Just in time for the New Year

Susan and Michael visited us between Christmas and New Year. 

They came with a project in mind. 

The plantings in front of the porch were getting a bit  -  uh, skanky. 

They were all full of grapevines (well, then - don't SPIT the SEEDS!)

and overgrown with bird planted greenery.

This is the Landscape Design Team.

The Assistant Landscaper regards the completed design.

They took the time to hang a hammock for T.to use. 

They also took the time to make sure it worked as it was supposed to.

We appreciate their Plant and Swing Project and anticipate years of  use and enjoyment. 

Happy New Year, all!

 If you need T., you'll know where to find him if he's not inside. 

Merry Christmas Day!!!

Both boys got a knife this Christmas

Matthew went to play with a new train

Nathan had to find the first-aid kit.

Both had a wonderful morning opening gifts and clearing away the wrapping.

Merry Christmas to all!

A Prayer...

May Your Christmas be Merry and  Bright. 
Peace On Earth, Goodwill, Amen!

My New Friend




Meet my new Pandigital Novel tablet. -  It came from Big Lots - purchased on Black Friday this year.   It has introduced me to new novelist friends such as Sarah Rosett, Georgette Heyer and Carl Hiassen (I'm reading Basket Case right now, thank you Carl....) and made the Jack Reacher books so accessible that the latest of that series is next!  I have the tablet in a protective case that I found online and ordered, using  Pandigital Novel's Wireless to get to the Internet.  All-in-all, I'm most  pleased to have gotten up before daylight on Black Friday and wish to give a huge thanks to Elder Daughter and her son, N. T. for going into the cold dark night to stand in line to get a ticket from the store employee so she could make this purchase while her younger son and I waited in the warm snug van.   If I'd had the tablet that morning, I would have had something to read while waiting for the Big Lot sale to begin, now wouldn't I!!







A little news




Yay.   Now if I could qualify as the only employee in the county......

 

Huh?

This is one of our  restaurants.  They sell good Chinese food.  They  have a fine Chinese name. 
That sign advertising T-shirt sales has the restaurant name on it. 
Really? 
Yes, that really is the name. 

Is it just me....or.......

Rolling, On Baya Drive



If you want to go to Heaven & walk the streets of gold.  You have to learn the new password. 

Roll Tide Roll.
(Click to enlarge)



Fallen Heroes



Pensacola Journal Editorial Page, June 23, 2011

  It has been a solemn week, since the news headlined that two men, fighting wildfire in Hamilton County lost their lives.  They went to school in the area and I have discovered just how small our community is.  Two people I have never met died and their deaths touched lives around me.  The two firefighters were part and parcel of the life of our town.  Someone Elder Daughter knows went to school with Josh Burch and attended his funeral today.  She also learned that her mother attended school with Brett Fulton.  His funeral will be held on Saturday. 

Elder Daughter called me about 5:00PM today, asking if I could watch the grandsons while she and her husband took this  friend out to dinner.  When I learned that she had just come from attending the funeral today - and was in need of some quiet fellowship,  I said of course I would watch the boys.  Elder daughter described some of the funeral to me from her friend's remembrances - there was a flag folded and presented to a mother with smaller flags given to the surviving sons.  There was a fly-over of the Ranger helicopters at the cemetery.  The dispatcher called the Final Roll Call - asking for the firefighter to respond to the radio.  After the last request to respond, the dispatcher announced that the fallen hero had not answered the call and was Out of Service for the last time.  Oh, my!   Elder daughter and I had tears in our eyes and quavering voices at the end of the conversation.  

This loss is felt deeply in a such a small community.  Keep the families and friends of the two men in your prayers.  They stood between the community and the danger of wildfire and lost their lives doing something they loved.  When I think that the one man got out of the area, realized that his friend wasn't there and went back in - the words come to mind, "no greater love..."


 

It was a Red Touch Yellow Snake!!!!

The date was June 16th, 2011.  The Lieutenant had just walked past my cubicle on the rug between my opening and the one just across the way.  He passed beyond the cubicle opening and was heading towards his office door when he turned back to say something to me.  Instead, I heard him say, "Is that a snake?  Who put that there?  Is it a rubber snake?" 

I turned in my chair and looked back to see this colorful snake stretched out along the rug, just beside the wall of the cubicle across from me.  Maybe ten feet away.  About the time I turned and Lt. was taking a step towards the thing on the rug, it moved!  I picked my feet up and Lt. took a step backwards.

Things got a little frantic.  The office became a hive of activity with two of the guys headed for higher ground and two more heading towards the little visitor on the rug.  One of the guys plopped a trash bin upside down atop the slithering serpent as it tried to round the corner and take shelter under our briefing table. 

Oh, no!  The snake managed to escape the Rubbermaid receptacle.  Using the edge of the can to sweep the colorful thing backwards from the table, he managed to push it towards the cubicle wall near the opening.  Oh, that's good, but it wouldn't be trapped.  Another of the guys rushed up and together they stomped the snake against the rug and the cubicle wall.  Finally they managed to get their shoes on the body of the snake pinning it down and the one man leaned down, whipping out his knife and opening the blade up.  Slice.  He cut  the head off.

The body was tipped into a bag and the guys thought the head was there as well.  It wasn't. 

After a search in all areas the guys had moved around with this snake-in-a-bag, the head was located on the floor in the very area where it had been cut from the body.  The guy who decapitated the snake kept saying that this variety didn't have fangs and couldn't strike at anyone.  He said it needed to get hold of soft tissue and chew on it, in order to kill prey.  That wasn't much comfort to know.    I think I blurted out that I didn't really need the snake's resume - just please, please PLEASE find that head!
Thank goodness, I work with brave men and women.  The guys surely know how to take care of snakes and the lady with her camera was able to document the actions of some of the non-snake handling men.




Coral Snake - held by the snake killer and hero of the morning

 



 

Shaken but not stirred....

In Walmart on Saturday I was headed towards the main aisle when I spotted a female who apparently was one of those few  people who are born with little or no jawbone.  She seemed to have absolutely no chin, with the line of her neck running from her collarbone to approximately an inch below her nose.  She was pushing a basket and was walking perpendicularly across my path.  I was just about to think to myself, "Aw, the poor thing." when she suddenly clapped her lower lip upwards to her top lip and her chin slid upwards into its normal place on her face.  I realized that  what I had mistakenly thought was the silhouette of  a chinless person was actually that of a person in the middle of a gawping yawn.  Then I espied the rest of her.  A pink sleep tee and stripped flannel jammy bottoms.  This lady was wandering the aisles of the store in a sleep deprived state, wearing her pajamas and a pair of flip-flops.  There was nothing in her basket.  She was headed towards the dairy section, so one can only hope she was picking up some milk for her cereal.  Creamer for her coffee.  Something to start the day right, something to wake her up and shake her up and yell in her face, "What were you thinking, going out shopping in sleepwear.....!"

Maybe it would have done some good.  Or, not.

The Walkie Talkie from Heck.

T. and I were talking while he was trying to decide if he should take the tractor down the fire trail.  He hasn't driven the Ford-built machine in a while and has been saying he wanted to drive it to the back of the property across the road and just see how things look over there.  I figured he couldn't get too far off the track since there is a fence across the back property line and the fire trails mark the boundaries on each of the long sides. 

The only thing he was concerned about was the heat of the day and how he would communicate if he broke down.  He asked me if I had a cell phone he could take with him.  I quickly thought of putting minutes on one of the two phones we have stashed away - one was an old one of mine.  Red.   I had put time on it and given it to T. while he was still driving.  He couldn't figure how to turn it on.  Or off.  And, finally he couldn't recall where he  saw it last.  We looked in the car and in  the bedroom but the phone was lost. 

I bought another phone,  Silver.  He couldn't recall how to turn it on.  Or off.  And then he lost that phone.  When I finally ran across both phones stored in our bedroom under a pillow on the dresser - I just left them there.

It's not like I really needed another lesson.  When he asked for my cell phone I just said, "NO!"

He threw a little attitude over it - but then I recalled the walkie talkies.  I had bought them a couple of years ago for him for Christmas and things were getting apparent that electronics weren't his strongest skill. Going through the phone fiasco  had caused me to rethink the whole gift thing and put the walkie talkies into storage in the hall closet. 

I mentioned we could try using the set to see if he could contact me if the tractor stopped running.  He liked that idea and went rummaging in the hall closet until he found both units.  They were still in their plastic cases- never opened.  We cut the cases and dug out the batteries, read the instruction books and put the AAA batteries into the compartments.  We tried the On switches and my walkie talkie chirped and came on.  T's just sat there.  We checked the  battery installation and reversed the positive poles on one side.  We closed that case and T. asked how to turn it on again. 

Once he found the power switch and held it down, his walkie talkie came on.  It didn't make a chirping noise but it did start getting warm.    Okay, now we're getting somewhere.  We checked the battery positions again and they were installed correctly but the unit was still warm.  I had mine in my hand and was able to change channels and then raise and lower the volume levels.  T. was still trying to get his to do something. 

I  looked at it and he had turned it off again.  It was sort of warm in my hand.  I turned his walkie talkie on again then set the channel to match mine and told him to just push the center button to talk to me.  I told him to push where it said TALK.  He did so and his voice came through the little speaker on the walkie talkie in my hand.  Hurrah!

He tried it again.  Nothing happened.  He pushed and pushed.  Nothing! 

I put out my hand and T. put the walkie talkie into my palm.  The switch was back on off. 

Long story short, we aren't going to be using the walkie talkie set.  It's probably flawed.  Or broken from the two years it spent in the closet.  Later on I may see if Radio Shack has any of the T4300 models and just buy one of them.  Then I can give them to someone who would like a walkie talkie set with a two mile range and 15 channels.  They will come with instruction books and neither of them will get really really warm when you turn it on.

Ramblings

This is a rare traffic jam in our small town.  It started right at the end of the driveway where I come out of work.  You can tell I hadn't completed the turn into the roadway before cars had stopped.   I hate when this happens.


 

This is an un-traffic jam in our small town.  I would rather drive in this kind of traffic any day.



These flowers were planted from bulbs given us by a cousin.  They come up year after year and I enjoy  seeing them, like old friends in the early Summertime.  They remind me of Charles Vining whenever I see them waving in the breeze.

This is a group collecting donations from passers-by at the local big box store.  The group advertises as an animal rescue and requests donations both here and on the radio.  I have heard some pretty ratty rumors about how they treat their animals and the condition of their facility.  I wonder how they can afford to advertise over the airwaves.   I would much rather see flowers waving in  the breeze than see some child waving a bucket and a sign outside a place where I buy groceries.

Further Deponent Sayeth Not. 

Happy Day, Mothers!

May you have the kind of memories today that make you smile - recalling your children being raised by their loving mother and recalling your loving mother raising you.

I'm remembering the child who offered a snack to siblings from the birdseed can..... when Mom wasn't around.  The  spankee who shoved a spelling book down the back of his jeans when told he was getting a spanking.  What was he thinking would happen when the spanker made that distinctive discovery!

I recall sisters playing outside and being called to come in for dinner.  When only one child appeared and was asked about her little sister, she explained with a straight face that Lil' Sis was tied up and couldn't come right then.  Literally tied up, as we found out years later! 

And the Lil' Sis who mentioned a visit by her Big Sis and they were in an establishment.  Apparently  Big Sis didn't make such a favorable impression on a store clerk.  Said clerk made a comment about Big Sis - and Lil' Sis had one foot over the counter when a friend grabbed her and pulled her back from wreaking vengeance on said store clerk.  That's the kind of loyalty a mother hopes to instill in her children.  The kind of closeness that makes a parent proud to know her children would go to the ends of the earth to protect each other.  Or, at least over a service counter - if that's what was required! 

Our mother instilled it in us.  The greatest gift we can give our children is the memories and feelings and love they have for each other. 

Pass it along.

One, two, three - - blast off?

No, I'm not talking about the delayed launch of the space shuttle.  Although it has been put back until the end of the week due to a switch  box in the engine compartment.  It needs replacing - so the launch is not happening tomorrow (Monday) and I am glad to see that NASA is still concentrating on safety in the fleet.  It's down to two, now. 

My Blast Off refers to the other night when I was supposed to be sleeping soundly.  My sleep was broken by my two eyes popping open at about 3AM.  Now,  I don't brag about having an alarm clock in my head that wakens me for a preset event.  Apparently, I do have one.  Who knew! 

Tommy's mother used to be able to pull off that handy little trick.  She would think about what time she wanted to wake up and then she would just be awake at that time.  No alarm clock needed.

My own sister has the talent. 

But I have never thought I had such a useful ability.  I had been thinking about the Royal Wedding for most of the afternoon on Thursday and when I got home, I checked the TV Cable menu and found the schedule had coverage starting at 4:00 A. M. Friday morning.  So, I set the tuner to switch to Fox Channel for that time. 

I had meant to set my alarm for then, as well but I somehow fell asleep on the couch in the living room before I could manage to wend my way to the bedroom.  The TV will not come on when I schedule an event.  The tuner will switch to the show I want to watch but nothing else will happen.  I slept peacefully away.  After midnight, I was still  on the couch.  One in the morning - still sleeping...two o'clock, still sleeping. 

Three in the morning, my eyes popped open.  Wha - what am I doing in here;  And why am I awake?  And if it is early in the morning, what will I find if I turn on the telly?  Ah-hah!  The pre-wedding stuff was already on Fox.  Soooo..... we just sat on the couch and watched the wedding unfold until after the vows were said.  That would be the Royal We.  T. was still asleep in the bedroom.

I wasn't alone, however.  The paper today said that twenty-three million people watched the wedding  all over the world.  (I guess that doesn't include the crowds lining the sidewalks in London.) 

I wonder how many of us felt like we had sand in our eyes at some point later in the day?

Easter Wishes

Happy Easter Sunday 2011

Signs of the times...

I have lately had a penchant for reading some of the church signs posted in our little community.  The one on the New Life church sign states, " An Closed Mouth Gathers No Foot "  They just changed it.  I smile every time I ride past.

The Church of God posted this little gem:  " The Church Is God's Gift To Man.....Assembly Required "

It stayed in my mind half the way home -- think about it.

Is there a book for these collected sayings?  A website where one can go and find a suitable post?  I should probably start carrying my camera along so I can snap a shot as I drive by.  Would that make a neat vacation?  Post a church sign a day, as we drive sedately through the countryside.    I'd need a pretty big camper.  Maybe a navigator?  Oh, here's the deal breaker - I'd need enough money to pay for gas.

I guess I'll content myself with the drive to work and home.  If I see any more signs that cause a smile, I'll bring them to you, here.

Warm Fuzzies

I follow several blogs - some that I have found from Ranger's list - others that I have visited on my own and been charmed by the content or touched by the writer's ability to create word pictures.  Some of my favorites are photographer's sites and they have lots of pictures along with a view of events in the life of the writer.  I have added another favorite to my growing list.  Pioneer Woman, whom I follow as do  lots of others I know, just closed out a photography contest where the subject was Horses.  Oh, my!  Can I just say that the subject matter was great and the contestants were so talented - I couldn't stay away and found myself checking back over and over.  I recall Ranger sketching horses when we were younger and I admired her ability to create the animal she so loved, on a flat sheet of paper.  I was always a bit intimidated by the real life thing.  Horses are so big.  I was so small.  How does one control such power. 

In 1961, when Mother took us on a trip out west with friends, we wound up in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  We went horseback riding while there.  My horse was a paint mare named Dinah.  I was terrified of Dinah.  I suppose Dinah had walked the trail a thousand times and her only interest in going out with a rider on her back was to finish the trail and return to  the barn for her hay and  oats.  My only interest was to  finish the  trail ride in one piece and on the top side of the horse.  To that end, I spoke to Dinah almost the entire ride.  I whispered in her ears, telling her that - if she  wouldn't throw me  off her back and would just get me back to the barn in  good time, I wouldn't tell anyone how she terrified me.  She must have believed me.  We got back to the barn and I was able to dismount without my knees giving way.  Dinah was led away to her stall.  I was never so glad to see the back end of a horse as that day and haven't been on a horse since then.  I admire those who ride without fear.  I love to look at the beautiful beasts and have come so far as to pet and praise the two paint mares who reside in the field across from our house.  These girls belong to my child, Elder Daughter.  She, like Ranger has always had a love affair with horses.

To return to topic - sorry for the wandering mind - Pioneer Woman announced the winners of the contest and the prize went to Jennifer Warthan - of The Cotton Wife weblog and photographer of the most lovely shot of horses taken in the snow, in front of a great red barn.  One horse was standing at the fence and the other coming along around the barn.  I kept coming back to that picture and recommend you to take a look at it at PW's contest site. 

Jennifer also sells linen-stock cards featuring her photographic art on her website:  http://warthanfarmsphotography.zenfolio.com/fineart

I may just have to buy that shot that so won my heart and the Pioneer Woman's contest. 

Poor Copy Machine.

We have a fantastic copy machine at work.  It is a real workhorse that holds a ream of  8.5 x 11 paper in each of 3 trays, plus a ream of legal size in the fourth tray.  This modern marvel copies, sorts, collates, scans, faxes and dispenses coffee from a special stainless steel pot that sits on the left hand side.  Well, I may have exaggerated about the coffee.  We have to make that ourselves and pour our own from the thermos carafe.

 And the coffee station is nowhere near the copier. 

But the thing does just about everything else and is such a fine color copier that nearly everybody in the building runs by our office when they need a special job run.  We can scan in images and send email from the copier in TIFF, JPEG or Adobe formats.   We have forms in the document server that print at the push of a button The company that gives service to the machine has been known to send out a service technician just because they haven't heard from us in a while and wanted to be sure things were going well.  Oh, and while on site, they may as well check and clean the device.  No charge.  The company does not have an X in the name.  I will not tell the actual corporation - but the name rhymes with havin'.  As in, I'm not havin' any other brand of copier on the premises.  Others may extol the joys of the ex-rocks copier.  I'll keep what I got. 

All this to say that some folks ran into a panic situation this morning.  The FDLE employee who works out of our office went to the copier to run some forms through.  He picked the finished job out of the paper tray and then went "Uh Oh!" 

"What's wrong", someone asked.

I wasn't really listening, being concentrated on researching some stuff on my computer.  I kind of picked up the problem by osmosis.  It seemed there was a paper clip showing up on each page of the finished copy.  Right about the middle of the page.  Someone said  to open the document feeder and see if a clip had fallen in - Another person said to stop running copies in case there was a clip inside the machine and we caused a jam, or worse - by continuing to run copies.   Another voice chimed in to say we needed to call for service before we messed the machine up. 

At that point, I sat up and looked over at the briefing table where a couple of folks were inspecting the flawed copy.  One of the employees who knows me pretty well saw me looking on and said - Oh, it's April first.... April Fools!  That was you, wasn't it, Nancy!  I had to admit it was.  I had gone to the machine and put a paper clip on the glass and then pushed 5 and print.  Opening the paper drawer, I returned the 5 sheets to the top of the stack and closed the drawer.  All I had to do  from that point  on was wait!  And not laugh.

It was funny and fun.  I tip my hat to  our daughter in Alabama.  It was her idea first.

Comin' At'cha!

One came from the west.....



One came from the East......




We met in the middle on a bright Saturday in March.....

 Actually, we all met at the local Cracker Barrel and had a leisurely breakfast and a family reunion type visit over the meal.  The mini reunion was brother's idea and it worked out really well.  He said it was a shame we couldn't get together with our sister (Ranger) and see each other while we were all at the same end of the state at the same time.  Ranger and her husband, J - are staying to the east of us while they are helping J's mom to recover from a stroke.  Brother lives to the west of us in the state capital, along with his lovely wife - whom we missed seeing this trip.  Each drove about an hour and a half to meet in the middle and we had a nice meal and then adjourned to my home where we continued to re-une (is that even a word?  No matter, I'm going to use it.) 

We had a lovely long visit and sat around the dining table talking our heads off and catching up on our lives until time to head back to the east and the west where spouses and houses waited their return.

I hated to see them leave.  Ranger and I did give each other a bag of reading material so I have a reminder of the visit.  I'm half way  through the first one.  Heh.

Letter to the Gov.

Governor Rick Scott,
Tallahassee,Florida

Dear Governor Scott:

Re:  Daylight Savings Time.

I.  Want.  My.  Hour.  Back!
 Sincerely,

Ol' Doc

These are the times.

T and I went grocery shopping as we do on weekends.  We shop at Walmart and meet near the registers, after filling our baskets - to check out.  I watch the register total mount higher while he packs the bags into our empty basket.  Once the groceries are rung up, I will hand the cashier my Walmart card and have enough put on it to pay for a tank of gas at the station on the corner of the lot.  We like to use that station because they give you 3 cents off, when using a Walmart card.  It kind of feels like taking advantage of the system -  to get that cents off the price of a tank.  Groceries in the back seat, I drive around to the pumps with T. and he gets out to start the pump and fill the tank.  Usually things go well.

Yesterday, not so much.

He got out and had a slight problem locating the gas tank door and I got out to show him where it was.  I got back in the driver's seat,  thinking things would go as usual.  Put in the card, choose the grade, begin fueling.  It's a routine he is familiar with.  He has done it lots of times.

T. called me to come back out, slightly frantic.  He had shoved the gas card up inside the receipt slot, instead of the card reader.  He couldn't get it back.  I got out.  We couldn't even see the card.  He pushed the pump button to generate a receipt.  It seemed a logical step to him.  Nothing  happened. 

The guy on the other side of the pump was kind of peering around the corner toward us.  If he had offered to help we might have accepted but I believe he was laughing too hard to speak. 

I would just have left the card stuck inside the pump and driven off, except that it did have $30.00 on it. 

I told T. to go tell the person  inside the little office what had happened and ask her if she could retrieve our gas card.  He went.  She came.  She unlocked the little door and opened it to reveal the receipt roll and our card.  She handed it to T.  We thanked her profusely and she returned to the office.

T. went ahead and successfully pumped the tank of gas, and from that point onward things ran like clockwork.  He mentioned that this was the first time he had ever tried to put the card in the wrong place.  Now I know, I can watch him to be sure he isn't repeating the error.

I keep seeing that guy on the other side of the pump laughing without understanding. But you have to keep your sense of humor and it was kind of funny as it unravelled.   

Why I don't like watching the news....

This is a copy of today's earthquake map showing a 4.9 in the Gulf of California.  It is along a fault line between the mainland and Baja.  This is near southern California.  If you look closely, you can see that the red box, for today is not alone.  There are other quakes that have happened along the fault in generally the same spot for the past few days .  It kind of reminds me what happens when you insert the tip of an icepick into a block of ice and start chipping away in the same area.  Doesn't it fracture in the weakest line?  I kind of think Mexico will miss seeing La Paz across the water.

But that isn't the most important thing to think about.  Nor, the most worrisome.

If this weren't bad enough,  I passed the spot pictured in the next image - on the way home.  It is deceptively lovely and covers a vast field that is just coming into bloom after the cold of winter.  We should be rejoicing over the  fact that the long days of cold and early darkness are coming to an end and the Spring is bursting into bud before our very eyes.  We should be glad, except that this is part of a large field that is directly across from the church we attend.  I drove along beside the blooming fields as I headed out in the morning and returned in the evening.  For those highly allergic folk who haven't guessed what this is, don't get too close to the photograph.  This is the weed commonly called Red Top.  It is an amazing sight to behold a half mile long parcel of field that stretches from the  road, clear back to the next section at the tree-line.  The setting sun sets the color to glowing a shade of red that's hard to describe.  Not because we don't have the words; it's hard to describe because we are rubbing our noses and snuffling back a sneeze as we hastily roll the windows up all  tight and turn off the air conditioning.  Just the thought of this huge field makes my nose itch and tingle.  My eyes start to water.  I need to get some tissue and quit thinking about pressure in my sinus.    I need to go now.

How many does it take....

I am fascinated by the technology that allows us to track earthquakes and have found a site that also shows mapping so you can tell where they happened, how long ago and the magnitude of each event.    I'm beginning to suspect that earthquakes happen much more frequently than we (and even some of the experts) realize.  The past few days, when I have checked the website, the majority of quake events has been near the coast of Honshu, Japan.  There were one or two in other locations - but aftershocks are still rocking the area off Japan and some of them are quite large.  Once you click on the link and look at the page, rreload the map page to see any new quakes that have occurred.  I reloaded one time since I copied the link and found a new tremor that just happened.  It is a good thing to pray for the people of Japan.

I'm thinking that, if I lived in California and was keeping up with the tragedy in Japan, I'd be making plans to move right about now.  Haven't we all been expecting "The Big One" to hit along the left edge of the country and kind of drop it into the ocean?  People make jokes about it but I halfway really think it's time to buy land in Arizona, if you want to own oceanfront.  That is not a joke.  Look at all the tremors recorded for California.  And Arkansas has a large number of shaking events.  There was an earthquake off the coast of Alabama the other week - near Mobile Bay.  Younger daughter called and said she didn't feel it where she was but there were people on the coast who did wonder why their pictures were dancing around. 

Um, too close for my liking!

Of pinholes and vacuums.

I've been following the shuttle trip as it is docked at the International Space Station, or ISS for short.  Today, I thought it would have been apt to rename the thing ISH!  As in,  "Ish, what are they thinking."

Just a couple of thoughts and I'll let you go.  First off, the team on ISS has been joined by the shuttle crew plus a new humanoid robot.  The humans will leave eventually.  The robot will remain on the station.  There's just the one part that really bothers me.  I mean, other than having a robot in outer space.  Didn't 2001 A Space Odyssey teach us anything.  Doesn't anybody remember H.A.L.?  Open the Pod Bay Doors, H.A.L.? 

But I digress.  Aside from all that angst, it turns out that this particular  robot has no legs.  In order for it - him - her -whatever... to remain upright, the team had to mount it on a pedestal.  I'm sure it's interesting to talk to a robot that can't do anything like move around.  The legs will be brought up on another mission and then joined to the top part of the robot.  At that point I'd have to wonder if the robot programming included the Prime Directive - "Do Nothing to Cause Harm to a Human."   What if the crew tells the robot to dump the trash and it tries to open the outside door. 

The second thing that gave me a jolt about this mission is the second planned space walk.  The first walk went pretty well until the robot arm stopped with an astronaut aboard.  There was a glitch in the program and the crew on the station changed to another controller and finished the task.  I read in the online news that the second space walk was delayed.  There was a hole in a space suit.  It had to be repaired before the walk could start.

Okay, my question is, how do you repair a hole in a suit that has to be pressurized and function in a vacuum.  Is it like an inner tube patch?  Do you just slap on a piece of duct tape?  What exactly is the protocol.  And if you do manage to patch the hole - which one of us is going to put on this suit with a hole and step outside into cold airless space.  Not me, for sure.  I read science fiction.  I know about the dangers of exposing even a centimeter of skin to what is on the outside of the suit.  I don't care how much the manufacturer promises the patch kit will hold under extreme conditions. 

It's like a famous attorney might say.........

If the suit might blow,
This girl don't go!

That's my theory.

How much !!?!!

This morning, T and I went to shop at Wally World.  Afterward, we filled the car with gas.  Fortunately we had put some money on a Walmart card.  We got 3 cents off the posted price of  $3.41 and only paid $3.38.  Only, she says.  We spoke with a young man while checking out and the word on the street is that we will be paying $5.00 a gallon by the Summertime. 

Still you need to keep a sense of humor about these things.  Either that or take over a small, oil producing country and have a tanker bring the deliveries straight to your car. 

SIGN ABBREVIATIONS:  LOL - Love Our Leaded (but it's not cheap).
OMG - Ouch, More Gas needed . 
WTF - Wait, There's  Financing!

Would anyone have a pair of Draft Horses and a set of harness that would fit a 1992 Olds Cutlass Supreme?  Will supply my own shovel.

The Battle of Olustee

This Friday begins the festival weekend surrounding the re-enactment of the Battle of Olustee.  Does anyone know when this battle was fought?  How about where it was fought or why?  Okay, please don't shout out your answers.  I can't hear when you all speak at once.  Oh - wait, maybe no one was yelling out answers.  That could just be the sound of silence.

Well, for those who may enjoy a parade and a good fight, our small north central Florida town will present both this coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  It is the commemoration of the almost 147th anniversary of the Civil War battle fought on February 20, 1864.  The battle was between Union troops out of Jacksonville and Confederate troops.  The battle took place very near a a clear body of water called Ocean Pond and  not far from the small town of  Olustee, Florida. 

Our local paper describes what happened.  In the morning of February 20th,  Federal soldiers left Barber's Station near Jacksonville and advanced westward.  Skirmishes started with Southerners.  As the Union troops drew closer to the railroad Station at Olustee, the intensity of the skirmishes grew.  Both sides sent additional troops until, by midafternoon it was a major battle.  While the Union had the early advantage, poor communications led to the collapse of the 7th New Hampshire Regiment, turning the tide of battle to the Confederates.  They advanced and then surged forward.  The Union realized the battle was lost and began to retreat.  By dusk, Union troops were on their way back to Jacksonville.  Although they retained that port city, they would never again venture in force into Florida. 

The North lost 203 men killed, 1,152 wounded and 506 missing.  Southern losses were 93 dead, 847 wounded and six missing.  Florida remained a Confederate state until the end of the war, less than 14 months later. 

The parade is held each year now and residents who don't get to attend the Battle of Olustee re-enactment at Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park will still attend this event.  There will be people lining the roadsides, watching elected officials and several Civil War re-enactment groups as they march by.  There will be the 2011 Miss Olustee pageant winners, the 2012 Teacher of the Year for our county, other community organizations and businesses will be marching or driving horse and buggy.  Some groups will be driving in old fashioned carriages decorated with flowers.  There will be re-enactors dressed in period uniforms with weaponry and music.  Abraham Lincoln will ride in a carriage.  Robert E. Lee will be in the parade.  Ladies in hoop skirts will wave as they are drawn past the viewing crowds. 

The parade is held in honor of the soldiers who fought in the battle.  It is like watching living history to see the men and boys step by.  Festival dates are February 18th, 19th and 20th.  The festival is organized by a group called the Blue-Grey Army.  There will be vendors with arts and crafts, food and entertainers along the main street downtown.  At the battlefield, a Sutler's camp will present authentic living conditions and Friday morning there will be a memorial ceremony in one of our oldest cemeteries, where 100 unknown soldiers are buried.  They were recovered from the battlefield and given honorable burial here.  That brings things into focus for me. 

The  Olustee Descendant family will also be recognized. A man named Robert Christie fought in the battle with Company F, Fourth Georgia Cavalry.  His actions as well as his descendants will be recognized during this year's festival.  More than 300 of his family members are expected to attend.

 Friday afternoon there will be a skirmish in our downtown area. Now the actual battle was fought several miles away from our town, mind you.  If there had been real soldiers sighted within our city limits, there would have been panic in the streets.  Nowadays, we see soldiers in period uniforms shopping at our local groceries and while it gives one pause, you know they won't be taking anyone prisoner.  Things are safe, now.  The first day of re-enactment activities will be at Olustee Battlefield on Saturday.  The re-enactment will be at 3:30PM that day and the main re-enactment will be at held next day at 1:30PM, Sunday. 

I have been to the main battle.  The skirmishers advance.  Contact is made with the enemy.  Weapons are fired - smoke and the sound of rifles and the cannon surround you.  Horses charge.  Bugles are blown.  Cannonballs hit the ground and dirt and grass explode upward.  Men fall dead, other men advance in the field.  Women rush in to attend the wounded and dying.  It seems very real.

For those who don't want to make the trip to the battlefield during the festival  - you can go out on another day and look in the small museum or walk the battlefield in solitude while you ponder the events of the past.  I have been there, under the pines in the quiet of the afternoon.  There,a passing train blew its eerie whistle.  The sound echoed across the ground and absolutely raised the hairs on the back of my neck.

Valentine Memories.

Happy Valentine's day to all. 

The candy companies are happy. 

The card companies are happy. 

The e-card companies are happy. 

The florists are ecstatic.  Tired though.  When Mama's and Uncle Bob and Aunt Mo owned the flower shop in Lake Worth many moons ago, I used to drive up from our home to help out on flower intense holidays like Easter, Christmas and Valentine's Day.    St. Valentine's day was a telephone nightmare.  The gentlemen would wait until the last minute of the last day before the fourteenth and then call to order a dozen red roses delivered to their lady-love in time for the holiday.  Uh huh.  It was as though they hadn't heard about the holiday coming and had realized at the last minute that the girl they were dating or engaged to or even married to - deserved to be sent a token of their feelings.  Roses were the biggest item.

The shop pre-ordered stock and roses were the bulk of the order for that February date.  Tulips were for Easter - or Lillies.  Poinsettias for Christmas.  But for Saint Valentine's Day, you gotta have roses.  Mostly red.  Some white.  But mostly red, tightly closed and thorn filled roses.  The florist supply van delivered the ordered beauties to the back door of the shop where we put them into buckets and buckets of water.  It was mostly my job to snip the rubber bands off the bunches and then de-thorn the stems before putting the flowers into fresh buckets and moving them out of the way on the floor.  I purely did not enjoy taking the thorns off.  It sometimes hurt!  You would take this device that looked much like a set of tongs - with a notch on one side that bit into the metal like a V,  .... and on the other half of the tongs the metal tip ended in a complementary V.

When you put the rose stem in between the V shaped notches and pulled the closed tongs down the stem, in theory the rose thorns were scraped away.  In theory she said, loudly, in case nobody was listening!

 In practice, my index finger picked up a thorn or two and the rest of the stems were dropped onto the concrete floor, leaving the rose head in my fist.  Uncle Bob was much better at this job than I ever was.  After a while, I got where I could scrape the stems and successfully de-thorn a dozen or more before I had to toss away a lone rose head.  I always thought we could have sold floating rose heads in shallow bowls just as well as long stemmed roses in fragile glass vases.    Fragile glass.  That's another tale for another day!

Once I was comfortable on the telephones they let me loose to answer the incoming calls.  The Valentine's question was always, "Do you have any roses?"  This was usually asked by a panicked sounding male voice.  I took joy in telling them I'd have to check and then I would put the phone on hold for a while, as I answered the other ringing line.  Back and forth I could go, assuring first one caller and then the other that we did indeed have a few quite nice roses and would he like to order a dozen before we ran out?  We had buckets and buckets of roses and it was the early in the week before the holiday.  Still, you never wanted your competition to hear that you were doing poorly on sales.  In a town like Lake Worth, we knew who else was doing business and they knew us.  

When the roses finally were gone, late in the day, the alternative floral arrangement would be red Carnations with Baby's Breath.  If we were getting low on the Carnations, we'd make up bud vases with 3 flowers and some ferns and Baby's Breath.  Tie a thin red satin ribbon on the vase and it made a nice gift for your girl without blowing the budget.  Teenage boys liked the 3 flower arrangements.   I liked Carnations. 
No thorns. 

The night of the 13th-14th, we would bunk in the shop so we could be ready to go in the morning.  All the arrangements for shop sales were in the freezer case waiting the walk-in trade.  The telephone orders were carded and tagged for the delivery van and we would load up on breakfast and coffee to energize the people working.  From early morning until after 5:00PM when the last delivery was out the door, we didn't stop running or answering phones or having a grand time.  I miss that little shop and those days.  I miss seeing Mamas in her element - working with two things she loved; flowers and her family. 

Carolyn's Flowers was  incorporated in 1970 - dissolved October 1974.

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all.  Make happy memories.  Order early!

Stupor Bowl Sunday

It is finally Super Bowl Sunday.  After all the season, the playoffs and the build up to the big game we will sit down to see who wins tonight.  Green Bay or Pittsburgh.  I keep hearing this high pitched voice in my head that says "The Pack is back!" while laughing maniacally.  I don't know who will win.  The paper said Green Bay was favored by 2 points.  The game will be tight.  It could go either way and if the score is tied at the end of the 4th quarter, there are new rules that govern  overtime.  The team that wins the coin toss in overtime would have to score a touchdown to win.  No more does a field goal mean you win.  Get a field goal and the other team gets a try at making a touchdown.  Even some of the players haven't any idea what the rules say.  It should be interesting.  I just hope the commercials live up to their pre-game hype.  I saw the Doritos commerical and I must say it was kind of cute.  It stars a Pug. 

If the game goes into overtime, I could be asleep on the couch by the time it's over.  If this happens, someone please text message me so I will know the score.  We don't get a Monday paper and I'll have to wait until Tuesday to  find out who won. 

Walk like an Egyptian?

Remember that old song?  It had a catchy tune and was a special favorite at Girl Scouting meetings whenever  you had to present a skit.  There was nothing cuter than a troop of little girls all walking like Queen Cleopatra, in lockstep - and all chanting the refrain from the song. 

Today, the world is sitting and watching the Egyptians throw away their country with both hands.  One wonders what will be left after this uprising has flamed out.  Who will be in power?  What will the price of gas climb to?  Will America at last start to build a refinery in this country and direct our natural reserve of oil to within our shores or will we continue to sell it offshore.   Will the peace with Israel still stand?

Someone on Facebook posted her concerns over the situation:

"We have had Extreme Makeover and Extreme Home Makeover, but I think America really needs an Extreme Spiritual Makeover!!! We also need to be in prayer for Egypt, if Radical Islam takes over that country, it won't just affect Egypt!!. We also need to watch out here as Muslims take over in our own country and I don't care about being politically correct!!!"

I'm not in favor of offending our Muslim brothers and sisters but I do share her concerns about radicals residing in this country.  If the moderate voices of Islam aren't heard protesting the honor killings the building of mosques on ground in New York where the Twin Towers fell, if no one combats the increasing calls for Sharia compliant laws in this nation, who else will stand up. 

And  a week or so ago, the news reported that a book was found on the American side of the Mexican/US border.  It was supposedly left behind by someone crossing over.  The book details the last will and testaments of suicide bombers and the "heroes" who died.  It may be nothing, but what kind of person reads that kind of literature.  It may mean more than we want to know about. 

After 9/11 I saw the man with the sign that still speaks to me today.  Be Strong.  Be Brave.

I would add - Be Vigilant.  If you see something that concerns you, no matter how small - report it to your local law enforcement. 

Brown grass and blue skies....

It seems like we have had a cold snap going on since shortly after Christmas.  The temperatures have been in the 20's several nights and we once had some rain that turned into these tiny little snow flurries.  We aren't nearly as put upon as the folks in the states to our north.  They have been buried under feet  of snow.  Cousins who live in Atlanta posted some pictures of their back deck which were just lovely; snow crisp and covering the landscape.  It looked so lovely.  Made me feel the silence.

Until it melts.  Then it would  seem that a person living with the melting snow would  most likely start complaining about  mud. As in, "Wipe your shoes off and don't dare track all that mud through the house!"  Or, until another freeze turns all that snow melt into slick ice.  Then you have to be careful of foot placements and falling.  T. and I watched a video taken from an overhead helicopter - it showed a chase of a fleeing man who was coming from a bank he had just robbed.  He had a hostage in front of him and together they side-stepped along the sidewalk, heading for the corner.  The alleged bank robber turned to cross the street, all the while keeping his hostage in front of him.  The police had to hold their fire.  The robber stepped across a berm of snow that had been scraped up by the snowplow.  He began to back into the street while pulling the hostage.  Oops!  His foot slid out and he crashed down.  The road was iced and when he fell, the female hostage ran to the police.   Shots were fired.  I leave the rest to your imagination. 

We don't have that kind of problem, for the most part.  Around our house, if you leave a sprinkler running overnight - you may get icicles on the fence.   Freezing water will coat a plant, frosting leaves in a sheet of ice.  The water in the trough for the horses may have a skin on the surface.  Our cars will have frost on the windshield that requires running the defroster for 20 minutes before driving off.  Or, you can drive off if you're willing to hunch over so you can see out the bottom of the glass under the rime of ice.  Your husband may have written the word cold on the windshield.  Of course, it looks like  D L O C because he didn't write it backwards.  And the grass is mostly brown and crunchy underfoot, except for the areas that are weed filled.   Weeds show their green much longer that the ornamental grass.  There may be a life lesson in there, somewhere.

People are counting the days until Spring brings leaf bud and flowers. 



Leaf encased in ice - 2010

 I love the look of  Winter with the brown grass spreading out under a stand of pecan trees.  Their bare branches allow the golden light of sunset to show through and you can see farther than you normally can while driving through the landscape.  There are neighbor houses that are visible now - and only in the Winter.  So, while some are wishing for the cold to end and the earth to green, others settle down in the landscape and look around content with the brown grass and blue skies of winter. 

On the couch.....

I woke up Monday - which was a holiday and felt a little sore throat and some sinus pressure.  I rested a lot of the day.  Tuesday, I realized I couldn't go to work with symptoms that were making me feel so bad and then I started running a temperature.  The highest degree I reached was 101.5 on Wednesday night.  I called out of work for all days of the week, aiming for Friday when I had an appointment with my doctor.  I was supposed to have gone to the lab for a blood draw but just felt too bad to try that.  I made the doctor's office and waited to be called and shown to a room.  They have a television (wall mounted) in the waiting room but I didn't even feel like watching the news.  Finally the doctor was able to process me into the examining room and after a wait of a few minutes - He came in.  Asked  how I was doing and boy did I unload on him!  Feeling awful, terrible - can't stop coughing and fever and misery and moans and whines.  He questioned me on symptoms and listen to my chest.  He then told me I had Bronchitis and he gave me an antibiotic to take twice a day for ten days.  Cough pills to bring up the congestion.  Said to also take Mucinex to help.  I left his office with an appointment in 2 weeks (when I had better attend to the lab work)  and a handful of prescriptions. 

Four pills later, I developed another problem, related to the antibiotics.  I started taking Yoplait.  And continued to cough.  Which is a scary prospect when you have problems that need yogurt for relief of symptoms.  Time wears on.  Still coughing but the fever is gone.  So I'm making progress of a sort.  And I kind of favor the strawberry flavor yogurt. 

I will  probably call out Monday from work which will make an even five days of sick leave.  But you know, I refuse to walk those hallways where I may get the urge to cough, have to bend at the waist and then make a sound like a bugler sounding charge. 

Sometimes I wish we could telecommute.  I'll have so much work backed up that my job security will be assured for at least the next full week. 

I'm going to go take some yogurt and lie down for a short nap.

Sign of the times at Athens Baptist

Seen on the lighted sign in front of the church: 

Many people want to serve God.

Unfortunately, most of them want to serve in an advisory capacity.

Changes. Everything changes. Eventually.

We are ramping up a new CAD system at work.  Some parts of the agency have been online for a  while, putting information into the system.  Others of us have been waiting.  And waiting.  And... well just waiting. 

We have been able to get information about what's going on in the  closed-off parts even though we don't have direct access.  The agency website delivers public information and we can  tap into  those files and get pictures and descriptions of - uh, "clients".  I'm trying to be a little genteel, here and not call them anything that might identify where I actually work.  I just feel it's not something that needs to be shared around.  My immediate family knows and I just don't think I can say right out loud - Hey, I work for ... who I work for.  The leader holds an elected office and a lot of our files don't become public record right away.  The less said, the mo' better!  Anyway - when I ever retire, I plan to blog about the place and write a tell-all book and do all kinds of things that will  let whoever reads these musings figure out my career choice. 

Just last Friday, I went into the part of my computer that shows daily activity and Calls For Service that come in on a 24/7 basis.  I was looking in the late afternoon and to my great surprise there had only been one CFS.  My first thought was that something was very wrong.  We have calls being logged in nearly by the minute.  My second thought was that the system was down.  My third thought was that the call center had been switched  to the new CAD system without providing an alternate way for us to access the information coming in.  My third guess was correct.  The supervisor and 2 girls next door knew about the switch and were supposed to be getting a way to give access to those of us who need it.  Sometime.  Or, other.

By the time I got all that information, it was getting on toward 5:00PM which is going-home time in my part of the world.  So, that's what I did.  This is a three day weekend and I don't have to  worry my brain about the access, or lack thereof until Tuesday.  I'm sure someone will have figured out something for Tuesday.  Or not.  We do start training in 2 weeks for the new system.  Maybe by then, we will have figured out some of it by looking around on our own. 

Or, alternately - I can take a 2 week vacation.  I have 300 plus hours annual leave.  If I were an ostrich my head would be shoulder deep into the sand by now.  But I might look around under all that sand and be able to see the IT Tech looking back.  It has to be stressful for him, don't you agree?

Note to self, buy antacid tablets... wonder what brand the IT Tech uses.

Behind the Blogger

I rarely look at Blogger behind the scenes in  Dashboard, beyond posting new items and reading the blogs I'm following and am fondest of.  But, that being said - there is a tab on Dashboard called Blogs of Note.  I have started clicking on the tab and delving into what others are posting and blogging a bout.  There is an artist who works in graphite and his drawings are amazing.  There is a person who posts lots of pictures of cats.  The New Year post for that weblog consisted of cats wearing Happy New Year tiaras and other headgear and posing in lots of ways to suggest celebrating the incoming year.  The picture that won my heart was a cat wearing a kitty sized lampshade, complete with fringe. ( http://kittystampede.blogspot.com/ )

Tonight I found a blog I had to put in my blog list.  The lady seems to have lost a computer and a great deal of input crashed.  She has just started posting again and I was immediately impressed by her writing ability. She  put up a story about a play that had me from the first word. The weblog is called The View From This End.  The writer is from "across the pond" as the English say.  She had about 236 regular readers - not as many perhaps as Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman - or as Melanie Feehan - The Coupon Goddess.  I follow both those weblogs, thanks to seeing them on Ranger's page.  I even have them delivered to my Blackberry.   But The View From This End weblog put me in mind of sitting down with a good book on a rainy night.  I just knew I was going to enjoy it.  Take a look and see what you think.

Bulletin --- Everything old is New again! --- Bulleting

For those of you who blog and follow Sarah in your Reading List or Blog Roll - she had to change the URL.  You can locate her new weblog by entering  www.natmatmama.typepad.com .  The new Blog name is Adventures in Lake City.  It took me a while to figure out how to change my own reading list (things are never simple, are they) but once I managed it, the new weblog became available - in the list to the left.  Click there for her post and then be sure to add her new URL to your own weblog.  Welcome  back, Sarah!

2011

Rang in the new year after waking on the couch to the strains of Auld Lang Syne playing from the ball-drop in Times Square.  Quickly turned the television through several stations, hoping to find one that thought it was still a second or two before midnight.  Alas, all the talking-heads were pretty sure that it was a minute or two after and already into the new year. 

Still, tradition is a good thing, so  I will continue a personal one of long standing and will write in the new year on the date line in the rest of my checkbook before I toddle off to bed.

And I will wish friends and family a safe and very Happy New Year.

2011, 2011, 2011, 2011, 2011, 2011, 2011, 2011