Stay Tuned . . .

Stay tuned, faithful readers.  Tomorrow I will have a big announcement.  Nothing to worry about - TWIT is not going anywhere, and I will continue to blog as long as there's an internet.  But I will have some pretty exciting news in tomorrow's post, so stay tuned.  And thanks again for being such awesome faithful readers.

Allergy Alert

I'm not sure what the actual numbers are on the scale today, but this morning when I was getting ready for work the weatherazzi I was watching on TV said that the pollen count today would be off of the charts.  I agree with him 100%.  When I got up this morning, I was still stopped up and congested just as if I had a cold.  I took a dose of my allergy meds and they didn't do much good today.  And from what I heard at work, nobody else's allery meds did any good , either, -- everybody I talked to was complaining.  I hope that everyone will be able to get some rest this evening and will have some relief from the congestion, sneezing, runny nose, etc. 

Vacation Observations

1.  Being able to watch "Real Housewives ff New New Jersey" is nowhere near incentive enough to stay home from work.

2.  It was very interesting and enlightening to see such a large number of my coworkers who were on Facebook all day long and leaving frequent status updates and comments.  I'm not going to rat them out; there's power and leverage in knowing their secret.  And for the record, I did not see my three employees logged in on Facebook during the day.

3.  I discovered that the 'Rents have flavored gourmet coffee and a snack every afternoon.  Now that could be incentive enough to stay home from work.

4.  When you have time to kill and are tired and want to take a nap, you have trouble falling asleep and end up sleeping for ten minutes. 

5.  If you're lucky enough to fall asleep and take a nap, the phone will ring just as you're drifting off to sleep. And it's never someone you actually wanted to talk to.

6.  You can eat lunch anytime you want, and you can take longer than 30 minutes. 

7.  If you have to heat your lunch in the microwave, you never have to wait in line to use it.

Vacation Day Eight - Decision Of The Day

Vacation Day Eight - Decision Of The Day:  My week of vacation is drawing to a close, and today's Decision Of The Day is going to require some work.  Do I do laundry this afternoon, or procrastinate?

Vacation Day Eight - Decision Of The Day

Vacation Day Eight - Decision Of The Day: As the week has progressed, the decisions have gotten harder. Today we are faced with a major decision: do we put icing on the carrot cake cookies we baked or keep them plain?

Vacation Day Seven - Decision Of The Day

Vacation Day Seven - Decision Of The Day: I've got a very important appointment downtown this morning with the SBA. Do I go all out and carry one of my very cool and corporate briefcases or just carry one of my leather legal pad holders?

Vacation Day Six - Decision Of The Day

Vacation Day Six - Decision Of The Day: Like yesterday, today's Decision of the Day was made earlier today without the input of you, faithful readers.  On Monday, after I made my Decision of the Day to drive the BMW, it wouldn't start due to me not driving it for a month. Yesterday I tried to charge it with our battery charger that I'm sure Noah had on the ark with him, but it still wouldn't start.  We let it charge some more and tried again late last night and then this morning.  Then my Decision of the Day was to either have it towed to the repair shop or give it one more chance.  I decided to give it one more chance. I started up my Blazer, drove it through the backyard and behind the garage to the carport and connected the jumper cables to the BMW. After a couple of tries, the BMW finally started.
P.S. I've already made a second Decision Of The Day: from now on, I will drive the BMW to work at least two days a week to keep it charged up and running.

Vacation Day Five - Decision Of The Day

Vacation Day Five's Decision of the Day has already been made, faithful readers.  A few hours ago, while still in bed, I made the decision to stay in bed and sleep late.  I got up at 9:30.  Yes, it was awesome.  So awesome, that I may decide to do it again tomorrow. 

Vacation Day Four - Decision Of The Day

I'm feeling much better today, faithful readers. Other than feeling a bit tired, I'd say I'm about 80% back to normal.  Today, I have to run an errand that will involve a bit of driving.  Today's Vacation Decision of the Day: Do I drive the Blazer or the BMW?

Vacation Day Three - Decision Of The Day

Unfortunately, I've picked up some kind of stomach bug this morning and have been bowing down to the porcelin god a few times since I got up. Today's decision of the day is do I drink ginger ale or 7-Up?

Vacation Day Two - Decision Of The Day

Vacation Day Two - Decision of the Day:

Do I take a nap before Sunday dinner or later on this afternoon?

Vacation Day One - Decision Of The Day

Once again, faithful readers, I am taking a week of vacation next week and today is my vacation week kick-off. And once again, I am planning on relaxing and limiting myself to hopefully have to make only one decision a day. 

Vacation Day One - Decision Of The Day:  Strawberry freezer jam or honey on my biscuits?

Flashback Friday

Back To School Update

Yesterday was the official first day of school for Jefferson County Public Schools and for the Catholic schools as well, and after extensive phone calling, emailing and texting, I'm very happy to report that out of all of the friends and coworkers I contacted, all of their children made it to school and back at home on time yesterday.  That in itself has got to be a record. And all of those I contacted reported no drama or issues from their kids at school.  Let's hope and pray that will continue throughout the school year for those kids and they will keep the enthusiasm that they experienced on their first day. 

Would It Have Been Any Different?

After a two-day delay due to Saturday's storm damage, Jefferson County Public Schools finally started back today.  Parents came to work late today so they could make a trip to school for their kids' first day, but not before taking pictures of the kids before leaving for school and then posting the pictures on Facebook. I think it's cool - I enjoy looking at the pictures of my friends' and coworkers' kids and seeing how much they've grown. But today, I started to think back about my first days of school.  My parents never took a picture of me on my first day of school.  It's not because they didn't care; it's just that nobody did that when I was a kid.  Then I wondered some more.  I wondered if we'd had digital cameras and computers and Facebook back when I was a kid, would my parents' have taken my picture on the first day of school?  I don't know.  If The 'Rents were home right now, I'd sure ask them. But somehow, I don't think they would have.

Elvis Has Left The Building

Naked Ladies Tour 2011

It's the middle of August and that can mean only one thing here at The Compound and in yards and flower gardens all over this area: it's time for the Naked Ladies to bloom.

This year has been our best crop so far. On Saturday morning when this picture was taken, Dad counted a record 21 blooms at this patch.

After the hellacious storm moved through The Compound Saturday night, I don't have the heart to take an "after" picture. About one-third of them had fallen over from the high winds.  But the blooms are still beautiful nonetheless.

Link Of The Week

I came across a new site this week where you can watch TV shows online. Not only can you watch current network and cable shows but you can watch shows way back from the 90's as well.  Visit http://xfinitytv.comcast.net/ and start watching.

Flashback Friday

I apologize for getting involved in a project last night and totally forgetting about Flashback Friday.  Please forgive me.

Below is our old school hand crank juicer/masher.  It's been a valuable part of the kitchen equipment at The Compound since the 50's.  And yep, it still works.  Boy does it work. It works so well that it helped me crank out 13 pints of tomato juice a few days ago.  Anyhoo, I remember my Grandma using this when she made grape jelly.  Sure it was messy but the awesome grape jelly was sure with it. She would stand over the kitchen sink with the masher securely on top of a pan and crank away. 

When the juicing craze first hit about 20 years ago, of course I had to run out and buy an electric juicer.  Believe me when I tell you we used it twice - once 20 years ago when we got it and second a few days ago before we gave up and decided to use the old school hand crank juicer.  Needless to say the electric juicer is now in a box of other stuff for the next DAV pick-up, while the old hand crank juicer still has a lot of life left in it.

Yet Another Chupacabra Sighting

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials are scratching their heads over an unidentified dead mammal that was first spotted July 31 on a Douglas County road.

The creepy-looking all white creature with five claws on its front paws, long toenails and dark tufts of hair on its back has prompted speculation that Minnesota is home to the legendary chupacabra, KSAX-TV reports.

Lacey Ilse was driving close to her home on County Road 86, near Alexandria, when she first saw the dead carcass.

"We saw something in the middle of the road, and we knew it wasn't a dog or a cat, because it didn't have hair," Ilse told KSAX-TV.

"It had a clump of hair and all the rest was just white skin. Its ear was all mis-shaped. To me, it looked half-human," Ilse said.

This mysterious animal was found on a Minnesota road, prompting many to wonder if it's the legendary blThe creepy-looking all white creature with five claws on its front paws, long toenails and dark tufts of hair on its back has prompted speculation that Minnesota is home to the legendary chupacabra, KSAX-TV reports.

DNR area wildlife supervisor Kevin Kotts said the animal closely resembles a badger, although the creature's tail is longer than a typical badger.

"It's got five long front claws on each of its front feet, which would be characteristic of a badger," Kotts told the TV station. "I ran the pictures past a few other DNR folks that have a lot of trapping and/or furbearer experience, and they all said it's hard to be 100 percent sure what it is ... but if it's a Minnesota animal, it's probably a badger."

Chupacabras, or "goat suckers," are creatures said to live in Mexico, Puerto Rico and in different parts of the United States. The animals, described as something between a dog and a wolf, reportedly kill and suck the blood out of livestock.

Last month, a Texas teenager claimed to shoot and kill a chupacabra. Results have not yet been announced from hair and skin samples taken of the animal.

Most wildlife experts believe the weird-looking animals are coyotes afflicted with mange, caused by an infection of tiny parasites that results in their hair falling out and leaving them with shriveled skin.

The body of the Minnesota chupacabra suspect has been frozen at the Glenwood DNR office and officials may soon do a DNA test to hopefully identify the mysterious roadkill.

With the stock market crashing, and all of the drama the parents are facing with kids going back to school next week, I'm just not sure we're ready for another Chupacabra sighting right now.  Maybe it could wait until later in the year, after all of the candidates have announced they're running for President.

File Under: WTF?

I stopped at WalMart the other morning on the way to work to pick up some goodies for a little birthday party for one of the guys in my department.  By the time I got back to the front of the store to the only checkout lane that was open, thankfully there was only one person in front of me. It was a 30-something guy buying a doggie toy that was on the discount rack. I know this because the toy was only 60 cents. The cashier told the guy the guy the amount, and the guy whipped out his debit card.  Yes, he used his debit card for a 60 cent doggie toy.

Now, I know that the younger generation doesn't like to carry cash and they use plastic whereever they go, but for a 60 cent purchase?  The only thing I could think of was WTF?  I'm sure that any one of us could find at least 60 cents in the floorboard around the driver's seat in our cars. But using a debit card for a 60 cent purchase just blew me away.

What's Up With That?

I've been slightly out of it for the past day or so with the beginnings of a sinus infection, so I'm not as hip on things as I usually am, but I am well enough to know that this week is just too wild.  While we are still reeling from the new of the Navy troops being killed in Afghanistan on Saturday, we have the stock market crashing, 3/4 of the country under a severe drought, and  now England on fire. What's gonna be next?

Heatwave 2011 Update

I am very happy to report that it appears Heatwave 2011 is over.  Well, for now, anyway.  On Saturday, the temperature was only in the upper 80's, breaking our streak of 22 consecutive days of temperatures over 90.  Any other time we would have thought that 88 was like an oven instead of being pleasant.  I know, I know - other states have had over a month of temperatures around or over 100.  I'm sorry about their luck.  But for now, we're enjoying it.  The rest of this week is supposed to be cooler, with temps in the low to mid 80's.  Bring it on.

Link Of The Week

You know how I love something free.  With the recession going on I'm sure that everybody loves something free as well.  This week, I found another legit freebie that if pretty much effortless to get.  All you do is sign up with your name and address and you can get a free toilet paper roll cover from the good folks at Cottonelle.  Visit http://www.respecttheroll.com/.  But in order to get the free toilet paper roll cover, you have to enter the UPC code from a pack of Cottonelle Clean Care 12-pack or larger.  I'm cheating a bit but I want to share this with you, faithful readers.  Here is the UPC code to enter:  3600029664.  Enjoy your free toilet paper roll cover.

Security Tip Saturday

This morning, I got a phone call from a friend who reported that a mutual friend had gotten their house and garage robbed yesterday evening.  Security-minded person that I am, the first thing I thought of was the fact that our friend the robbery victim had posted something on Facebook yesterday evening about where they were and what they were doing. At the time I'm sure they thought it was impressive to let everyone on Facebook know that they were "checking in" at some fancy $$$ restaurant in Louisville. They let everyone know, all right - most likely even the robber.

I can't stress enough the importance of not saying where you are or where you are going on Facebook or daily blogs or at any site on the internet.  The friend that got their house and garage cleaned out last night is the 6th friend that has had their home robbed in the past two years - and each time all of them had posted something on Facebook about where they were and what they were doing.  Sure, here are privacy controls, and they work to an extent but with just a few minutes of patience, anyone can hack or use back door methods and see what you've written on your Facebook wall or on friends' walls. I can testify to that - I've personally watched an internet security expert reach a Facebook account that had privacy controls set so only "friends" could see what was posted.  And to do what he did, you did not need to a security expert - like I said, all it takes is some diligence and patience.

So please take this as a warning and don't advertise where you are.  I want all of my faithful readers to be safe and secure.

Flashback Friday

Let me preface by saying that I have no idea what made me think of this as I was driving home from a dinner a church tonight, but it popped into my head and I thought it made for a good Flashback Friday. The Flashback has to do with a hoax that made the rounds about 20 years ago before we had the internet.  Back in the day, all we had was regular mail, phone calls and an occasional fax to circulate the hoax.  This one made the rounds through phone calls and conversations.

The story would be told from someone who said they heard it from a relative/friend who heard it from a relative/friend that it actually happened to.  The person, most of the time a woman, had just gotten in her car to drive home from the grocery store.  It was summer, and the weather was unusually hot.  While driving, the woman hears a loud pop, feels something hit the back of her head, thinks it's a gunshot and when she reaches around, she feels what she thinks is her brain.  When in reality, what happened was the woman had bought some canned biscuits, and the heat had apparently caused a can to pop open and spew raw biscuit dough onto the back of her head.

Back in the day when we had no internet and didn't have a quick way to affirm or deny such stories, we had no other reason but to believe they were true.  And had this biscuit incident happened to me while driving, I can certainly see that one would think they had been shot in the head and their brains were spilling out.

Like I said, I have no idea what made me think of this old story. It's just the way my busy mind works sometimes.

Why Didn't I Think Of This?

Cyclist Enjoys Beer While Riding Down Sidewalk, Police Say

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A Louisville man has been charged with drinking alcohol in a public place after an officer spotted him cycling on the sidewalk while drinking a beer.

According to arrest records, a police officer saw 29-year-old Thomas Alvis riding a bicycle near Manslick Road and Manslick Court Wednesday afternoon.

Police said Alvis was drinking from a bottle of Icehouse Beer.

Alvis tried to hide the beer from the officer, police said.

Alvis is charged with consuming alcohol in a public place.


My only question is I wonder if the police impounded the guy's bicycle?

All Is Right With The World

As I type this, some major uncertainties have been resolved.  First and foremost, the folks in Washington, DC have passed the necessary bills and the 'Rents, along with billions of others, received their Social Security checks today.  We were sweating it out a bit here at The Compound over the past couple of weeks.  You just couldn't second guess those folks up on Capitol Hill, and I for one had no idea what those clowns would end up doing,  but at least the old folks will have their monthly checks uninterrupted. 

And in addition to that good news,  the NFL season is back on track and we'll have our first pre-season games in just a couple of weeks.  I cannot wait to see my beloved Titans play ball with a new coach and new quarterback.  And adding to this good news is the news of my church security project being one step closer to being in almost-full-swing now:  business cards have been designed and ordered.    And another "and" to add to this good news - I finally was able to hook up with my old high school boyfriend last night and we had a great dinner and time of laughing and talking, and have vowed to get together weekly. Unfortunately our time together had to be put on the back burner while I was finishing up my Master's Degree.  So all of this together makes for a pretty good start to the month of August. I'm happy and excited and ready to see what the rest of the month has in store.  Bring it on!!!!

The American Dream

As I mentioned last week on my Life Day, I'm going to get serious about starting my security consulting business.  Today, I took one of the first major steps. Actually, I took the real first step a few months ago when I came up with a name for my consulting business and had Diva Stacy use her artistic talents to design a logo for me.  Today, I called and talked with someone from the Small Business Administration. After a very informative chat with them today, I need to call them back and schedule an appointment with an advisor/counselor to go over everything.  When I say "everything", I mean everything.  The person I spoke with today said they would help me with developing a business plan, insurance, financing, permits, licenses, etc - everything I need to get going. I'm going to call back tomorrow and set up an appointment and get this show on the road. Times wasting, and there are plenty of churches in the Louisville area that need my help. As always, I'll keep you posted.

Heatwave Update

It's just not right for it to be 88 degrees at 11:00 at night.

Happy Birthday, MTV

TWIT would like to wish a very happy 30th birthday to MTV.  It's hard to believe, but 30 years ago today MTV first aired on cable TV. 

We didn't get cable TV at The Compound until two years later in 1983, so I had to wait until then to discover the awesome new thing called a music video.  Honestly, I don't remember watching MTV in friends' homes, either.  Maybe they didn't get cable until after we did.  Anyhoo, TWIT wants to wish MTV a very happy birthday.  And TWIT would also like to leave a message to MTV:  Please get back to the business of playing music videos instead of showing the horrible reality shows.