OT Extended

A pall has descended over my workplace. We were thinking our time in purgatory was about to end. Not that we were headed to heaven, but we were hoping for a return to our earthly schedules. The powers-that-be have seen fit to extend our overtime for another three weeks.

I think 2006 spoiled us as the peak season and OT only lasted the first two weeks in January. I'll try not to bellyache too much because heaven knows the OT could be extended yet again and THEN I'll have a few choice words to vent. Yes, we understand business needs. Yes, we appreciate that we have a job that is in such high demand. However, you know how I enjoy my 28 hour weeks and long to return to Early Release bliss.

If It's True, Why Is It So?

ATLANTA (Reuters) Sun Feb 25, 2007 8:59am ET Post 9/11, Islam flourishes among blacks.

Funny/Not Funny???

Britney can get headlines by shaving her head, but this will show Senator Obama that Hillary has a bigger cranium than he does.

I know at least one person who WON'T think these are humorous, however, I know ONE person that will find them ESPECIALLY funny. (Some people spend a LOT of time with Photoshop. Waaaaay too much time!)

He Said

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.

Douglas Adams

English humorist & science fiction novelist

(1952 - 2001)

That's a DOG???

Thanks, Alex.

This Article Is Oddly Familiar

Dog's life can cost an arm and a hind leg. I especially like the part where it says "Over the past 100 years, each generation of pet owners has increasingly pampered their animals, to the point where 56% of 8,000 pet owners surveyed this month said their dogs sleep in bed with them."

For Good Measure

My Heart Was Home Again

Written by Marc Jordan & Stephan Moccio

So it goes, history shows

Deserts must expand

And camels sail like wooden ships

Like women on the strand

There's sand on Second Avenue

And the wind blows like a train

Taxis light up like a string of pearls

Around the block again

And I remembered everything

And every windowpane

Every word came back to me

The way it used to be

Then I saw your face across the street

And my heart was home again

There's a bus that leaves at eight fifteen

And another one at ten

Should I climb aboard, risk everything

And ride it to the end

Watch the hills like roller coasters

Up against the sky

And wish that you were here by me

So close that I could die

You said love wrecks everything

And none of us survive

So I got over you last night

And I am still alive

Then I saw your face across the street

And my heart was home again

And I remembered everything

And every windowpane

Every word came back to me

The way it used to be

Then I saw your face across the street

And my heart was home again

In The Spirit of Fairness

Josh Groban "February Song." Perfect.

I Know, I Know

I've already told everyone who'll listen that I met a Cast Member today who attended Oklahoma City University with my favorite Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth(who was born in Broken Arrow, OK.) I had no idea Stephen was from Oklahoma.

Actually, we were talking about how various people had bad reactions to taking Ambien to help them sleep. Stephen piped-in and said he and his wife had a friend, "Kristi" who found herself sleep walking and sleep talking when she took Ambien. (Ambien has a few side effects. LOL) He went on to say that "Kristi" Chenoweth had to stop taking it because she was snacking from the fridge and found herself putting on weight when she already gone to bed for the night. Okay. THAT got my attention. I said, "Kristin Chenoweth? You are telling me an anecdote about Ambien and the REAL story is that you KNOW Kristin Chenoweth??????"

Yep, Stephen was born and bred in OKC and he and my favorite singer attended OCU at the same time and were in the same music program. Stephen's wife-to-be at the time was in Kristin's sorority. Stephen and Kristin sang duets and performed together. (I'm thinking he must be quite a singer himself.) I must confess I had difficulty continuing with my duties today, as I would have so much rather have visited and heard details about Kristin's college years. Oh well, something to look forward to. He said she was a stand-out talent even then. He said they all knew she had an exceptional voice in a sea of really good singers.

Here's a clip from YouTube. (Aren't theatrical, story-songs the best? Could it be sung better than this? Not a chance.)

Amusing AP Story From the Peach State

State schools and government were supposed to practice responding to bad weather on Wednesday, but the weather was too bad, says Ken Davis, a Georgia Emergency Management Agency spokesman.
Rain, which began Tuesday and is expected to let up Wednesday afternoon, was the problem.
The drill, planned as part of Severe Weather Awareness Week, was rescheduled for Friday.
Apparently whoever planned this wasn't aware that the weather would be severe during Severe Weather Awareness Week.

Oddly Enough

Several years ago I was sitting on a beach on the West Coast of Florida. (The Gulf is always a better choice than the slamming Atlantic, in my opinion.) I was reading a detective novel, one of my favorites, a Harry Bosch novel by Michael Connelly. I can't even remember which one it was. I tell that to tell this: as I was reading a page, the author described the exact location where I was sitting on the beach at the time. What are the odds? I could have been reading that specific page in the car on the way over. I could have been reading that specific page at home or work. But there I was at Indian Rocks Beach and reading about Harry Bosch being at Indian Rocks Beach. I don't know what made me remember this particular incident and I could be the only person that finds those convergence of events significant.

Traveling From The Comfort of Your Computer Chair

Watch free online TV channels from around the world. Beeline TV provides a selection of the best broadband internet television channels.

Novak Notes 2008 Dates

"The 2008 primary calendar may look something like this:

Possible 2008 Primary Schedule

(New Hampshire: See below)
January 14 -- Iowa Caucus
January 19 -- Nevada Democratic Caucus
January 29 -- Florida
February 2 -- South Carolina Primary
February 5 -- Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, West Virginia Convention
February 9 -- Louisiana
February 12 -- Tennessee
February 19 -- Minnesota, Wisconsin
March 4 -- Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont
March 11 -- Florida, Mississippi, Washington
April 15 -- Alaska, Colorado
April 26 -- Kansas, Nevada
May 6 -- Indiana
May 10 -- Wyoming
May 13 -- Nebraska
May 20 -- Kentucky, Oregon
May 27 -- Idaho
June 3 -- South Dakota
June 6 -- Hawaii, Virginia
June 9 -- Montana

Of some interest is the status of New Hampshire, which is omitted above. Democrats are trying to isolate New Hampshire by removing its "Big Two" status with Iowa, but that is not likely to work. Democrats are trying to increase Nevada's significance by moving its contest to number two, but New Hampshire's state government is capable of moving its primary very quickly, and could do so at such a late date that Democratic officials will be powerless to stop them from going before Nevada.

That aside, the main point here is that the big states are being moved forward, so everything will probably be decided on or around Super Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008." Robert D. Novak

Wistfulness Banished

There are other tunes that remain off my playlist for various reasons, however Art of Noise - Moments In Love returns.

It always was a good tune.

Because It Wouldn't Load Last Time

Katharine McPhee - Over It

Grinning Again

So few things are as we hope they would be, however, my pleasure in watching television has been restored. I know being a "couch potato" is not a virtue, but there are so few shows that would induce me to prefer television over the Internet. But, American Idol is back. Survivor is back. The Amazing Race is back and I still have all the various Law & Orders (especially Criminal Intent with the smartest man in the world, Detective Goren/Vincent D'Onofrio.) I am one happy camper.
More...
I forgot to mention Heroes, which I won't miss and is my FAVORITE show. Finally, even though Studio 60 is going hiatus or is wrapping completely, I do enjoy the pace. Brothers and Sisters on ABC isn't half-bad either. I always liked Calista Flockhart in Ally McBeal. The ensemble cast on B & S likable.

New Addition

Brooke's Valentine Present to Donnie: Sadie

8 week old rescued German Shepard mix.

Who could resist that face?

I Was Hacked

OK, this is interesting. My profile pic changed willy-nilly. I was going to post an interesting little tid-bit and I find that I am no longer me. What's the deal with that? Is the server where my Little Rascals pic is posted out of order? Did Blogger do it? A mystery to ponder and correct. Shortly.

Update: Still not a clue what happened but the original photo on Flickr was changed as well. The mystery deepens.

St Cloud Takes A Little Hit

We had a pretty strong storm go through our town yesterday afternoon. I was at work, but little Dixie was on the back porch and apparently saw and felt the whole thing. (Poor little girl was drenched.) A couple of trees in the neighborhood were uprooted. (It looks like '04 when the hurricanes took our trees and just popped the root balls out of the ground and laid the tree itself gently on the ground.) Our place didn't have any trees go down but we lost quite a few tree branches and the screened-in back porch looks a mess. The wind-blown debris was stuck into the screens. I didn't get the chance to take any pics this morning, but on my drive to work just south of our place I also spotted a whole section of a home owner's fence blown down. I didn't go into the nearby neighborhoods, but people are beginning to clean-up their yards.

Everyone talks about how it's not even storm season yet, but in my experience this IS our storm (other than hurricanes) season for Florida. The Midwest will get the Spring storms and of course, it's expected in Tornado Alley. In Florida, our larger tornadoes and most severe weather occur right about now. Back in 1998 and again this year we've had the F3's. Our summertime storms don't usually generate more than F1's.

Okay Now THIS Is Kinda Funny

HOUSE HEARING ON 'WARMING OF THE PLANET' CANCELED AFTER SNOW/ICE STORM HEARING NOTICE
Tue Feb 13 2007 19:31:25 ET

The Drudge Report

The Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality hearing scheduled for Wednesday, February 14, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. in room 2123 Rayburn House Office Building has been postponed due to inclement weather. The hearing is entitled “Climate Change: Are Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Human Activities Contributing to a Warming of the Planet?”
The hearing will be rescheduled to a date and time to be announced later.
Because...
DC WEATHER REPORT:
Wednesday: Freezing rain in the morning...then a chance of snow in the afternoon. Ice accumulation of less than one quarter of an inch. Highs in the mid 30s. Northwest winds around 20 mph. Chance of precipitation 80 percent.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows around 18. Northwest winds around 20 mph.

11 Most Important Philosophical Quotations

This is one of my savers but I haven't had time to log:
Ponder this.

Delayed

I have new pics to share, opinions to be voiced and general stuff to remember to record, but until OT comes to an end, I fear my blog will continue to take a back seat to sitting on my considerable hiney in the evenings. To be continued...

So It WASN'T A Silly Question After All

A Different Kind of Finger Painting

Blogger Mike V Says

Crazy Astronaut OR Valentine's Day Hero.

From Lucianne

''Tolerance is the virtue of a person who has no convictions.''

Milt Friedman

Demonstrating our goodness through our tolerance, is considered to be mere weakness by Muslim extremists.

What we have here is Christianity stripped of Christ.

Be Careful What You Wish For

I wasn't wishing for severe weather when I wished for rain last night. What a tragedy. At least 14 people dead in Central Florida from overnight tornadoes. Those are the worst; people are sleeping and the warnings go unheeded. Florida is not good about tornado sirens either. They urge everyone to have a Weather Alert radio, but many don't care to purchase them. Sad, very sad.

***Update***

The human toll is now listed at 20 dead, hundreds hurting and homeless.

Calling All Rain Drops

How I wish that it would rain.

American President: An Online Reference Resource

Collection of material about U.S. presidents, including "essays about each President and their lives before, during, and after their presidential terms. It additionally provides information about the First Lady and cabinet officials of each administration." From the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. American President: An Online Reference Resource