Ice Storm 09, Day 5

I apologize, but I just could not bear to say anything yesterday about Ice Storm 09. And believe me - it's all I can do to write about it today. We're sick of everything being covered in ice, and more importantly, today we're sick of ice shrapnel pelting down on us from all of the limbs, power lines and gutters.

It makes me sick to report that we've had numerous deaths in the 'Ville over the past few days because people were too ignorant and had their generators in their basements. Yes, in their basements. That makes me sick at my stomach. But at the same time, I'm overjoyed at the outpouring of help in the city over the past few days. People that were able to get out have been travelling all over the city, checking on the eldery and homebound, making sure they were OK. We were mobile as of yesterday, and I spent this afternoon making the rounds checking some of our older folks from the VFW.

Personally, I've saved money this week during Ice Storm 09. I haven't made my almost-daily trip to Wal-Mart since last Monday, and haven't been able to visit the VFW in over a week. Hell, I haven't been anywhere except work. So I've saved money this week by being snowed and iced in. We haven't gotten on each other's nerves too bad at home, either; I retreated to my room or the back bedroom to ride the bike when I felt like we've had a bit too much togetherness.

But all things considered, The Compound weathered Ice Storm 09 very well. Sure, we had a lot of limbs and small trees down, but at least we never lost power. It's still pretty bad out there if you don't have 4WD vehicles, and we hope that all of this will melt before we get the next big snowstorm on Tuesday.

American Idol Judges Update

'American Idol' judges apologize for taking Louisville singer's 'Be Careful' farewell as a threat

It seems the judges on "American Idol" should have heeded the advice of one Kentucky contestant who told them to "Be careful," as he exited his failed audition.

"Be careful" with their interpretations, that is.

Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell flared up against Louisville contestant Matt Mudd when he told them to "Take care and be careful," as he exited a failed audition. The judges bristled immediately and took the comment as a threat. Abdul told Mudd "You don't say that to people, 'Be careful.' That's just not a normal thing to say."

But it turns out the phrase is completely the norm in the Louisville area and is used regularly in casual conversation to say farewell.

The producers of "American Idol" offered a mea culpa Thursday, posting a statement on the show's Web site to apologize for the way the audition was characterized on television.

"Our visits to audition cities are relatively brief and sometimes regional greetings and salutations are lost in translation," the statement said. "We now know better and look forward to visiting Louisville again someday," they said.

Fans commenting on the "Idol" site weren't quite buying it and came out with loud support for Mudd. "That was blown way out of proportion and totally 'done for TV'. Thanks for apologizing, but it should have never been there in the first place!," said one forum user.

Others called for more drastic measures than the statement. "I insist that American Idol give a public apology on the air to all of the viewers and especially Mark Mudd," wrote another.

I'm sorry, American Idol. TWIT does not accept your apology.

Ice Storm 09, Day 3

Here's what I saw yesterday afternoon as I looked down my driveway when I got home from work. Believe me - it looked way worse in the daylight than it did when I left for work yesterday morning. And this is only part of it - there was another pile of limbs this same size farther up the driveway.

If you look in the top right corner of the picture, you can see more limbs and a small tree down, and if you look at the left, you can see two gigantic limbs down across the top of my Blazer underneath the carport.

But when JW dropped me off this afternoon after work, it was a different sight - Dad and PS next door had spent most of the afternoon clearing the limbs off of the driveway. So now other than dealing with the snow and ton of ice, we're able to get out of the driveway. But we're not in the clear quite yet; they're calling for high winds tonight, so that means there will probably be more ice-covered limbs down on the driveway tonight. But if the driveway is clear in the morning, I'm going to be brave and attempt to drive the Blazer to work. I'll keep you posted.

Ice Storm 09, Day 2

It;s been a crazy, scarey twenty-four hours with Ice Storm 2009 raging, so I decided to keep a diary to let you know what we've been through here at the compound and at work.

1:20 am Awakend by the sound of a bomb landing at The Compound. Found out it was a gigantic limb that fell and hit the front of Miss Rosemary's house, ripping off the gutters, siding, electric meter, and taking down two unidentified power lines
2:00 am After careful examination, determined that Miss Rosemary did have electricity, so the family attempted to go back to bed.
2:01 - 6:30 am Laid in bed but was wide awake listening to more "bombs" being dropped at The Compound; as soon as we heard a limb crash, we were up running for the windows to see if anything had been hit.
6:35 am Preliminary inspection determined the driveway was impassable due to many gigantic limbs. A mid-sized limb was spotted on top of the front of the Blazer under the carport. We still had electricity at The Compound, and had received an additional half inch of ice during the night and early morning.
7:20 am Arrived at work safe and sound. On the 8 mile route, estimated half of the businesses and home are without power, including ZCO. The plant is dark, but the office is up and running thanks to the generator. Even though the Governer and Mayor are telling businesses to stay closed today, we are still open.
8:00 am The freezing rain and sleet changed over to snow. As if all of the ice isn't bad enough, now we're expecting 3-5 inches of snow this morning, which will make even more limbs and lines fall. Pray for us, America.
9:00 am Poked my head out the office side door and could not see the church across the street for the heavy blowing snow. We were listening to a local a.m. radio channel for news and weather updates, and LG&E said 200,000 are without power in their coverage area right now. 10:32 am The Governor repeated we are under a state of emergency, in order to keep down gas price gouging. And the Governor said only emergency vehicles out on the interstates. A quick call to The Compound found they were maintaining status quo - Dad said he can't get out to assess the damage from the limbs because more limbs are still falling.
12:01 pm The snow ended and the sun came out. My guess of total snow accumulation in our parking lot: 5 or 6 inches.
12:30 pm Started putting the emergency plan for Thursday together. There's no telling when the power will be restored in the plant, and we discovered that the big power box for our phone lines will run out of power at about noon tomorrow. So after that, we won't have any phones, internet connection nor network connections. I can only pray they let us go home early tomorrow, because it sure doesn't look like we're going home early today.
1:00 pm It was cloudy again, but at least the main road in front of ZCO was fairly clear. You couldn't make it through the parking lot, though, but at least the road was clear. Started making calls to friends in various parts of the city. After making 6 calls, only found 1 without power (Diva Stacy).
1:05-4:30 pm Did my best to stay awake, while not having anything to do. In fact, all I've done since I got here at 7:20 was read.
4:50 pm Almost cried when I saw all of the gigantic limbs covering and blocking the driveway. It was way less scary this morning in the dark. It will take us days to get the driveway cleared off.
5:45 pm Raised our glasses of wine in a toast to Dad on his birthday and to the fact that we still have power when so many around us don't.

Ice Storm 09, Day 1

I'm very happy to report that I got a very unusual birthday present today -- I got a massive winter storm!! Sure enough, the weatherazzi was right about the storm. It started at about midnight, and when I got up for work this a.m. we had about a quarter inch of ice with 3 or 4 inches of snow on top. I was chauffeured to work this a.m. so at least I didn't have to drive in the mess on my birthday.

Throughout the day we had sleet and freezing rain, and by lunchtime we had another half an inch of ice at The Compound. On Mr. Toad's Wild Ride home, it was just pouring freezing rain. I'd never seen anything like it before - I'd seen sleet and freezing rain but not pouring like a steady downpour. As soon as I slid into the house this afternoon, the weatherazzi was giving the forecast for tonight - another inch of ice followed by 3-5 more inches of snow.

The Governor has already declared a State Of Emergency, and I'm hoping that the bigwigs at work will do the same. They already cancelled night shift, and for the factory tomorrow they are having an "option" day - they can use a personal day or vacation day and not get it counted against them. But for us office people, we weren't given an "option."

But all in all, today has definitely been a memorable birthday - the day of the big ice storm.

Ice Storm 09 Eve

The first big winter storm of the season is supposed to hit later tonight, and everyone in the 'Ville is getting ready for it. The trucks have been out all day long spraying the brine solution on the roads, and the city dump trucks are filled with salt and ready to start spreading. And most importantly, the grocery stores are filled with people getting the required bread and mile.

As of 6:30 tonight, the National Weather Service is calling for 3-5 inches of snow, starting at about midnight, followed by up to a half inch of ice, and then topped off with 3-4 more inches of snow. We're prepared at The Compound. The snow blower is gassed up and sitting just inside the garage door, ready to be plugged in and let the electric start do its thing. Dad has his insulated coveralls and snow boots out and ready to put on so he can start with the snow removal. We have food for birthday dinners tomorrow (mine) and Wednesday (Dad's) so we're ready for the storm. And best of all, my dear friend and co-worker JW is going to pick me up tomorrow morning so I won't have to endure Mr. Toad's Wild Ride on my birthday. Well, I'll have to endure it while he drives, but at least I can just sit in the passenger seat and watch.

Tomorrow will be brutal for those out driving or clearing off driveways, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to it. I love snow - and snow on my birthday is an awesome present. Here's a little Puddin trivia I'd like to share with you -- if we get the snow they're calling for tomorrow, it will have snowed 44 out of my 46 birthdays, including the day I was born. All I can say is let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Link Of The Week

I'm no way near being a Tree Hugger, and I doubt I will ever be, but I am being more conscious and try to be as green as I can. For instance, I no longer buy bottled water - instead I fill up a very cool BPA-free Nalgene bottle. And here at The Compound, the 'Rents have replaced most of the lightbulbs with more efficient LED bulbs. So we like to do whatever we can to help out. A faithful reader sent me a link to a site about an organization called Land Care Niagara. They are all about preserving the land around Niagara Falls. Visit http://landcareniagara.com/ and click on the link about planting a tree and help them out. For every five clicks at the link, Land Care Niagara will plant a tree in the area. Please add the link to your favorites and come back every few days to click again. Thanks for clicking.

Surreal Saturday

Something happend to the 'Rents and I this afternoon, and believe me when I tell you it was something that you would have seen on a sitcom - only we didn't think it was all that funny.

Some friends had invited us for dinner to celebrate my and Dad's birthdays. My birthday is Tuesday and Dad's is Wednesday, and they invited us for dinner tonight because that was the only night all of us could get together. Earlier this week, I called our friend to see what time she wanted us there for dinner, and I repeated the day and time and she agreed. Flash forward to this afternoon. We showed up promptly at the agreed upon 5:00 for dinner. The host was still working out in his garage, and the hostess was reading. I looked around and didn't see the table set, nor did I see or smell anything cooking in the kitchen. It was very awkward and I took one for the team and spoke up and asked her if we'd made a mistake about the day and time of our dinner. Evidently we did, because she said the dinner was tomorrow evening.

We felt like fools at first, and apologized for our mistake, but I made sure she remembered that I called her earlier this week and specifically asked about dinner on SATURDAY. We didn't feel so bad when her husband came in and wanted to know where the birthday supper was. Even he thought it was Saturday, too. There was an awkward silence, we apologized again and then the three of us left and went back home. It was just surreal.

Flashback Friday

Note To American Idol

Dear American Idol:

Thank you so much for chosing my town of Louisville as one of the cities for the prestigious tryouts. You caused quite a commotion this summer first at the fairgrounds and then later at Churchill Downs. And you even chose to air the Lousville auditions on your show this week. That's pretty prestigious as well.

Not only did you decide to show the Louisville auditions on nationwide TV, you chose to make most of the Louisville contestents look like total redneck hillbillies - a genre that unfortunately most of America thinks Kentuckians are like. While we thank you for coming to our city and giving our talented singers a chance to be the next American Idol, we weren't thrilled with the way you treated our auditioners.

I know one of the very talented young ladies that was asked to come back to the second round of auditions at Churchill Downs, only to be told that the American Idol producers would be using film footage of the Louisville audtions strictly for comedy - to make people laugh at the Kentucky redneck hillbillies.

There's a lot more I'd like to say to you, but I'll just close with a couple of quick things. First of all, you've lost a lot of Kentucky AI watchers thanks to the way your portrayed our people that auditioned. Second, a note to the AI judges: when someone from the south tells you to "be careful" or "take care", it's not a threat against your health and well-being; it's called southern hospitatlity. It's also called being polite - something you all apparently know nothing about.

Yours truly,
Puddin, a former AI watcher

Tonight, I Was Prejudiced And I'm Ashamed Of It

After our regular monthly visit to the nursing home with the Ladies Auxiliary, Mom and I stopped at Wal-Mart on the way home. Like that is a surprise; given the fact that I stop by there at least every other day like clockwork. But I digress. After a visit in the canned biscuit section we were walking back up to the front of the store when we encountered a group of five or six male PATs. They were dressed in hoodies pulled way down over their faces and a couple had on sideways ball caps - typical gangsta wannabes. They were walking straight toward us laughing and talking loud, and I will admit for a second I was a bit uneasy. Mom and I stepped aside so we could get out of their way. As we were stepping aside, I heard one of the PATs say something that made me almost drop my bag of organic baked tortilla chips. He said "I'm sorry, ma'am. Excuse us." With that, they all smiled at us and went on their way laughing and talking loud like before. I think their mamas would be very proud of them.

Puddin's 24 Hour Fitness Update

Before I go any farther, let me explain the meaning behind the title "Puddin's 24 Hour Fitness." It comes from "Biggest Loser" - the gym where the contestants work out under the watch of my new icon Jillian Michaels is called 24 Hour Fitness, so that's where I got the title from. that having been said, on with the update.

It's been 24 hours (no pun intended) since the first ride on the new recumbent bike, and I will still say that it kicked my ass. Today, it felt like I had done about an hour's worth of ab crunches. But it was a good feeling. I couldn't wait to get home tonight to change clothes and climb up on the seat and have another round. It was one hell of a workout. I will repeat that when I was riding ten miles a day on the old exercise bike, I thought I was doing something great; not to be too hard on myself, I will say yes, it was great that I rode ten miles on the exercise bike, when I could have been spending that time sitting on my ass. But the workout that you get on a recumbent bike takes it to a whole other level. I was really feeling it in my legs and feet today, so I stopped after only eight miles, and vowed that I would continue with eight miles a day for a few more days, and then will increase my daily mileage and work my way back up to ten miles.

It bears repeating -- the recumbent bike is definitely the way to go. Who knows? Later on in the spring, I might even buy a recumbent regular bike to ride out on the bike path. I'll keep you posted.

Puddin's 24 Hour Fitness

Friday night while riding on the old DP stationary bike and listening to all of the creaks and squeaks it was making, I decided it was time for us to go high tech at The Compound with regards to our fitness. I decided I wanted a cool new stationary bike to ride indoors. So Mom and I headed out to a sporting goods store and while looking at an upright bike, I noticed an interesting recumbent bike. I'd never ridden one before, but I've heard horror stories about them; stories of how it will kick your ass when you ride it. I tried it out and fell in love with it. But the final decision was up to Mom, since she would be riding it, too. I don't even need to tell you that it was all the sales guy and I could do to pry Mom off the bike when it was time to leave. She said there was almost no pressure at all on her knees and back, and I can agree with her one hundred percent on that. And I had to agree totally with what recumbent bike riders said about it kicking them; after my maiden voyage on it tonight I will testify that it in deed will kick you. I thought I was a badass for riding the old exercise bike for ten miles a day; that's nothing compared to the workout I got tonight. I made it through eight miles and then almost crawled to the desk so I could post this. It was a good, hard workout - and I was only on the lowest tension setting, too. But it got my heart rate up to where it should be in the target zone, and I could really feel that my thighs got one heck of a workout.

It comes with a very cool water bottle holder, and the computer display tells you everything you need to know - RPM, MPH, how long you've been pedaling, distance, calories burned and even your pulse rate. I'm going to rig up something so I can hang my portable DVD player on it so I can watch a movie while I pedal. Size wise, it takes up just about the same amount of floor space as the old exercise bike, and it's easy to move around thanks to wheels on the front of it. There is only one small drawback to the recumbent bike, however - with the position of my legs and butt, my iPod kept sliding out of my pants pocket while I was pedaling. But other then that, I have no complaints. Tomorrow I'll dig out a cool arm band that holds the iPod. Granted I've only used it for one workout, but it's great machine, and it definitely gets the TWIT Seal Of Approval. I'll keep you posted on how my legs feel tomorrow.

Link Of The Week

Since I've been eating healthier for the past eleven months, I've become more conscious of what I eat. In addition to reading the nutrition labels on foods, I've also become concerned about where my food has come from, and more importantly, what chemicals and preservatives that have been pumped into it. Now before you get your britches in a wad and say "Puddin has become one of those tree huggers", let me explain. It's no big secret that the farmers use pesticides and fertilizers on their plants in order to get us the fruits and vegatables that we love to eat. And we all know that ranchers give antibiotics or other supplements to cattle and chickens while they're getting them fattened up to go on our dinner table. But do we take the time to think that everything that has been put on or in what we eat is going directly in our bodies? Just this week I had a major epiphany. I bought a very pretty Pink Lady apple at a local grocery store to take to work. As soon as I picked it up from the bin, it felt very tacky. I scraped my fingernail across the apple and was disgusted at the amount of waxy substance that was on the apple skin.

I know that everyone can't afford to pay extra for the organic produce and meats in our local grocery stores, but I found a way you cut out the middleman and buy directly from local farmers. Visit http://www.localharvest.org and just enter your zip code and you can find farmers' markets in your area where you can get organic produce and meats cheaper then in the grocery store. Plus you'll be helping out your local farmers, too.

Picture Of The Day

This is pretty self explanatory.

Parking Lot Watch

We interrupt today's regularly scheduled Flashback Friday to bring you a special news bulletin: Parking Lot Watch 2009 has begun. Our bonus checks were deposited this morning into our checking accounts, and that can mean only one thing: this weekend, you can bet that the economy in the 'Ville and surrouding areas will most likely be highly stimulated.

In case you're a new Faithful Reader to TWIT, I'll give you the 411 on Parking Lot Watch. Each year after we receive our bonus checks, we keep our eyes open to see who is the first co-worker to pull into the parking lot in a new car. Some friendly side bets are also placed among co-workers as to who we think will be the first to get a new ride.

Before you even say it, no, Puddin will not be an active partcipant in Parking Lot Watch 2009. My goal this year is to pay off all of my #$%*ing credit cards and become totally debt free; that means no car payment. Maybe next year. But I'm in no hurry for a car payment, and right now in my life, a new car really is not a priority anymore. I'm happy with the BMW and Blazer [as long as they continue to keep running].

File Under: WTF?

Teenager Sends Over 14,000 Text Messages in One Month

For anyone who tries to deny that texting can be addictive, just take a look at 13-year-old Reina Hardesty. Last month, she sent 14,528 text messages, a number that her father couldn't believe at first.

When Greg Hardesty got his daughter's 440-page long phone bill, he saw the number and thought, as he put it, "That's insane, that's impossible." Using a calculator, he realized that it means Reina was sending 484 messages a day, which comes out to one every two minutes if she's awake for an average of 16 hours. The monthly average for kids ages 13 to 17 is 1,742 messages, according to a Nielsen survey.

Luckily, Reina's plan included unlimited texts, saving her dad -- who admits to sending 900 texts a month -- from paying almost $3,000. She claims it's because she has a close group of girls around her age who she describes "four obsessive texters." She even admits that during her birthday party, she was texting her best friend -- who was sitting right next to her. Though Reina isn't in any trouble with her folks, she's now been banned from texting after dinner.

OMG

P.S.

My mind was preoccupied last night and I left out a major part of my story about my trip to Wal-Mart.

When I was walking into the store, I saw a woman get out of her mini-van and walk into the store. She got onto one of the previously mentioned motorized shopping cart scooters, and away she went. I saw her a few minutes later when I was walking down the rice and pasta aisle, looking for some instant brown rice. I passed by her and she caught my attention and asked if I could grab a box of Zatteran's Cheesy Jambalaya for her. For an instant, I could not breathe. I had just seen this woman walking as well as I was from her car to the motorized shopping cart scooter - so I know she was fully capable of walking, but instead was apparently too damned lazy to get up and take three steps and get a box of sodium-filled jambalaya. I resisted the urge and didn't say a word; I just grabbed the box and handed it to her and walked off.

There's the rest of the story.

Biggest Loser Update

Before heading over to the VFW tonight for the weekly jackpot drawing, I stopped in our local 'hood Wal-Mart to get some provisions for the upcoming cold spell. Actually, I was getting some canned goods and seasonings for The Old Man's infamous Three Bean Soup. But I digress. During my twenty-minute time at the store, I encountered six very large people riding through the store on the motorized shopping carts. Everyone of them looked like they were totally capable of walking through the store instead of sitting perched upon a little moving vehicle, no mater how big they were. But once again, I digress. I don't know what their stories are, but I do have to say that it did make an impression on me tonight. Is this what our society has become?

On a personal note, in the first week of our Biggest Loser competition at work, I weighed in yesterday and am happily down 4.2 pounds since last Monday's weigh-in.

Mullet Watch

Faithful readers, I am very happy to be the first one to spot a mullet in 2009. It was spotted last Thursday evening at our 'hood WalMart. The host was wasn't a your typical NASCAR-clothing wearing mullet host; they were wearing what-I-consider-to-be normal clothing and coat. The mullet was very thick and wavy, but it was in deed a mullet -- business in the front, party in the back.

And to recap 2008, we ended the year with a total of 33 mullet sightings. Let's break that record in 2009. With your watchful eyes, I know we can find them.

Mullet count: 1

Link Of The Week

Unlike most kids, I never had a lemonade stand in my front yard to make money. Instead, I took an artsy approach - I dug up arrowheads and flint rock from our garden and sold them. I actually made a few bucks from the neighbors that either felt sorry for me for selling rocks or they were impressed with my entrepreneurial spirit. Anyhoo, it was a way to make some money.

The internet today is full of people with the entrepreneurial spirit - all you have to do is look at eBay for proof of that. But there are tons of others out there on the world wide web selling something - whether it's a product or idea - in hopes of making some big bank. This week, I came across an interesting site from someone with the same entrepreneurial spirit that I had as a kid. Only it was an adult. A father has set up a blog asking for help in raising money to buy his kids a pretty expensive Portugese Water Dog. Now, I try to stay up on current affairs and things that are hip and trendy, but I have to admit I've never heard of a Portugese Water Dog. When I saw a picture of one, I thought it looked like a big poodle. But I digress. Check out
http://helpmebuyawaterdog.blogspot.com/ and you'll see what I'm talking about. This hard-working father wants to raise enough money to buy his kids the dog of their dreams. Before you click on any links or commit to anything, let me say that TWIT is neutral with this one -- I'm not telling you to click on the links in the site -- I'm merely posting this as a Link Of The Week because I think it's a very interesting concept. I hope he will keep us posted and let us know when he gets the $1500 he needs to buy the dog. Who knows? Maybe I'll make a similar site and try to raise money for the DaVinci porcelin veneers that I've been wanting for years.

Saturday Funnies

A Jewish lady named Mrs. Rosenberg was stranded late one night at a fashionable resort - one that did not admit Jews. The desk clerk looked down at his book and said, "Sorry, no room. The hotel is full."

The Jewish lady said, "But your sign says that you have vacancies." The desk clerk stammered and then said curtly, "You know that we do not admit Jews. Now if you will try the other side of town..."

Mrs. Rosenberg stiffened noticeably and said, "I'll have you know I converted to your religion." The desk clerk said, "Oh, yeah? Let me give you a little test. How was Jesus born?" Mrs. Rosenberg replied, "He was born to a virgin named Mary in a little town called Bethlehem."

"Very good," replied the hotel clerk. "Tell me more."

Mrs. Rosenberg replied, "He was born in a manger." "That's right," said the hotel clerk. "And why was he born in a manger?"

Mrs. Rosenberg said loudly, "Because a jerk like you in the hotel wouldn't give a Jewish lady a room for the night!"

Flashback Friday

1. My Heart Skips a Beat
2. Close up the Honky Tonks
3. I Don't Hear You
4. Save the Last Dance For Me
5. Over and Over Again
6. Truck Drivin' Man
7. Together Again
8. A-11
9. Ain't It Amazin' Gracie
10. Getting Used to Losing You
11. Storm of Love
12. Hello Trouble
13. Love's Gonna Live Here
14. Act Naturally

Better Days Ahead?

In my almost twenty years at ZCO, today was probably the worst day in my tenure. Early this morning while most of us were still in bed sleeping, our company president had the unpleasant task of speaking to about one-fourth of our factory co-workers and telling them that as of next Friday they no longer had a job. Sales are down, profits are down, and unfortunately our warehouse is full of pumps that haven't been selling, so it was just a matter of time before a layoff happened. After all, we are in a recession, right? Right.

When I talked to friends about a possible layoff last week, their first reaction was "It won't affect you all in the office, will it?" I wanted to answer them with a firm "No" but I couldn't. Sure, I've been there almost twenty years, and since they go by seniority, I would be about as safe as you can be. But yes it did affect us in the office. We were affected when we walked through the factory today, and instead of hearing laughter we saw somber faces. I was affected when I talked with the company president today and he almost had tears in his eyes when he told me that what he did this morning was the hardest thing he's had to do in his over thirty years at the company; possibly in his life.

I Don't Deserve Electronics

It's been a rough few months for me when it comes to electronics, faithful readers. It all started back a few months ago when the VCR in my bedroom crapped out. So I swapped out the VCR from the living room and bought a very cool VCR/DVD recorder for the cable TV in the living room. Are you with me so far? Well, first of all I bought the wrong VCR/DVD combo - I bought one that was only a DVD player, not a recorder. So I had to take it back to the store and get the right model that I wanted. After a week and a half of connecting and disconnecting and reconnecting I finally go the new VCR/DVD recorder connected and in fine working order.

Things were fine until a couple of weeks ago. I haven't explained this before, but I don't have cable in my bedroom; I use an old school antenna and one of the new digital converter boxes. With all of the channels that I can get in and with the awesome picture quality, it's like having a mini version of cable. But I digress. Ever since the power outage in September from the windstorm, I hadn't been able to get in five different channel 21 channels. I tried and did everything I could but they just would not come in. To make the very long and stupid story short, the power cord had come unplugged from the antenna. Once I crawled around and snaked the plug back up to the antenna and plugged it back in, lo and behold all of the channel 21 channels came in. And this time I was getting six of the channel 21 channels instead of five like before the power outage.

Flash forward to last night. I rewound the video tape and was settled in to watch the day's "All My Children" episode when I saw that the picture was filled with snow and static. I spent thirty minutes adjusting and readjusting but I couldn't get the picture to straighten out. I ejected the tape and played it in the VCR in the living room and imagine my surprise when the picture was perfect on that VCR. So then I deducted that the VCR in my bedroom had bit the dust. I had resigned myself to buying a new one, only to be surprised when I looked online at Walmart.com and discovered that they no longer sell just plain old VCR's; they all have the VCR/DVD combos. No biggie - I decided I would just buy one just like the one in my living room.

I was explaining my electronics drama to someone and they offered a suggestion: why not try a VCR cleaner first before peeling for a VCR/DVD recorder that I might not need. It was worth a shot, so I stopped at WalMart on the way to work this morning and bought the cleaner, and as soon as I got home from work tonight, I ran it through a couple of cycles and voila! The VCR is playing back crystal clear once again. But to repeat what I said at the beginning of this entry, I just do not deserve electronics. I need to be in The Flintstones era

Biggest Loser, Season Two

I'm excited to report that yesterday marked the beginning of ZCO's second annual Biggest Loser competition. The same rules are in place as last year - teams of four will compete and the winning team will once again win a hefty cash prize, and the single biggest loser will win a $200 gift certificate to a local sporting goods store.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I put on a few pounds during the holidays, but as of yesterday morning I'm back to counting calories, cutting back portions, and continuing to pedal ten miles every day. My team is "Winner Winner Chicken Dinner", named after a very cool phrase that a contestant on this past "Dancing With The Stars" used to say almost every week. My team members JW, EO and Krazy K are as excited as I am about this, and I think the key that will help us be successful in this is acccountability. We stay in almost-constant contact through email, phone, or in person, telling each other what we had for our latest meal or snack, what exercises we did, and how much water we've drank. I'd venture to say that our team probably has the biggest support sysem out of all of the other teams competing; because, you know, that's how we roll.

As with last year's competition, you can count on me to keep you posted.

My New Year's Resolution

This week the gyms will be just jam packed with people who made New Year's resolutions to lose weight and get in shape. Then in a month or two, the gyms will be empty after the people gave up on their resolutions. This year, I didn't make a specific resolution, although I did vow to continue my healthier eating regimen and daily bike riding. But I did resolve to do something. In fact, I resolved to do quite a few things. At the end of the day - each an every day - I resolve to go over this list and answer each question honestly. I challenge you to do the same in 2009.

• Did I stand and deal with a feeling? I may have done it awkwardly, but did I do it?
• Did I do something differently today than I would have done a year or two ago? Even a little differently?
• Did I reach out to someone and allow myself to be vulnerable?
• Did I start to get into shame or negativity, then become aware of it and get myself out?
• Did I do something nice, gentle, and loving for myself?
• Did I do something for someone else that felt good?Did I do my work well today?
• Did I deal positively with a bad day?
• Did I practice gratitude or acceptance?
• Did I take a risk?
• Did I set a boundary, enforce a boundary?
• Did I talk honestly and openly to someone and feel we got a little closer?
• Did I own my power in a way that was good for me?
• Did I take responsibility for myself in a way that I might not have before?
• Did I take time for prayer or meditation?
• Did I trust God?
• Did I talk to God and turn things over to God?
• Did I let someone do something for me?
• Did I start to get caught up in someone else's issues, then practice detachment?
• Did I go on with my daily routine, when what I wanted to do was sit and obsess?
• Did I listen to myself, trust myself, and see how well that worked out?
• Did I hold my own with someone who tried to manipulate or control me?
• Did I nurture myself instead of criticizing myself?

Link Of The Week

Admit it - we all love to get cards; I know I do. Whether it's an ecard or a card that comes in the mail, I will save it and look at it regularly for months. I know that sounds sappy, but hey - I'm sentimental and I love to get cards. But as much as I love to get cards, I also love to give cards. I'm always on the lookout for the perfect card to give someone.

This week, I found a very cool ecard site from our friends at Hallmark. It's a bit reminiscent of "Southpark". It features characters called Hoops and YoYo. And better yet, it's free to send the cards. Just visit http://www.hallmark.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/article%7C10001%7C10051%7C/HallmarkSite/hoops_yoyohome/HOOPS_YOYO_HOME_PAGE and send yours truly an ecard today.

Special Request Saturday

As you know, I always answer every special request that I receive in TWIT: today's special request is no exeception. But before we delve into it, I need to go on record in saying that I reserached for about an hour, and could not find the exact info that my faithful reader requested. But I think my research will suffice their curiosity. Here's what the faithful reader had to say:

On average, how many people each year are injured or killed by stray New Year's Eve bullets? I'm particularly interested in people who are sitting safely inside their homes watching Dick Clark when a bullet comes through their roof or wall.

Unfortunately, I am at a loss, and don't have a official answer for you, faithful reader. I did over two hour's worth of research, and while I found statistics for the Phillipines and Puerto Rico, I didn't find any statistics for the U.S. But I did find article upon article about innocent, unsuspecting people being hit by stray bullets on Wednesday night; unfortunately most of them children and babies.

Here's just a few of the many injuries I found doing a quick search on "stray bullets causing injuries on New Year's Eve":

• Phillipines - 346 injured, 2 killed
• Mobile, AL - 119 complaint calls of shots fired; a 7 year old shot by an AK-47 stray bullet
• Houston, TX- a man critically injured when a stray bullet came through the wall of his living room
• Guam, Puerto Rico - a 6 year old critically injured when she was struck in the head by a stray bullet
• Manilla - a stray bullet kills a pedicab driver; a 12 year old boy critically wounded
• Fayetteville, NC - a family woke up New Year's Day to discover a quarter-sized hole in the roof of their living room caused by a stray bullet
• Baton Rouge, LA - a 14 year old girl was hit in the shoulder by a stray bullet
• Memphis, TN - a stray bullet ended up in the diaper of a 7 month old baby after coming through the church ceiling

Here's what the LAPD had to say about it:

Discharging a firearm into the air is a felony punishable by one year in state prison. Researchers report that a bullet fired into the air can climb two miles into the air and remain in flight for more than a minute. As it falls, the bullet reaches a velocity of 300 to 700 feet per second. A velocity of only 200 feet per second is sufficient to penetrate the human skull.
Don’t fire guns in the air. Remember what goes up, will come down, and when a bullet comes down it is traveling at a fatal velocity.
• Shooting a gun into the air is a felony. You will spend up to one year in prison if you are caught.
• If you’re arrested for shooting a gun into the air, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
• If a stray bullet from your gun should kill someone, you will be arrested and charged with murder.
• People involved in celebrating the holidays by shooting their guns do not realize the danger posed by their actions.
• A bullet fired into the air can climb up to two miles. When it falls back to earth, it can reach a speed of 300 to 700 feet per second.
• If you ever see someone fire a gun into the air, call the police.
*Don’t fire guns into the air. REMEMBER, WHAT GOES UP WILL COME DOWN.

Well, duh. Do we need the LAPD to remind us the law of gravity - that what goes up will ultimately come down? And most of the time, it will come down on someone?

Let me say for the record, everytime that we've discharged a firearm at The Compound on New Year's Eve, it has always been into the ground, in an area away from any people, animals, buildings, pipes, wires, roots, or any other objects; it was just into the dirt. Never once did we fire our guns into the air.

Flashback Friday

It's hard to believe that the new year has started. It seems like only yesterday that we were saying "Happy New Year." Wait - it WAS only yesterday. But I digress. Of all of the people I've talked to this week, I found only one that actually went out New Year's Eve night; everybody else stayed at home, and so did yours truly. While the 'Rents and I were watching TV and snacking, we started reminiscing about New Year's Eve past, and what a great time we had at The Compound's New Year's Eve parties.

The partygoers consisted of friends from church; everybody who came would bring food, and Mom would make her world famous orange sherbet punch. Why, a few years, even our preacher and his family would come. We'd all play games and eat, and just before midnight we'd get bundled up and most of us would go outside and get ready to shoot off fireworks and fire the guns. Mom's job as official party hostess was to watch the TV and keep track of the countdown to midnight. She'd stick her head out of the door and keep us posted of the countdown. Then when it was a few seconds before midnight, she'd count down "ten, nine, eight . . ." and we'd all yell the countdown with her. That is, everyone but me. I had my own special job at The Compound's New Year's Eve celebration: I'd be next door in the neighbor's yard waiting to ring the gigantic bell. And as soon as it was midnight, I'd ring the bell for all it was worth. Then I'd run home and we'd light the firecrackers and other fireworks before going back inside to thaw out and drink more orange sherbet punch.

The Compound's New Year's Eve party continued well until my adult years. And the same friends from church still came. Of course we were all older and the people my age were all "grown up" but we still had fun ringing the bell and causing a commotion at midnight. We did slightly break tradition one year: a party goer and I left shortly after midnight and crashed a party. The party crashing took place at I believe one of the last New Year's Eve parties we had at The Compound. It was in the mid-nineties, and my fellow party crasher was none other than my co-worker and faithful reader SH. (We laughed about this today, so I don't think she'll mind me telling the story; actually, it's something we're quite proud of.) As I said, we left at about midnight and drove about two minutes up the street to a local Catholic church's party where a longtime friend of our family was playing. It's not like we snuck in or anything; we just walked through the door, listened to our friend's band for a couple of songs, visited with her and then we went back home. There was no harm done - it's not like we ate their food or drank their liquor or anything; we just listened to the band for a few minutes, that's all. But it was fun, and will definitely be a New Year's Eve I will never forget.

Happy New Year

New Year's Day is the day for college football fans, with every kind of Bowl game you can imagine. It's also the day for parades. Practically every city that is hosting a bowl game will have a bowl-game-named parade. We watched the Rose Parade this morning, and the miniature donkeys pulling a wagon was without a doubt our favorite thing in the parade. I also like the marching bands, and get a kick out of hearing the band version of pop and rock songs. I heard an interesting piece of parade trivia that I've just got share with you. What is the most played pop or rock song by a marching band in a parade or half-time performance? I don't think you'd guess in a million years. It's none other then "Brick House" by The Commodores. In fact, if you were watching "Dick Clark's New Year's Rocking Eve" last night you would have been able to hear Lionel Ritchie sing it live in Time's Square. But I have to say that we watched the entire Rose Parade this morning, and I did not year one band play "Brick House." I sure was disappointed.