My parents made it through the storms the other night ok, though my mom said they barely made it to the storm cellar in time. Nothing touched down, but they had some hail & high winds.
Folks out around the Chimes area weren't so lucky. My BIL went out on a service call there the next day. When he arrived at the person's house, he saw that the two barns on either side of the house were completely gone....but the contents of both appeared intact. The heat pump had been blown over & rolled across the yard, but otherwise the house was untouched. One of the weirdest things he'd ever seen, he said.
Didn't do much here, though we got some pretty strong gusts when the cold front came through later. Smokey was upstairs when the first one hit & shook the house a little. He went beserk. Down the stairs he streaked, all wild-eyed, running all over the house. Even tried to jump through the window to catch the leaves that were flying by. I opened the front door to latch the storm door more securely and out of nowhere, he landed on my shoulder with this crazy look in his eyes, mouth slightly open with a we've-got-a-pack-of-smokes-and-a-full-tank-of-gas-let's-go-find-a-liquor-store grin. He was pretty disappointed when I shut the door firmly and told him those days were over.
At least we don't have to worry about sleeping through a storm. One cat's afraid of thunder, the other of wind. No need of a tornado siren with those two around. Now if I could just figure out a way to test them once a month.
Today has certainly been Monday....including, but not limited to, breaking the less-than-2-week old belt on the vacuum while I'm rushing trying to get the vacuuming done before I go pick up WildChild, and the replacement belts we'd bought were too big. So were the new belts I ran to the store & bought, where some non-English speaking guy cut in front of me to buy a sack of potatoes....after which the lady in line behind me started hinting that she'd like to cut in front of me as well. Hey guess what, I'm in a hurry too that's why I'm in the EXPRESS LANE, you old Bella Vista Biddy.
So WildChild & I decided (once I finally got down there) that a milkshake was in order. Chocolate for me, strawberry for him. And so the world became a much more tolerable place. For a little while anyway.
I swear, if one more thing breaks today I'm going to take a Phillips screwdriver & stab its little heart out.
Sandstone is an absolutely appropriate medium for this. It crumbles so easy in inclement weather or when pressure is applied.
And not to be pedantic, ok so I am, but the "Why" should be interrogatory, not exclamatory. (Why? not Why!)
Hope y'all are having a good one. We're just sitting around waiting for the turkey to get done....pretty boring actually.
I tried a new chocolate pie recipe yesterday. If you like dark chocolate, this pie is to die for. Never fail chocolate pie it's called. Pretty easy to make too.
I found it in my trusty White Trash Cooking book, but you can also get it online here.
Well, back to watching the bread rise.
Here's someone who got what she deserved.
Snow and temperatures in the 20s are expected tonight when a northeast Ohio woman begins a 15-day jail sentence by spending a night in the woods.
Why? She abandoned 35 kittens in 2 local parks. Most of them got sick, 9 of them died.
She will have no food or shelter but will have water and a way to communicate with Metroparks rangers in case of and emergency.
Which is more than she gave them.
I hope she spends a cold, miserable night....in hell.
Reason #2,142 why we moved. (Registration req'd)
Fayetteville’s "dirty dozen" may have to clean up their act next year when the city’s Code Compliance Department starts taking the word to their kids. "How often do you hear kids telling parents, ‘Buckle up’?" asked Yolanda Fields, community resources and code compliance director, explaining how she got the idea of an activity book to promote compliance with city codes....." Then I thought, that’s what we need for code. We need kids going home saying, ‘You can’t have all that junk sitting out. ’"
Sounds like fun for the whole family! How do you play?
Activity book users will lead Trashy Tina through a maze of junk to a trash can.
A crossword puzzle, a code with pictures of trash representing the letters, word scrambles and a word search are among the activities in the book.
Ah yes. I think I've seen Trashy Tina, along with her companions, Crackhead Carla and Tweaker Timmy, standing alongside certain street corners in Fayette-nam. Oh wait. That's a different Trashy Tina. Never mind.
Good grief.
Steve very nicely blames credits me for the inspiration for his contest for the best corporate name for PM/OSM/PM. The entries are outstanding. Go check it out.
Apparently he's been catching hell for poking fun at the PM/OSM/PM crowd. WTH did you people expect? After months of buildup & pompous pronouncements from on high, you make a bonehead mistake from jumpstreet that even a lowly 2L wouldn't make....hell, I even knew to check a business name for trademark infringement before I became a lawyer, but then I spend a lot of time in the real world....and you think we aren't going to point & laugh? Dudes, we're bloggers. That's what we do. To everyone.
Sacred cows. It's what's for dinner.
I've been invited, albeit third hand, to participate in this. Tempting, yes?
Whaddya think?
Optical storage media will be on the market next year. (Link via Kehaar)
With uncompressed storage capacities achieving 1.6 TeraBytes per disk and data rates as high as 120 MBPs, holographic technology is a true breakthrough in optical media. These features, along with a long archival life, make holographic media a compelling choice for storage and archival requirements.
The first release will feature "300 GB of storage capacity and a 20 MBPs Transfer Rate". On one little disc. Amazing.
Your old CD/DVD discs? Well, you can always use them for this. (via Fark)
My dad told me yesterday about one of his cousins who'd gone deer hunting with his sons over in the National Forest. They didn't have any luck, and they were all loading everything back in their trucks for the drive home. My dad's cousin told them to make sure, no matter what they saw, to not stop & shoot at anything once they reached Cartwright Road. Which, as everyone knows, is where one of the local game wardens lives.
So you can imagine everyone's surprise when, somewhere on Cartwright Road, my dad's cousin stopped his truck, jumped out & fired twice....then suddenly threw his gun back in the truck & took out like a bat out of hell.
He'd shot the dummy deer.
My dad said it cost his cousin a $600 fine & his hunting license. And that even though he knows it's wrong to laugh at someone else's misfortune, my dad thought it was pretty funny especially after his cousin had lectured everyone else to not do exactly what he did.
A clear case of "Do as I say, not as I do". Heh.
We had an early Thanksgiving feast at my sister's yesterday. A great time was had by all. WildChild was in fine form, in one of the best moods I've seen in a while. He was even singing on the drive down, something he rarely does. We were treated to such classics as "Jesus Loves Me", which apparently includes a few lines of which I was unaware....such as "Little ones....ummm...they make you tall." And an endless repetition of "A-Hunting We Will Go".
Then out of the blue, he told his first joke ever.
"Knock knock, Ma"
"Who's there?"
"Santa Claus"
"Santa Claus who?"
"SANTA CLAUS SILLYPANTS!!!!"
Which is obviously THE FUNNIEST JOKE EVER, and as such, must be repeated over and over with little variation for at least 30 minutes.
Then there was a pitched battle between 2 of his toys, complete with dialogue. (He's on a Star Wars kick right now) At the end of which I overheard one toy 'say' "May I have my head back please?" "Yes. Here you go." "Thank you." "You're welcome."
Hey, at least he's a polite warrior.
I can't decide which of these is funnier:
Regardless, either could've been avoided by the generous application of just one real-live, competent attorney.
Like duh, dudes.
WildChild is here, so I missed most of the debate over the Iraq withdrawal bill. I did, however, get to see the last bit and the voice vote. The deafening silence following the "All in favor" call cracked me up. No one in their right mind would've voted for that resolution....except the usual suspects.
Three Democrats, Jose Serrano of New York, Robert Wexler of Florida and Cynthia McKinney of Georgia, voted for withdrawal. Six voted present: Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington, Jerrold Nadler of New York, Maurice Hinchey of New York, Michael Capuano of Massachusetts, Major Owens of New York and William Lacy Clay of Missouri.
No word on whether Kerry voted for the resolution before he voted against it.
Heh. Sorry, just couldn't resist.
At any rate, it was something to see. You'd think the Dems would've learned that the Andy Hardy*** plan only works in the movies.
But apparently you'd be wrong.
"Hey kids! Let's get a bunch of anti-war protesters together, trot out a token Vietnam vet or two and let's put on a show! That'll knock the Repubs out of power. Whaddya say gang?"
Ummm, yeah. Not so much.
When is a drunk driver in "actual physical control" of a vehicle? Sounds pretty simple to determine, right? These days, not so much. The Arkansas Court of Appeals heard oral arguments today in a case that presents an interesting twist.
Rogers was arrested in Fayetteville in January 2004 after police officers found him asleep in his car in the parking lot of the Elks Lodge on Crossover Road. His blood alcohol level, according to briefs filed in the case, was .145 percent. The limit for motorists to be charged with DWI is .08 percent.
Rogers' attorney Thomas Bramhall argued Wednesday that although the car was running and the headlights and taillights were on, the car keys were on the floorboard next to the driver.
Rogers had started his vehicle with a remote device to get the car warm before he got into it, Bramhall said. The vehicle's key was never used and Rogers had no intention of driving, and he could not have driven the vehicle anyway because the remote cannot be used for driving, the lawyer said.
When the remote device is used, the steering wheel remains locked and the gearshift cannot be engaged, he said. The only ways to disengage the remote device is to press on the vehicle's brakes or press the remote, he said.
Now previous Arkansas case law holds that if the engine is running, the driver is said to be in "actual physical control" of the vehicle for purposes of issuing a DWI. But none of those cases involved a remote starter; the keys were in the ignition. So is it the key in the ignition that triggers "actual physical control"? Or is it the motor running? Or both?
The case is CACR05-491. Charles Franklin Rogers v. State of Arkansas, from Washington Circuit. I'll update with the ruling when it's issued.
The jury has sentenced Thomas Springs to death for the capital murder of his wife. He plans to appeal.
BTW, a local tv reporter blogged the trial, which you can read here.
You should go read this article about 6 brothers from my home town, all whom served in WWII and/or Korea. (registration req'd, use Bugmenot) It's things like this that have me wondering lately. If, God forbid, we ever get into a situation like WWII again, how will we respond? We often forget or romanticize, I think, just how bad things were then. There were shortages & rationing, we lost many of the initial battles, and there was no short rotations or instant communications for the troops.
A few months after Cliff was shipped out of country, Mary gave birth to their first child, a son, Charles Gene Harness. However, the baby died from several serious ailments when he was only four months old. "Cliff never got the chance to see the baby," said Mary. "As a matter of fact, communications were so bad in those days he didn't get the news from the telegram until one month later when he was stationed in India."
Mary is quick to point out that the toughest part of her life was when she didn't get to see her husband for nearly three years - from February 1943 until November 1945. "Back then you couldn't just pick up a telephone and talk overseas during the war, so we wrote each other a lot of letters."
Fairly typical for that time, I'd say. Yet I doubt Mary ever thought of protesting the war, or prancing around for the media insisting that the troops be brought home in the middle of the war.
I sometimes worry that there are too few of us like Mary left, willing to make the sacrifices necessary to protect our way of life. I try to remember that the Marys of the world avoid publicity, and those protestors who seek it are the minority. But is that really the case? I don't know the answer.
Just something I ponder in the wee hours of the morning.
A Ft. Smith jury in the capital murder trial of Thomas Springs returned a fairly quick guilty verdict this morning.
The jury came back at about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday with a guilty verdict on one count of capital murder and two counts of aggravated assault against Thomas Springs in the death of Christina Springs.
Springs was accused of hitting the car his wife was in head-on before jumping out of the car and stabbing her to death at a major Fort Smith intersection in front of dozens of witnesses last January.
Springs stabbed his wife more than 24 times despite efforts of several bystanders to stop him. Must've been true love.
The sentencing phase will begin this afternoon. The jury is death penalty qualified.
Check back for updates.
See if you know what this recipe's for without peeking at the answer.
Ingredients:
1. 532.35 cm3 gluten
2. 4.9 cm3 NaHCO3
3. 4.9 cm3 refined halite
4. 236.6 cm3 partially hydrogenated tallow triglyceride
5. 177.45 cm3 crystalline C12H22O11
6. 177.45 cm3 unrefined C12H22O11
7. 4.9 cm3 methyl ether of protocatechuic aldehyde
8. Two calcium carbonate-encapsulated avian albumen-coated protein
9. 473.2 cm3 theobroma cacao
10. 236.6 cm3 de-encapsulated legume meats (sieve size #10)
To a 2-L jacketed round reactor vessel (reactor #1) with an overall heat transfer coefficient of about 100 Btu/F-ft2-hr, add ingredients one, two and three with constant agitation. In a second 2-L reactor vessel with a radial flow impeller operating at 100 rpm, add ingredients four, five, six, and seven until the mixture is homogenous. To reactor #2, add ingredient eight, followed by three equal volumes of the homogenous mixture in reactor #1.
Additionally, add ingredients nine and ten slowly, with constant
agitation. Care must be taken at this point in the reaction to
control any temperature rise that may be the result of an exothermic reaction.
Using a screw extrude attached to a #4 nodulizer, place the mixture piece-meal on a 316SS sheet (300 x 600 mm). Heat in a 460K oven for a period of time that is in agreement with Frank & Johnston's first order rate expression (see JACOS, 21, 55), or until golden brown. Once the reaction is complete, place the sheet on a 25C heat-transfer table, allowing the product to come to equilibrium.
The answer's here.
To all those who have served, and to all those who are serving:
Thank you.
Rogers police have 3 suspects in custody for the recent string of 20 or more armed robberies & home invasions in and around the Doubletree Apartments.
Victor Esparza, Refugio Martinez and Allen Ortiz each face multiple felony charges, including aggravated robbery, theft of property and carrying a weapon.
....
Police added that two of the three suspects have admitted they are gang members.
"This is not a wannabe group spray-painting a building to get attention," said Rogers Police Department spokesman Kelley Cradduck. "These individuals were committing major crimes, and we're glad to get them off the street."
And according to one local tv station, 2 of the 3 are alleged illegal aliens and will face deportation.
Color me unsurprised.
We should name the pile of construction trash in our backyard too and sell it for a couple million. We could call something like "Plumbing Discarded XXI".
Any takers?
UPDATE: broken link fixed thanks to Valerie. I hate it when freaking Yahoo does that.
There's new photos up of Smokey the Blog Kitty....start at the top & scroll. He's usually sitting with both front paws on the keyboard, 'helping' me type. But of course he moved as soon as Mike got the camera out.
He's quite the helpful kitty with both our laptops, putting them into hibernation, turning them off, or overloading the buffer overflow. There for a while he was trying to send e-mails on mine, though I was never able to figure out to whom.
Maybe he's secretly a Spammer Kitty.
The only issue of interest on our local ballot was a 1/2 cent sales tax increase, which failed by a vote of 10,349 to 1,639. The increase would've been earmarked for county road improvements.
Many voters echoed Adams statements, saying they supported road improvements but didn't agree with the county's tax proposal. Dick Pudas of Bentonville said he was "tired of taxes" and believed Black and the Quorum Court didn't work hard enough to investigate every potential source of revenue.
Sources such as bonds, increasing impact fees or even the revenue from legalizing liquor sales. Now that will be an interesting election issue next year, assuming enough signatures are collected to get the issue on the ballot.
Nothing like a wet/dry vote to get the Baptists all stirred up.
Sorry for my absence, but it's been a little....interesting around here. Mike's been sick with a cold, WildChild's been spending extra time here, and I'm starting my second round of antibiotics for a sinus infection that just will not go away. And my parents were in a car accident last week. They're ok, mostly just shaken up I reckon. Or as my sis put it, they weren't seriously hurt, it mostly just scared the shit out of both of them. Getting t-boned will do that to you, I imagine, especially at their age. Even though it was by all accounts a low-speed accident.
We're also waiting to find out whether or not my mom needs hip replacement surgery (not related to the accident). God help us all if she does. She's not, shall we say, the most cooperative patient. And we've been taking advantage of the nice weather (it's supposed to be 83 degrees today, can you believe that?) to work on cutting up & burning a big pile of dead branches the previous owner so considerately left for us to deal with. You'd be surprised how much brush one can burn in a chimenea.
So there you go. That's where I've been. And things should start calming down soon & get back to normal....like today maybe. Before I lose what freaking little mind I have left.
Speaking of really dumb ideas, check this out.
In 2004, Burch sued the Comfort Inn and its manager for searching his hotel room and luggage and tipping off police he may have been producing methamphetamine.
That's right. After getting convicted, he sued the hotel for calling the cops when the manager saw meth ingredients in the room. Jury verdict in favor of the hotel took about 30 minutes.....which is about the minimum time required to get settled in, appoint a foreperson, figure out the verdict forms & vote.
But there's more.
Burch was arrested again for making meth while out on bond for the first arrest.
Why, you may ask, would he do that?
According to court records, he told police he was selling drugs to pay for his lawyer.
I sense a endless loop here.
The latest must-have dog, the puggle....a beagle crossed with a pug. Why anyone would want what appears from the photo to be a brown & black beagle with really buggy eyes is beyond me. You know what beagles do? They bark. Incessantly. You know what pugs do? Bark incessantly at the slightest noise. I can only imagine what the resultant cross breed does.
"This dog will jump through hoops to try and please you. She's very lovable, she doesn't shed that much and she knows exactly what I want her to do," he said about his 6-month-old puggle puppy. "I was worried in the beginning that my neighbors would complain about her barking, but they tell me she has the cutest little howl."
Ummm, yeah. That's what they say to your face anyway. Behind your back I'm sure they discuss ways to toss her a biscuit.***
Cutest little howl indeed.
'Toss her a biscuit' refers to the now-defunct method of dealing with a neighbor's annoying dog....feed it a biscuit soaked in anti-freeze.
This will not be served at our Thanksgiving dinner.
Ever.
I don't get why there's riots in Paris.
Unrest was triggered by the deaths of two teenagers electrocuted in a power substation where they hid to escape police. A third was injured. Officials have said police were not pursuing the boys, aged 15 and 17.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin met Tuesday with the parents of the three families, promising a full investigation of the deaths and insisting on "the need to restore calm," the prime minister's office said.
Sounds to me like Darwin in action. So why is this justification for rioting, burning cars & buildings and generally behaving like hoodlums? Or am I missing something?
You know, when WildChild stomps off to his room & shuts the door, I tell him "Oh yeah, honey. Punish me some more."
Or "Excuse me, how old are you?", which might be more appropriate in this case.
The more I read about Supreme Court nominee Alito, the more I like him. For example, there's this from his opinion in Waterman v. Farmer:
Moreover, a time-honored principle of constitutional law reminds us that judicial second-guessing of a legislature's motives is "generally unwarranted" "absent some reason to infer antipathy." Vance v. Bradley , 440 U.S. 93, 97 (1979).
Refreshing, no? Waterman is an interesting little case in which the appeals court upheld a state's statute barring convicted pedophiles' access to pr0n while they are undergoing treatment. The lower court had found there was no rational basis for the statute, because experts don't agree on the effects of pr0n on those inmates' treatment. As the appeals court noted, that was not what they were supposed to look at.
The District Court applied the wrong standard, replacing the New Jersey legislature's policy decisions with its own "more reasonable" judgment. In so doing, the Court failed to accord the legislature's judgment the deference to which it is entitled.
In other words, the District Court was legislating from the bench. A practice of which apparently Alito does not approve.
Interesting.