Let's Call The Guiness Book of World Records

As I attempt to type this, I have had the hiccups for an hour. Yes, an hour. No, there isn't any alcohol involved, so I can't blame this on anything except being a Monday. I've drank about a gallon of water to no avail, and I've had a couple of spoon fulls of sugar, too. But no luck. I've even looked at the balance my checkbook, in an attempt to scare the hiccups out of me but I still have them. Mom even surprised me back here in the computer room in a weak attempt to scare me. I'm not sure what else to do except to go watch TV and try to relax in hopes that it will make them stop. There's no use in trying to read my 140 pages for school this week, with the incessant hiccuping going on. I'll keep you posted - maybe I'll make it to the Guiness Book of World Records.

Link Of The Week

If you ask people what their dream vacation is, chances are you'll get quite a few answers saying a cruise. Personally, it's not my idea of any vacation - dream or otherwise. I don't think I'd get seasick, and I actually like being out on a boat, but with all of the news stories of virus outbreaks on cruise ships, it just doesn't seem like a fun time for me. But there are tons of people that love going on a cruise. If you're one of them, I found a good site for you. It's called Prow's Edge - an online magazine that talks about everything cruise-related. Visit it at http://www.prowsedge.com and bon voyage.

That's How It Should Be

I was about half way through my bicycle ride today when I stopped for a water break at what is known in our part of town as "the bridge". It's a bridge that the bicycle path goes across a very deep creek. I stopped and sat down on a bench and witnessed something very cool. At the mid-point on the bridge, two young girls were having a picnic. They had a blanket spread out, and were sitting on pillows and were eating corn dogs and and drinking pop from a 2-liter bottle. They must have liked mustard on their corn dogs because I spotted a familiar yellow bottle of mustard. I sat there while I rested and drank my water and watched the two girls enjoying their picnic. As I watched, I though to myself that's how it should be. They weren't worried about bills, or having trouble at their jobs, or their kids having trouble in school - they were just enjoying being together having a picnic with their corn dogs. I have to confess I was envious.

Mullet Watch

It's been a great week for mullet sightings, faithful readers. I saw another one this week. Yours truly spotted one on the way home from work today. The host was walking down the road drinking a big bottle of Big Red. The mullet was jet black - I'm pretty sure it was dyed and not au natural. The waterfall was wavy, the sides were short and the top was wavy. Oh, did I mention that the host was wearing tall lace-up leather Indian moccasin-type shoes with their blue jean legs tucked in.

Mullet count: 19

File Under: WTF?

Family feud turns into riot in Ala.
Up to 150 people brawl with tire irons, baseball bats; 8 arrested
The Associated Press
updated 8:10 p.m. ET, Mon., Aug 24, 2009

MARION, Ala. - Two Alabama families that had been fighting for years turned their feud into a full-scale riot Monday outside a small-town city hall, with up to 150 screaming people hurling tire irons and wielding baseball bats.

Eight people were arrested, and at least four were hurt, Trooper John Reese said. Two were taken to hospitals. The town's police chief was hit in the head with a crowbar but was OK.
The two- or three-year-old feud apparently prompted a fight earlier in the day at a high school, after a window was shot out of a home Sunday night. Then, "all hell broke loose" later in the day, said Sgt. Carlton Hogue of the Perry County Sheriff's Department.

"It was a full-scale riot is what it was," said Tony Long, mayor of the town of 3,300 about 85 miles west of Montgomery.

Hogue said the rioters were "throwing jack irons, throwing tire irons, anything they could get their hands on." Some people carried baseball bats and brooms.

Reese said two people were arrested at the high school during the initial disturbance. Relatives of the people who were arrested followed officers to police headquarters at city hall, and then the melee erupted.

Six more people were arrested at city hall, Reese said, and police called in reinforcements from surrounding cities. Some officers wore riot gear, and many planned to stay overnight to help maintain order.

Pointing fingersThe mayor said he wasn't sure what sparked the fracas.

"Everybody's trying to point the finger at everybody," he said.

Judson College, a church-affiliated women's school with about 300 students in downtown Marion, issued an alert asking students to stay out of the downtown area for 24 hours as a precaution.

It's things like this that make me thankful I'm an only child and single.

Mullet Watch

I believe this is a first, faithful readers. We have documented proof of a mullet sighting. Sure, it's a wig hanging on a coat rack at a hair salon, but as you can tell it's not just any wig -- it's a mullet wig. It was spotted earlier today by faithful reader and my best friend Diva Stacy. As you can plainly see, this mullet is a textbook classic picture of a true mullet. The waterfall is exceptional. If I ever needed a mullet wig, you can best believe I would pay a pretty penny for such a fine mullet wig like this. When I texted Diva Stacy back after she sent me the picture, the first words I typed were "Why didn't you steal it for me?"

Mullet count: 18

Free Is Not Always Good

I was chatting with a co-worker today, and during our visit, she told me about her family's visit to the state fair yesterday. Being the inquisitive one, I asked a dozen questions: What did you see? Where all did you go? Most importantly, What did you eat? She said that she had some awesome salt water taffy, and that they spent almost the entire day in the south wing of the fair grounds. Given the fact that the Kentucky State Fair has the most square footage of space in air conditioning, that wouldn't be a very hard thing to do. But I digress. I asked if she got any cool free junk. Other than a few emory boards and some note pads, she said that was about the only freebies she got. But her husband, on the other hand, apparently hit the mother lode of freebies at the fair. She said that while they were looking at all of the booths and vendors in the south wing, he got a free prostate exam.

I knew that they had the mobile mammogram bus at the fair - they've been advertising on TV and radio, and during the commercial they said women just needed to bring their insurance card to get the smash-o-gram done, but my co-worker said her husband didn't even have to show his insurance card. Basically all he had to do was answer a few questions, drop his pants and bend over.

With prostate cancer on the rise, I'm happy that my friend's husband took the time from eating corn dogs and looking at the mules to get his prostate checked. But I don't even want to think of what medical testing they'll have next year at the fair.

Link Of The Week

Those that know me know that I like things on the slightly obscure and eclectic side. I get bored easily and like things to be, well, interesting. That having been said, I found a site this week that was one of the most fascinating and interesting sites I've visited in a long time. And it's got something on there to keep you from getting bored. It's called Suite101. Today, you can read about smallmouth bass fishing in Portland, and when you're finished with that you can find some recipes for beer can bbq chicken. Visit it at http://www.suite101.com and check it out.

Mullet Watch

In addition to getting a free sample piece of New York strip steak at the grocery store earlier today, I also spotted a femmullet. You could tell this femmullet really took pride in her mullet. The waterfall was curly and was perfectly gelled and moussed. I also found the host fascinating. I watched as she talked on her cell phone while looking in almost every one of the freezer cases in the frozen food sections.

Mullet count: 17

Flashback Friday

1. Magic Man
2. Dreamboat Annie (Fantasy Child)
3. Crazy On You
4. Soul Of The Sea
5. Dreamboat Annie
6. White Lightning And Wine
7. (Love Me Like Music) I'll Be Your Song
8. Sing Child
9. How Deep It Goes
10. Dreamboat Annie (Reprise)

Day Off, Day Four

All good things must come to and end, and unfortunately for me it's back to work tomorrow. But with all of the running around that we've done this week, I'm going to have to go back to work so I can rest.

Today was the opening day of the Kentucky State Fair, and we'd originally planned to go this morning. But with rain in the forecast we bailed and stayed home. So we decided that if we didn't go to the fair, we'd bring the fair to us. So early this morning I ran to the grocery store and got us a pizza, ice cream and cones, lemons (for lemonade shake-ups), tortilla chips and nacho cheese. Yep, we had the makings of the fair concession stands right here at The Compound. We had a blast all day long - eating and watching it rain.

Like I said, all good things must come to an end. It was an awesome week being with the 'Rents and I can't wait till my next week of vacation next month so we can do this again.

Day Off, Day Three

Another day off from work and a great time was had by all. Well, not really "great" by "all" but I had a great day. The 'Rents spent most of the day working in garden-related duties, so I'm sure they would have rather spent the day in the a/c sitting in their recliners but they made it through the day. Dad finished tearing out the green bean vines and then plowed up that part of the garden and Mom spent the afternoon canning salsa. And me, I spent most of the time working on a hard homework assignment. But at least I was at home and not at work. That's about all I can say.

This morning, I had a great breakfast downtown with a few hundred friends that I had never net. I had the priviledge of attending the kickoff breakfast for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk that will be held on October 25. It was an awesome hour, getting to listen to breast cancer survivors tell their stories. I left there pumped up and ready to get my team of co-workers together. In fact, I'm going to start on that as soon as I get back to work on Friday.

Day Off, Day Two

I have to say that it was awesome sleeping in again today. I didn't sleep in as late as yesterday, but it was just as sweet. I had an awesome day with the 'Rents out and about, and we all three enjoyed a nice nap this afternoon when we got back. And if tomorrow is anything like today, I'm pretty sure we'll all be napping again tomorrow afternoon. After all, isn't vacation about resting?

Mullet Watch

Yours truly spotted a peroxide blonde mullet this evening at Target. As I was walking back to the CD and DVD section of the store, I spotted the mullet in the men's department looking at t-shirts. I could have told him it was a waste of his time, because I was pretty sure that Target didn't have any NASCAR t-shirts. Anyhoo, it was long and curly in the back, and the top was slicked back with some gel or mousse. And it was wearing a stereotypical black NASCAR t-shirt with the sleeves cut off.

Mullet count: 16

Day Off, Day One

I am very happy to report that I was able to get some time off this week. Unfortunately for me my co-worker J-Dub is off Friday, so that means I won't get a full week of vacation, but four work days off is good enough for me.

The morning started out as sweet as could be. I slept in till almost 9:30, which is the latest I've slept in in months. After a bagel and some V-8 juice, I hit the bike path before it got unbearably hot. When I got home, I treated myself to a frosty adult beverage as I was cooling off in the a/c. After a quick trip to the Dollar General Store, I came home and had a nice nap, and then got up and got some carry-out for the Rents and myself from a local steak place. We all three have our bellies full and we don't plan on moving our respective spots on the couch and recliners the rest of the night. After all, that's what vacation is all about.

Link Of The Week

It's hard to believe that 32 years ago today, the King, Elvis Presley, died. For my generation, hearing the news that Elvis had died was as traumatic and dramatic as it was for my parents' generation when Walter Cronkite came on the news special report and announced that JFK had just been assassinated. So on the anniversary of his death, I thought it was only fitting that the Link of the Week be Elvis-related. And what better link than to his website, which by the way is THE OFFICIAL Elvis Presley website. Check out http://www.elvis.com. Thank you, thank you very much.

A Very Good Friday

For as crappy as my Thursday was, my Friday more than made up for it. And it wasn't even a payday Friday, either. It was a good Friday because I spent the evening at the Bats game with my Dad.

He wanted to get there as soon as the gates opened so he could have time to take in the whole experience, so I made sure I didn't lollygag around and leave later than we should. We got there just as they had opened the gates, and as we were walking through we even got free stuff - a Bats can huggy and a set of Bats baseball cards. You can't ask for more than that, can you? We stopped and visited with a friend from school who works at the Adult Beverage booth and had her pour us an ice cold draft beer and then we headed to find one of our favorite foods of all time, fried bologna. We found the stand and ordered our sandwiches and were pleasantly surprised to find that the bologna slices were extra thick. They day just kept getting better and better. Even though we are watching what we eat and trying to eat healthier, you just can't stop at one bologna sandwich at a ballgame - you have to have some more junk food. So we each had an order of nachos and then later on for dessert we had some awesome Dippin' Dots. Dad loved them. In fact, as soon as we got home that was one of the first things he told Mom about.

As I said, it was a very good Friday, thanks to my Dad. It was awesome getting to spend time at the ballgame with him, and if he had half as good a time as I did, then I know he had a blast. It was truly a night with my Dad that I will always remember.

Flashback Friday

1. The Right Stuff
2. Be A Man
3. Dreamin'
4. If You Really Love Me
5. (He's Got) That Look
6. I'll Be The One
7. Security
8. Darlin' I
9. Am I Too Much
10. Can This Be Real
11. Whatever Happens

I'm Glad This Day Is Over

It's been a very rough day in the life Puddin, and I'm glad that in less then an hour I will be going to bed and looking forward to a better day tomorrow.

First of all, I got my feelings hurt today at work. I really don't want to get into it, but a co-worker did something and hurt my feelings. After I stewed about it for an hour, I did something that the old Puddin wouldn't have done -- I put on my big girl pants and I told them that they hurt my feelings. Ordinarily I would internalize and keep it bottled up, but today I spoke my mind. We cleared the air and I moved on.

Second, there was major drama in our happy little department at work. We thought my boss was having a heart attack. She had the symptoms of a heart attack, and with her recent bout with cancer, we didn't take any chances and called EMS. But she looked fine - she had all of her color, and didn't look pale or pastey. The head of HR and our company president both asked me if I would ride with her in the ambulance so I grabbed the Prada purse and ran out with the EMTs and my boss on the gurney.

We changed plans mid-route because the original hospital wouldn't accept our health insurance (more on that in another journal entry) and headed downtown to Jewish Hospital. It's a great hospital, but unfortunately my boss' husband was on his way to the Baptist East Hospital, the one they originally said they were taking her to. I ended up following the ambulance instead of riding with them, and I didn't have his cell number so I had to wait till we got to the hospital so I could talk to my boss and get the number from her. After finally getting in touch with him, I went back and sat in the crowded ER waiting room. That experience is also enough for its own journal entry. But I digress. They let me back to wait with her in the ER room, which surprised me; they usually do everything but check for DNA to make sure you're a relative before they let you in. So I sat there with her for about an hour before her husband got there, trying to think of funny things to talk to her about to keep her mind off of everything.

My boss' husband finally got there and went back to see her and to talk with the doctor, and every half hour or so he'd come out and I would go back and visit for a bit. After they did the CT scan, I gave her a hug and came on home. When I left, they still didn't know if she'd had a heart attack or not. She still looked great and was fussing about being hungry, so I think she felt all right. That's a good sign in my book. I'll keep you posted. But now, I'm going to bed.

Why Didn't Someone Stop Me?

I made a very stupid decision tonight. No, I didn't do something stupid like driving after I've been drinking; I didn't do something stupid like using a credit card to make a major purchase. I did something even more stupid than those two things; I made the decision to go to Wal-Mart on the night before school starts.

All I needed was a half gallon of milk to take to work for the Cheerios that a co-worker and I eat for breakfast every morning, so stupid me thought I would in and out in just a few minutes. Boy was I wrong. I was in the 20-items-or-less line for 25 minutes waiting to be checked out. Yep, 25 minutes to pay for my $1.62 half gallon of milk.

Actually I could have maybe gotten out of there in 20 minutes had it not been for the teenage girl behind me in line. She and her boyfriend were there buying a frozen pizza and a can of Fix-a-flat, and just about every sixty seconds the girl would say out loud "Oh my God - these people are so slow. I'm going to die from starvation." When it came time for me to be checked out, I told the cashier "Please take the people behind me first. She has said repeatedly that she is going to die from starvation, and I want you to check them out now. I've had a pretty good day, and I don't want it to be ruined by someone dropping dead behind me while I'm standing in the checkout line at Walmart."

Flood 2009 Observations, Part 2

It's been one week since we had the big flood, and I've had time for more observations. The biggest thing that hit me hard was the loss of our dear friends H and N. They lost everything that was in their basement -- including their childrens' pictures and momentos and family heirlooms. When Mom was able to get in touch with H last Wednesday, H said that their refrigerator was floating on its side down in their flooded basement. If that doesn't make you sick I don't know what will. Add to that the fact that her childrens' pictures and other stuff was lost and you've got one gigantic loss.

Last night as I was carrying down bags of groceries and canned goods to the shelves in the basement, I had an epiphany. I decided that starting this week and until whenever, I was going to buy two big plastic storage containers and would start packing up all of the stuff we have in our basement. I'm not sure how long it will take or how many containers it will take; that's really irrelavent. All I know is I would almost die if I lost all of my stuff in the basement- including some of Grandma and Grandpa's stuff. So I'm just not going to risk it and will instead put everything I can in a plastic container so it will be waterproof if we ever get flooded. I don't care if the whole basement is full of plastic storage containers - at least I'll have peace of mind that they won't get flooded. And on my way home tonight, I did stop at WM and purchase the first two containers. As soon as I sign off on here I'm headed down to the basement to fill them up. I'll keep you posted on our progress.

Say It Isn't So, Susan Lucci

I just heard some disturbing news, faithful readers. I'm not even sure I have the strength and ability to type this in. But there are rumors running rampant that my beloved Susan Lucci will be leaving "All My Children." I know. It's hard to believe. I don't even want to believe it myself. But the producers of the soap have decided to move production and filming of AMC from its current home in New York City to Los Angeles. And apparently they just notified all of the stars a couple of days ago and gave them till the end of this week to decide if they were willing to make the move or leave the soap.

I just don't know what to think about this, faithful readers. If Susan Lucci leaves AMC, I'm afraid the show won't last. After all, "Erica Kane" is what it was all about. I'm not even sure I would continue to watch it, even though I love Erica's daughters Bianca and Kendall. Oh well. At least it would give me another hour in my day to spend doing something else besides watching the day's episode.

I'll keep you posted on the fate of AMC and Susan Lucci.

Link Of The Week

Ever since the K-Tel company started advertising their Pocket Fisherman or Mister Microphone back in the day, I've been hooked on products that they advertise on TV. No, I never bought a Pocket Fisherman, but I did buy a Mr. Microphone. And a Ginsu knife. And a Magic Bullet mixer. And the list could go on. You can find some of the as-seen-on-TV products in some of our big chain drugstores. But if you can't find the item you're looking for there, never fear - there's a site where you can buy just about every product that they've sold on TV. The site is simply http://www.AsSeenOnTV.com In just a few seconds you can order your own Snuggie. Slap Chop, or Topsy Turvy tomato grower.

Hot, Hot Summer

It's almost mid-August, but I have to say that according to us here at The Compound, today was the hottest day we've had so far this summer. I never looked at the thermometer on the back porch but we all agree that it was the hottest day so far.

I set my alarm to make sure I didn't sleep in this morning, and was up riding out on the bike path at about 9:30 so I could get my ride in before the temperature got to the predicted 94 degrees. But even riding early it was hot already. I stopped three times during my 11 mile trip for water breaks and when I got home I felt like I'd ridden 111 miles. Mom and Dad both agreed that it felt hot as hell this morning, too. He was out on the tractor cutting the grass in the back and she was next door helping a neighbor shampoo her couch and chairs. Needless to say after my ride and their chores were done, we kept our fannies inside in the nice a/c.

Anyhoo, we've been in the a/c all afternoon, and that's where we'll be staying the rest of the night. I'm just thankful I didn't have a Bats game tonight, because I would have been tempted to stay home in the cool a/c.

Flashback Friday

I remember when we would go to the grocery store when I was a kid, nobody asked us "paper or plastic" when they started to bag our groceries. To be truthful, they don't even ask us that today. But I digress. Back in the day you got paper bags for your groceries because that was all they had. And if you had ice cream or frozen foods, you got a special smaller heavy-duty freezer paper bag. Like I said, they were smaller - just big enough for nothing bigger than a rectangle carton of ice cream to fit in. But they actually worked. They weren't insulated or anything, but they were made of a heavier paper and they actually helped to keep your ice cream from melting too much before we got home.

I reminisced about the frozen food bags last night when I made a quick trip to Wal-Mart for some Tyson chicken patties. I was walking past the frozen food section when I saw a rack of frozen food paper bags. I had no idea they still used them. But I'm glad they had them because I had another errand to run and the heavy paper bag sure helped keep my chicken patties from thawing out.

I'm A Loser, Again

I've mentioned this a few times in recent years, and unfortunately, it bears repeating: I am notorious for losing things. Normally I end up finding what I've lost, but not after a massive search or even replacing the lost item. Which was the case today. For a week, I've been looking for a missing DVD. Not just any DVD, mind you; it was the movie "Sordid Lives", which happens to be one of my all-time favorite movies. I looked high and low and could not find it. So this afternoon I ordered another copy from eBay. And just ten minutes ago, had an epiphany and found the missing DVD. Oh well. Now I'll have a spare.

Flood 2009 Observations

It's been over twenty-four hours since we had the Great Flood of 2009, and as always, I have some observations I'd like to share.


First and foremost, the weatherazzi was caught way off guard on this. As I was watching the morning news while I was getting ready for work Tuesday morning, at about 6:30 all they said was there were storms up in southern-to-mid Indiana, and that Louisville could possibly see some storms later that night. But thanks to the jet stream, the storm front took a wicked turn and moved due south at almost a 90 degree angle and dumped 6 inches of rain on us.


Second, as usual, people were not prepared for this flood insurance-wise. I talked to a few people today who lost their cars in yesterday's flood, and they only had liability coverage - not full. So they're screwed. I'm so sorry for their loss, but at the same time I said a quick prayer of thanks that I'm able to afford to pay for full coverage on my two old cars. And to think that some people used to laugh at me for paying for full coverage on a car that's 19 years old an an SUV that's 14 years old. I bet they're not laughing now.


Thirdly, I'm very surprised at the weatherazzi's coverage of Flood 2009. I was at work, and didn't have access to a TV or radio, but the 'Rents said that they broke in every so often with weather updates and info, but they didn't have a steady stream of weatherazzi coverage like they normally do with storms and tornados. Seems like the weatherazzi sure missed a good opportunity for some facetime on TV.


It still seems like it was a bad dream - like, standing out on our company's shipping dock as the water was touching my toes didn't happen; like I never saw cars and trucks floating out in what was our factory's parking lot. But it did happen. And I'm thankful that my family and friends are safe. In the end, that's all that matters.

Flood 2009

This was the sight outside of our shipping dock at about 9:30 this morning. At 8:00 when work started, it was as dark as midnight, and was in a very freaky way getting even darker. At about 8:30 it opened up and rained. And rained. And rained. In the span of 75 minutes, we had over 6 inches of rain here in Louisville.

I took this picture as I was standing on the edge of one of the loading docks in our shipping department. The water was lapping at the toes of my tennis shoes. You can see cars stuck in the flood waters. I didn't have the stomach to post a picture taken of one of the factory parking lots, with cars and trucks floating in the flood waters. Yes, they were actually floating. About one-third of the factory was flooded, so I'm pretty sure night shift won't work tonight. All I know is when we're back open for business, we will selling quite a few pumps here in the 'Ville.

We're safe and dry at The Compound, thanks to MSD and a very well-built basement and house. Many, many others were not so fortunate. U of L was flooded, as was Churchill Downs and the main library downtown.

Mullet Watch

I'm proud to report that I spotted a first in our mullet watches - yesterday while shopping at Target, I spotted what I call a Mo-Mullet. The top was a Mohawk and the back was a Mullet. I don't have to tell you that it made me stop dead in my tracks in the store. I was scrambling for my phone so I could take a picture of it but I wasn't fast enough.

Mullet count: 18

Link Of The Week

I love bagels - especially when they're good and fresh. Unfortunately here in our 'hood the only ones you can get are in the freezer or refrigerated sections at the big grocery stores. But for the past month, I've been having fresh, homade bagels that would make you never eat a store-bought one again. Fortunately for me, I've been able to barter for these -- I've traded veggies from the garden at The Compound for awesome roasted garlic and sea salt and a few cinnamon bagels. Now you, too, can have these same awesome homemade bagels. Just visit the site of my new friend Eeka, and you can buy as many bagels as you want. They will be shipped fresh to you - why, you don't even have to go up to the grocery store to get them. Just visit http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5641646 and order a few today. Tell her that Puddin sent you. No, I don't get a discount or kickback - I'm just spreading the word on her awesome bagels. They're so good, that the Old Man even eats them - and he said he'd never eat another bagel again because they were too hard. Take it from him, and from me. Order a dozen - you won't be sorry. Eeka's bagels definitely get the TWIT Seal Of Approval.

Go Ask Alice

It was an odd evening here at The Compound last night. Odd in the fact that we could hear the Alice Cooper concert that was going on across the river at the Horsehoe Casino. The Compound is about a quarter of a mile from the Ohio River, and if you were to launch a boat at the boat docks just below us, you would only have to travel about two miles up river to get to the casino. Unfortunately for those of us in this part of the 'Ville that like to patronize Horsehoe, we have travel almost to downtown Louisville, cross over one of the bridges into southern Indiana and then backtrack to get to the casino. But I digress.

When they first started having the outdoor summer concerts at the casino, our neighbors told us that they could hear it. We scoffed at them and thought there's no way in hell you could hear music like that two miles away. But today I'm going up to their house and apologize for not believing them. I could hear the concert from inside the house, even. It started at 8:00 so I was pretty sure it would be over by the time I went to bed at 11:00, but just in case I put in my trusty ear plugs and went on to sleep.