HUMANE SOCIETY WEB PAGE WITH PICTURES
If you're looking for a specific topic, type it in the "search this blog" space at the very top of the page in the blue bar.
BED BEGONE
Finally, after all the months since the middle of August of having a bed in the living room for broken leg person, today I took it down. Yea!!!!!!! We have so much more room there; gee, it is amazing how much closer the sofa is to the TV. Again, a Yea!!!! - hopefully, no more blaring of the volume because viewers are so far away.
I don't know if I posted a picture of the bed in the living room or not - but I think I'll post a picture of the vacated space.
THE DEPARTED
Yes, I actually viewed an Academy Award Best Picture winner before it was one, but I squeaked in under the wire. I rented "The Departed" from the Redbox at Scott's in Kendallville last week and watched it TWICE. Yes, I thought it was pretty good. I also watched Open Water 2 - to maintain my reputation with bad movies and have to report this time not only were people in the water, a yacht was right beside them all the time.
DRIVEWAY SKATING IN KENDALLVILLE
It is a solid, flat expanse of milky white ice . . . and it is slick. Oh yeah. Summer and I pushed two grey plastic bins across the driveway horror to the woodpile to get some more wood. Whoa, it was some adventure. I bent over and held onto my bin, but when I reached some bumps by the car, I couldn't propel myself farther and Summer came to my aid with some extra propulsion.
REDBOX REDUX
Well, the Redbox rental came back online and I scarfed up The Prestige and The Producers; I also rented Open Water 2 because I have a reputation for watching really bad movies. This one was about a bunch of people treading water and the boat, excuse me - yacht - was there the whole time, so close they touched it.
SUNDAY MORNING SLIDING AROUND - Kendallville
Taking Alison to work out at the hospital wasn't too bad this morning; of course, we were in town on US 6 and Riley Street. The latter was snow covered with and icy slime on it; the former had been partially salted and what a bumpy and humpy ride on pretty substantive slush. It was a little dicier where the salt was melting the stuff on the top layer, forming a water coating over the slush and ice. I suspect the road conditions will be changing rapidly as more salt goes down and the sun comes up. I have no idea what the road outside of town is like, although it got a little worse as we neared the hospital going west.
The computers are down at the hospital and the mayor's truck was out front, so I don't know what the situation is there, other than that they are not on generatiors as of 6:30 am. The lights here in the house flickered about five times before 6 am, but stayed on and have been steady.
Here's today forecast as viewed on the link on the right:
Windy...with freezing rain this morning...changing to rain showers by afternoon. Significant icing possible. High 36F. Winds ESE at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of precip 80%. High of 36.
NO ONLINE RENTAL AT REDBOX?!?!?
Now, I am not saying I was going to rent anything online at the Redbox, but when I looked to check what was available, the site told me
CURRENTLY NO ONLINE RENTAL. Well, that shook me up pretty good, so I figured I'd look and see if it were just Kendallville or if other locations were involved. First I looked at Auburn and got another CURRENTLY NO ONLINE RENTAL message. Then I checked all of Fort Wayne and another CURRENTLY NO ONLINE RENTAL popped up.
Okay, I guess I can put away my feelings of paranoia . . . wait, what about other states? Oh, no, you can rent in Texas . . . You can rent in Ohio . . . Why are we being put through this? Oh, why? Oh, why? Surely there is something I can do to appease the Redbox king.
PEA SOUP
I don't know if this is what they have in London when they refer to the fog as pea soup, but I can state that I personally would not be able to find the peas in my soup this morning, in fact, I might not be able to find my soup - not that I would eat pea soup. Although, I might do so, come to think of it since I have made pea and mayonnaise sandwiches. This is getting weird - or I am just getting weirder?
FOGGGGGGGGGGG
Yes, the fog is thick out there and, gasp, there is another two-hour delay, maybe going to three hours and perhaps closing because the forecast says the fog may not clear until late morning. Oh, and there are many, many spots of black ice.
I will be taking Alison to work in a couple of minutes - I will also be taking my cell phone, sturdy shoes, a warm coat . . . oh, and a dog. Sydney should probably stay at home, but he's an Australian Shepherd and he feels it is his job.
AH, MONDAY MORNING . . . NO, WAIT
It only feels like Monday because the kids had the day off yesterday for President's Day, so though today is the first day of school for this week, I am already only three more days away from the Weekend with the Kids experience again. Following a three day weekend and days off school before that because of weather, three more days does not seem enough. What about 24/7 school??
Okay, it was just an idea . . .
Well, if I a have put my foot in my mouth saying ungrandmaly-like things, let me tell you what I did not put in it: the recalled Peter Pan peanut butter which is possibly tainted with Salmonella . We had a jar and I took a picture of it which may or may not be shown later since I forgot to take a picture of the number documenting its inclusion in the recalled batch. However, it is a colorful jar and I haven't posted many pictures lately, so changes are Peter and his jar will live on forever in a picture on this blog. But, anyway, I never dreamed I would actually be involved in one of these recalls until my mother mentioned that she had purchased two and eaten one; she threw the other one away. Alison went and looked at our lone unopened jar and, lo and behold, it was one of them . . . so we were off in a jif to get some other PB for this addict.
UP & ALONE . . . in the quiet
Something woke me up on a morning when I could nestle down in my blankets and not have to think about getting anyone to work or any kids to school. It was warm and cozy and my just-opened eyes heavy . . . but the dog had to go out. So I got up and saw that it was six and figured, "Oh, shoot, why not just sit in my "spot and look at blogs and the headlines on the computer?" It has been a hour now and still no one else is up; I suspect that as I am reveling in this awareness, it will end. But, oh, while it is here, I am sucking it in like the nectar of paradise.
OH, BLOCK HEATER, I SING YOUR PRAISES . . .
Kendallville, Indiana: Cold, cold and cold. Really cold . . . especially when we are talking diesel. On those mornings when I have remembered the night before to make sure the heater that warms the block is plugged in, I could just get out and kiss it as the engine starts right up and the oil is warm and moving smoothly. Of course, I always hope that I will remember to unplug the heater before I start to back out; I didn't once. oooooooh, that was sad.
GEICO - WE HAVE OUR OWN CAVEMAN
SUNSHINE . . . AND COLD
So, the snow has stopped and it did so right on the sidewalks and steps and Cameron and Summer are going out to do a little shovelling. First focus: attack the steps and little sidewalk used by the mailman.
UPDATE: They were out there and wielded the shovels of doom . . . as well as threw snowballs at each other. (Cameron says Summer and Colin were the worst offenders)
YES IT'S CLOSED
East Noble is closed, or close-ed, as Inspector Clouseau would say. Jody says, "Rats, rats and double rats." So, we will be here with THREE kids and Alison will escape to the hospital. She gets to vacation in the land of bedpans while we stay here, trapped with future serial killers and psychotic, torturing, sadistic jerks.
SCHOOL WILL PROBABLY CLOSE TOMORROW
Ack, it looks as if the schools will be closed tomorrow and that means we will have the big THREE home again. There was an article in the local paper today about superintendents closing a system. They talked to Gould from Dekalb, but couldn't reach the others. Frankly, I think they make up their minds by looking at the TV to see which schools are closed and delaying. Oh, look, Northwest Allen is closed . . . we'll close too. No, I'm kidding . . . I think. Of course, this begs the question: Who is the first to close/delay?
SUMMER IS SAYING THREE INCHES AN HOUR
I, for one, think Summer is measuring a drifting area but she is saying it snowed three inches in the last hour. Let me look at the weather place . . .
Snow. Gusty winds will cause blowing snow at times. Cold. High around 15F. Winds ENE at 20 to 30 mph. 3 to 5 inches of snow expected.
Yeah, I think she measuring a driftlet.
WHITE OUT
EAST NOBLE CLOSED
Yes, I awoke this morning early, early, early and, after a moment to orient myself thought, "Ack, does East Noble have a two-hour delay?" I turned on the TV and right there in front of my eyes was "East Allen" and then . . . "East Noble CLOSED." Surely my eyes had failed me - my glasses weren't on and I waited through the list until East Noble came round again. It was a this moment that I heard Cameron shout "Closed! Closed! Closed!"
Sydney was watching the announcement with me and lay back down with paws over eyes, no doubt thinking, "Oh, no . . . THEY are home today."
HERE'S AN IDEA
Today is pretty chilly - not as cold as it has been, but cold enough to make it "sort of cold" and I have an idea . . . a day-long fire. What I need for this, of course, is wood - wood that is not on the piles outside but is in here next to the fireplace. I need people to carry the wood. So, okay, I have wood outside, a fireplace inside and people, younger than I, who can carry the wood in. The question is: how do I motivate them to do this? Will I think of a way???? Robert, your leg has healed . . .
OIL CHANGE FOR THE GREEN CAR
The little green car just had its oil changed and a new filter put in - I think it is happy and humming along. We went to Jiffy-Lube and the other good news is that I finished the Friday five star sudoku while I waited.
NUTCRACKER ARMY
All the Christmas nutcrackers need to be packed up until next season, but they have different ideas and are organizing on the mantle. They could be a force to be reckoned with, waiting for the right time to make their move . . . like when we are sleeping.
PLANNED TWO HOUR DELAY - East Noble
Okay, East Noble has a planned two hour delay today . . . and all the other schools are on a two hour cold weather delay. So, don't you think the weather delay should take precedence over the planned delay? In other words, some people here think the weather delay should be observed first and then the planned two hour delay should be in effect - resulting in a four hour delay. Just a thought.
SUPER BOWL
Here is the cake Alison got us for halftime during the SB. Cameron and Robert were rooting for the Bears (Da Bears) and Alison, Summer and I were pulling for the Colts. Colin decided to take the middle road. Since I lived in Chicago for some time, I was torn; however, since I had started the year rooting for the Colties, I decided it was the honorable thing to stick with them.
And I remember when Da Bears won in 1986 - they were great.
Here is ia picture of Da Summer, the Colt fan. She wore the helmet during the entire game for luck.
CRANE SUITS
I will write more about
this later today.
This is the "more" I mentioned: I am wondering who got the idea to dress up in crane suits to work with the birds. Maybe we will tune into The Westminister Kennel Club Show and see a man in a cocker suit or a sheepdog suit.
BIRD FLU STILL HERE
In a recent article for the Kendallville Mall, I remarked that I had written about the push for preparation for various disasters - one of which was "even" the Bird Flu. I knew when I typed that modifier that it sounded as if I were trivializing the threat, that it had been a false alarm. That isn't true; it is there and it is real. I don't know why I didn't edit it out; maybe I decided that the "even" was to represent new problems apart from the usual ones of weather - tornadoes and blizzards, for instance.
Well, the Bird Flu did not go away. It is still here and now
England has a documented case and the government is
taking it seriously. I can't help but feel a lot of people are going to get sick - a lot of people. Global Warming is getting a lot of attention, but maybe the point is moot.
BIRD FLU STILL HERE
In a recent article for the Kendallville Mall, I remarked that I had written about the push for preparation for various disasters - one of which was "even" the Bird Flu. I knew when I typed that modifier that it sounded as if I were trivializing the threat, that it had been a false alarm. That isn't true; it is there and it is real. I don't know why I didn't edit it out; maybe I decided that the "even" was to represent new problems apart from the usual ones of weather - tornadoes and blizzards, for instance.
Well, the Bird Flu did not go away. It is still here and now
England has a documented case. I can't help but feel a lot of people are going to get sick - a lot of people. Global Warming is getting a lot of attention, but maybe the point is moot.
SYDNEY AND A BEAR FRIEND
13 DEGREES
It's cold - cold enough that even Cameron wore a coat this morning, of course it is his BEARS coat, so the guys out in San Diego should be happy. Some of us here in Indiana think it would by gross, man, if Chicago beat the Colts. bwahahhaahahaa . . . a little Indiana Territory joke.
It is supposed to be down to 4 degrees tonight - that's FOUR. Time to be glad for fires and afghans and even slippers on my feet - and that's saying something. I was always getting yelled at when I was a kid by my parents for not wearing slippers, and my husband echoes them. He sent me a pair of Emu sheepskin lined boots that I do wear, and have on my feet right now as I sit in front of the fire . . . . hmmmmm . . . warm.
HIBERNATOR IS THANKING HIS LUCKY BEARS
VS.
Hibernator often travels to Georgia on business, flying into Altlanta and then driving down to Warner-Robins AFB. This week he stayed in San Diego and I'll bet he is glad because Atlanta is having an
ice storm - big time.
TRYING TO LOOK CROSS-EYED
Well, Summer came home from school wanting to know if I could look cross-eyed - the answer is no, not on purpose - and then she spent some time trying to do it and she learned. Yes, last week she was concentrating on the science fair; this week it is a quest for cross-eyedness. Isn't there something not right about this? Here's a question: can you make one eye look up and the other look down at the same time? Do not try this at home. Do not try it at work.
AL GORE NOMINATED FOR PEACE PRIZE
To use a Saturday Night Live line, "Isn't that special?" One of the internet news
headlines this morning is about Al Gore and the Nobel Peace Prize and the global warming agenda. Well, it's making me hot under the collar.
