With all the rain we've gotten yesterday and today, I thought I'd show you some of the localized flooding I have:

Looking out from my apt onto the golf course, you can see the start of the flooding.

I walked outside to look further down the golf course. You can't tell from the picture, but the water goes across a street slowing down traffic on that road.

I walked to my left, to my parking lot and saw how flooded it was. Fortunately, my car is behind where I was standing, in a dry section of the lot.

This is my street. In the distance, you can see the cars parked because they can't get to our parking lot. The one entrance is flooded with water. Most cars were turning around or just parking in the street. I watched one car drive through, the swell in front of the car was up to the bumper.

We're expecting to get more rain tonight and into tomorrow morning due to Tropical Storm Ike. At this point, I'm not sure if I'll be able to get out tomorrow to go to my aunt's house.

We will never forget, we will never give up the fight.

I wanted to comment on some things that were said in Iggy's blog, but felt it would be too long of a comment, so thought my own post might be better. Pardon the soapbox, once I get started, it's hard to climb down, but I'll do my best.

First, I remember having to memorize the Preamble to the Constitution when I was in school. I don't know if I could repeat it verbatim, but I still remember most of it. Many things I don't remember, but that Preamble, I do.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion about things, and I agree with most of what you said, Iggy...however, one thing I learned while reading about Alexander Hamilton, was that from the beginning, with George Washington and John Adams, U.S. Presidents spent a LOT of time out of "office" at some retreat or summer home. For Tori's understanding, George and John were our first two presidents, and Alexander Hamilton was very involved during both of their terms, as he was one of the men who helped form our Government.

Regarding voting for our elected officials, that is a right (not an obligation)bestowed upon us by our Republic and Constitution. I feel it's an honor for us to be able to elect our Government officials. However, I also feel that most of them have abused their positions and wholly deserve to not be part of our governmental process any longer. How to get rid of them? The First Amendment allows us to "petition the Government for a redress of grivances." Obviously, with 300 million people living in this country, it would take a lot of petitioning to get anything done that way.

I believe the best way to change things is to elect better officials. How to do that? I personally think more people need to be involved in local and national elections. I'm not saying all of you (and myself) should run out and get involved in local election drives. Volunteering for a candidate you believe in is a way to help change things. We can all help change things by being more aware of the issues, staying informed, knowing how your senator and representative vote on the issues that are important to you and vote accordingly. Unfortunately for the U.S., many of our high school students and even many college students don't know the Constitution, don't know the Bill of Rights, or can name any important amendment to said Constitution. Civics class is no longer a graduation requirement, and our country is the poorer for it. I HAD to take a Goverment class, where we studied the Constitution, took tests on it, in order to graduate. I have a pocketbook sized copy of the Constitution here at my desk that I pull out periodically and look through.
I'm a firm believer that any Senator or Representative should not be allowed to serve more than 2 terms. Once a member of Congress gets dug in deep with the lobbyists and the special interests, they stop governing for the PEOPLE, and govern for themselves and their own little district or state.

I too have struggled in the past with who to vote for. Who hasn't? I've also thought...who's the lesser of two evils? But this year, the first presidential election after making an effort to be more informed and understanding of what's going on in Congress, and what the problems are, for the first time in my life, I actually feel good about who I'm voting for.

Another thing to remember about our first members of Congress. They were lawyers, doctors, professors, that had regular jobs, they got paid piddly sums by today's standards, they lost businesses, went broke, but they felt it was an honor to serve in our Government. Maybe if we go back to not paying members of Congress six digit salaries, they might actually do something worthwhile during their time in Washington D.C.

Ok, I think I've said all I wanted to say. I apologize if I offended anyone, but these are my opinions and I'll stand by them.

I opened up my email tonight, lo and behold, what did I find?

Can you come out to play?

You'll never catch me!

Berries are very good for you, uh huh!

Isn't my tail beautiful?

I haven't done a proper post in awhile, so let me catch everyone up on the past week. (LBE)

Friday, my aunt was scheduled to have hand surgery done, and her sister was going to take her. The surgery was to clean out the arthritis, the bone spurs, and move part of a tendon from her wrist up to wrap around her thumb to give it some padding since her cartilage was gone. On Thursday, her sister copped out, claiming allergies or whatever. My aunt's other friend who had also offered as a backup is still sick from some bug she's had for three weeks. So my aunt calls me to tell me this, and says she'll have to cancel her surgery. I told her I would take a day off work and take her to the hospital for her surgery.

I put in for a half day vacation, hoping I'd be able to get my aunt home and get back to work in time to get half a day in. Thursday was also the day we got drenched from the remnants of hurricane Gustav, so it just POURED all day non-stop. I came home, checked some emails during dinner, packed up a few things, and drove out to my aunt's house to spend the night there. Her surgery was at 7:30AM, we had to be there at 6:00AM, we had to leave at 5:00AM, so I had to be up by 4:30AM to get showered and dresssed. Ugh! Talk about sleepy!

Getting up and getting to the hospital was ok. We arrived at 6:03AM, she was taken back after only a couple minutes, then I got to go back and sit with her until they wheeled her back to the operating room. Then I got to go back out to the waiting room and sit. And wait. And wait. And wait. Finally about 10:00AM the doctor comes out and tells me the surgery was a success, but that they had to fully put her under as the block didn't work. I thanked him and went back to the waiting room to wait. And wait.

About 11:00AM, I was calling my boss to let him know there was no way I'd be there in the afternoon, when the nurse came out telling me I could go back to see my aunt. She did really well in the surgery, and the Zophan prevented any nausea, so she was hungry. Even though the block didn't work, her hand was still numb, so every time she moved her arm for something, she bopped herself in the face. I was afraid she'd end up with black and blue marks and a bloody nose by the time I got her home. We finally were allowed to leave just after noon, and the first thing she asked for was a dollar double cheeseburger from McDonalds.

I got her home and situated then ran to Target to get her antibiotic and pain meds the hospital prescribed for her. It was really difficult for her the first couple days because the nerve block lasted longer than it normally would. But then she's not normal, so I'd never expected it to react normally. She finally had all feeling back by Sunday morning. Anyway...Friday night after making sure she was fed and comfortable and would be ok on her own, I finally came home. I was in bed by 11:00PM and up Saturday morning at 9:00AM. Despite getting 10 hours sleep, I was still tired.

I had some things to do around the apartment in the morning, then met a couple friends for lunch. I haven't seen either of them for a few years, so it was really nice catching up. We've promised each other not to let so much time go by again. We finally left the restaurant at 4:00PM, and I rushed home to do some more things around the apartment before another couple friends arrived at 7:00PM for a "girls night out."

While I was sitting in front of the tv waiting for them, I really could have just taken a nap. Or maybe called them to cancel, saying I was too tired. But they would not have let me, so I forced myself to stay awake by watching baseball, lol. We had a really nice night, just the three of us. So many times when we get together they have their kids, so this was sorely needed for just the three of us to hang together as friends, not parents. We started out at a place called Features, which I'm told has pool tables and a dance floor in back, in addition to the large circular bar in front. I never ventured back there to check it out.

We stayed there for a few hours, then people really started coming in and the music got turned up, and it was so noisy in there, we really couldn't hear each other talk. Despite the chilly weather, we decided to walk across the street and check out another bar with a patio area, where we could watch the drunk people walk around, or into, things. One guy was so drunk he was holding up a wall. Another walked right into a signpost, and just kept going like nothing happened. It made me glad I'm not young and stupid anymore. At least not the young part.

It started sprinkling, so we headed back to the car, about three blocks away. Just in time too, as it started raining steadily the whole way back to my apartment. We chatted for a few minutes, then they left, as one had a 30 minute drive and the other would be about an hour and fifteen minutes. I sat and watched tv for a little bit to unwind before heading to bed.

Sunday morning I got up about 10:00AM (I wanted to get up at 9, but that was NOT happening). I drove back out to my aunt's house so we could have lunch together, then I helped her get dressed, and we went to see Bangkok Dangerous with Nicholas Cage. It was about a professional hitman (Cage) who goes to Bangkok to do four jobs (kill four people), who he meets, and what happens while he's there. Some great shots of Bangkok, including a floating market and a giant reclining Buddha. It was a good movie, but I didn't like the look Cage had, darker hair and longer, almost shoulder length. If you're a Nicholas Cage fan, I would definitely suggest this movie. Beware! There is one yucky part at the floating market that made me go ewww and close my eyes, but it only lasted a couple seconds.

After the movie, we ran a couple errands. One to Jewel, a local grocery store, because they had margarine on sale for 47 cents each. The other was to Target so my aunt could get her $10 gift cards for the new prescriptions I picked up on Friday afternoon. We went back to her place, and I still had to vacuum and mop her floors. I stalled a bit by feeding her birds, the outdoor ones, not pets, then got started on the floors. I finally left her house about 7:00PM, got home just before 8:00PM, still had laundry to do, and was really wiped from a busy weekend.

Between laundry and trying to get caught up on blogs, I didn't get to bed until about midnight Sunday night. Last night I came home and had planned on watching part of the NASCAR race from Sunday , but was just too tired and ended up napping for at least 90 minutes. Of course, that meant I was wide awake later when I should have been in bed. I stayed up to watch the Oprah rerun from earlier in the day with the Olympic medalists and David Cook from American Idol. I finally dragged my ass to bed at 2:00AM, determined that I WOULD fall asleep. I did, but boy was I tired this morning. I'm hoping I can finish up a couple more emails and be in bed at a decent time tonight.

More blogging to come!

Courtesy of the Associate Press on November 13, 2007:


WEST HAVEN, Utah — McDonald's? The burger joint? Stampede!

Eight cows escaped from a trailer when the rear gate opened as the driver pulled into a McDonald's. It took about two hours to round them up Monday.

"Maybe they were going to ... hop in the freezer, save the middleman," Weber County sheriff's Sgt. Dave Creager said.

Lt. Kevin Burns had another theory: "They didn't like their future."

The roundup was called "Operation Hamburger Helper." A nearby resident even hopped on his horse.

"I thought my eyes were lying," said Wayne Sanders, who was at a truck stop next door. "I don't know where they came from, but I'd say they'd have to weigh 800 pounds apiece and they were on a pretty good trot."

A few questions to ponder:

Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are going dead?

Why do banks charge a fee for insufficient funds when they know there is not enough money?

Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check to make sure when you say the paint is wet?

Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?

Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?

Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?

Why do kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

Who's idea was it to put an "s" in the word lisp?

Why is that no matter what color bubble bath you use, the bubbles are always white?

Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?

Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?

Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum cleaner one more chance?

Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?

How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?

Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?

In winter, why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat back then in the first place?

How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?

And last but not least...WHY IS THIS CICADA CRAWLING UP THE SIDE OF THE BUILDING??????

Should Washington State change the motto to "Land of the falling cows"?


(11-06) 13:47 PST Manson, Wash. (AP) --

Charles and Linda Everson were driving back to their hotel when their minivan was struck by a falling object — a 600-pound cow. The Eversons were unhurt but the cow, which had fallen off a cliff, had to be euthanized.

The year-old cow fell about 200 feet from the cliff and landed on the hood of the couple's minivan, causing heavy damage.

A Chelan County fire chief, Arnold Baker, said the couple missed being killed by a matter of inches in the accident Sunday on a highway near Manson.

The Eversons, visiting the area from their home in Westland, Mich., to celebrate their first wedding anniversary, were checked at Lake Chelan Community Hospital as a precaution.

Everson, 49, said he didn't see the cow falling and didn't know what happened until afterward.

He said he kept repeating: "I don't believe this. I don't believe this."


Here's a link to a video about the story: Falling Cow

Punkn asked for it...

This picture was taken in the mid 90's I think, on a trip to Southern California with a girlfriend. We went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park, and stopped at the Lorikeet exhibit where you could buy cups of nectar for the birds to eat/drink. I have one on each shoulder, and one on my right hand, drinking nectar. At one point, I had cups in each hand, and there were Lorikeets all up and down both my arms. And before flying off to the next victim, they left a parting gift, that fortunately cleaned up well.

Don't tell Iggy about these pics, he'll get jealous. I took these while sitting in my overstuffed chair right next to the sliding door. I just turned around, balanced on my knees, and snap! He was wandering around my balcony eating all the sunflowers.

He isn't running away in this next picture. He was just casually working his way across my balcony eating sunflower seeds. I don't know if he really ever saw me.

That same day, I heard the chirping of a Northern Cardinal, turned around and there was one on the balcony also eating seeds that had been dropped from the feeder. I initially thought this was a young male in his first year and that's why he wasn't in his bright red summer colors. But now I'm not so sure. I'll have to look at the picture more, but this could just be a female. I love Cardinals.

Saturday night, I also got a picture of the full moon. You can't tell, but it was just above the tree line to the East. Unfortunately, it was completely dark by then, so all you see is the moon and nothing else. Mine isn't as interesting as Lainie's.

Here's a little video I did last night...or should I say this morning. The picture isn't important, just the audio.

After struggling to sleep last night, and finally getting there about 1:00am, I was awakened at 3:08am by these noisy neighbors. The same ones that routinely come out onto their patio at 11:00pm or later and sit out with the light on half the night, while I'm trying to sleep. Many times, I've had to close my sliding glass door, close my blinds completely, and turn the fan portion of my a/c on to drown them out. But this was louder than normal.

That's why I called the police. Yes, I finally did it. I called them and about 10 minutes later an officer came and talked to them. I didn't hear what was said, but they very politely went inside and turned the lights off. Unfortunately, about 15 minutes after that, they were back outside on the patio with the lights on again. So after all that, I still had to close my sliding door and turn the fan on to drown them out. I was quite bleary-eyed this morning after getting only four hours sleep.

Tonight on the way home from work, I stopped at the leasing office to let the resident relations gal know what happened. The get bi-weekly police reports of all the calls made to the complex, but she appreciated knowing from me what happened. She said she would contact them to let them know she was aware of the police call and remind them they need to respect other residents that might be sleeping. Dawn also mentioned that they too are in the restaurant business (I think all my neighbors are, with the exception of the guy downstairs.) That explains the nighttime hours they keep, and why they are up most the night. They sleep all day and work evening shifts.

So far tonight, no sign of them, but then it's still early for them. I'm sure by the time I'm falling asleep they'll just be getting home.

I'm off watching the Olympics, so whatever everyone's been doing the last week, you can just keep on doing it. I'll be back one of these days.

Go Cubs Go!!!

What a long and wonderful day. It started at 6:00AM when my alarm went off, and ended when I got home at about 8:30PM. My aunt and I met the tour bus at her bank at 9:00AM, along with about 30 other people. The bus drove to another town nearby to pick up the rest of our group at another branch of the bank, and we were on the road around 10:00AM. Along the way, the two bank employees that were leading the group had a mini trivia contest for giveaways. The very first question was "What is the significance of today's game?" I was the first person to raise a hand, and after answering "Today is the 20th anniversary of the first night game at Wrigley Field," I won a bag of peanuts. So Iggy, I did in fact eat some peanuts at the game, and I threw the shells all over the place.

Our bus dropped us off outside Wrigley Field just past 11:30AM, for a 1:20PM scheduled start against the St. Louis Cardinals. We were on bus 218 (very important to remember the bus number so you get on the right one after the game), and we were seated in section 218. How convenient! Since we were part of the first 10,000 fans to enter, we got the commemorative hat for the 20th anniversary of the lights at Wrigley Field. The hat says Wrigley Field Home of Chicago Cubs Opening Night

The game was very close, the Cubs scoring two runs on solo home runs by Jim Edmunds (one in the 2nd and one in the 7th), a former St. Louis Cardinal, no less. The Cardinals scored on a solo home run by Joe Mather in the 3rd, and a run scored by Skip Schumaker in the 6th. After 9 innings, the score was all tied up, 2-2. I purchased a scorecard and was able to keep score for the entire game. I guessed at a couple of the scoring marks, but it's not something I do very often, and was kind of fun. It forced me to really pay attention to every play, instead of just sitting there watching and waiting for a hit or a run. The scorecard only went up to 10 innings, so after the 10th inning, I had to stop, and of course, that's when the game was won, by Henry Blanco getting a base hit to bring in the winning run.

Cubs win! Cubs win! Holy Cow! The Cubs now have a 5 game lead over Milwaukee in the Central Division. St. Louis fell to 7 games back, and there are two more games this weekend between the Cards and the Cubs.

This was only my 5th Cubs game, and I loved every minute of it. If I win the lottery, one thing I'm going to buy is season tickets and go to lots and lots of baseball games!

Oh yeah! I almost forgot! During the game we saw Rich "Goose" Gossage walking up by the Suites, and it turned out he was singing the 7th inning stretch. He was a relief pitcher, played from 1972-1994, for nine different teams, including the Chicago Cubs in 1988. He was well known for having wild facial hair during his playing days, and even today is recognized because of his moustache. And the traditional "first pitch" was thrown out, or should I say sling-shot (shotted?) by three members of Blue Man Group.

Tomorrow I get to go to my first Cubs game of the season and they're playing the dreaded St. Louis Cardinals! It's also the 20th anniversary of turning the lights on at Wrigley Field. August 8, 1988 they turned the lights on for the very first night game of baseball at Wrigley Field.

My aunt gets in on a package through her bank, and I was supposed to go with her son since we both love the Cubs. But her son got his schedule mixed up and is cooking the wedding rehearsal dinner for a friend tomorrow. So instead, my aunt is going with me. She's not that into sports, so it should be interesting. I have to be at her house at 8:30AM, so I don't even get to sleep in tomorrow. The game starts at 1:20PM, it's a three hour game, then we have to take the bus all the way back to her town, and I get to drive the 40 minutes home from there. Will be a long day, for sure!

Go Cubs Go

That's the song we'll all be singing if they win! Go Cubs Go!!!

Last weekend, while cruising the back roads in south central Michigan, my Aunt, our friend, and I came across THIS:

It's an adult Trumpeter Swan and his/her cygnet (baby swan.) But wait, there's more:

A whole family of swans. Here's mom or dad with all three cygnets.

Here are both parents with the three cygnets. They had absolutely no fear of the cars driving past or of the people stopping to take their picture.

We saw them almost by accident, as the pond we were going by normally has Egrets, Cranes, and Herons. I now know that Trumpeter Swans like that place too! I've never seen them before, so it was a big first for me. Definitely the high point of the weekend!

Remember my post in June about the gumball machines? Well, a couple weeks after that article was published, there was one in the Dallas Morning News that Ladystyx and her cohorts stole one! Oh ok, maybe she didn't actually DO it, but she could have been the mastermind! LOL


From Staff Reports

Burleson police were investigating a burglary in which a gumball machine was stolen from a Jeep Outfitter store last week.

Police said the incident occurred the evening of Oct. 15 in the 2000 block of Interstate 35W. Police said it appeared that a person entered the store trying to steal computer equipment, but instead left with a gumball machine, belonging to a charity.

When police arrived, they discovered a broken glass door and smashed computer equipment on the floor.

Police said as many as three people in a dark-colored SUV may have been involved in the incident. Surveillance video show a man in his late teens or early 20s wearing a blue baseball cap, a black T-shirt and tan cargo shorts. The driver was described as wearing a yellow T-shirt. A description of the third person was not available.

Police said this incident may be connected to another burglary at the business two weeks earlier. In that incident, money was stolen from a drawer.

Anyone with any information was asked to call police at 817-447-5300, extension 333, to speak with an investigator.

This morning, after my shower, I opened up my blinds to find this:

A Mourning Dove had decided to perch on the 3-4 inch ledge outside my bedroom window. As you can see, there wasn't much room for his/her tail.

It sat there while I got ready for work. My bed is about 3 feet away from the window, and I was able to sit on the bed to put my shoes and socks on, the bird never moving.

Dumb bird!

Just over two weeks after Iggy posted a picture of a terra-cotta Chinese soldier, this showed up on my day-at-a-glance calendar. I was still convinced I had seen them in a movie other than the previews of The Mummy III. Last night I went searching, further into the depths of the internet than I have ever gone before. Fortunately, Ladystyx was there to pull me out when I got stuck. What I found was: Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. (If you enter the site, it brings up the plot, and you can click on another link called "Mythology", then on "Terracotta Warriors" and it will explain their part in the movie. Otherwise, read my bit below.

In that movie, starring Angelina Jolie, she was trying to get away from someone who had quite a few of those terra-cotta warriors in a cave. I believe he had stolen them and was planning on selling them for money. During this scene, she was hiding amongst them and was being chased by a man with a sword, who was smashing them to bits in the process of trying to kill her. I stopped at Blockbusters this afternoon while I was out running errands and rented it, just so I could confirm the precence of terra-cotta warriors.

I'm pretty sure that satisfies my curiosity about where I saw them previously. The scene in the movie played out pretty much how I had thought it would. Now I can move on to other interesting things.

Not much going on around here since I went to 6 Flags. I had a really fun time! Boy I love roller coasters! We were there from 9:30AM - 10:00PM. A very long day, which gave me blisters on my feet, but they've now all healed.



Yesterday I stopped at Target to pick up three new cd's that came out this week. Unfortunately, they only had one there. Yes, Randy Travis has a new cd out, and it' s country music, not gospel! The two Target didn't have that I'll have to look for elsewhere are John Mellencamp's Life, Death, Love and Freedom and Ace Young's self-titled cd.

Here are the tracks listed for Randy's new cd

1. Around The Bend
2. You Didn't Have A Good Time
3. Every Head Bowed
4. Love Is A Gamble
5. Faith In You
6. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
7. Dig Two Graves
8. Turn It Around
9. From Your Knees
10. Everything That I Own (Has Got A Dent)
11. 'Til I'm Dead And Gone

On the front it has a sticker with a review on it: "Randy Travis has recorded the perfect country album" by Robert K. Oermann.

I'll be ripping it to my computer soon, anyone that would like it, just let me know, I'll share!

Tomorrow morning I'm off to ride the roller coasters at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, IL. Following are my two most favorite rides:

Raging Bull: A hyper-twister steel roller coaster built in 1999, has a top speed of 73 mph, and a first drop of 208 feet.

My second favorite ride, one of only two wooden roller coasters at Great America, The American Eagle features two trains that do a traditional "out and back" route with a helix at the end, and will race each other at times. On special occasions, one is reversed and will take the riders backwards, but I can't do that. Built in 1981, it was at one time the world's fastest roller coaster. Steel roller coasters have easily surpassed it in speed, but it remains the highest, fastest and longest "racing" roller coaster. And Intenseguy will appreciate this, the trains for this ride were built by the Philadephia Toboggan Company. This remains one of my favorite rides to do after dark.

New this year is the Dark Knight indoor roller coaster. From slashfilm.com: According to Six Flags, The Dark Knight Coaster will “transform guests into citizens of Gotham City - caught in the middle of a city under siege and torn apart by The Joker.” The Dark Knight Coaster’s will use storytelling, physical movement, video, sound and special effects to bring guests a one-of-a-kind dark ride experience.

It will be interesting to see how popular this will be at Six Flags, known for the thrill of fast coasters with big drops.

This is curtesy of The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page:


A dentist accused of fondling the breasts of 27 female patients is trying to keep his dental license by arguing that chest massages are an appropriate procedure in certain cases. Mark Anderson's lawyer says dental journals discuss the need to massage the pectoral muscles to treat a common jaw problem. . . .

Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Phillips gave [administrative law judge Jonathan] Lew three new complaints, including one from a 31-year-old woman who said Anderson fondled her at least six times over two years.


My first question is, how do pectoral muscles relate to your jaw, which is a bone?

My second question is, why would anyone allow someone to ILLEGALLY fondle them one time, let alone six times? I'd be SO out of there after the first time.

I'm finally home. Whew, what a busy weekend!

Friday night was the barbecue and fireworks (with a k) in Cherry Valley, IL. I mapquested it, and the quickest and most direct route, although not the shortest, is 71.91 miles from my home. During those nearly 72 miles, I saw twelve out-of-state license plates. I'm used to seeing some, as the roads I was on are routes from Illinois to either Iowa or Wisconsin. However, I saw some plates from just about all sides of the country. To make this interesting, I found images of all plates on the net, so you can see all the states that were represented during my drive. In alphabetical order:

California plates are interesting because they stay with the car, for the life of the car. So all the really old cars from the 60's and 70's have very different plates. The most common "old" plate you see in CA is black with yellow lettering.

Obviously, this is a sample plate. This is the current style issued to passenger vehicles. As you all are aware, states now offer dozens of styles for just about anything you can think of. Colorado even offers one for Horseless Carriages.

This is the most common Florida plate I've seen. Some states still have the state nickname listed on the bottom.

I like how they put the peach for the "o" in Georgia. This state has the respective county listed at the bottom.

Iowa is one more state in the U.S. that has made their plates more representative of their state in the last few years. According to the Iowa License Plate database, when I moved to IL in 1982, the Iowa plates were dark green with white letters. Then they went to dark blue with white letters in 1986, and in 1997 switched to the image you see above.

Kansas is a plate I see commonly, since Interstate 88 in IL meets up with Interstate 80, the main route through Iowa before heading south to Kansas. They have a new design that will be coming out in 2010.

Michigan has a variety of styles available, I see several of them, so I always have to do a double take to make sure I'm reading the state correctly. In addition to this Great Lakes Splendor, they have a white one with a blue banner across the top where the state is listed, and the state's website is listed at the bottom; the other one is the Spectacular Peninsula plate, also with a picture of the Mackinac Bridge on it, with a cityscape and pine trees.

Missouri's famous state motto: The Show-Me State. According to their website, they have also had a re-design, with the new plate showing an outline of the state, with the state bird underneath it, and the motto on top underneath the state.

Mississippi is the Magnolia state, so it makes sense for them to put a big 'ole Magnolia blossom smack dab in the middle of the plate. They also include the respective county on their plates.

On the top left is Niagara Falls, and on the top right is New York City, the two most well known places to visit in New York State. And they just happen to be at opposite ends of the state. I wonder how NY got the nickname The Empire State?

Pennsylvania was the first state to include their website on their license plates. That was back when the internet was first invented by Al Gore. I remember thinking how silly it is to put their website on a license plate. Although, with all the people who have internet access these days, I bet it helps the state residents remember where to go for information about plates and registrations.

Wisconsin, America's Dairyland. Or as those in Illinois like to say, Home of the Cheeseheads. Drive through southern Wisconsin, and you see dairy farm after dairy farm after dairy farm. There's no shortage of them. I see Wisconsin plates almost every day, as my commute to and from work is on a main route between Wisconsin and Illinois.

There you have it, the 12 different license plates I saw on Friday afternoon. It was interesting looking up the history of some of these plates. I hope I didn't bore anyone.

Happy Independence Day! I'm going to a barbecue this afternoon, fireworks tonight, and will be gone all day tomorrow and most of Sunday painting with my aunt. Have a great weekend everyone, talk to you Sunday night!

This is a bit outdated, but I still thought it was weird enough to make you shake your head wondering what goes through the minds of some people.


Aldermen fear terrorists could poison gumball machines

by South Jersey News Online
Thursday October 11, 2007, 7:56 AM

DOVER, N.J. (AP) -- Fear that terrorists could poison children has led three Dover aldermen to begin inspecting gumball machines.

They've surveyed 103 machines in the Morris County town and expect to report their results on New Year's Day.

Aldermen Frank Poolas, Jack Delaney and Michael Picciallo have found 100 unlicensed machines filled with gumballs, jawbreakers and other candies. The three feel they're ripe for terrorists to lace with poisoned products.

Police Chief Harold "Butch" Valentine tells The Star-Ledger of Newark the odds are a person would win the lottery before terrorists would use the machines to launch an attack.

Delaney says their goal is to create a registration process to find out where the candy is coming from.

Last night while AliceKay was streaming, I saw some clouds moving in, so I went out onto my balcony to take a picture of them. It was raining lightly at the time, too. One picture was taken with a setting of "cloudy" and the other as either "daylight" or "auto" I can't remember.

As you can see, they both look pretty much the same. I discovered I don't have a "dusk" or "low light" setting. But I do have a "tungsten" setting, which I could use to make my pictures really freaky!

Who needs water anyway?

Right now I have no running water in my apartment. The water to my whole building has been shut off. So much for doing laundry tonight!

It all started yesterday....in a land far far away, oops wrong story. It really did start yesterday, though. I came home from work to see a note on my door that maintenance had come in during the day to fix something that was leaking. It said they replaced the tub diverter, which is the knob you pull up to switch the water from the tub to the shower head. Apparently, they said mine was leaking into the bathroom below, which is interesting because the one that was "leaking" is the tub I don't use. It's the hall bath, all I use that for is the potty, the sink, and I hang clothes to dry on the curtain rod. I shower in the master bath where all my stuff is. So how could it be leaking if I never use it???

I let it go, and went to work today. When I come home after running errands, I hurried to the potty to umm, well you know, and when I flushed, very little water came back into the toilet bowl. I checked the faucet on the sink, no water. When the toilet didn't fill back up, I suspected no water, but the faucet confirmed it. Being the curious person I am, I called the leasing office, and asked if by any chance the water had been shut off to my building. After being put on hold for a couple minutes, I received an affirmitive reply. I was also told someone from maintenance would be coming around to everyone in our building to let us know what was going on.

While on the phone checking up on my aunt, I had a knock at the door. I hung up with her, and waiting in the hallway was my good friend Jack the maintenance supervisor! Apparently, the leak they thought was coming from my bathroom, really wasn't coming from my bathroom. Duh! After working on it for most the day, they finally gave up and called a plumber. Unfortunately, he won't get here until at LEAST 8:30pm tonight. Jack said they'd be back around later to let us know when the water is turned back on, so I will probably throw a quick load in at whatever time that is. And I feel bad for the guy below me, this is the THIRD time in 2 years that he's had his bathroom torn up. I wouldn't be surprised if he moved when his lease is up. I might consider it if I were in his shoes. (Someone's working down there, I can hear them through the floor of my bathroom, lol)

What some of us go through just to watch some television:

Wednesday night I was sitting at the computer, was probably in chat, and was watching the Cubs game on the little tv next to me. About 10:30pm I think, I got off the computer to watch the rest of the game on the living room tv. I got comfy (with my right knee elevated and a cold compress on it), and watched the last three innings of baseball.

When the game was over, I was flipping through channels, when the picture and sound started going in and out. Eventually, it went out completely, and I was left with a black screen and a blue box asking me to be patient that the channel would come back shortly. It never did. Not on any channel. Since we were having some thunderstorms pass by, I chalked it up to the storms, turned the tv off and went to bed.

Thursday night, I was again at the computer, in chat, and watching the Cubs game. I was going to go to bed early so I could go in to work early on Friday morning, so about 10pm, I got off the computer. My plan was to listen to a little more of the baseball game from the tv in the living room while I got ready for bed. But, when I turned on the tv, I still had no picture or sound. Grrrrrr.

I picked up the phone to call Comcast. I dialed the 866 number, pressed 1 for English, pressed 1 for existing customer, pressed 1 to confirm the number I was calling from was the number on my acct, and waited, and waited and waited, and waited some more. I hung up to re-try it. I dialed the 866 number, pressed 1 for English, pressed 1 for existing customer, pressed 1 to confirm the number I was calling from was the number on my acct, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited again. Grrrrrr.

I hung up and mumbled to myself that I would do it differently next time. I dialed the 866 number, pressed 1 for English, pressed 1 for existing customer, pressed 2 that I was not calling from the number on my acct. I entered my phone number, and waited and waited, and FINALLY got through to be on hold. Whew! Since I figured I would be on hold for several minutes I got the cold compress, situated myself nice and comfy on the love seat, with the phone wedged against my ear next to the pillow. I closed my eyes and waited. After about 15 minutes, I heard a ring, and thought I would be connected to a live person.

Nope! It took me back to the beginning where I had to press 1 for English, press 1 for an exisiting customer, and press 1 to confirm the number I was calling from was the one on the acct. Since I knew I'd now be on hold AGAIN, I got comfy AGAIN with the phone wedged up to my ear and relaxed for more waiting. I almost fell asleep waiting for a live person. It was only another 20 minutes, but I was tired and wanted to go to bed, lol. I finally got through to someone, explained my problem, and set up an appointment for a technician to come out today between 1 and 4pm. I would have preferred Saturday, since I'm usually not home on Sunday, but I didn't want to wait until Monday and be forced to take time off work.

Fortunately, my aunt was understanding, and since there was no new movie to see this weekend, all I needed to do was go out to vacuum and mop her floors for her. She and I also cleaned up some birdseed that had spilled in her garage and was attracting ants, and I ran a couple errands. One was to Farm & Fleet to buy some birdseed for myself. They had 20lb bags on sale for $4.99, and while there I picked up a new finch feeder for her, to match the copper-topped regular feeder I got her for Mother's Day. Then I went to Wal Mart to get her some Rocky Road ice cream she was craving, and some sourdough hard pretzels that she wanted.

So this morning I was reading emails at about 11:30am, and the door buzzes. The technician was 90 minutes early. I scrambled into jeans and a t-shirt and let him in. He determined my cable box was bad, went outside to get another one, brough it in, hooked it up, and still nothing. That one was bad too? He unhooked my vcr and connected the cable box directly to the tv, still nothing. Going back outside, he brings in ANOTHER cable box, a different model with no time/channel display, hooked it up and VOILA! I have picture and sound now!

However, he didn't re-connect what he disconnected, and I didn't watch closely enough to what he was doing to be able to re-connect it myself, so I had to call Comcast back to have him come back and hook it back up the way he found it. They gave me a hard time about it, saying they don't normally hook back up third party equipment they might disconnect during a service call, which I think is a load of crap. He did come back an hour or so later, hook it back up and everything works fine now.

The only thing left I haven't had a problem with is my phone, so that's probably next month! Calgon, take me away!

I've held onto this, off my calendar at work. A conversation in chat last week reminded me of this picture that I had sitting around waiting to be scanned.

The answer is: C, Lake Ontario. Toronto, capital of the province of Ontario, lies on the northwestern shore of the lake of the same name, the smallest of the Great Lakes.

Sunday night while chatting, my neighbors decided they were going to start their Independence Day celebration a bit early. They started shooting off fireworks from the balcony, then switched to placing them in the grass between our buildings, then ended the night lighting them right on the balcony itself. The WOODEN balcony. This was the best picture I could get, without using flash. It was midnight after all. The black vertical lines through the glow are the wooden slats of the railing.

I didn't call the police, all the guys had to do was plead innocent, and if the officer didn't actually SEE them doing it, he had no way to prove it, it would just be my word against theirs. I confirmed this with the City yesterday after work. I also found out there is no noise ordinance for the City of Naperville. Any time, day or night, if someone is too loud and is disturbing me, I can call the police. They will come and ask them to quiet down. If they don't, and I call the police back, then the officer would ask me if I want to press charges for disturbing the peace. So there is no official quiet time like 9pm or 10pm in Naperville.

So I now have a picture, which I've sent to resident relations so she could see it. And I have all the debris from the fireworks. They were lighting off Magic Crystals. You can also watch a you tube video of what they are like here. I am now armed with lots of evidence and information for the next time they decide to shoot off fireworks on a Sunday night at 12:00AM.

Step 1: Change background on blog (Done)
Step 2: Scan picture to be posted on blog (Done)
Step 3: Transfer picture from camera to computer (Done)
Step 4: Update your friends on stuff


*Updated 6/3 9:28PM completion of Step 3 before Step 2

*Updated 6/4 10:39PM completion of Step 2

Tuesday night, as American Idol time was approaching the sky got dark, the wind picked up, and I started seeing lightning out the window. The weather men said we weren't supposed to get rain until after 10pm, but obviously no one told Mother Nature. She decided to make an appearance at 6:45pm. After the first wave, a rainbow came out and I took the following pictures. Unfortunately, they don't do them justice; They were much prettier and more colorful in person.

This one looks like a double rainbow was trying to form, although it never really did.

The rainbow went clear across the sky, if the trees hadn't been in the way, I probably could have seen it touching the ground (or appear to anyway). After no more than 10 minutes, the clouds covered the sun again, the rainbow went away and the next wave of storms came through.

It was interesting watching American Idol while not at the computer talking to others while trying to listen to the songs. I haven't done it all year, and I really got a different impression by just watching and listening and not having the distraction of others. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE talking with everyone, it was just a nice change of pace to sit there and focus just on the music, performances and the judges comments.

Needless to say, didn't EVERYONE expect a David v. David finale? This is my fifth year of watching American Idol, and I can honestly say, it's the least climactic. No one has really jumped out at me enough to make me eager for a cd after all this. Yes, I might buy one or two, but this whole season has almost seemed staged from the beginning, everything being a setup for the Cookie v. Gaspy finale. Who will win? We'll have to wait and see...

Why some people shouldn't own or keep ORBA's:

Pieces of an ORBA found on the balcony.

ORBA was left outside accidentally, with the lid on right side up. Now it's upside down?

Hmmm, some chewing was going on. Perhaps the naughty Charlie was back?

More chewing along the edge. Upon closer inspection, half of the sunflower seeds inside the ORBA had been eaten, leaving only the empty shells. ORBA was taken back inside for protection. Unfortunately, nothing will heal the terrifying injuries it sustained from being left outside for just one day.