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.

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.

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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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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

I'm Happy! I'm Sad!

I'm happy. Actually, I'm thrilled beyond belief! I bought the camera I have been dreaming about for the last few months and I'm loving it! The Canon Rebel T2i Digital SLR  is a thing of beauty, especially if you are coming from a point and shoot camera. Oh, my! What a difference in the quality of the pictures. I cannot say that enough.

This camera has been hard to get ahold of. In order to buy just the body, you really have be continuously checking to see if it becomes available and when it does, you need to quickly buy it. Once a store has it, I have seen it sold out in less than an hour. I just happened to be on vacation and had the time to watch it for days on end. It became available and I snatched it!

I got it a few days ago and have been playing with it ever since. I am new to the whole switching lenses on a camera thing and am feeling a bit overwhelmed with all that I have to learn but I am having a blast in the process. It only took me a half an hour to figure out how to take my first picture! Like I said people, I'm new to this. Once I figured it out, I was taking pictures of everything in my home. It was raining, so outside pictures were out of the question.

So tonight, there were some fireworks going on and I was excited about taking some pictures and videos of them. Unfortunately, I kind of forgot that the lens doesn't have zoom capabilities and we were about five miles away so the fireworks look like bright little specks of light from where we were standing. I was bummed. I was planning on posting my first pictures on here for all (one) of my followers (hi, Grandma J!). But this is what they would have looked like so let's just pretend for a minute.

Oh!

Ah!

Okay, they probably wouldn't have looked that good but someday they will once I figure out what I'm doing. Maybe by July 4th. Maybe. There are about 352 different functions I need to learn first. Wish me luck!

They Call Me Snow White

Well, now that there are only 274 more days (not that I'm counting) until my trip to Hawaii, I have some important decisions to make. One of the decisions I need to make is what to do about the my snow colored skin. If I were to lay down in the snow naked, you would not see me. Seriously. Next winter, I'll take a picture and prove it. Ha! Just checking to see if you were listening.

A little side story as proof of this. One time, my husband (boyfriend at the time) were walking down a street in Las Vegas. A guy driving by actually yelled out the window, "Get a tan!" We were the only two people there and my husband is naturally darker skinned, so it was obviously meant for me. Jerk!

So, I am very pale skinned. And I burn very easily. The few times I sat in the sun when I was younger, I would burn, turn bright red, and peel. That is why I rarely attempted the whole tanning thing. So, I need to think about how to prepare myself for the sunny weather.

I have tried several ways to do this in the past to limit the amount of laughter when I walk by people. I tried tanning lotion one summer. The results were okay but it was a lot of work and it does not last very long. Some important things I learned about using this form of "tanning".

• Trying to rub lotion onto the middle and upper part of your back is not easy unless you are a contortionist.
• It is very important to put on an even layer or you will end up with streaks and patchy spots. Not pretty.
• You have to be careful about areas like your knees and elbows or you will walk around looking like you haven't taken a bath for awhile.
• You should wear gloves unless you want orange hands and fingernails for a few days.

I have also tried a tanning booth. I did this for our last trip to Hawaii. I was actually pretty pleased with the end result and it lasted longer than the three weeks we were there. And, I never got sunburned after being outside for hours on end. The down sides to this are that it was expensive and a pain in the butt to have to go to the tanning salon every other day for two months. Another more important down side is the health risk involved. I'm not comfortable with the whole increased cancer risk so this was probably a one time thing for me.

A little piece of advice for someone new to tanning this way. Bring a watch with you and pay attention to the time you are in there. On my first week of tanning, they set the wrong time for me and instead of staying in the machine for 5 minutes, I was in for about 12. When you first start tanning, every minute is important. Let's just say that if I would have gone to a doctor, I probably would have been told that I received some sort of 2nd or 3rd degree burn. I am not kidding when I say that there was a lot of pain involved and I could barely sit and sleep for a few days. It was not good. But hey, I got a free bottle of moisturizer from them. Wasn't that generous? (insert sarcasm here)

This time, I'm thinking about a spray tan. This lowers the risks of damage to the skin, cancer (I hope) and uneven coloring. Unfortunately, this does not seem to last very long either and I would probably have to go somewhere in Hawaii for another session.

Why do I care so much anyway? I don't know. I should probably be more concerned about the roll of belly fat and the cellulite on the back of my legs and work on finding a pair of shorts that will camouflage both areas. Or maybe actually start exercising instead of just thinking about it. Ugh, now I'm depressed. Where's the ice cream?

Fire Drills, High Heels and Flashing

Fire drills are a pain in the patootie. However, I realize that they are necessary so that everyone is aware of where to go in case of an emergency. That being said, they can really get on my nerves. 

Fire drills are not fun when you are sitting in a very quite office and all of a sudden an ear piercing alarm goes off making you practically fall off your chair.

Fire drills are not fun when you are feverishly working to meet a deadline and you really don't have time to leave your desk.

Fire drills are not fun when you are located on the tenth floor of a building and have to take the stairs down to get out.

Fire drills are not fun when you are wearing four inch heels and you now have to walk down ten flights of stairs.

Fire drills are not fun when you have knee pain when walking down stairs and now you have to walk down ten flights of stairs in four inch heels.

Fire drills are not fun when you finally make it down to the ground level and have to go through a door to the outside that makes a loud, piercing noise the minute you open it, which then gives you hearing loss for the remainder of the day.

Fire drills are not fun when you get outside and are met with gusting winds that blow your skirt up and show your co-workers the color of your underwear.

Fire drills are not fun when you have to stand outside and listen to a ten minute lecture about fire drills while you are trying to keep the gusting wind from blowing your skirt over your head and your hair from flying in your mouth.

The only thing I like about fire drills is that we get a free cookie for our cooperation.

The end.

School's Out for the Summer!

School's out for the summer! Yippie!!

About two years ago, my husband and I decided to go back school, after many, many, many, many, many years. Too many to admit to here. It was a scary decision to make but with the economy tanking, we thought we both better have a backup plan in case we were out of a job without a college degree.

So, we have been back to school and it has been a struggle for some of the classes, being a little dusty with the whole studying and doing homework thing. I was not a fan of school back then and am still not a fan now but it is a necessary evil. I just keep the end result in mind when I am pulling my hair out during this process.

Yikes! That lady is scary!

Some of you will laugh when I tell you that we are only taking one class a semester but we wanted to start off slow to get back into the swing of things. Plus, we are grownups with grownup bills to pay and full time jobs. Also, school is expensive. Dang! Really expensive.

The only problem is that at this rate, we will be 92 when we finish. Well, not quite 92, but it sometimes feels that way. We figure, we will be done in 2013. However, that is only for the first degree. We then want to continue with the next degree. Uh, maybe we will be 92. Think anyone will hire us at 92?

I don't know but I hope we look a little happier than this couple. Jeez. Crack a smile, will ya?

Anyway, our class just ended this week and we are excited about a little break before starting again. How come when I was younger, summer vacation seemed to last FOREVER but now it seems like it lasts about 10 days?

Attention young people: go to college straight after high school. You're brain tends to slow down as you get older and its takes a lot more work to learn new things and remember them.

Cruel Humans!

There are many pet owners out there that love and cherish their pets. And then there are those that have questionable intentions.

Some owners get a kick out of watching their pets struggle.

Others like to make them work for their food.

And some just get a kick out of humiliating them.

I think that all these cute little buggers should be taken away from their owners and be given to me. Yep, the abuse needs to end right now. I will be happy to take them all. Every little, adorable, lovable one.