Too Pooped To Post

I am one very tired Rhodent tonight. My youngest daughter is home from college for the summer and is working at a recreational center summer camp. We are sharing my car. That means that I have to get up earlier each morning than I am used to, get drooped off at work early, and picked up late. I have been working 10+ hour days. I am not used to such long hours closed up in an office with no window and doing bookwork.

The bright side of all of this, however, is that I will be done with my workweek tomorrow afternoon and can take Friday off! Since we also have Monday off, I will have a four day weekend! This is especially helpful this week since we are celebrating two birthdays on Sunday... one of which is youngest daughter's 21st birthday! Lots of family and friends will be around to share in the festivities, and youngest daughter has promised to have her first legal drink with her good old mom at midnight on Saturday! It should be a very fun weekend!

I am afraid that this is as entertaining as I will get tonight... I need to get to sleep so that I can drag my weary bones out of bed again early tomorrow morning. I have been reprimanded by a couple of people for neglecting my blogging duties, so I knew I needed to check in and post tonight. Things may get raucous this weekend... so who knows if I'll get to post anything before Monday or Tuesday. I promise to take pictures to share with you, and hopefully I'll have at least one amusing tale from the gathering!

Have a great weekend and don't forget to toast the birthday girls on Sunday!

He Got Me Again!

OK... This is now my official "I've been tagged AGAIN by DB" picture. I tried to come up with a new one, but decided that since tagging me is becoming a DB habit, I would just use this same picture each time... it just seems to fit.

This list is supposed to be...

10 things that I have never done before.

1. I have never been snow skiing
2. I have never flown an airplane
3. I have never eaten an insect on purpose
4. I have never been to Asia
5. I have never visited my oldest son in Connecticut :o(
   
6. I have never been to any of my own high school class reunions
7. I have never been scuba diving
8. I have never eaten uni
9. I have never won the lottery
10. I have never been on a cruise (but I will soon!)
    

This was a bit harder than I expected, but still fairly easy to do. I am also supposed to tag three bloggers to do the same. I Picked three different bloggers than I chose for the previous list, so that I could spread the joy!

Here are my three targets for this list...

"Gingeranium" of Rhyme or Reason

"Frustratedwriter" of Meandering musings muster madness

"L" of Random_Speak

Okay you three get going! Have fun. I will be watching for you to post your lists!

Summer Lightning And Realities Of War

The following excerpt is from the blog "This is Your War."

"The warm wind through the palm fronds sounded like the sea. The distant bark of dogs drifted over the walls on the wind while bats snap rolled to catch their prey in the soft flash of flat white light. To the south summer thunderheads had gathered over the land, lighting the sky like bursts of exploding flak over London during the Battle of Britain. Somewhere in the distance an unseen APC worked through it's gears, it's throaty engine rising and falling on the wind. Over and over again I'm reminded of summer at Home here. The warm dry air, the wind, the lightning. I almost start to enjoy it, then I remember the IED and I'm not so sure anymore."

This guy writes beautifully. I get mesmerized by his writing. I often think I am inside his head, seeing what he is seeing. What he is seeing is often difficult to comprehend. He is in Iraq. I have learned more about what our military go through by reading this blog that anything I have ever read anywhere or seen on TV. No matter what your view of the war is, this blog is worth reading. Another military blog worth checking out is Michael Yon: Online Magazine.

Michael Yon uses more pictures and his information is good. This is Your War is great writing no matter what the subject. The third military blog is In Iraq 365. He is back from the war and struggling to regain something of a normal life. His writing is helpful if you want to understand what our homecoming military are experiencing. So take a few minutes to read some of their posts. If you are a prayerful person-- or even if you're not, say some prayers for them.

You Got Me DB!

I have been tagged by DB at Spittin' Into The Wind or the "What If" listing game that's been going around. I am compliment and will do my list following the rules as set prior to my participation in this ever-evolving exercise. However, before I get very far, I want to name those lucky creatures that I am tagging! Here are my 5 tags:

Bookworm (Julie)

Jamie Dawn's Mindless Blather
Lemming Fodder (J)
Discombobulated at 100 MPH
Damn She Can Ramble (Michelle)

TAG, YOU'RE IT!

To quote DB:

"The general rules are as follows: from the list of occupations below, select five (5), and write a post on your blog, on how you would perform each, if they were your job. Maybe add a little more to it than I have here. When you are done, add a couple of occupations to the bottom, and ambush five other fellow bloggers to prepare a list. I am so late getting to this, I doubt there is anyone left who hasn't done it. I think I will add a new rule, that if you have already participated, and want out of doing it again, it is up to you find somebody to pass it off to, and it CANNOT be me, not ever again!"

What if...

• If I could be a musician...
• If I could be a doctor...
• If I could be a painter...
• If I could be a gardener...
• If I could be a missionary...
• If I could be a chef...
• If I could be an architect...
• If I could be a linguist...
• If I could be a psychologist...
• If I could be a librarian...
• If I could be an athlete...
• If I could be a lawyer...
• If I could be an innkeeper...
• If I could be a professor...
• If I could be a writer...
• If I could be a llama-rider...(by Ogre)
• If I could be a bonnie pirate...(By Teach)
• If I could be a service member...(By Jeremy)
• If I could be a business owner...(By Blue 944)
• If I could be an actor... (By Blue 944)
• If I could be an agent...(By KelBel)
• If I could be video game designer...(By KelBel)
• If I could be a comic book artist...(By Stoli)
• If I could be a hooker...(By Pollo Loco)
• If I could be a crack addict (by Elizabeth)
• If I could be a porn star (by Elizabeth)
• If I could be a mime (by Garrison)
• If I could be a domestic engineer (by Rick)
• If I could be a chimney sweep (by laine)
• If I could be a masseuse (by laine)
• If I could be a taxi driver (by Brian)
• If I could be a priest (by Brian)
• If I could be a fighter pilot (by Sara)
• If I could be a homeless person (by Sara)
• If I could be a biker (by Walker)
• If I could be a mortician (by Walker)
• If I could be a marine biologist (by DB)
• If I could be a garbageman (by DB)
• If I could be an art critic (Rhodent)
• If I could be a furniture designer (Rhodent)
• If I could be a fashion designer (Rhodent)
• If I could be a high school principal (Rhodent)

And now, here is my list of What If...

I could be a marine biologist... I would spend most of my time oggling the wonderfully colored fishes in the oceans of the world and the rest of the time breathing the gas mixture used in submersibles so I could talk in that funny helium-type voice!

I could be a gardener... I would grow everything organically, I would have someone else do all of my weeding, and I would only eat the vegetables and fruit that are grown in my garden. Any leftovers I would share with friends (agencies will not usually take home grown food), and any homeless people I come across who need it. I would NOT grow radishes, but I would grow lots and lots of English Garden Peas so that I could eat them right out of their shell in the garden. I love doing that! I would also make sure that I had an avocado tree, a pink seedless grapefruit tree, a lime tree, and a mango tree (for my kids, I don't like mangos).

I could be an architect... I would design affordable (as possible) homes that would be practical and safe for hurricanes, tornados, and blizzards. Every home would already have its own generator that would run the air conditioning and keep the refrigerator, freezer, oven and hot water heater going, as well as supply enough electricity for a TV and computer. Homes would not look the same as the one next to them and would have enough space between them for privacy. They would come with built in window and door protection so all anyone would have to do is push a button or wind them down. There would be a reusable water dispenser to keep enough water sanitized and available to each person in the house for up to two weeks for drinking, cooking, and teeth brushing. I am sure I would come up with some other options that would also be wonderful because I am a genius when it come to architecture and innovative design for safety.

I could be a professor... I would probably teach a Writing course or a Social Psychology course. I would have a fun classroom. I would teach the students how to think critically as well as the course content. Snacks and drinks would always be available. I would not be arrogant.

I could be a business owner... I would own a store that contained all kinds of neat usable art and decor ... something like a Nicholson House, if you know what they are like. I would pay my employees a very good wage and be a great boss! I would have a grand time looking for neat things to go into my store and would try to include items from local artists. Pottery would be plentiful. I would have lots of fun with the store and show silent movies on a screen in a part of the store. I could go on and on about this one!

Ok! I have finished my list and am off to inform the lucky bloggers I have chosen by leaving a notice in their latest comment box. This was actually fun to do... once!

I Am Not Quite Sure What Happened, But I Am Working On A Problem With The Template. So...

Appologies for no regular post tonight. I hope to have the problem fixed by tomorrow so I can get back to regular posting. In the meantime here is another bit of hurricane information worth seeing...

At Least I Don't Live In The Florida Keys!

Here is an interesting link about this 2005 Hurricane Season: http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/outlooks/hurricane.html



Florida Map Legend
City (population between 100,000 and 500,000)

Small City (population between 10,000 and 100,000)

Monument/Small Park (to small to show park borders)

Elevation (in feet)

660 to 1,640
160 to 660
Sea Level to 160

I'm Bracing For Another Busy Season!

Let's hope this year is not quite so entertaining! I was entertained enough last summer to last me for a very long time! But it does seem that the tropics are already becoming active.

Being without electricity for a week at a time several times during the summer does not sound that bad on the surface of things. However when it takes place during the hottest months of the year in Florida and means no airconditioning, food spoiling in refrigerators and freezers, stop lights and street lights out all over town, and grocery stores closed with spoiling foods due to a lack of electricity it is quite a different thing... and I live in an area that only had some tropical storm force winds. It is not just hot, either... it is very humid... like a steam bath. Buildings are boarded up and quickly get to over 100 degrees F. Last summer we never took our boards down until the end of the season. People that took them down after the first storm just had to put them all back up a week later.

I have lived in Florida since 1957 in the same area (Pinellas County), and I have never experienced a direct hit from a major hurricane. We have had close calls... we really thought we were going to get hit by Charley last summer before it took that unexpected and sudden right turn. Had we been directly hit by Charley from the SW, water would have been pushed into Tampa Bay and there probably would have been over 20 feet of water in downtown Tampa... a category 5 is predicted to bring over 26 feet of water.

So, I have a few pictures to share with you about hurricane seasons in Florida... and another reminder... The last time my area of Florida was hit by a major hurricane (category 3, 4, 0r 5) was 1921... and believe me the area has changed since then.

This is a hurricane tracking chart at the beginning of the season...


This is a hurrican tracking chart towards the end of the season.


Just a sitting duck.

Frances last summer




It's much more than strom surge and winds...


Flooding from rain and overflowing rivers, various reptiles moving
to higher ground, weeks of no electricity and mosquitos...

Hurricane Ivan wiped out many endangered beach mice like this one! Hurricanes harm all types of wildlife. Nesting areas for tropical birds, cattle and horses, all sorts of furry critters, pets of all sorts, tropical fish farms, citrus trees, vegetable farms, avacado trees, all sorts of natural vegetation, and many more things are affected by hurricanes and their winds and surges.

Colony of Stachybotrys mold. This toxic black mold has been linked to fatal lung disorders. In the humidity inFlorida with no air conditioning to dry damaged buildings, mildew and molds grow quickly. Mildew and molds can be a problem even without the presence of hurricanes.

If you live in Pinellas County and want to get out, you had better go very early... wwaaayyy before you know the hurricane will hit!

You can see that the main part of St. Petersburg would become an island in a category 4 or 5 storm... and this does not factor in inland flooding from rain.

The infamous Andrew of 1992

You've seen these, I'm sure. A typical picture of maniac newsmen and weather reporters trying to report during a storm... often the pictures are at night so you can't see anything anyway... or there is so much wind that what they are saying is too garbled to understand. Besides, if they were in the worst hit areas, there would probably not be any transmissions.

Last year there was one segment where a news weatherman went flying in the wind... we were rolling on the floor laughing at that one. Of all people, you would think that they would understand about hurricane winds! I guess it is something like being a tornado chaser.

Two More Weeks And It Will Be Time To get The Hurricane Tracking Charts Out Again!

There were a lot of cartoons and jokes, but it really wasn't funny four times around! I am not sure I am ready to go through this again. Hopefully we will get through another year with no direct hit. The last direct hit to Pinellas County/Tampa Bay by a major hurricane was in 1921! Tomorrow I will begin a post about living in a precarious hurricane area.

Mondays And Trivial Pursuits

I am never sure what to expect when I go to bed on a Sunday night about what I will find Monday to be like. It really doesn't seem to be a function of how much sleep I've had the night before. It is always a surprise. Sometimes it's good. Sometimes it's bad. There are days when I wake up invigorated (for me) and ready to get lots of things done. I already have mapped out in my mind what I need to get done on that particular day or week. Then there are days when I have to drag my non-functioning body out of bed, knowing full well that the day will be very non-productive.

Today was a kind of in-between day. I overslept and was startled awake when Himself woke me up to remind me that he was leaving for the Bahamas for one week. We chatted about what things I needed to cover for him for the week... you know... look for such and such a bill to come in to pay... we had already written the monthly bills, but some of the statements have yet to come in the mail. I knew I was going to be late for work. So I called in to tell them I would be and hour late. I had a cup of tea... a definite must for me on these types of mornings... and drank it while we chatted. Himself packed up his car and was off for his semiannual business trip to the islands.

Then the tea started to take hold and my brain started to wake up. ""Wait a minute..." it said, "this is Monday!" Yes, that was true it is Monday. "You are all caught up (for the most part) at work!" Yes, that was also true. "Almost no one is there on Mondays because they have Mondays off!" Yes, that is true as well. When the Organist, Religious Ed teacher and her assistant, and the Youth Minister work on Sundays, they take Mondays off... which is most of the time. "You put in a full day on Saturday, so you really haven't had your full weekend yet!" Well, that is not entirely true. I had put in a full day on Saturday because I had been short hours in the previous two weeks, and I wanted to work ahead a bit on several things including the forms for the payroll changes that would be coming up... they all need to be signed by staff and their supervisors before the end of the fiscal year. So I didn't feel like I had the weekend off. "Allison is home this week except for one or two days and it would be really great to spend some time with her while you can!" That is a hard argument for me to ignore. I treasure every minute I can spend with my kids. Each year that goes by that time is less and less. "And don't forget... you brought home the budget so that you could print it on the color printer to make it easier to read!" Yup, that was true. "And you have lots of errands you could run and some trivial stuff to get done!" Yup, that was true. "You need to get your passport photo taken. You need to get your prescriptions filled and picked up. You need to get Allison's prescriptions filled and picked up. You need to do laundry. You need to get more cat food at the grocery store. You are out of Coca Cola and you know you need that! " Yeah, probably. "Cathy probably won't mind and you may never get to do this again!!!" Ok, now that is a bit of an exaggeration. I knew that Cathy would not be happy about it, but she would let me do it, and if I plan it ahead of time, I could do it again. Perhaps the new pastor will not be as flexible, but I do have vacation days... and Holidays. I picked up the phone and called Cathy and told her I wanted to take the day off if it was okay with her. She reluctantly said yes.

Immediately after calling her I was really in gear. I knew that I had to do the budget adjustment and printing first, or my conscience would never allow me to enjoy the rest of the day. It took about 1 and 1/2 hours to do that...I had to retype it on my home computer from the sheet I had brought home... I wanted it on my home computer for future reference anyway... and make adjustments to some of the Excel formulas so the totals were correct. Had I had my act together on this, I would have copied the file to a disk and taken that home. No spare disks at work, and I was impatient.

That done, my most important other tasks at the time were to show Allison a funny Siamese cat clock that I wanted to get her for next year at school, plan some future expenditures even though Himself had cautioned me not to make any unnecessary expenditures while he was gone, and to get to my blogsite and type this! It is amazing, when I think about it critically, how my mind works. I am a fun person once I get to know me!

So today will be a good one even though it didn't start out as a good one. I will be able to pursue those various things that I can't or don't do on Saturdays and evenings. I will be able to spend some time pestering my youngest daughter (one of my very favorite pastimes!). I will catch up on some cleaning and washing that I didn't do on Saturday. I have all kinds of energy to apply to these pursuits. I feel really good about this.

I wonder what I will feel like next Monday? Boy that cruise isn't coming up too soon for me!

Another True Church Mouse Story Of Note

Today turned out to be quite an amusing day! It all started when I went to the staff bathroom...

I heard my name being called from outside the bathroom door and some other verbiage that I couldn't quite understand. So as I was washing my hands I opened the door to tell whoever was talking to me that I would be right there. It was one of my co-workers (who shall remain anonymous to protect the very innocent) and another one of our part-time receptionists. My innocent co-worker was asking me if I had seen anything written on the wallpaper in the bathroom. I looked and saw only the same marks that had been done years ago by the Choir director's daughter... nothing new to report.

She (my innocent co-worker) said "maybe it's in the other bathroom" and proceeded to open that door. "Do you see anything?" she asked. "Oh! There it is!" It seems Irish Pastor had remarked to her after exiting the bathroom a few minutes before that there was writing on the wall and that it was the first time he had seen that done since he had been pastor there. Innocent co-worker had asked what it said. She didn't understand his answer. It seems that he thought he saw the word "DICK" on the wall (he didn't have his glasses on at the time). When Irish pastor realized that innocent co-worker did not know the meaning of the slang term, he turned to the older part-time receptionist and said "You better explain it to her." He then walked back over to the Rectory chuckling and shaking his head.

Now for most people the story would end there. Not so in this case. No, innocent co-worker had to see for herself. So there she was looking at the wall. Even though part-time receptionist had explained to her the meaning of the slang term "dick", she still wasn't buying it. Innocent co-worker had decided that it was probably put there by one of the clients seen by the counselor who had his office right across the hall. About this time I looked at the word of interest on the wall and could see that the word was distinctly "DUCK" but the "D" was definitely a markover of an "F"... should I tell this to innocent co-worker? Well I started to explain it to her when she had this gem come out of her mouth... "I bet John (counselor) has a Dick for a client. I am going to ask him if he has a Dick!" All I could say to her was "I want to be there when you ask John if he has a dick!" I wouldn't miss that for anything!"

My still very innocent co-worker finally realized what she was saying. She turned to look at the word on the wall again, and surmised that I was probably correct about what the word was, and joined us in hysterical laughter at her own naivete. Irish Pastor laughed hysterically as well when he was told what she had wanted to ask John. I think that I will have to tell John this story one of these days...

No one could make this stuff up!

Oh No!

It's been a week since I've posted anything! You haven't forgotten about me have you? I hope not. I will be back to my usual posting beginning tomorrow. I have a lot of reading to do to catch up with all of the postings I have missed on your sites, but I'll be all caught up by tomorrow night. Hope your week was a good one!

In Honor Of The Upcoming Mothers' Day...

The Mom

Pay attention to the hair... she is 80 years old and does NOT dye her hair! I have more gray hair than she does...it is not fair! I do, however, dye my hair to hide it.

This is my mom beating some of us at pool this past year. It was the first time she ever played...RRRRHHIIIIIIIGGHHTTTT. We really believed her when she sat on the table and took a shot behind her back! Perhaps she is hiding something in her past?

The Offspring

I have four offspring. If this picture was of the four of them, Allybrat would be the one on the right and "L" would be the one on the far left...getting her hair wet while peeking out from under the umbrella. "J" would be the second on the line hunkered down and feeling miserable. Matt would be the third mouse, umbrella perfectly situated to keep him dry while he enjoys the scenery. This picture is perfect to represent them, and the mice are in the correct order from oldest to youngest.