to taste like an actual evergreen Christmas tree?  Or will people get lucky and it will taste like a Little Debbie Christmas tree?  I know this question could be answered by actually drinking one of these, but that's not going to happen anytime soon.  I won't pay $12.99 for a four-pack of pop.  That comes to about $3.25 per bottle.  Last year's Holiday Pack consisted of 5 bottles for the same prices as this year's pack.  I know we've had a drought and gas prices have increased over the year, but I guess the Jones Soda people thinking giving the consumers a free stocking stuffer or fully functional dreidel will help ease the price-sticker shock. 

Link Of The Week

It's still hard to believe Christmas is just a little over three weeks away.  That means only three weeks left do my shopping.  To do shopping, you need money.  Thank goodness I joined our credit union's Christmas Club.  Sure it's old school, but it's one way to make myself put back money for Christmas.  My Grandma saved in the Christmas Club up until she went to the nursing home.  It's not that overspend -- I just am not a big saver.  I don't have an actual written budget that I go by; I simply know how much my paycheck will be and I know how much my monthly bills will be, and I try to save some of the leftovers for car repairs, concert tickets, etc.  So in a way, I guess I do budget after all. 

I found a site this week that I am using and I think it will help me to be a better saver.  It's called Budget Edge.  It's easy to use - simply enter the information, like your take-home pay and your monthly bills, and Budget Edge will calculate and will let you know when you will run out of money.  You can enter savings info, and can go back in whenver you need to to make adjustments for sudden expenses or if you win money over at the boat and want to deposit it to your checking account instead of pissing it away.  Just visit http://www.budgetedge.com and sign up and you'll be on your way to a financially happier new year.

Farewell, Evel Knievel

                                               

TWIT is sad to report that Evel Knievel has died.  He passed away Friday at his home in Clearwater, Florida.  The daredevil was only 69 years old.  Evel had been ill for years, and suffered from diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis.  He had a liver transplant in 1999, and lived through two strokes.  On Friday, Evel was having trouble breathing and called for EMS, but he died before the ambulance arrived. 

The Smithsonian declared Evel Knieval as "America's Legendary Daredevil." But Knievel's fame as a motorcycle daredevil has come at a terrible price: multiple fractures of many of his bones; 14 open-reduction surgeries (to repair or replace bones, some with steel screws, pins or rods); and, over his career, 36 months in the hospital. While Evel Knievel never actually broke "every bone in his body," he holds the Gunniess World Record for the most broken bones: 35.

Just three days before his death, Knieval and Kanye West his Clearwater condo and settled a federal lawsuit over the use of Knievel's trademarked image in a popular West music video. Knievel sued West and his record company last year. He sued over a 2006 music video for the song "Touch the Sky," in which the rapper takes on the persona of "Evel Kanyevel" and tries to jump a rocket-powered motorcycle over a canyon. Knievel failed in his attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon in Idaho in 1974.

TWIT paid tribute to the awesome Evel Knievel toys in a "Flashback Friday" segment a fews weeks ago.  As I mentioned, my family and I loved Evel Knieval, and would all watch ABC's "Wide World Of Sports" on Sunday afternoons whenever they would show Evel's jumps.  I still think his jump over the fountains at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas was one of the most spectacular things I've ever seen.  He cleared the fountains, but crashed when he landed, and ended up in the hospital in a coma for over a month.

America truly did lose a legendary daredevil.  I'm sure that noone else will come close to the stunts of Evel Knievel.  You will be missed, Evel, but you've definitely set the bar high for those that follow in your footsteps. 

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