So Neglected

Dear Blog,

Oh my, it has been almost a month since I have visited you. I am so sorry I have neglected you but I have been really busy. I won't bore you with the details but there has just been a lot of stuff going on at once. Too much stuff. The lack of sleep has turned me into a zombie and I can't seem to put more than two sentences together.

I have been so busy I seemed to haved missed out on enjoying the end of summer because it is now gone. The days have been cool and the nights have left me wondering why I haven't turned the heat on yet. My blue toes in the morning should have been my first clue it might be a little cold in here.

Anyway, I just wanted to say hi and I promise that I will try to start stopping by more often.

Signed,


Trivial Chatterer

You Gotta Love Modern Technology

Kodak’s 1975 Model Digital Camera

Holy cow! Look at this thing! This is the first camera made by Kodak. Apparently, it was put together with lenses, computer parts and a Super 8 movie camera. Also,

"...it took 23 seconds to record a single digital image to its cassette deck. To view the filmless photo, Mr. Sasson had to remove the cassette from the camera and place it in a customized reader that could display the image on an old black and white television."

I would bet that you wouldn't be taking this on vacation with you. Can you imagine trying to lug this thing around?

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Happy Friday!

May your Friday be devoid of furry bottoms.

Word of the Day - Gormandize

I thought that I would try to throw in something educational for a change. We can all learn something new today. For those of you who are already aware of this word, just play along smarty pants.

Gormandize - [v. gawr-muhn-dahyz] to eat greedily or ravenously

I really like this word as it describes me perfectly with certain foods. For instance:

• I gormandize ice cream, especially mint chocolate chip, which gives me an instant brain freeze. However, it is so worth the pain!
• I gormandize Skittles, M&Ms, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Unfortunately, a tummy ache follows shortly after. Again, so worth the pain!
• I gormandize pizza, my favorite food, especially if it has extra cheese and little pieces of bacon on it. Yummy!

On the other hand:

• I do not gormandize sauerkraut, herring, or pig's feet, as I would rather wash my eyes with pepper juice than get anywhere near those foods.

It's a good thing I went grocery shopping yesterday. Three large bags and Wild Berry to boot. Perfect!

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Silly Sign Sunday - Do You Spik Inglish?

Time to fire the proofreader.

Things to Ponder

If buttered toast always lands butter-side down,

and a cat always lands on its feet,

what would happen if you tied a piece of buttered toast on the back of a cat?

Silly Sign Sunday - Bathroom Behavior

Just in case you were confused...

"Interesting" Stupidity

Chinese Man Lies Down in Front of Subway Train ... Just for Kicks

This weekend, an unknown Chinese man brought immense danger on himself, as well as hundreds of commuters, when he lay down in front of an oncoming subway train.


The man wanted to be famous on the Internet, thinking that it would be an "interesting" thing to do. So, the 28-year-old took a digital video camera with him down to Shanghai's underground rail network and recorded himself climbing down from the platform and into the path of a train.

And he recorded the whole thing.




I could think of better ways to become "famous". Idiot.

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Silly Sign Sunday - The Road to Nowhere

Thanks, I wouldn't have figured it out on my own!

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State Fair

My husband and I went to the State Fair tonight. There were about 50,000 too many people there and we found ourselves elbowing our way through the crowds. In addition, there was sweat rolling down every part of my body due to the heat and high humidity. Other than that, we had a good time. We saw many things there including:

relaxing cows,

beautiful horses,

lounging camels,

sleepy pigs,

weird looking chickens,

and cute bunnies.

And we couldn't leave without these.

Yummy!

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Hop Along

My husband and I like to occasionally go for long drives, especially during the few warm months we have. We were driving around the other night and the weather was perfect, a clear blue sky and a warm breeze.

As we were driving down a long country road with cornfields whizzing by on both sides, we heard a loud noise. It sounded like something hit the car. Not like a large animal or anything but something smaller. We hadn't seen anything on the road so we knew we didn't run over a raccoon or anything like that. Not figuring out what it was, we just shrugged our shoulders and continued driving.

After a few minutes, it happened again.

"Thunk!"

Like before, we didn't see anything on the road. This time, it sounded like it was coming from the bottom of the car. It left us scratching our heads in confusion again but we continued driving.

Not a minute later..."thunk!" What the...

I focused my eyes on the center of the road ahead of us and noticed something very small sitting smack dab in the middle. It appeared to be a frog. As soon as we drove over it, we heard it again.

"Thunk!"

Well, we had our answer. It appeared that there were a bunch of frogs on the road and every time we drove over one, it would jump up and hit the bottom of the car.

Aww, man. We felt bad but we really couldn't avoid them. We love frogs but I guess they are not very smart. All they had to do was just sit there and they would have been fine. Now, there are a bunch of frogs out there with concussions. Yes, concussions. That is what I am choosing to believe the end result was.

Silly Sign Sunday - Implausible Odds

Do you think they may have a problem collecting this fine?

Don't Go in the Water!

In a recent post, I talked about a horrible storm that passed through and the resulting flooding and damage. I also briefly mentioned that a bunch of sewer water was dumped into Lake Michigan and many of the beaches were closed due to a high level of bacteria found in the water. Well, it gets better.

Brew City Flood: Sewage Dumping Surpasses BP Oil Spill

MILWAUKEE - Just when you thought it was safe to back in the water comes word that more than 2 billion gallons of untreated sewage and storm water was dumped into Lake Michigan.

Many beachgoers at Bradford Beach said they wouldn't ever go back in the lake again.

In fact, the amount of sewage and storm water dumped in Lake Michigan last week is 10 times the amount of oil spilled by BP in the Gulf Coast.

The BP spill is estimated at 94 to 184 million gallons of oil.

The sewage and storm water runoff is estimated at 2.1 billion gallons.

Many beaches were closed for several days over concerns of E. coli contamination. Now, some beaches are reopening, and sure enough, we found people back at Bender Beach, jumping into the water.

Apparently, swimming with urine, feces, and who knows what else doesn't seem to bother some people.

Many were fully aware of the sewage dumping, and said it didn't bother them.

"The water's fantastic and I'm not worried about it whatsoever," said Colleen McCann.

McCann said if tests show the water is safe, she doesn't feel like she's in danger. She doesn't mind that other swimmers are staying away.

"Good, it makes it better for the rest of us to come swimming," McCann said.

The lake at Bradford Beach remains closed to the public, though people are allowed to sit on the beach.

Good for you lady. Enjoy!

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Silly Sign Sunday - A Word of Caution

Really? Say it isn't so!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Have you ever wondered what would happen if 7 to 11 inches of rain were to fall in a few hours' time? No? Well, me either but that's what it did last evening. Here are some of the results.

Car, Driver Tumble into Giant Sinkhole Amid Rainstorm

Huge Sinkhole Forms Between Homes in Milwaukee

Shorewood Roads Become River Rapids

Freeway Closed

People were stuck on the freeway for about two hours due to flooding in several areas.

The Governor declared Milwaukee County to be in a state of emergency this morning in order to receive assistance to repair damage caused by the storm and flooding.

We haven't seen a storm this severe in many years and thankfully, there were no fatalities. There is a lot of damage to homes with some basements being completely washed away and foundations crumbling. Unfortunately, most of those people probably do not have flood insurance.

On top of all that, just recently, several beaches were either closed or had warnings posted due to recent rainfalls and "unhealthy levels of e-coli" being found in the water. The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District apparently had to "start sewer overflows into area waterways". Uh, does anyone else have a problem with dumping waste into Lake Michigan? I can only imagine how much more of this waste is now floating around after last night.

And finally, a storm with a potential of another three inches of rain is due to arrive later tonight.

Sigh...

Today is Wish List Wednesday but there will be no post about a product. Why, nobody asks? Because, I just don't feel like it. I have been in a stinky mood for last several days and have no desire to come up with a product to display and discuss. My brain is just not in the mood. There have been some life stresses going on recently and I'm just not feeling it. Boy, what a bummer post this is. Blah.

Let's see. Happy thoughts. I have been doing the whole going back to college after many, many years thing and went through some old emails from the school the other day in an effort to clear out all the junk emails. I was pleasantly surprised to see my name on the Dean's List. Holy cow! My name has never been close to being on that kind of list. Ever! So, I was quite tickled pink about it. Woohoo! Yay, me!! It may be the last time though because my next class that starts in a few weeks (yuck) is going to be a very challenging one.

That's about all I have right now. Time to crawl back in my dark and dreary hole in the corner and pout.

   

Silly Sign Sunday - Party Time

Well, this sounds like an interesting place!

Quit Staring at Me!

Uh, a little creepy.

A Trip Into the Past

I wanted to test out my camera the other day and I figured a great place to go would be the Wind Point Lighthouse. I had been there a few years ago when my husband and I accidentally stumbled upon it. We have lived in the neighboring city for many, many years and had no clue this lighthouse even existed!

The following is posted on a sign next to the llighthouse:

To assist navigation around the point into Racine harbor, the Wind Point Lighthouse began functioning in 1880 with a kerosene lamp, focused and magnified by a third order Fresnel lens. Its light could be seen for 19 miles.

At 108 feet, it is one of the tallest and oldest lighthouses still serving navigation on the Great Lakes. Its fog horns, which last sounded in 1964, could be heard for 10 miles.

I think it's amazing how a kerosene lamp could be seen so far away. I bet they never imagined how much things would change over the decades. Our modern technologies would blow there minds!

Silly Sign Sunday - Weather Restrictions?

No Rain Allowed?

What Were You Thinking?

Yikes! 

Wish List Wednesday

Several weeks ago, I purchased my first big girl camera and I am now addicted. I have lost all sanity and have spent way too much but I cannot stop myself. I have a long list of items that I want to buy yet but I'm just waiting for funds to accumulate a little. I want to purchase one more lens (two currently on the way, hopefully today!!) and a bunch of miscellaneous accessories.

I purchased a camera bag when I bought the camera but I did this without realizing just how much stuff I was planning on purchasing. Well, I now know this bag will not even come close to accommodating everything. It was an inexpensive bag ($30) and I can still use it for when I only want to carry one or two lenses so it was not a complete waste of money.

After spending hours and hours of online research, I have found my dream bag. Way more expensive than I planned on spending, and I'm still debating whether or not I want to spend that much, but I absolutely love it. I find camera bags pretty boring and not very stylish (I'm a stylish kind of gal) and I always wanted to find something that was geared towards females. I also want something that doesn't scream, "I'm a camera bag, steal me!" I found it!!

Her name is Lola. Isn't she beautiful? She also comes in red. You can find her at Epiphanie along with a few other designs. I have been staring at her for days and I think I might go for it. I don't think I have the strength not to and Christmas is too far away to wait!

You Are Evil

Dear Evil Mosquito,

Last night, my husband and I went out to enjoy some Fireworks. As soon as we sat down, you attacked us with a vengeance. Our swatting hands did not stop you and your friends from wreaking havoc on our skin. And I see you invited your friend, the 2 inch long beetle to attack the back of my head and fall on my shoulder. Thanks for that one. My husband and all the surrounding people really appreciated my screaming when that happened.

Well, that was certainly the last straw and we had enough. We decided to walk around the parking lot because we figured a moving target would be harder to hit. Eventually, that seemed to work and by the time the fireworks started you, thankfully, had decided to leave us alone.

I am curious though. How in the hell did I get 32 bumps (yes, I actually counted) on the side of my leg from my hip to my knee when I had jeans on? Boy, you guys are good.

Not so Sincerely,


Your Up All Night Itching Enemy
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Getting My Drunk On (Tried to Anyway)

Let me preface this post by saying that I am a rare alcoholic comsumptionist (Do you like that word? I just made it up.). By rare, I mean that I consume alcohol about once every two years and there are several reasons for this. First and foremost, I don't enjoy feeling like I'm not 100 percent in control. In addition, I have found it more entertaining to watch people who are drunk verses being drunk myself. Alcohol can make you do embarrassing things and I don't need any help in that category. Finally, I consumed more alcohol and experienced too many spinning rooms before I was of legal age to last a lifetime (sorry, mom).

I was never good at being a drinker. When I was younger, the parties I went to only had beer as an option. I hated the taste of beer but I would drink it because everyone else was. It would take me about two hours to drink one glass and the one thing that is more gross than beer, is WARM beer (gag).

I once heard someone order a gin and sour at a bar so I decided to get one. I didn't care for it much but I would order it every time I went out because I really didn't know what any of the other drinks were.

The one time I experimented with trying another drink, I ordered a Bloody Mary because I thought the name sounded cool. Unfortunately, I don't like tomato juice so you can imagine my reaction when I took my first sip. Yuck!

So, you see, I wasn't a very good drinker.

Over the years, I have found a few drinks that I do enjoy on occasion. Now, when I want to drink alcohol, I usually go for something fruity or indulge in some sort of ice cream drink. You can't go wrong with ice cream. My all time favorite? Grasshoppers! Yummy, yummy!

So, the other day, I was in the mood for a Grasshopper. I knew that I had the alcohol needed because I made one five years some time ago. (You can store alcohol for awhile can't you?)

I also knew that I had the ice cream ( I always have it).

Unfortunately, when I removed the lid, this is what I found.

Uh, oh. Well, that doesn't look too promising, does it? I was always a center scooper and my mother scolded me regarding this all the time when I was younger. I would scoop the ice cream from the middle of the container and not the sides. I don't know why, it just seemed easier. Apparently, I still have that habit. Unfortunately, what I was looking at now was definitely not going to be enough for a Grasshopper.

On to Plan B.

I remembered that I bought myself some Apple Martini mix, um, two years awhile ago. I found it and blew the dust off and decided to make a Martini instead.

Unfortunately, after reading it, it looked like there was no alcohol in it. I guess you have to buy that separately. (I told you I wasn't a drinker.) What this appeared to be was just apple juice. Not what I wanted to drink at all.

After searching around for another option, the only other alcohol I found was my husband's beer. Uh, no thanks.

Oh, well. Ended up having a Crystal Light. Weeee! Bottoms up!

Silly Sign Sunday - Too Late!

What exactly is there to steal?

Random Thoughts

Random Thought #1

Excuse me, Miss? At lunch today, while parked in my usual spot at the lake, I watched you park your car, get out, stand by it, and start reading a book. Just standing there right next to the driver's side door and reading. Why would you not just sit in your car and read? Why would you not walk about twenty feet to sit on a bench to read? I don't know but that just seemed weird to me. But I consider myself weird so maybe it's just me.

Random Thought #2

Why, Mr. Young People, do you have to wear your pants half off your rear end and show me a good majority of your underwear?

I really could do without seeing that. Is this considered sexy or something? Really? I can't wait until you get older and look back at what you thought was cool and trendy. I know I laugh all the time at my old pictures. I used to think that teasing my hair until it stood a good eight inches off my head looked cool. Not so much now. I use those pictures now for comic relief at parties.

I guess it could be worse.

Pardon me while I wash my eyes with peroxide.

Random Thought #3
Why in the world would anyone buy this car?

Nissan Cube

This has got to be the ugliest car I have ever seen. I can understand the cheaper price and good gas mileage but seriously, the design leaves something to be desired. (Oh, don't get all bent out of shape Cube owners, just my opinion.)

Sorry, a little crabby today.

Wish List Wednesday

I'm always looking for something to make being lazy a possibility. Awhile ago, I posted about a robot that could do ironing for me. Well, this robot can do laundry and mop!

I'm sure if I look around long enough, I could find one that does dishes and clean toilets. Now THAT would be awesome!

After the Storms

I have been whining and complaining about the recent long streak of storms lately. However, those storms have given me many opportunities to capture some really beautiful photographs. I love taking pictures of interesting looking skies. They just give me a calm, peaceful feeling.

Unfortunately, there were some not so nice results from the storms too.

This is one of two 30+ year old trees that toppled over during one of them. Luckily, they did not land on anything so the only damage done was to the trees themselves.

Silly Sign Sunday - I've Got a Question

???

Crazy on the Catwalk

In case you missed me mentioning it a thousand times, I am a reality show freak. One of my favorite shows is "The Real Housewives of Orange County/Atlanta/New York/New Jersey". Watching this show makes me realize that all the money in the world can't fix crazy. Some of these women are just plain cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.

This is a clip from a few months ago that I have watched many, many times when I need a good chuckle. One of the housewives, Ramona, strutted down the catwalk in her own special way. She is the one in the black/white pinstripe dress.

I'm not sure what she was going for here but I think she should have practiced in the mirror a few times.

Wish List Wednesday

Okay, I'm going to keep this simple because I'm tired and extra lazy today. So, what else is new? Yeah, yeah, stuff it! Anyway, my wish for today is for this crappy weather to improve. For the last two weeks, it has rained almost every day and it is starting to get depressing. The temperatures have been in the 80's (which I'm NOT complaining about) but extremely humid (which I AM complaining about). It's the kind of weather where five minutes after you get out of the shower, you need to jump back in.

Along with the rain has come some pretty wicked storms. In fact, on Monday, a tornado touched down about 30 miles from here and destroyed about 25 houses. By the time it made it's way here, it calmed down a little but we had torrential rain blowing sideways for about a half an hour and it was getting a little scary.

A little side note here. When there are tornado warnings broadcast, please take them seriously. About 10 years ago, there was a tornado warning where I was living at the time. No tornado had ever touched down there in my lifetime so I never really took those warnings too seriously. So, as I was staring out the front window, I started seeing things flying through the air. Apparently, as I was watching this out the front window, a tornado was demolishing my neighbor's garage and ripping a part of the roof off his house. The only damage I had was a crack in the garage window. Our garages were only separated by about 20 feet.

It was a pretty amazing and creepy thing to see all the destruction a few feet from my untouched house. In the seconds that it went through my head that, uh, maybe I should go down to the basement, it was over. I was very lucky that day and learned a lesson from my stupidity.

Well, this post certainly went all over the place. Please excuse my jumbled and rambling thoughts but I did say I was tired. Ugh, and it's starting to rain again!

Silly Sign Sunday - Stuck

Hmm, now what?

Electricity, the Best Discovery Ever!

Once upon a time, long, long ago, there was no such thing as electricity. Last night, I found out what a boring existence that must have been. I also found out I wouldn't have done very well dealing with it.

On the way home from work yesterday, I found myself smack dab in the middle of a bad storm. The winds were howling at about 60 mph and there was torrential rain. It only lasted for about a half an hour but it apparently did a lot of damage with many trees falling down around the city. By the time I got home, the bad stuff had passed.

The weather all day was pretty humid and temperatures reached almost 90 degrees so the inside of my home was extremely uncomfortable. I immediately turned on the air conditioner and a bunch of fans to cool down the place. Ten minutes later, the power went out. "Oh, crap!"

This has happened off and on in the past so I thought that soon it would come back on and the fans would start blowing again.

Or maybe not.

Hour one passes and I'm starting to think this may be awhile. I am also thinking about the television shows I normally watch are going to be starting soon and I'm hoping it's going to be back on by then. It is still light out so I decide to read a bit, wiping sweat from my forehead so it doesn't fall onto the pages. (A little tidbit about me. I HATE sweating. I don't know why but it just makes me feel gross and really, really crabby. I know, weird, but true.)

Hour two passes and the sun is starting to go down. I get out the candles because I can no longer see the pages of the book. I don't know how people can read by candlelight because it definitely puts a strain on the eyes. So, I decided to give up on that. So what else does one do without electricity? I stared at the walls, impatiently tapping my fingers.

Hour three passes. Oh, brother, this really stinks. It is completely dark outside and not much better inside. Still starting at the walls and sweating. Now, I'm starting to think about the calzone in the refrigerator that I was going to eat but I can't use the microwave. I search for something to eat that doesn't need to be cooked. Cookies! That's a good supper.

Hour four passes and I'm still staring at the walls and sweating. Hello? Anyone out there fixing the problem? By now, after sitting in the dark for four hours, I'm getting a little antsy. My car is in the garage, which I can't get into without power. Finally, my husband gets home! I grab his keys, run out the door and go for a drive. With the air conditioner blasting. I was in heaven. Now, lightning starts shooting like crazy through the sky and I'm thinking driving around may not be such a good idea after all. I hear a very loud crackling sound like a transmitter blowing and decided that I might want to head indoors again. Oh, well. it was good while it lasted.

Hour five passes and it seems like forever ago that I had a cool breeze blowing in my face. Back to sweating and staring at the walls. I am bored out of my mind and there is nothing I can do about it. My eyes are darting between the dark screens of the television and computer, wishing that they would magically turn back on. I decided that the only thing left to do is to go to bed. So, that's what I did.

According to the flashing clocks when I woke up, it was another 3 hours before the power came back on. Going to bed, I guess, was a good decision.

Things I learned (most of which I already knew):

• I am addicted to television.
• I am addicted to the Internet.
• I am addicted to the microwave.
• I need to buy food that doesn't need to be cooked.
• I need to find ways to entertain myself when I don't have any of the above.
• I hate sweating.
• I love electricity.

The end.

Wish List Wednesday

This week's item is a yummy one! Knight's Gourmet Popcorn is a Milwaukee based company that sells the best popcorn you will ever taste.

I am drooling just looking at this picture. I'm telling you, it is awesome! I have been a fan for many years. They have been in business in 1952, so they have had plenty of time to perfect their popcorn.

They have numerous delicious flavors to choose from. My favorites are Deluxe Nacho Cheese, Bacon and Cheddar, and Grape. Yes, Grape. YUM!

One word of advice though. The bags are bigger than you think they will be. I bought some last year and it took me several months to eat it. The bag was approximately a foot and a half tall and a foot wide. I'm not kidding. That's a lot of popcorn! If I'm remembering correctly, it was a "Family Size" bag for only $8.99. You definitely get your money's worth. Check them out!

Silly Sign Sunday - Don't Sit Here

Am I the only one who thinks this is kind of rude?