Gone To The Dogs!

One hot summer day, a blonde came to town with her dog, tied it under the shade of a tree, and headed into a restaurant for something cold to drink.

Twenty minutes later, a policeman entered the restaurant and asked, "Who owns the dog tied under that tree outside?"

The blonde said it was hers.

"Your dog seems to be in heat," the officer said.

The blonde replied, "No way. She's cool 'cause she's tied up under that shade tree."

The policeman said, "No! You don't understand. Your dog needs to be bred."

"No way," said the blonde. "My dog doesn't need bread. She isn't hungry 'cause I fed her this morning."

The exasperated policeman said, "NO! You don't understand. Your dog wants to have sex!"

The blonde looked at the cop and said, "Well, go ahead. I always wanted a police dog."

Oh My Aching Back!

Just a quick post to let everyone know that I haven't been around due to a strained muscle in my lower back. I was off work 2-1/2 days due to my throat, then another 2 days due to my back. It's doing better now, but it's still not real comfortable to sit at the computer for more than a few minutes at a time. I'm hoping things will continue to improve, despite the slow speed. Once I'm feeling better and can sit here comfortably, I'll be back posting.

The Good Samaritan And The Doctor

The Doctor: Tomorrow, I'm calling the doctor. I've had a sore throat since Thursday afternoon, it hurts to swallow, and it hasn't gotten any better. I've also had a low grade fever the last three nights by bedtime. I'm pretty sure it isn't tonsilitis, since my tonsils were removed the summer between kindergarten and first grade. One of them was supposedly growing back, so it is "possible" that it is infected. I really hope it's nothing serious.

The Good Samaritan: Today while driving on the interstate to my aunt's house, I witnessed a Jeep Cherokee spin out of control in front of me, going from the right lane, across to the left shoulder, facing opposite of traffic. It's been raining cats and dogs all weekend, and I was noticing some hydroplaning myself. I immediately pulled over to the shoulder opposite her and called 911. She appeared unhurt, just shook up. She was very fortunate there is a wire type fence along the grassy divider between the east and west bound lanes, otherwise she very well may have gone down into the divider and flipped. Once I was off the phone, in the pouring rain (with just my socks on.......I'm kidding Punkn!) I ran across the road to make sure she was ok and to let her know I had called for help. Her entire front bumper was off, but the airbag didn't deploy, and she was just freaked out by what happened. She thanked me for helping, and I went on my way.

Looky Looky What Came In The Mail!!!!

My good friend IntenseGuy got this book for me while he was in Florida. Before he left, he asked if there was anything he could get me while he was down there. Besides warm weather, I asked for a Manatee. I've always wanted to see them, and having one for a pet would be AWESOME! Ok, so it would have to be a baby. And it would probably only fit in my bathtub for about 2 weeks before I'd have to give it up. But at least I would have one for 2 weeks, right??? I know you'd all be jealous!


Following are a couple rest stop signs next to a closed trail that I really, really hoped would be open. I remember walking up this trail with my sister years ago on our way to MN. Instead I had to just get pictures of the two signs. And it was so cold, that my camera only let me take the two pictures, then it shut off. I was trying to get a picture of the trail itself. I trudged through three inches of snow, in my sneakers, to get these pictures.

For Tori, the signs say: Black River Valley - White pine trees were growing here when Columbus made his voyage to America. In 1819 the first attempts to saw lumber were unsuccessful, but in 1839 Jacob Spaulding founded Black River Falls by erecting the first permanent sawmill and settlement on the Black River. This valley contained the largest pine trees, some of them up to six feet across at ground level, and the most pine trees per township in the state. Before logging ended in 1905, more than fifty sawmills had been in operation in Jackson County. Accurate records kept over a period of forty years reveal that enough lumber was sawed to have built a plank road nine feet wide and four inches thick around the world. Iron Ore was smelted in Black River Falls in 1856 and again in 1886, but the old process proved too expensive and was abandoned. The Jackson County Iron Company, a subsidiary of Inland Steel, built a modern processing plant in 1969 that ship 2800 tons of taconite pellets every day of the year to it's blast furnaces in Indiana. The mine buildings and open pit mine are visible from the overlook on top of this scenic Bell Mound.

(Note, the blast furnaces in Indiana that are referenced are no longer Inland Steel. That company was bought by Mittal Steel, which then merged with Arcelor Steel, and became ArcelorMittal. And I believe they only have one blast furnace working these days.)

Black River Forest Fire: On the dry, windy afternoon of April 27, 1977 (hey, my birthday), a forest fire started south of Black River Falls. The fire quickly became a raging crown fire, traveling through the tops of the dense pine forest. This mound, directly in the path of the fire, was burned in just a few minutes time. In the 12 hours it took for the fire to run its course, 14 homes and 17,590 acres of forest land had burned, the village of Millston was spared because of a last minute wind shift. Most of this area has since been reclaimed naturally by oak and aspen which sprout vigorously after a fire. A small portion of the area was planted with pine, a more valuable tree species. This area has become prime wildlife habitat supporting tremendous deer and small game populations. In 50 years all visual reminders of the Black River Falls fire will be gone.

I don't remember if my sister or I ever took any pictures from the top of the overlook. But if I ever find them, I'm sure they will be a sight to see.

Weekend Wordle

It's time for the Weekend Wordle. Here are the very simple instructions:

01) Go to Wordle.net to create your Wordle. It's lots of fun. You can tweak the colors, fonts and such.
02) Post it on your blog with a link to Last Shreds Of Sanity.
03) Once that's done, go back to Last Shreds Of Sanity and sign the Mr Linky that she has up. Dont forget to leave a comment on the sites you visit!!

Here's my wordle that I created using my catch-up post from last night.

Band Of Thieves Expands Range

Last year, I reported about the possibility of gumball machines being used to poison people in NJ, then about a gumball machine being stolen in Texas. It appears the thieves are recruiting members in additional states. This was reported in January in Bismarck, ND.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) You might say Bismarck Police have something to chew on. They report someone stole a $595 gumball machine from a Dan's Supermarket store. Lt. Randy Ziegler said the theft was reported Friday after the vendor discovered it missing. Also stolen were a $11.95 sign, $65.10 in gumballs and $212.50 in change. Ziegler says surveillance tapes show a man about 20 years old in a black hooded sweatshirt putting the machine in a gray passenger vehicle and driving off. Information from: Bismarck Tribune, http://www.bismarcktribune.com (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 01-27-09 0757CST

Finally caught up! (Almost)

I'm finally caught up with the blogs I follow, except for just one, which I'll go read very shortly. In the meantime, before I forgot, I wanted to post to let everyone know what I've been up to.

The trip to MN was very nice. I love seeing my cousins, even though they're between seven and 12 years older than me. They all have kids, and one is a grandma. The memorial for my uncle was very nice, about 30 minutes long. That night we went to my cousin Carole's house for pizza. The whole family showed up. Four cousins and their spouses, my aunt, me, seven of the nine grandchildren, one spouse of a grandchild, one boyfriend of a grandchild, and one great-grandchild. So about 20 of us hanging out. A really nice way to end the evening.

The drive up and back was not a lot of fun. My back has been bothering me for a week and a half now, and sitting in my car for six to seven hours doesn't help. I stopped at every rest stop just to get out and walk for a few minutes. It never really made anything more comfortable, it just made it possible for me to get out and walk at the next rest stop.

I thought it would be nice, having a short week of only four days, but yesterday afternoon my throat started feeling sore. By the time I went to bed last night, I was shivering, and fearing I had a fever, took my temperature. It was about 99F. Not bad by any means, but enough to make me shiver almost uncontrollably with sweats and a sweatshirt on, under a blanket. I had already taken Ibuprofen for my back, so there was no point taking anything for my fever.

When I woke up this morning, my fever was gone, which I expected, but my throat was worse. And I completely felt like crap. So I called in and left a couple messages for people letting them know I was taking a sick day. That was at 6:30AM, I then went back to sleep until 11:19AM. I've lazed around all day, doing nothing, hoping that I'll be feeling better tomorrow or Sunday.

I'm supposed to go to my aunt's house Sunday for lunch and to see the movie The Watchmen. While I don't want to get anyone sick, I do want to see that movie, so I'm hoping my throat is better and that whatever this is doesn't spread to my nose by then.

Flashback to yesterday morning. While putting my socks on, I heard a bluejay screeching outside. When I turned to see if he was nearby, I saw a charlie on my balcony. When I got up to shoo him away from the bird feeder, I notice the bluejay was AT the feeder. I stood there for a minute, drinking in the wonder at a bluejay at my feeder. Once he flew off, I opened up the sliding door, stuck my arm out to shoo away the squirrel. He just looked at me like I was crazy. So, I opened the door a bit more, stuck half my body out, waved my arm some more, and told him to shoo. He jumped up on the railing and contemplated just how far outside he could entice me.

Making sure I blocked the entrance to my apt, so charlie wouldn't get any ideas about running inside, I stepped all the way out onto the balcony, still in just my socks. Charlie tried to get me to follow him further by leaping from the balcony to the outside ledge of the window in the second bedroom. Knowing that was not far enough to prevent him from returning to his feast of birdseed, I stepped closer to the railing, continuing to tell him to shoo and go away. Finally he gave up, jumped to the tree, scampered down the trunk and bounded away to someplace more quiet. I said goodbye to Charlie, went back inside, closed the door, put my shoes on and went to work. What work he put me through!

Besides the bluejay, I received another sign that spring is coming very soon. No, it wasn't the 60 degree temps today, although that is a good indication. This was another feathered friend, the American Robin. It's the first one I've seen this year, and I know when they show up that spring is on the way. It's so nice now that I'm starting to hear the birds singing outside my window in the morning, instead of the chip chip that I hear mostly in winter (with the occasional chick-a-dee-dee-dee).

I never did post a video of one of this week's Idol performances. I'm really slipping, because there were some really bad ones this week!

Enjoy your weekend!

A New Angel In Heaven

Thursday night while watching American Idol, my phone rang in the other room, unbeknownst to me. Afterwards, noticing I had a message on my phone, I checked the caller ID, and realized it was my aunt in MN. I listened to the voice mail message she left me; it was very brief.

I knew what this call was about.

For the last nine years, my uncle has been slowly succumbing to Alzheimers Disease. For almost all of those nine years, my aunt took care of him at their home, where he was most comfortable.

Recently though, he was needing more care than she was able to give. Being 81 years old, neither she nor he are/were spring chickens. It finally got to be too much for her. The decision was made, with the help of their children, to put him in a memory care home nearby.

He appeared to be adjusting ok for the first few days, but then he stopped eating, and wouldn't take his medications. They took him to the emergency room at the hospital, where he was admitted. He stayed there for a couple days, then was moved to a nursing home. After about a day, they refused to deal with him any longer, and returned him to the hospital. From what I've been told, they didn't have the anti-psychotic drug that he had been on, and the alternative they were giving him in the meantime wasn't working all that well. Another nursing home was found that was willing to deal with his problems.

Both my aunt and uncle decided years ago that they didn't want extreme measures taken to keep them alive, if there was no hope for a meaningful recovery. My aunt spoke with the doctors, and they all agreed that he was not going to get any better, and that they weren't going to force-feed him.

Tuesday February 24 2009, about 7:30PM, my Uncle Bill passed away quietly with his wife and daughter by his side. He was 81 years old.

Tomorrow morning, I am starting the long drive to the twin cities for the memorial, to be held at their church on Sunday. I'll return on Monday.

Hopefully my back will handle the trip ok. It's been bothering me all week and I've been taking Ibuprofen 800 mg, but I'm not looking forward to the 7 hour drive. Can you say rest stop? I'll be stopping at every one of them, plus maybe in between if necessary.

I'll catch up on everything when I get home next week.

American Idol 2nd Group of 12

Tonight was Nick's night. Nick Mitchell aka Normund Gentle was definitely the high point. He's not the best singer, by far. But, he is the most entertaining. Vote For The Worst has picked him this week, like we didn't expect that. He may just make it through on pure entertainment, not talent. Here's the video, you decide.

Pimpin' a Contest!

If you read Blue Ridge Gal's or Punkn's blogs, you know what I'm going to talk about. A contest over at Chronicles of a Country Girl, that is just so awesome!

She has nine pictures, you pick your favorite, leave a comment telling her your pick. Then blog about her contest, leave her a link to your blog, and you get a total of two chances to win. And the pictures are fantastic, I had a hard time choosing!

So what are you waiting for? Go take a look!

I'm Not Needy...Really I'm Not!

Matt over at My Side Of The Story did a post where you put your name into Google and add the word 'needs' after it and see what results you get. You're supposed to list the first 10 things that show up. No searching around for something better.

However, because my first name is the same as the Ex of Charlie Sheen, I got a lot of hits regarding Denise Richards. Kind of hard to post those when they are specifically referring to her.

But I'll try.

1. Denise needs a fame & glory. Maybe not the fame part, I'm happy sitting in the shadows, but the glory...I wouldn't mind a bit of that.

2. Denise needs her mouth wired shut! Hey now! I know I can sometimes talk a lot, but wiring my mouth shut is pretty drastic.

3. Denise needs money? Don't we all? Speaking of money, I need to get some Mega Millions numbers tomorrow after work. Jackpot is over $140 million!

4. Denise needs to take a page from one of the Housewives of the OC. Ummm, no I don't. Really. They aren't all that.

I'm now on page 2 of my google results.

5. Denise needs prayers! Don't we all? I would love to have all my friends praying for me every day. In exchange, I'll pray for all of you. Deal?

Page 3 of Google results.

6. Denise needs a tutor on Flikr. Ummm, I don't have a Flikr account, so I'm not sure what the tutor would be for. Not gonna go where my mind just wandered...

Page 4 of Google results.

7. Denise needs a maid. Why yes I do, thank you so kindly for sharing that with the world! Ok, so I'm not the best housekeeper. But it's just me here, and my motto is: My house is clean enough to be healthy, and dirty enough to be happy.

8. Denise needs to realize. What do I need to realize? That my results suck? That I should change my name if I want interesting answers? That this post is getting boring? That it's almost time for bed and I better hurry this thing up? What?? Just tell me already!

9. Denise needs to move on with her life. That's what I'm trying to do...move on to bed. If I can just find one more thing I need to do, then I can do what I want to do.

Page 5 of Google results. Ok, I am TOTALLY not posting the next one! It's just too disgusting!

Ok, this next one is printable.

10. Denise needs to get over herself. Wow, I didn't think I was like that. Please, someone tell me if this is true. I'll totally change my ways, honest!

So there you have it. I wonder if I'd get better results if I used my middle name? And most of what I found did in fact refer to Denise Richards. I skipped over the ones that said "Denise Richards needs to..." I only picked the ones that used just the first name.

So, what do you need?

Let The Sparks Fly!

Things have been so slow at work, I tried to burn the place down.

Just kidding, sorta.

Wednesday morning, as I was getting ready to leave for work, I heard my cell phone beep at me, letting me know the battery was getting low. Not wanting to go to work all day with my cell phone turned off, I grabbed my charger and planned to charge my phone at work.

It's something I've done before. I plug it in under my desk, let it sit for a few hours, then when it's done, I unplug it and put it back in my purse. It doesn't take much electricity to charge a cell phone, right?

I arrived at work, took my phone and charger out of my purse, crawled under my desk and plugged it in. Because I'm in a cubicle, the outlets are at the bottom of one wall, and there's a metal plate along the bottom to cover and protect all the wiring. All of the outlets in my cubicle are not flush against the metal plate, they are a slight angle, so I know I need to be careful plugging or unplugging anything.

About 2pm, I remembered my phone was still plugged in, I checked it (battery full) unhooked my phone from the charger, and proceeded to pull out the plug from the outlet.

As I'm sure everyone does, I wiggled it ever so slightly to work it out of the slots.

Bad move.

I saw sparks.


The outlet and the metal plate were scorched.

All the electricity to my cubicle was gone.

Shorted out? Fried?

I meekly walked over to our IT department, and explained what happened. They both came over, took a look at it, and determined that I indeed had no electricity in my cubicle.

Fortunately, my computer was plugged in to a surger protector, so that was ok.

While I waited for my boss to get out of a meeting, I began cleaning out the empty cubicle next to me, expecting I'd have to move. At least until they could figure out what happened and fix it if possible.

The drawers were a mess, I tossed so much crap, pulled one drawer all the way out and dumped it upside down. I used Windex on the surface of the desk area to clean up the dust that had accumulated.

By that time my boss was out of his meeting, I explained to him what happened, he told our controller, everyone had to come and look at my desk.

I was really getting some attention now. Not exactly the kind I wanted though.

Since the cord for my surge protector was really long, they decided to set it on top of my desk, behind my monitor, and plug it in on the other side, in the empty cubicle, where there was still electricity.

They got everything plugged back in, and I was back in business. Not that I really had anything to do that afternoon, but at least I could get any emails that might come my way.

Thursday morning, one of the maintenance guys for the building checked the circuits and found out all I did was trip that particular circuit. I didn't actually fry the wiring, which I was really concerned about. With the prospects for 2009 so dismal, the last thing I wanted was to have cost money to the company that wasn't necessary or planned.

So Thursday after lunch, I unplugged everything again, and moved it all back under my desk where it was originally.

Oh, and Wednesday night I stopped at the AT&T store after work to get a new charger, because one of the prongs on mine was melted. There was no way I was going to be able to use it again. They couldn't find a new one for me to buy, but they had one with a phone that had been returned, so I got it for free.

I will NEVER charge my cell phone at work again!

American Idol Top 36 starts tonight, with the first group of 12. Three stick around, the other nine go home. Who was good enough? I think Alexis Grace was. Here's her performance of "Never Loved A Man" by Aretha Franklin.

Things a stressed woman may say at work:

1. Okay, okay! I take it back, Unf*** you.

2. You say I'm a bitch like it's a bad thing.

3. Well, this day was a total waste of make-up.

4. Well, aren't we a freakin' ray of sunshine?

5. Don't bother me, I'm living happily ever after.

6. Do I look like a people person?

7. This isn't an office. It's hell with flourescent lighting.

8. I started out with nothing and I still have most of it left.

9. Therapy is expensive. Popping bubble wrap is cheap. You choose.

10. Why don't you try practicing random acts of intelligence and senseless acts of self-control?

11. I'm not crazy. I've been in a very bad mood for 25 years.

12. Sarcasm is just one more service I offer.

13. Do they ever shut up on your planet?

14. I'm not your type, I'm not inflatable.

15. Stress is waking up screaming and realizing you haven't gone to sleep yet.

16. Back off! You're standing in my aura.

17. Don't worry, I forgot your name too.

18. I work 40 hours a week to be this poor.

19. Not all men are annoying. Some are dead.

20. Wait. I'm trying to imagine you with a personality.

21. Chaos, panic, disorder...my work here is done.

22. Ambivalent? Well, yes and no.

23. You like like sh*t. Is that the style now?

24. Earth is full. Go home.

25. Aw, did I step on your poor little itty bitty ego?

26. I'm not tense, just terribly, terribly alert.

27. A hard-on doesn't count as personal growth.

28. You are depriving some village of an idiot.

29. If a**holes could fly, this place would be an airport.

30. Look deeply into my eyes. Do you see on ounce of give-a-sh*t?

I suppose I should do a proper post, since I haven't really done one for a while now. Things have been pretty quiet around here. Work is still slow. But, I am seeing a few new orders come through, which is a good thing.

I currently have two magazines at work to read, plus a Fill-In puzzle book. I can alternate between them, and keep caught up on the blogs and emails.

Tomorrow is V-Day, just another day for me. I did get two cards in the mail. One from a very good friend and one from my aunt in California.

Tuesday night after work, I did some shopping for work clothes. I bought three new pairs of pants, all for $52.


Sunday afternoon is the big race, the Daytona 500. Yeah, I'm a NASCAR fan! Go Junior!

CDC Alert!

The Centers for Disease Control has issued a medical alert about a highly contagious, potentially dangerous virus that is transmitted orally, by hand, and even electronically. This virus is called Weary Overload Recreational Killer (WORK). If you receive WORK from your boss, any of your colleagues, or anyone else via any means whatsoever, DO NOT TOUCH IT. This virus will wipe out your private life completely. If you should come into contact with WORK you should immediately leave the premises.

Take two good friends to the nearest grocery store and purchase one or both of the antidotes - Work Isolating Neutralizer Extract (WINE) and Bothersome Employer Elimination Rebooter (BEER). Take the antidotes repeatedly until WORK has been completely eliminated from your system.

Top Ten Employee Rules:

1. If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.

2. If you can't get your work done in the first 24 hours, work nights.

3. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

4. For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism.

5. Keep your boss' boss off your boss' back.

6. Success always occurs in private, and failure in full view.

7. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.

8. The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.

9. Don't be irreplaceable; if you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.

10. If you are good, you will be assigned all the work. If you are really good, you will get out of it.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009 FoxNews.com


CENTERVILLE, Utah — The man escaped with a few cuts to his arm, but the toilet made out much worse.

Police say a man's gun fell out of its holster while he pulled up his pants after using the bathroom at a Carl's Jr. restaurant Tuesday. The gun fired when it hit the floor and shattered the commode.

A few shards of porcelain cut the man's arm, and a woman in an adjacent restroom who was frightened by the noise reported she was having chest pain. Both people were checked at the scene and released.

Police say they confiscated the 26-year-old man's firearm while they review the incident. The man had a concealed weapons permit. No charges are being filed.

I'm off trying to finish this book.

It's due back to the library tomorrow, and I haven't checked to see if I can renew it. I'm still a ways from finishing it yet, so I don't know if I'll be successful, but I'd like to try. (Plus I'm doing laundry at the same time.)

I'm such a bad blogger! I had the biggest brain fart ever and never posted my spoils from winning Dorkys' last Biz Quiz in December over at Dry As Toast.



My picture isn't nearly as great as hers, but I'll tell you all the stuff she sent me.

Aveeno Sunblock Lotion SPF 45 - Just what I need for those hot summer days!
King of Shaves Shaving Oil - I'll have to find a man to give this to, lol
Kissaholic Kissing Kit Aphrodisiac plumping lip gloss and breath mist - Just in time for V-Day!
Redken Mint Clean Shampoo - Again, will search hi and low for a man
Mini Bourjois Ultra Mascara - For those hot dates with my computer!
Pantina Gel-Liner Palette - Not sure what I'll do with this, but it's got lots of really cool darker colors
TNS Line Refine - ummm, not even sure what this is, I suppose I should Google it
Purminerals Lip Gloss Trio - for that "pouty" look
Three mini glosses to attach to my purse or phone or wherever
A necklace that I absolutely LOVE, put on right away, and have not taken off since. It's a silver heart on a silver chain. One side of the heart says "You touched my heart" and the other side says "right from the start". (Ok, I had to take it off so I could read both sides, lol)

Any men out there that are interested in the shampoo and shaving oil, let me know and I'll mail them to you.

Thank you again, Dorkys, for the wonderful items you sent me!

Yeah, it was that cold this morning.

Spring is almost here in the North and Midwest. Winter is almost over; we can see the deer wandering around now.

Some of these were part of Jeannie's post from Jan 13, but I thought these were good enough to post again.

A few thoughts to live life by:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement, starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to other's. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry, God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over-prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years time, will this matter?"

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Your job won't take care of your when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative of dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Everyone keep your fingers crossed! The weather forecast for Punxatawney, PA tomorrow is snow flurries and snow showers. Hopefully that will be enough to keep Phil from scurrying back into his hole for another 6 weeks.

Steelers 27 - Cardinals 23

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers for winning a record 6th Super Bowl Championship.


(Go Cowboys!)

A blonde goes to her local pet store in search of an "exotic" pet.

As she looks about the store, she notices a box FULL of frogs. The sign says:

SEX FROGS
Only $20 each!
Comes with complete instructions

The girl excitedly looks around to see if anybody's watching her. She whispers softly to the man behind the counte, "I'll take one!" As the man packages the frog, he quietly says to her, "Just follow the instructions." The blonde nods, grabs the box, and is quickly on her way home. As soon as she closes the door to her apartment, she opens the instructions and reads them very carefully. She does exactly what is specified: 1. Take a shower. 2. Splash on some nice perfume. 3. Slip into a very sexy nightie. 4. Crawl into bed and place the frog down beside you, and allow the frog to do what he has been trained to do. She then quickly gets into bed with the frog and to her surprise........NOTHING happens!

The blonde is very disappointed and quite upset at this point. She re-reads the instructions and notices at the bottom of the paper it says, "If you have any problems or questions, please call the pet store." So, she calls the pet store.

The man says, "I'll be right over."

Within minutes, the man is ringing her doorbell. The blonde welcomes him in and says, "See, I've done everything according to the instructions. The damn frog just sits there!" The man...looking very concerned, picks up the frog, stares directly into it's eyes and sternly says:

"LISTEN TO ME!! I'm only going to show you how to do this ONE...MORE...TIME!!!"

Following are a bunch of pictures I took today. First up is Charlie:

He must have been mighty hungry. There was a lot of digging going on in the snow on my deck. I hadn't fed the birds in several days, so there wasn't anything for him to steal right from the feeder.

He has a nice bushy tail. The other morning I saw one running across my parking lot that had only about half a tail. Made me wonder what happened. Did another animal almost get him? Poor Charlie...

On my way back inside from some shopping, I looked up and noticed this chunk of ice hanging over the edge of our building. With temperatures into the mid 30's, it was melting and dripping onto our stoop. I just hope it doesn't start sliding off and land on someone.

Last night on the way home, I stopped at my local Tiger Direct warehouse because I saw they had LCD monitors on sale for $129.99. This particular model was listed as originally $289, so I figured saving $160 was pretty good.

Samsung is a good name and the reviews for it were all very good. It was quite easy to set up.

Here it is, all set up and working just fine. Now I don't have to deal with that honkin' CRT Monitor on my desk! That will be going to the computer recycling place very soon.

This became effective Jan 1, 2009 in all states. The National Highway Safety Council has done extensive testing on a newly designed seatbelt. Initial results show that accidents can be reduced by as much as 45% when the belt is properly installed. Correct installation is illustrated below:

(If you click on the picture, it should open up so you can see the animation.)

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Wife Of Riley for this award! I'm not sure what I did to deserve it, in fact I went back through all the previous blogs that it came from trying to find out it's meaning, so I could understand it better. Here is what I found:

This award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his or her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values every day.

The rules to follow are:

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgment. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.


15??? Really? 15??? That's like every one that follows me! So instead of listing them all out, if you follow me you are entitled to this award. I know a few of you have already received this from Becky, so I won't hold you down and force you to blog about it a second time. But it is a really cool looking award, who wouldn't want it? As for those values, I'll have to think on that a bit more.

Follow-up to my very early morning post...




I stopped by the management office on the way home, and was told my upstairs neighbors are moving out in March! I'm starting the countdown!

Wooooooooooo Hooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can ya tell I'm happy???????

Yeah, I kind of already knew I was sane, but this proves it!

Your result for The Crazy Test...

You're sane!

You scored 8 Sane, 4 Insane, 4 Crazy, 5 Weird and 3 NeedHelp!

You might survive. Just don’t close your eyes.

Deep down inside: you are confused about circles.

Your great abiding passion is: payday

Your innermost fear is: payday

Your greatest strength is: clear thinking

Your deepest regret is: politics

Your most sincere hope is: world peace

Your best quality is: having your feet on the ground

Your weakest trait is: changing the oil

Your reason for living is: perfect teeth

When your house is in Uranus, you will find insight and wisdom. Watch for toothpicks on the 5^th. Prosperity is around the corner, but you must turn on the sprinklers before you leave. Look for a sign in the peanut butter on the 16^th.

When you grow up you will be the President.

You will have 2.3 children and 4 SUVs.

You will have a nice house in a neighborhood.

Your spouse’s name will be known.

You will enjoy a long and healthy life.

Everyone will love you.

Wisdom will follow you all of your days.

The Jack of Trades indicates your present. The Card of Death represents an ending. The Nine of Branches turned clockwise shows your future.

You were born in the year of the Lily Pond. Your Sign is Big. In your past life, you were alive. Your wrinkles tell the story of your life. Your destiny is unfolding.

Take The Crazy Test at HelloQuizzy

I'm sitting here at the computer at 12:13AM, when I should be sleeping. Tell that to the a**holes upstairs. Since 10pm they've been bouncing around like they want to put a hole through my ceiling, running up and down the stairs, pushing my buzzer along with theirs, and in case you haven't figure it out yet, being just plain annoying. Every time I put my head down to try to relax and go to sleep, BOOM, another pounce. What is it with people? With all the times I've complained to the management, you'd think they'd get the idea that they need to kind of hold it down at night. Maybe it's finally time to start looking for another place. A place where I have no one around me who is in the restaurant business. A place where I'M on the top floor, with no one above me. A place with no outside north wall! I have 10 months before I would have to be out of here, plenty of time to get packed and moved, right?

Blue Ridge Gal asked, and I will answer. Her questions are interesting in that she doesn't know me very well, and went back through my blog to find topics for questions. Hey, it's probably what I would have done!

So, here they are, BRG's questions, and my answers:

1. You have had a hard cold winter in the Chicago area and I see that not only have you had water in your apartment but also a parking lot full of water and ice. Has the weather taken a toll on your social life as far as getting out and seeing friends and family this winter or have you all just skated to and from one another's homes? Skates, sleds, or has it been e-mail only as far as staying in close touch with those you love?

Fortunately, there hasn't really been much water in my apartment since last February. But yes, my parking lot has had the worst of it, flooding in September and then again in December. In September, I was able to get out, barely, to go spend the day with my aunt. I was sort of adopted by that family years ago, and I go spend Sunday afternoons with her, have lunch, see a movie, that sort of thing. When it flooded again in December, I was completely cut off from my car, and was stranded at home all weekend. Of course, that's not a bad thing when there's football on tv! As far as the weather in general, it hasn't prohibited me from getting together with friends or family too much. One day I was stopping by a friend's house after work to pick up some candles I had ordered from her, and it just happened to be our first big snowstorm of the season. That was a very long drive home! Other than that, I really have no social life anymore, so staying at home after a storm or flood doesn't bother me too much.

2. Last November you had a post on your blog that mentioned Sunshine and Lemonade and a the prize of Betty Crocker Warm Delights? Are you a Betty Crocker type of gal that enjoys cooking and if so do you have a lot of cookbooks and which one is your favorite and why?

Too funny, because I so totally do not enjoy cooking! I mentioned the Warm Delights because of the giveaway Kat was having, and because I LOVE chocolate. I am a self-described chocoholic. I do know how to bake, and can do it if I need to, but I much prefer the premade stuff you just put on a cookie sheet and pop in the oven. Surprisingly I did keep some of my mother's cookbooks, but I think I've only looked at them maybe twice in 10 years? The joys of living alone and being a picky eater: Finding foods that don't have leftovers, that you'll eat and that don't require an hour in the kitchen.

3. You mentioned last October that one of the careers you would like to try would be to own a winery? If the opportunity arose to buy a winery, what state would you hope it was located in and why?

Well, I love wine. I belong to a wine club that sends me two bottles of wine every month. I thought it was a perfect way to get introduced and learn about the varieties and flavors of wine. As for the winery, I don't remember posting that, but if you say I did, I must have! If I were to own a winery, I'd probably want it to be in CA, so I would be closer to my family. They are always wanting me to come visit and asking me to move out there. I wish I could afford to live there, but I'd need to win the lottery first. But then I'd either need to hire some really knowledgeable people or teach my tongue really quickly how to tell the different flavors apart, because I can't tell tannins from oak flavorings.

4. One of your blogs is about keeping an eye on our government.... Without revealing your political party, tell us who you think was the most crooked politician to walk this earth.

There have been so many crooked politicians, and they seem to be multiplying every year. And Illinois has had our fair share of them, including our current and previous Governor. Without doing a lot of research on it, I would say the most crooked politician that I know of would have to be former President Nixon. He held the highest position in government in this country, and abused that position by authorizing tape recordings of the opposition. The smartest thing the House did was to impeach him and he was fortunately smart enough to resign. I could keep going here about all the different politicians that have done crooked things, but being the president, you're representing all of America, and should be above all that. The governors and senators, while important to our form of government, can be removed from office more easily and with less damage to our reputation and way of life than the president.

5. Would you ever run for a political position, if so, which one? Mayor, Governor, Senator, President? And why?

I'm not sure if I would want to run for a political office. Maybe a city council position, but definitely not senator or president. There are too many hands wanting things, and in today's world, unfortunately, you don't get anywhere without putting something in those hands, and getting support for them. I don't see enough people getting into government that believe in less involvement by government and more honesty in the officials to have me make a difference. I feel I'm better off out here, informing the masses, helping to tell those elected officials what the people want and to persuade them to make the right decisions for our future.

So there you have it, my answers to Blue Ridge Gal's questions.

Now it's your turn if you would like me to interview you just leave a comment and I will email you the questions!

Here's the directions:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Thank you Jeannie (and LadyStyx) for this wonderful award! I'm honored that you both thought enough of me and my blog to pass it along.

This blogging adventure has taken me someplace I never thought I'd go. I started out with a few online friends, blogging between us, to keep up with each other's lives. Slowly, my world has expanded and I've found some really beautiful blog friends.

When Blogger came out with the new widget to "follow" blogs, I thought it was great. Now I could keep track of the blogs I read, to know which entries were new. If I have gone to the trouble of "following" your blog, then I will read every post. And no Jeannie, I don't comment on every one, but I try to comment on most that I have an interest in. The point of following is to read and comment, so the blog owner knows you were there, right? What's the point of following if you aren't going to go read the blogs? I would rather have 5 loyal followers that commented than 14 followers that I never hear from.

My point is, I read blogs where I have found some connection with the author/owner/writer, whatever you want to call them. That's the kindred spirit I look for when selecting blogs to follow. If you are a follower of my blog, actually read my posts, and have not received this award yet, please take it with my blessings.

Matt over at My Side Of The Story tagged me to do this photo thing. Here are the rules as posted by him:

1. Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer.
2. Select the 4th picture in the folder.
3. Explain the picture.
4. Tag four people to do the same.

Before I actually select my picture, I have questions. I'm always asking questions. Do I only select photos that are jpg's? Should I count bmp's or gif's? Which picture depends on how the folder is organized. Is it in alphabetical order by file name, or by date received? It makes a difference in which picture I post.

I'll assume I should stick with only jpg files, and since my folder is normally in alphabetical order, I'll not change that for this exercise.

I like being difficult, lol.

Oh yeah, I don't have four folders, I only have one. Now if it had been music, I have WAY more than four folders. But pictures? Just one.

So now that the suspense has sufficiently built up, here's my fourth photo in my one folder:

No, this is not my house. I was taking a walk, must have been almost two years ago. It was summer time, as you can tell by the green grass and leaves on the trees. Down at the opposite end of my street was this house that was for sale, and had been for sale for many months. Since it wasn't selling, I thought I'd offer it up to anyone who read my blog. The asking price wasn't much: $429,000. Unfortunately, I had no takers, and the house stayed on the market for many more months. I'm not sure what happened; If it was bought, or foreclosed, but the for sale sign eventually disappeared.

Now I get to tag four people to do the same.

LadyStyx - I know you have LOTS of interesting pictures. (If they're all on Photobucket, then choose the fourth one from the fourth folder there)

IntenseGuy - Maybe it will be a picture of a Charlie?

Lainie - Because you don't included in things nearly enough.

ToriZ - I know you and Kelly take lots of pictures, so you should have a good story to tell.

Happy picture hunting!

Time to finally start getting caught up on some posts I've been needing to do...

This award is from LadyStyx. Thank you so much!!! I do my best to make my blog interesting, and it's nice to know my readers appreciate my effort.

Here are the rules:

1. Say a nice thing to a man in your life.
2. List at least six ways you measure success in your life.
3. Assign five other worthy blogs.

First, there is no "man" in my life. So does my boss count? I wished him a nice weekend before I left work today.

Second, I've had to really think about this. And think. And think. I've been thinking for almost two weeks! Can anyone imagine how difficult this is? Now that my brain hurts from it, here are my six (I hope) in no particular order:

- Getting my paycheck on the 15th and last day of the month. That means I still have a job, which is a big success considering my luck the last two downturns in the economy.

- Waking up every morning. That means I'm not dead, so that's success, right? Work with me people!!! I TOLD you this was hard!

- Getting awards from my bloggy friends. That means success at this pitiful attempt at blogging.

(Only three more, come on you can do it!)

- Seeing my credit card balance go down. That means I'm spending less, which is a good thing! Debt is bad!

- Having good friends to spend time with. Both IRL and online. A few of you I only talk to online, but hope to meet someday. I treasure all my friends and would miss them terribly if I lost them.

- Getting my taxes done on time. I got my W2 today, so I'm all set. Maybe this year I won't wait until the second week of April to do them.

Whew! I need a rest after all that work!

The third and final part, I need to assign five worthy blogs. Five? Only five? Ok, here's goes:

TheGrammarphile @ Red Pen, Inc. She finds some of the worst grammar mistakes ever on the net, and I get a laugh when reading them every day.

Wife Of Riley @ Living The Life With The Wife Of Riley. Not only is it so cool that we're both from Chicago, but she and her hubby have the greatest relationship and she openly shares the hilarity with her readers.

Babyrocasmama @ Last Shreds Of Sanity. It's nice to find another blogger out there that isn't taken in by Obamania. She also takes the time to support other bloggers who are needing assistance, prayers, any kind of help. And she held some awesome giveaways last year. Too bad I didn't win any of them, lol.

The Blue Ridge Gal @ The Blue Ridge Gal. She has been sharing pictures of her world in Virginia, her family (including her doggies), and her childhood home in Iowa. That alone is enough for me, but the way she tells the stories and describes things grabs you and makes you want to come back tomorrow to see what else she's found.

Heather @ This Is The Day...Ps118:24. I'm a relatively new reader to her blog, but I greatly admire her faith, her love for her family, and her sense of humor. Anyone that will admit to finding ET playing the drums while everyone was at church, belongs in our little crazy world!

Wow! I did it!

65%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Online Dating

In need of a loan? I got this via email today:


Hello!

Are you looking for a cheap loan today? We are certified private Loan Lender based in the United states, we offer loans to individuals, firms and cooperate bodies at 3% interest rate per annum both secured and unsecured at 3% interest rate monthly base, with no credit check up.Loan terms and determinant, loan amount between the sum of $3,000.00 to $500,000,00 On any currency contact us today via email and tell us so we can send you an application form.

Contact us today via e-mail
E-mail: information.cheng@gmail.com

Regards,
Dr. Cheng Shao ZENG,
Cheng Inscape Loan Finance.

**********************************************************

NOTE BELOW :-
Please Serious Seeking Interested Persons Only in dire Need of this loan or Mortgage either for Personal or Business or Even Rehabbing.Keep in touch. Unserious Persons will have their Offers Turned down,when applying for a loan,please Ensure you come with a scanned Copy of Your Drivers License,or Your International Passport alongside your Full names and address.Once again you have to be In dire Need of the loan so as not to get your Offer Turned down,We are taking this Guideline to scoop off Unserious persons who mail us into thinking they are Interested and we Never get their Response after sending in Our Terms.

Please forward your Loan Applications to- information.cheng@gmail.com

**********************************************************


Just so everyone is clear, this is only for individuals, firms and cooperate bodies. Not corporate bodies. And you must be a serious person in dire need, all unserious persons will be turned down and perhaps even scooped off.

Yes, I'm still alive. Not very clean, but alive. I haven't had the time or energy to be online much, or to even check blogger the last few days. Today I had all sorts of time to do nothing, since I had no water.

Yup, there was another leak from the cold. I thought everything was fine until I woke up this morning to no water in the building. Apparently, there was a leak in my wall that was coming out in the bathroom below me. Finally about 4pm Jack, my good buddy and maintenance manager came with a plumber to cut into my wall and replace the broken pipe. The wall should be fixed by Tuesday, since Monday is a holiday, and the toilet will be put back in place then.

I now have water, but when it was finally turned back on, it was too late for me to go out for any of the errands I wanted to run today. So I was basically a hermit today, staying snuggled under a blankie relaxing. The good news is it's warming up outside, slowly but surely. I have other things to blog, but they'll have to wait until I can maybe sorta get caught up on all the other blogs that I've neglected for days.

Mmmmmm Lemonade!

Thank you to BabyRocasMomma over at Last Shreds Of Sanity! I'm supposed to nominate 10 bloggers to give this to, that show great attitude or gratitude, but since I've seen this award going around on a lot of the blogs I read, I'll just put it out for anyone who follows my blog. If you haven't received this yet, I offer it to you as a sign of my thanks for reading about my boring life. I keep hoping things will get more exciting here, but right now it's all about the snow. Just watching it fall. Day after day after day. Spring IS coming, right? Right?? RIGHT??????

Your Word is "Love"

You see life as possibility to form deep connections with a few people. Relationships are the center of your world, and you always take time to bond with those you love. You are caring and giving. You enjoy helping those you love. And when it comes to romantic love, you feel passionately ... even in a very long term relationship.

What's Your Word?

Since I had my camera out, and the Northern Juncos have been at my feeder since I filled it yesterday afternoon, I thought I'd take advantage of the opportunity and get some pictures.

They aren't the best pictures; I was shooting through either the screen door or my dirty glass. There are about five or six that have been at the feeder all weekend. Finally, today, some other birds (mostly sparrows) discovered I had put seed in the feeder and came to get their fill.

On this mound where I had piled some snow on my balcony, the Juncos would use their feet to kick some of the snow away to look for more seed.

I just love Juncos. They're so cute with their charcoal grey top half and white belly. And they're only here in winter. Such a nice contrast against the white snow.

When I was sweeping the snow, I noticed there was some dropped seed that had been buried underneath the snow, which was then mixed into this pile.

Somehow, the Juncos knew there was seed down in there, and were kicking it away with their feet to get at it. And yes, Iggy, that's my ORBA in the pictures...inside, safe and sound from Charlie.

I finally ventured outside after the latest snowstorm. It snowed Friday night through most of Saturday afternoon. I had intentions of going to my aunt's house today, but she's not feeling well. Instead I get to watch more football, and keep myself warm and toasty after clearing all the snow off my car.

I did a rough measurement and it looks like I got about six inches (15cm) of snow.

I took this show so you could see the drifting on the south side of my car. It stuck out a good two inches past the edge of my car. Retrieval of my brush was done from the drivers side, then once all the snow was cleared off my car, I got my little shovel out of the trunk so I could clear a path to get my car out of that parking space and in to one that had been plowed recently.

Here's my windshield when I was part way done clearing it. And did I mention it's snowing again? We're supposed to have snow showers for the next four days.

Is it spring yet?

I can officially certify that I have 358 small paperclips at my desk here at work. I also have two small yellow paperclips. I have not counted the large paperclips, but I may work on that after lunch.

Just an update to let you know not much is happening here. It's back to work time for everyone, but I worked all six days around Christmas and New Years, since I only had 1/2 day of vacation left. It was a full day, but back in February when I took the morning off, my boss forgot to put it into the computer. The good news is that because our vacation is calculated based on monthly accrual (even though it's given for the year if that makes sense), I get an extra 1-1/2 days this year due to hitting the five year mark on September 1.

According to our Policy Manual, 6 months to 4 years you accrue .833 days per month. 5-9 years you accrue 1.25 days per month, etc. So I get .833 days per month for January through August, then 1.25 days per month September through December. That rounds down, roughly, to 11-1/2 days, plus my 1/2 day carried over, for a whopping 12 days of vacation this year! Ain't I lucky???? Plus we get two personal days, four floaters, and six sick days.

Another good note, my company finished the year with record sales of $1 billion, first time we've hit that amount. Everyone knows 2009 will be a lot less, so they are budgeting for it, but hopefully the record setting in 2008 will follow with nice bonuses in February.

Hopefully I'll find something to take a picture of soon, or a funny story to tell, or a cute email to share, or something to entertain everyone.

Make sure you click on the picture and read all the fine print!