dns

Sun shining through a tree at the lake

My daughter said it was kind of cruel to ask her to try and figure out what I wrote in my blog yesterday when her head was so tired. So, I thought I would go with something else. It is called DNS. Domain Name Services.

When you type an address into the browser such as: www.google.com the computer translates this to an IP address. 64.233.167.99 to be exact.

So, instead of typing "www.google.com" you can just type in the combination of numbers: 64.233.167.99. Try it you will get the same results.

Then try some other examples. Instead of typing in the address, try just the set of numbers shown below and see if the browser takes you to the address. It is supposed to. :)

www.blogger.com
66.102.15.100

www.shutterfly.com
64.74.143.134

www.photofriday.com
66.221.203.212

www.pbs.org
149.48.228.121

What happens here is that we humans can remember a name easier than we can remember a set of numbers, so web sites are given names. Computers use numbers, so a DNS (domain name service) translates the name into a number and the computer finds that address for us.

A very close encounter

Close enough!

This is my biggest (baby) Casper with our first pet Peru. (where my blog name comes from. At first Casper didn't pay any attention to this bird other than open his eyes a wee bit. A while back I posted a picture of him yawning a huge yawn showing that his mouth was indeed big enough to swallow the bird whole. After a while he reached out his paw. Ever so gently. Peru backed up. Casper reached out farther. I put the bird back in her cage. I don't live on the edge.

Here is a little peek of what I do at work. Keep in mind that I hated math, I always have and I still dislike the subject. I do however, like puzzles. Once I get the gist of things, I love to make them work out. It could have been the teachers. I never met a math teacher that I liked. Click the jpeg to see how it all works. If you give it a minute or two, you can figure it out.

Drained

Too drained to write much tonight. I had a migraine mid-afternoon. Medicine and a nap helped and I finished up the day grocery shopping and what not. Like the bloom above my energy for the day is fading.

Country roads

A back country road from last fall.

Yes, you are seeing more blues and cool hues in my blog template. I was playing a bit today. I spoke to my niece's friend. It was hard, she is such a sweet girl. She apologized all over the place and then wrote me the sweetest e-mail. It can be so difficult to defend your boundaries.

Easy to be Hard

Sunrise over lake area - Eastern Ohio

Back in the 70's, Three Dog Night had a song out titled "Easy To Be Hard". Since I worked as a short order cook in a bar/restaurant, I was subject to all the songs playing on the jukebox. This was back when the owner purchased 45 rpm discs. We had quarters in the cash register painted with a stroke of red finger nail polish that we could put into the jukebox and when the guy came around to collect the money, he gave those quarters back to the restaurant. This was a way that we could get the music playing and when it stops, maybe a customer would continue the music with their own quarters. I do not recall the days when a dime would play a song.

I just found out that this song is from the popular musical Hair. I had no idea. I have not seen the show.

I was subject to listen to this song over and over again along with many others that were popular during the mid-70's time frame. I liked this one. In fact, I liked a lot of songs by Three Dog Night. Of course their name comes from the saying that it was so cold, you had to sleep with the dogs to stay warm. If it was a 3 dog night, it must be really cold. So came the saying, "three dog night."

I used to think that in my younger days, it was easy for me to be hard nosed. I could be as friendly as the next person, but once in a while I could be very cold and unresponsive. Well, maybe more than once in a while. I do not know what people thought of me in high school, I don't communicate with them. I had friends, a lot of them. We had fun.

When I was 15, I worked in this bar/restaurant every Friday and Saturday night from 4:30 to 1:30 in the morning. Usually 2 a.m. after cleaning up. I also worked every Sunday from 10 to 5 p.m. I felt that I needed to do this because it was what my sister did before me. It gave me money, yes, but when was I going to spend it? I gave some to my Mom and put some in a little glass candy dish in my bedroom. I think I blew it all on a Beeline clothes party one of my other sisters had. Do you remember Beeline?

It was much easier to be hard back then. Today, as I have matured I am more tender to other's feelings. Maybe too much so. I find myself in a situation today where I have to be hard. I have to put into words some rules and restrictions to somebody who is so sweet and pleasant. It has to be done. This is not a family member. This is a close friend of a family member. She is at our house a lot and it has come to my attention that she may need to be told that our stuff is our stuff. It isn't all that easy to be hard.

Texture

Photo Friday's Challenge: Texture

My desk at home

Me desk

This is where I work at home. On the left behind my monitor is one of the speakers. Altec Lansing THX 5.1 surround sound. Left front. It doesn't look like my set is available any more.

In front of that is my cup warmer. I never realized how nice those were until somebody gave me one for Christmas. In front of the cup warmer is my keyboard, obviously.

My monitor. (Radeon 9800 video card something or other). Part of my whole system.

My pencil holder is to the right of my monitor. It is actually a ceramic flower pot with tulips decorating the outside of it. (Made locally in Amish country). It is jammed packed full of pens, sharpies and pencils. Most of them are never used.

In front of the pencil holder is my raindrop mousepad (Same as Shephard's).

My wireless mouse. Directly behind my mousepad is my wireless sensor. I don't need a mousepad, but the desk is pretty slick and the infrared doesn't work well. Infrared doesn't work at all with a glass top desk. LOL!

Behind the wireless sensor is a tall copper picture frame with three of my favorite pictures of my daughter. Around the four/five age range. Sigh.

To the right of that is the center speaker. It looks like a little silver football. Next to that is my Maxtor external hard drive (for backups). Need to do one.

In front of that is my paperclip holder.

To the right of my paperclip holder is my card reader. A Radio Shack Dazzle. Love it!

To the right of my external hard drive is my Canon post card printer. Fun stuff.

To the right of the little printer is my OTT-LITE task lamp. 825 lumens. It's light output is similar to a standard 60 watt bulb, but the light is whiter. The one I looked up for the specs is listed at $55. I think I bought mine at Staples two years ago for less than $30. This lite is great for sewers and cross stitching.

And, finally on the far right is my fan. Well, one of them in my room.

On the wall above my monitor is my thermometer/barometer/humidity gauge. (Close enough).

And, my "Garden Gathering" picture from Home Interiors by artist Barbara Mock.

I don't know if all the links will come up, but it sure was fun.

Edit: I just saw the price on the desk in the link. I did not speand nearly that much. I am thinking I spent in the $200 range only. Sheesh!

I made a friend today

All legs

In an attempt to find a shortcut to a school, I drove through some very desolate back county roads this morning. I had extra time because the school was on a two hour delay and I wasn't. I had my camera on my shoulder taking some shots and was moving very slowly due to the poor conditions of the back roads. I didn't see another vehicle for over 20 minutes of driving. Of course I was only going about 10 mph myself. The road was icy and snow covered.

I came upon a dog out for his morning rounds. He was very friendly and very adorable. I have a closer shot of him. (My Photo Album).

A hanging disco ball in winter

Funky Town

Well, I guess that is the song I recall the most when I was in the disco. It was not my favorite, but when somebody says disco ball, the memories start flooding back. Some that I can recall:

Funkytown by Lipps Inc
Knock on Wood by Amii Stewart (favorite)
Heart of Glass by Blondie (favorite)
Heaven Knows by Donna Summer (favorite)
Ring My Bell by Anita Ward
I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor (favorite)
I'm A Cruiser by The Village People (favorite)

Bare branches

The gray and the blue

One of the "perks" we lost at work is having President's Day as a holiday. We still get to observe MLK day, though. So, off to work I went. My daughter had a make-up day for all the calamity days that they missed.

There wasn't a lot going on at work. Most of the schools that were in session had delayed starting for two hours because of the weather. I took care of some T1 line service calls. We usually have this area checked out first when there is trouble reported, because there is not much I can do if it is the T1 line. So, getting that out of the way and testing to make sure the line is good, I can zero in on the problem quicker.

I was the last one to leave the office building today. Which means that I am to turn on the alarm. There was a car in the parking lot so I had to go all through the building hollering "Hello! Anybody here?" No answer. I checked the bathroom, too. Just in case. I set the alarm and left. Reminds me of the old days working back in the business world. And, no - the car wasn't mine. I meant there was a car OTHER than mine in the parking lot.

The week is low maintenance except for the jewelry party on Thursday night. I do not wear jewelry. I had a class ring. I have had an engagement ring. I have worn pearl (faux) necklaces. I have gold chain necklaces and a watch here and there. Maybe once a year, I will put on my gold necklaces. I do not have pierced ears. I do not have pierced anything.

Years ago I was going through my Mom's jewelry box and I found her wedding ring and engagement ring. She had tiny fingers. They fit on my right pinkie. I asked her if I could wear them, and she said yes. This maybe lasted for a month or so - I'll guess I was fourteen. During this ring wearing time, we went to West Virginia to visit the elder relatives. An aunt mentioned that it was bad luck for me to wear my Mom's wedding rings. Bad luck as in "I would never marry." Well, I wasn't much on superstition, but it turned out I never got married. So, who's to say?

There are interesting "bad luck" issues associated with weddings and rings. Mostly I get the idea that the bad luck is for the bride and groom to wear the rings "before" they are married. Saying nothing about anyone else wearing their rings. I never knew that it was bad luck for a bride to look at herself in a mirror in her complete wedding outfit before the ceremony. Who knew? I guess that is where the matron of honor comes in along with the bridesmaids. It must be part of their job to make sure she looks okay and everything is in it's place.

But hey, maybe I will start wearing jewelry. Maybe I will find something I really like and buy it. That's right, Peruby. Stay positive. Jewels by Park Lane.

Moving on

Street light at night

Okay, I hope my belly achin' is over. I had two birthday parties yesterday. Last night I warmed the car up and took a few photos of the snowy street while waiting for my daughter to exit the hall.

Last week-end my daughter went to an outlet mall with her boyfriend and his family. Not having any cash on me, I called the JC Penny credit card office to see if my 15 year old daughter was able to use my card. The person on the other end of the line was very courteous and set it up and said "Your daughter is authorized to use your card." She didn't find anything. In fact she was a bit miffed because she didn't realize that an "outlet" store was for stuff that didn't sell in the regular retail stores and it was usually stuff that nobody wanted. Sears, on the other hand... LOL!

Yesterday I received an envelope from JC Penney. Inside is a nifty, shiny new credit card in MY DAUGHTER's name with a credit limit of $1600! OUCH! Fifteen years old! What is up with that? My daughter squealed with delight! "Hand it over! Hand it over!" I told her "Get out of town!" It is still sitting on my desk in my room. In her dreams!

The worst part is, I think she has a higher credit limit than I do. :(

My blue rain

Yeah, well. Prince had his Purple Rain, I have my blue rain. It figures. After 36 hours of torment, 2 nights of tossing and turning, two days of a stomach ache and the beginning of a migraine, Photo Friday Challenge wants a Self-Portrait 2007. Well, here it is. I certainly was not at my best and I really don't care.

This is what happens when you are accused of something that you didn't do. When they won't listen to what you have to say because they are so full of hurt (that I did not cause) they just needed to lash out at somebody. That somebody happened to be me. At first I was crushed and now I am just pissed. If they call me again, they better choose their words very carefully. I am a forgiving person, but I have my limits.

Oh, and the city finally plowed my alley today. I think they knew that if they tried while I was shovelling yesterday I would have beat them with the shovel.

I received my new Reader's Digest in the mail yesterday. There is an article in there about the government paying farmers NOT to grow produce in the 70's. This is what my sister was telling me her father-in-law did. He got money for not growing corn. Read about it here.

With love, to my fair city

I shoveled by hand to the stop sign

I pay my city taxes. I have the tax forms and the direct deposit slips to prove it. Why my alley did not get plowed is a mystery. I called them being very careful not to piss off the lady who answered the telephone. You know if you piss them off, they will go out of their way to make sure you don't get anything. Well, that's what I heard.

She said that the city was going to take care of the alley ways today. I tried to give her my address but she gave me the brush off. They were doing the best that they could. I thought to myself, maybe they have had to cut back just like the schools have. Everybody is feeling the pinch. So, I began to shovel. I wasn't going to wait for the city.

Most cars can ride over the icy snow. My car (trying to be global conscientious and purchasing a Civic) is way too light of a car and the icy buildup lifts my car up and it is stuck. I tried to get out last night but was forced to retreat back into my garage. My daughter had been picked up by her boyfriend's father so that they could spend Valentine's Day together. I mistakenly thought that they would bring her back home. She called at 9:30 and this is why I attempted to get out of my alley.

Since I failed (read all the little evil voices you ever hear about not being good enough, not being a good parent, not providing adequate equipment to raise a daughter in the state of Ohio, I should have been more prepared etc, etc, etc...) I had to call my daughter admitting defeat and she had to "beg" a ride home from her boyfriend's Mother.

I say this because:

1. My daughter had to wait until the Mother watched her favorite television show, and

2. On the way driving her she sarcastically told my daughter "It's a good thing I like you!"

My daughter was so upset. Thus adding to my overall feeling of I'm just not good enough. Who am I trying to kid? Why am I not able to get my vehicle out on the roads when everybody else can? Now, as I type this I want to call that Mother and give her a piece of my mind. I guess at the time I was feeling pretty lame because of some other chaos that was going on.

I suppose I could have called a private snow removal business. But, do they touch city alley ways? It appears so because when I was 3/4 of the way done, I saw a truck with a plow clear the alley up the hill from me. I wasn't sure if it was a city truck or not, but it didn't have any writing on the side. It had a huge salt/sand/cinder container on the back so it was at least a professional.

They kept plowing and re-plowing that one little stretch of alley and it occurred to me that they may do mine next. I sniffed. Figures. Wait until I am almost done. I didn't need to hold my breath. After ten minutes or so they were no longer to be seen. Unfortunately I took the long route because the shorter end of the alley was completely blocked by a four foot wall of rock solid snow (thanks to the city when they plowed the secondary street).

Anyway, I got my car out and onto the street. Now, I can get milk and bread and go to work tomorrow. As I drove to the store to get milk, I noticed that there were a lot of other alley ways that had not been cleared but the people living in the surrounding houses had heavier cars than I or trucks/SUV's/jeeps. So there you have it. I try to do the right thing and buy a small economical car. I can hear my brothers and brother-in-law's laughing now. As they drive their gas guzzling, Ford four-wheel-drive vehicles. When they lived on the farm and their drive way was a mile long I can see the need for one. But, I am in town. I drive my own vehicle for work and I am not about to get a four wheel drive. It only happens every few years anyway, right?

When I was younger (under 20), I can remember getting my car stuck in a ditch. I will never ever forget my brother cussing the entire time he shoveled my car out. It made me feel bad. Really bad. Another time I got stuck on ice. (I had a light car back then, too. I just froze up with fear). My brother-in-law and my brother laughed at me. There were other times, too. I remember each and every one like it was yesterday. It doesn't happen anymore. I don't call them. Oh, I get stuck. Like today. But, nobody hears about it. Nobody that will belittle me, anyway. I don't need anybody anymore. I make sure of that. I really must apologize for this negativity, but I exhausted myself outside shovelling and I don't have a lot of reserve in me right now.

I am also in the middle of a big family mess that I won't go into because I believe that my family has found this blog and are reading it. I'll just say this. I didn't do a damn thing, but send e-mail. If somebody wants to misinterpret what I wrote and jump to the wrong conclusions, then that is their problem. It is making me as angry as a wet hornet. Hey, if they want to pin me for the mess, go ahead - if that makes them feel better. So be it. I'm not hurting anyone. That damn swinging bridge that I dreamt about a month or so ago has done snapped and flown back to hit me smack between the eyeballs.

I've had a really bad 24 hours. It is all I can do to keep from throwing up. I imagine the migraine will hit next. After the turbulent storm of emotions has run it's gamut.

Back then

Long ago and far away

A spot of snow

A little grazer

Another deer grazing at Salt Fork. We have some snow for ourselves outside today. Enough to give us another snow day. It was the ice that had most of the folks worried, I am thinking. The second time I was out shovelling the sidewalk the ice pellets were stinging my face. Ouch. Okay, let's just make it a little more unbearable. Never mind the fact that this is back breaking work out here, shovelling this stuff. Let's just add insult to injury and pelt the lady in the face with ice chips.

My daughter had frost nip on her hands from the first round of shovelling and I have a saint of a neighbor that lives up the hill who came with his snow blower and cleared my drive way. Never mind the fact that it is all covered again. His intentions were well appreciated. I thanked him and plan to take him a cheese ball/tray later. I don't know his name.

I had my daughter put her hands in warm tepid water. She never was in any real pain, but her fingers must have been exposed at one time before to get this way so quickly. The teenagers today will wear little in outer clothing. They are so accustomed to being driven right to the door step of any establishment or friend's house, they rarely have to dress for the weather. So, I am thinking at one time, she must have been caught outside in the freezing weather with no gloves.

It was drilled into our heads from the day we brought our newborn into this world that some mad deranged pedophile was waiting around every corner to steal our child and if we even thought for one second about letting them walk somewhere without our supervision that we would live that nightmarish hell that we only read about or saw on television.

So, are we so wrong? Where do we draw the line? Where do we take the chance? "Listen, kid. I walked two miles to the park when I was fifteen to go to a dance, I am sure you can do it!" We move into the kitchen and begin washing dishes and the thoughts come rushing into our brains. What if, what if, what if? The next thing you know we are getting our car keys and saying "Come on, I'll drive you."

So, there you are. Raised in America. Protected to the nth degree by your neurotic Mother. Our young are as fragile as the small deer pictured above. Vulnerable, a literal target. Are we preparing them enough for the big bad world? Are we over protecting them? Are we smothering them and do we know when to loosen the reins?

I like color

Neon glow of a tree shadow on the snow

I messed around with this one until I embarked upon a picture that I liked. This reminds me of the times we used to take our big coffee can of crayola crayons and color a square on paper, each time using a different color crayon over top of the previous color square. When we were done with the colors, we would take black and darkly cover the entire square. Using the sharp point of a pair of scissors, we would scratch names, words or drawings into the black square causing the underside bright neon colors to appear. It was great fun! A bit messy, though.

Another favorite time was taking the old crayons and an old glass pop bottle. We would tilt the bottle up against something solid or just sit it up straight. Lighting a candle we would hold a colorful crayon up to the flame causing the colored wax to melt onto the bottle. We would cover the entire pop bottle with this drippy color wax. It helped to put newspaper underneath the bottle because this also got messy. My Mom never cared that we young teens were holding lit candles. Crayons were cheap and abundant back then. We had so many. I can still smell the odor of old, waxy crayons in that can.

Hey, did you ever play the joke of where you call people and ask them if they have Prince Albert in a can? Or, pop in a bottle? Or, is your refrigerator running? With caller i.d., I guess the little innocent prank calls are a thing of the past. That was about as ornery as I got. That and throwing field corn at cars on Halloween. Not smart, I know. My older brothers and sisters would take me with them to throw it. First we had to go to somebody's field and steal the field corn. Wha...? Yep. Cringe. I stole field corn with my older brother. We got blisters on our thumbs getting the hard kernels off the cob. I tried to use an old cob, but it was just better to use our thumbs. I remember one of my school friends had a corn sheller. It was a machine that removed the kernels. I remember thinking, "Where was this machine a few years ago?" We never threw tomatoes, eggs or snowballs at cars. We never soaped windows. Just a handful of field corn at a passing car. They never even slowed down. We were fortunate that nothing dangerous happened.

The bright sunshine

Salt Fork sunshine

The light reaching me in the photograph is roughly 8 minutes old. That is how long it takes sunlight to reach the earth. (I always thought it was 3 minutes. Wonder where I got that information?)

Sounds like we may have another snow day on Tuesday. The news is predicting snow fall coming in late Monday night/early Tuesday morning. If I say it out loud will I jinx it?

I didn't do much of anything exciting this week-end. I got some paperwork organized. Huge task because I was so far behind. Taxes are done and sent in, but I have this odd feeling that I did not sign them. I honestly do not have any memory of signing them. Weird.

Just for the record, if you were even thinking of renting Lady in the Water or The Black Dahlia. Let me tell you to save your money. I was disappointed in both movies. Seriously.

Salt Fork Adventure

Curios deer

I decided to skip lunch on Friday and drive through the Salt Fork State Park. I never got out of my car. I snapped about 125 photos from my driver seat. The sky was a beautiful blue, the sun was shining and the deer were out grazing. You can see more photos on the link at the right of the blog. From my personal web page, scroll down to the bottom and click on the Photos button. I also have a Photo Album set up here.

The blazing sky

Sky posted for Photo Friday .

Back at the lake

Another photo of the frozen lake

It is still cold here in the Ohio Valley. I have had to spray white grease onto the chain of my garage door for the last two mornings to get it to open all the way. Of course I wait until the last minute to leave for work and you know how that goes. Stupid garage door!

This is another view of the lake in Carroll county. It all pretty much looks the same from here on out. Frozen.

I will be travelling to Guernsey county tomorrow. I'll try to remember to take the camera along in case there is anything interesting to photograph. I'll be driving the Interstate and I have a tight schedule so I doubt that I will get any side trip excursions. I would love to detour around Salt Fork, but I don't think I can arrange that. I skip lunch to take pictures. More than likely I won't get a lunch break tomorrow anyway. I have a serious upgrade to do and things rarely go smoothly.

At dinner this evening I looked at my daughter. She is gray. Pale gray color. I told her she has to stop eating junk and eat more of the fresh fruits and vegetables. She told me that the lunches at school have changed and she hates the food. I need to get more fruit. I had fresh carrots and apples with dinner yesterday. She ate one carrot with the meal. Ugh. She received another compliment on her hair today. About once a week a total stranger tells her they like her hair. She wants to get the red refreshed. It is a pale pink. Red is a hard color to take hold.

Frozen lake

A bitter cold lake

What a nut. I stopped on the way back from a school meeting to take a couple of photos of the frozen lake. I am sure that people in the house behind me were thinking I was a bit touched in the head. It was warmer than it has been for a couple of days, but it was still pretty cold.

I had been looking at photos last evening of the lake during the beautiful summertime and I was wondering what it looked like in February. At least the sun was shining.

At the meeting we spoke of the school levies in the area that are NOT passing. "Why?" everyone is asking. Personally, I think people are just plain depressed with the way things are in our country. We have been pinched at the gas pump, pinched at the grocery stores, pinched at the retail stores and pinched in forking over our measly dollars every time we turn around.

Everybody is feeling the pinch. Health insurance is near collapse. They keep taking more out of our paychecks to pay for our health care. We hear about how we have been charged that "luxury" tax on long distance calling that should have stopped years ago. We tire of listening to how many billions of dollars are spent on this war. Just Google The cost of the war in Iraq and choose Google's "I'm Feeling Lucky". Sickening. Small outlying school buildings are closing left and right in our surrounding districts. More and more students are getting bussed to bigger, more crowded buildings.

My niece's ex boyfriend's sister got pregnant with her third child just so she could continue to collect welfare. Her other two children are six and two. She has subsequently kicked each boyfriend out after a while.

Every week we hear a new story about the bird flu. Or, another case of child pornography. Diabetes is on the rise, obesity is an epidemic, and the pharmaceutical companies are ripping us off big time. Autism, is it mercury in the vaccine or is it genetics? Then there is global warming, how dependent we are on fossil fuels, and orange snow falling in Siberia.

I don't know about you, but I want to turn up the heat and cuddle in my warm blanket and watch Disney movies. But, that is simple denial. A defense mechanism. An ostrich burying it's head in the sand. I am tired. It takes energy to deal with life's idiosyncrasies. It is all I can do to deal with a whiny, 15 year old, a full-time job, household chores (inside and out), car maintenance, bill paying, prescription reimbursement papers, tax forms and trying to squeeze in a little "me" time every other week-end or so.

Red bright berries

Red berries

I am still on the Oriental bright red theme today. I also like the coppery orange against green that is so prevalent in the far Eastern decor. In the 80's I decorated my apartment with beautiful bright fans and black lacquer vases, trays and trinket boxes. That was back when every mall had a World Bazaar store and it was only an hour or so drive to the Williamsburg Pottery. Sigh. Some items have been broken and the rest is stored in the garage.

Another time, another place. (A time in my life shared with the person that died a year ago today). So sad. His Mother lost two sons to senselessness.

All area schools were closed today, but I went in to work. There was plenty to do, but it was very quiet. I put a music CD in. Some of my all-time favorites.

Life in a Northern Town - Dream Acadmey
Here Come Those Tears - Jackson Browne
The Pretender - Jackson Browne
Like a Rock - Bob Seger
Seven Bridges Road - The Eagles
Sara - Fleetwood Mac
When I Call Your Name - Vince Gill
Do You Believe Me Now? - Vern Gosdin

Red bright silky

Bright red silky lantern

It was a busy week-end. I left off Saturday with the movie World Trade Center. I quickly understood that this movie deserved much more than me catching bits and pieces of it as I walked by, so I stopped and gave it my full attention. I cried. I clamped my hand over my mouth in horror. I could not help but feel for those that had fallen and were not found alive. Their families.

As a people are we being mislead? Is there a reason that we are all so confused by what is going on in the world? It seems the more I watch the news or read about current events, the more troubled I am. It is so easy to just click on something else or turn the channel. Perhaps we are just little sheep sitting in front of our television sets totally oblivious to the rest of the world. I think this has all be said before.

We had a 30th birthday party for my nephew on Sunday at an Oriental restaurant. One of the decorations is pictured above. I like the colorful atmosphere of the Orient. He is leaving for China at the end of March with his cousin (my niece). There are more photos of this crazy event if you follow the link on the right column of this blog to my Photos Album.

I think almost every school was closed today because of the frigid temperatures. They are also closed tomorrow, but I think I will be reporting to work. It isn't like I work outside or have to drive any where. I am only 2 miles away.

The humidity in this room is 29. What is that, 29%? It says "very dry". No doubt. What if it falls below 10? That is as low as the dial goes. Will I spontaneously combust? I never, ever add humidifiers to my rooms any more. Pleurisy. No thanks. I'll just keep putting on the lotion. Why isn't combust in this blog's dictionary? Is blog in this new dictionary? Blog is, but blog's isn't.

The headaches are gone, gone, gone. I have not taken even an Advil for two days.

Just enough to slide

My brother and his step-grandson sledding

There was just enough snow this past week to slide down a hill on those super slippery plastic sleds they make now days. It was late in coming but now the "kids" can get out and enjoy the fun. This photo was sent to me courtesy of my sister-in-law.

Calling my sisters last night I found out that my two eldest both were in bed with migraines. One on Wednesday/Thursday and the other is still sick with one. Not a one of us knew that the others were suffering. We had not been in communication for about a week. It has to be the stupid weather.

I watched Little Miss Sunshine. It wasn't the best movie, but it did have it's moments. I laughed out loud at the pageant dancing scene and I really liked the character of the suicidal uncle/brother (Frank), played by Steve Carell. He seemed to be very aware of his environment around him. Maybe too much so. I know it is "just a movie" but I find it difficult to imagine that: 1. The family did not have any idea how glamorous and serious some of the folks take these beauty pageants, 2. That neither parent ever watched the little girl's routine so that they were not completely taken by surprise and 3. They let the little girl spend so much time with the grandfather (unless they were completely unaware that he snorted drugs).

And, I would have liked to have kicked the father's rear end a couple of times. (Played superbly by Greg Kinnear).

We have for the week-end, Lady in the Water and World Trade Center. My daughter and her friend are watching WTC as I type and I am catching parts of it as I go through the living room to the kitchen to refresh coffee, fix food, etc...

We have a few cancellations for my nephew's birthday because of the cold weather and migraine sufferings, but that is okay. I have reservations at an Oriental restaurant and they are allowing us to bring in a birthday cake. It is only about two miles away, so I have a pretty good chance of getting the cake there in one piece. I found about half a dozen cards that I liked and I bought them all. I let my daughter pick one out and I'll show them to my niece and sister in case they have not picked up a card, yet. Hallmark has a promotion of sorts going on, where if you purchase three Ambassador cards you get a free "Sweet Hugs Bear" with a glowing heart when you hug him. He is cute!

I will watch the Super Bowl tomorrow night, mostly for the commercials. There was a special last night on CBS that showed some of the more popular Super Bowl commercials of all time. They were pretty good. I think my favorite was the one where the guy sets the mouse trap with Doritos or something similar and the mouse crashes through the wall and starts pounding him. I am not one for violence but this one tickled me. It is a man-sized rodent dressed up in a mouse costume. You cannot see the details of the violence. I know it sounds gruesome, but they did it in a way that it didn't seem that violent.

Okay, I just found it on line and yes, at the end it is kind of violent. But, it surprised me and I laughed out loud. Go, Mouse! You can find all the Doritos commercials here.

Checking out now. Chili has been in the crockpot for three hours. Must brave the frigid temperatures and get some last minute food and decoration items. Stay warm.

Strange

Photo Friday's Challenge for this week is "Strange". So, I am not sure which is more strange, the fast food worker who poses for a complete stranger taking his picture, or the nut taking the picture. So says said nut.

I caved

My good friends decided to wait until I could make it before they celebrated the birthday that we were supposed to have on Saturday. Well, there was a bit more to it. They all got trashed and decided to wait. See what happens when I am not there to keep them straight?

Anyway, I tried. Really I did. I went to bed early last night. I sat at work all day today eating Advil. I would give my headache until 5:15 p.m. when I headed to the get together before I would cave in and take yet another Relpax.

5:15 came. It hurt. It hurt like the dickens. Just one little tablet and by the time I arrived 45 minutes later I was pain free and quite good company. I felt they deserved more than a pathetic miserable headache sufferer. Sometimes I feel horrible complaining and when somebody asks about my migraines, I tend to change the subject.

Being the youngest of 8 children, I was always labeled a "BABY". So I am real careful not to complain or whine. Nobody wants to hear it.

Above are some facts on Relpax. It is not a narcotic pain killer.