Operation Spring Breeze

I use Secret deodorant in the "Spring Breeze" scent. I hope I can still use it after I have watched the movie "Sarah's Key."  The young girl in the film (Sarah) kept hold of this key during the round-up because she needed desperately to get back to her home in Paris and retrieve what she had left locked in a hidden closet there.

I am thinking the smell of the breeze was not so great after the French police round-up of 1942 (code named Operation Spring Breeze) imprisoned several hundred thousand victims in that arena with no fresh air. It had a glass top for crying out loud. It was July. They kept them there for five days before moving them on to internment (concentration) camps.

The United States had internment (or rather, an early form of concentration) camps. Can you figure out when? There was a round up of victims in the U.S. long before Europe decided to "reduce the Jewish population".

In a few days I will come back to the comments and let you know when the U.S. had this type of camp and what it was in the closet that Sarah so desperately needed to get back to. If you already know the answers, go ahead and post them in the comments. I won't mind a bit.

What would you think?

 

I met some family for dinner last evening. Back in the early 90's I lived with my brother. He was divorced but he had his two children often. I grew very attached to them. The youngest turned 25 yesterday. His sister - 30 in April. Sigh. I do not get to see them as often as I would like to.

The rain was relentless. I was in a foreign area. It was dark. I could not see anything. There was fog. I got lost. My daughter still has my GPS even though she got her own for Christmas. Grrr! I never use my phone for finding places.

Anyway! I was late. There was a huge accident right before I arrived that blocked my way. I turned left while the policeman was digging in his trunk. He had traffic stopped coming the other way and they did not know where to go - and I was not waiting any longer.  This was a huge intersection and there were about ten firetrucks and emergency vehicles. Chaos. I just wanted the hell out of there. Sheesh! What a mess the night was. 

I arrived at the upscale restaurant. I had been there before in 2006. Someone else drove, and it had been daylight when we arrived.

The above photo was on the menu. It was not me ordering this. The girl was young. From Pakistan. She was a friend of my nephew. She was expecting a grilled cheese sandwich! It was not until I looked at the menu again that I saw "two fabulous soups". LOL!

 

This is what was brought to the table. Oh my gosh, it was funny. She was so confused. She sent it back and ordered something else. She said she cannot stand nacho cheese dip or anything like that.She does like a grilled cheese SANDWICH, though. Can you eat cheese like this? No bread - no crackers - no chips. The waiter said she should have tried it. It was delicious. I don't know.  I told her it looked a little bit like squash soup. I guess it was cheese soup. It looked cool, though - so I snapped a picture.

It was a delightful evening - regardless of the horrible weather.

Insert loud shrill sound here.

Well. Sigh. You know I love a good comedy. I like to laugh. I also like to learn. I like to be informed. Now, what I do with that information can change my life or way of thinking.

War is ugly. Reality is ugly. Mostly I use movies to escape. Sitting at a desk or in a wiring closet with my hands elbow-deep inside the guts of technology can be somewhat boring and tedious.

Movies can take me away.

I hate movies that make me want to vomit. But, I need to be informed.

This movie informs as well as makes you sick.

I would hope it disturbs you, even if you do not have a daughter.

Whistles are meant to get somebody's attention. A loud, shrill sound.

The Whistleblower.

K Bolkovac.

Not a very nice company.

Kathryn.

Ben also blew the whistle before K.

You can read for yourself. You may want to skip it and remain oblivious. It's like you know it is out there but you don't have the time, resources or energy to do anything about it. That's okay. I'm not certain I am going to do anything, yet. I am not positive what I can do. Yet. I need to absorb. I need to buck up. I need to be stronger than I am right now. It scares me. It bothers me.

The Internet is great. I can start right here at home.

In Ohio.   The state that I live in.   Right here.   In my own backyard.

A little sunshine

Here is a little bit of sunshine to hold you over until I get back into the habit of blogging. This is one of my great/grand nephews.

We did get the snow. Friday night. Big beautiful white fluffy stuff that was quite light to shovel. It was heavy and wet by  yesterday and mostly gone this morning. And here comes the rain.

Sigh, I guess we need it.

I will finally wish for snow. It is SO ugly outside. This photo is from last year. January is plodding along. It has been a wet and messy one. I don't know if I want snow (because of the shoveling), but the dogs do like to run and play in it and that always lifts my spirits. 

I especially like the snows that cancel school. For some reason that makes me feel all warm and cozy inside. To stay home on a "school day". I always feel like cooking a nice thick soup or a big meal and making the house all warm and cozy and smelling good. Sigh. I'm not sure we will use ANY snow days this year. The powers that be will probably go back to "we only need 3 calamity days" again.

The rain yesterday caused a lot of aches in my arms and wrists yesterday. Mostly on the right side. For some reason I did not want to take any Advil (I take so much), so I spent all day rubbing my wrist and upper arm. Then the winds came. I was half afraid to take the smaller dogs outside. They are quite funny, though. Cheech took off after a plastic bag that was blowing down the alley. He must have thought it was some strange and dangerous critter. I laughed and told him to "Get it, Cheech! Get it!" He gets all excited and jumps towards it but is never brave enough to actually go right up to it. The boxer? He's clueless.

Tinkering

Tinker, Tailor,

Soldier, Sailor,

Rich Man, Poor Man,

Beggar Man, Thief.

Somebody shoot me if I ever have to sit through another showing of "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy".

I'm still here

Just floating around in a bubble. This looks like I am drunk, but I have not imbibed for some time. And I certainly did not get inebriated when I did.

I guess my only excuse is laziness. I have been busy at work but not so much at home. Sigh. Not certain what I have been doing. Regardless, the time certainly did slip away from me.

Not much to report. No movies. The boxer took a hissy fit for a couple of days and kept running off from me. He must have had a grudge against me about something. We got a bit of snow and the dogs are loving it. I do not care for shoveling the stuff, but I am glad to see a change from the rain.

Since blogger is determined to let me know that "hissy" is not spelled correctly, I had to go and look up the phrase. I read that it may have derived from the word hysterical or it may be that the one having the fit hisses. That made me smile.

Where did she go?

There once was a lady who wrapped gifts like this. Where did she go?

Some big discussions in technology in educ@tion today. BY0T (Bring your 0wn technology). Symbols placed on purpose to thwart search engines. Do you have children/grandchildren in sch00l? Almost every child over the age of fourteen (perhaps younger) has a cellular phone. Most have a "smart" phone.

It is true that the sch00l network can block them from access, but most have G3/G4 for connecting. What do you do then? Most of us know that we do not need wireless to gain access to e-mail with our phones. How do tea@chers handle this in the cl@ssr00m? It is kind of a mixed bag right now. You have some who sit back and say "I don't worry about it. They signed an AUP (acceptable user p0licy)."  Does that really cover it, though? Others are fraught with worry. Some are creating an entirely new AUP just to cover the new technology.

Then there are devices such as my n00k. It is small enough (even with the case) to fit in my purse. Most of the schools are issuing netb00ks to $tudents to use. Much cheaper than iPads.

And why does my manager keep posting his "cel phone" number when he is out of the office? It is not a celluloid device. It is a cellular device! Cel is a short name for celluloid. Sigh. Oh, dear. I think I am getting cranky. Time to find my pillow.

Wait! I watched War Horse. Very good. My daughter watched it with me, she said the book went into much more detail and emotions that were not captured in the film.  Did you like the book/movie Black Beauty? The book War Horse is told from the point of view of the horse. (Not certain the entire book is, though). I liked the movie. I did not need tissues.

Educated Idiots

This article speaks for itself. You can have an education, but you can still be an idiot.

Movies:

50/50 - I really liked this one. Except for Rogen. I do not like Rogen. In anything. Oh, crap. I have to take that back. He did the voice of Paul. I liked Paul. Grrrr.

Yikes!

I think this photo was taken at the zoo gift shop in Pittsburgh back in '07. Not certain. Oh, that is my daughter in that snake's mouth. 

Speaking of teeth. We were, weren't we? I had a molar pulled Thursday. I have not had a tooth extraction since the late 70's when I had my wisdom teeth pulled out. In the chair. That's right sissies. No nitrous oxide for us back in those days. The dentist used a C-clamp and pliers. My mouth remained swollen as if I had a wad of chewing tobacco in there for a week.

I was a bit nervous with not knowing what to expect. Psshh! It was nothing! Two things bothered me. The first was the sound as they pulled it out. Talk about fingernails on a chalkboard. Grrr! And about three hours later was the intense itching as the Novocaine wore off. That did not last long and I barely needed Advil. I took it more as a precaution than as a pain reliever. I had no pain to speak of.

I am a tad bit worried about the sinus cavity that the tooth root was close to. The dentist told me not to blow my nose for two days. Okay. The dental instructions said not to swish for two days. Can I brush?! How can you brush without swishing a bit of water around up there?

Eh, I made it through. Other than that "weird" empty feeling - things are fine. It is healing quickly and I am hoping that this resolves a lot of (what I hope were related to this tooth) problems over the past years. That upper right region of my sinus/gums/ear has had it's share of misery.

The finger is healing. The tooth (or, rather gum) is healing. My body must be in some kind of "what the hell is happening to us" mode. It must be working overtime healing my wounds.  That is a lot of stuff going on in the body. I think I need to rest all week-end and take it easy and let my body heal. Movies are waiting. Also hovering  ominously close is :   Angry Birds - yes...dammit! I have become slightly addicted. I keep picking the Nook up and playing "ONE.MORE.LEVEL."!!!  OMG! There is a web site titled "one more level". Oh, God. Don't go there.

I requested and received one of these for Christmas. Drat. I just realized I got a silver one. I love this blue. It works just like it says. I did knock it over on my desk and I have to admit a little drop of coffee did appear on the desk, but not like the usual splash or flood of coffee. Yes, I spill my coffee a lot. I knock things over on my desk a lot because I am not organized and I heap things onto my desk and after this many years I doubt that I am going to change.

The other day I had this coffee mug with me returning from a doctor appointment out of town. It was full of luke warm coffee since it was after my appointment. I had an early one so I had not eaten anything and the coffee went down pretty well. I texted my daughter (before leaving the doctor) to meet me for breakfast. She agreed.

I passed an exit and it was a good 8 to ten miles until the next one when BAM! Traffic stopped on the interstate. Both lanes. Ah, I figured. An accident. I had seen one on the way to the doctor and I figured the roads were slippery because of some snowfall.

I placed the car in park and looked around. Ugly scenery. Ugly trucks all around me. A GMC in front of me, a huge Ford in back of me. A huge semi on the right side of me. Sigh.

I texted my daughter that I was stopped in traffic and "may" be late.

I played music. I sang. I looked down. Hmm... there is some coffee left, I think. I took a big swig. Not hot, but it tasted fine. I took another. Something solid entered my mouth and went down with the coffee before I had a chance to think.

I about threw up. WTF was THAT!??

I gagged. I coughed. I think I may have spit. I rolled my window down and dumped what was left of the coffee out.

The only thing I can deduce is that perhaps some creamer clogged in the cup's lid. It is a massive lid with just little tiny openings so that it is spill proof. I am supposed to rinse the lid out thoroughly after each use. Well, who has time for that? I am starting to get sick as I type this. And, guess what? I AM drinking coffee. Not out of that mug, though. That is a "to go " mug and I am sitting at home on the computer.

I recovered. I sat in that traffic one hour and fifteen minutes. I want to tell you sitting there on an empty stomach, drinking all that coffee....well, you know. I REALLY had to pee. What in the hell was I going to do? I was getting uncomfortable. I saw two people take their dogs out. Who are all these people driving around at ten o'clock on a week day morning with their dogs? Wow.

What do the people do who sit in traffic for over four to five hours? I guess you just get out, go over the guard rail and into the bushes. Typing this makes me have to pee.

The accident itself was not too bad - injury wise. One person with minor injuries. I am not completely certain why it took so long for them to clear the two lane road. A semi was involved, perhaps he was turned sideways. I saw the van that the semi hit from behind. Smashed his rear end ALL the way up TO the front seat. It looked to be a working van (Not a family van) so it was just equipment that got smashed in the back. It looked horrible.

My sister-in-law was on the scene. She told me later a dog ran out in front of one of the vehicles. Of course I asked about the dog but they were unclear. She thinks it ran on. I told her I think she was the one ambulance that almost hit me. Emergency vehicles had to drive the berm to get around traffic and get to the scene. She laughed and said she did hit the mirror of one truck, but you have to keep going. Tough luck Mr. Truck driver.

I counted at least seven state highway patrol vehicles that passed by on the berm. Two ambulances, one fire truck and one ODOT truck. I told the people at work that vehicle probably had to pick up the dog. They were horrified. I said "Well, a state patrolman isn't going to put the dog in his trunk."  This was before my SIL told me the dog had run on because they didn't see any dog. Maybe she just said that to make me feel better.

When traffic moved I was able to take the next exit and stop in at a Fast Food place and use their restroom. It was 11:30 by this time and I grabbed some food to go and went straight to the office. I missed brunch with my daughter.

My Mom had so many little sayings over the years. Sitting there in that traffic jam brings back one she always said that was a favorite of mine. In the manner of pondering how much easier it is for a guy to go to the bathroom outside than a girl, she would say,  "Handy thing to have on a picnic!" I love you Mom.

Bratz

I told my daughter she looks like one of those "Bratz" dolls in this photo. There was some controversy I recall about the Bratz dolls. Mostly it was how they were not setting a good example for girls.  I also read an article recently written in late 2008 that production would stop because it was actually a Mattel product. The makers of the infamous Barbie doll.

I have no idea if they did stop making them. I no longer have to look for them on the toy shelf. I am not certain that my daughter ever did have a Bratz doll. I recall purchasing one Barbie for her. "Teacher Barbie". Drat! Now I come to find out that version is rare because they sold that doll without panties. Gasp! A teacher with no panties. LOL!

A face.....

....  only a Mother could love. I do. :)

Warmer weather

We received a dusting of snow last night. It is on my daughters' car. Mine is safely tucked away in the garage. Her side of the garage is filled with junk. Don't I hear about that?! Yah. I'll get to it, when I get to it. If you want to park in the garage - YOU clean out that side.

Anyways....I wanted to show a warm picture. From this past summer.

I watched "Robin Hood". The version with R Crowe in it. I liked this version.

If I were the Queen Mother I would have had to smack my youngest son (Prince (King) John) upside the head, though. Then again, I suppose she would have gone to prison. Royalty did not raise their children - servants did. So he was probably a stranger to her, thus she had little control over him.

Ugly feet

My new tablet

I received a card that turns my Nook into a Droid tablet. Works very well. Now, I have a tablet and I can download an app to e-read. Sweet! I am going to be using this device a lot more than I used to. I could never find the time to read a book. Now, I can take the tablet with me to meetings and have access to my messages, the web and the office documents. I could do all that on my phone, but that screen is small.

Oh, and games. My nephew mentioned Angry Birds and since I have never played, I thought I would download and give it a try. It reminds of lobbing bananas at a Gorilla on a city building. An old DOS game that came with Nibbles. That was my favorite. Did not care for Gorilla and I do not care for Angry Birds. I tired of it quickly.

I fell asleep during "Hugo".  Sorry. It rates high up there in the ratings, but I was bored. It could also be that I am not getting enough shut eye. I did have company in and out this past week-end and I fixed a LOT of food. I think I peeled 20 pounds of potatoes. No wonder my wrist hurts.