February 2007 Archives

I am back from PA and I am beat! Mi Mama is doing well. Her surgery was very successful and she got out of the hospital as quickly as possible. She wasn't even there 48 hours. She really hates hospitals. I spent Saturday-Tuesday at her PA home and I think I really helped her out. I kept her on schedule with her meds and kept her fed. It was nearly a full time job trying to keep her from picking up and carrying things or taking unecessary trips down the stairs. That Lady did not want to stay put!

It was really good to come home yesterday. I missed my husband, my cat and my bed.
Home Sweet Home!

Quote of the Day:
The best way to keep children home is to make the home atmosphere pleasant--and let the air out of the tires.
Dorothy Parker (1893 - 1967)

Good News! Mi Mama's surgery is moving forward. It seems that the CT scan showed that the X-Ray images were incorrect. I haven't gotten the full story but the long and short of it is there is nothing to worry about about there will be surgery tomorrow.

This is a real load off. Now we can focus on the task at hand.

In totally unrelated news:
* Flounder and I have a houseguest this week. Flounder's best friend who have seen since our wedding (in blogland we call her Yess ) in May. Not only do we get her wonderful company, but she also loves to cook and we can expect to be well fed. That's the kind of houseguest you always welcome back.

* I have to start researching the subject of my term paper for Sociology. I am thinking of writing about the Shakers. All I really know about them is that I like their furniture, they didn't have sex and they no-sexed their way into non-existance. This is a good starting point right?

* Josie-cat is going bald. Just a little. It seems she really DOES need that very expensive low-allergen food. Only the best for our cat.

Quote of the Day:
I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.
Martha Washington (1732 - 1802)

I just found out that rice does not kill birds and there is no reason not to throw it at weddings. I am really surprised that this is an urban myth. So surprised that I felt compelled to educate my readership.

Am I the only one who believed this?

Quote of the Day:
Fortune can, for her pleasure, fools advance,
And toss them on the wheels of Chance.
Juvenal (55 AD - 127 AD)

We had some snow and ice overnight. In our neightborhood we got about 3-4 inches of heavy icy snow. Our new Fit was also coated in a 1/6 inch of ice. After some shoveling, scrapping and some very fine help from Mr. Snow Plow we made it to work in one piece. Frankly, if Flounder's sense of duty weren't so finely honed, I would home on the couch right now (like most of my co-workers are) enjoying a special snow day off. Damn that Flounder, here I am at work wishing my shoes weren't quite so wet.

Our harrowing trek into the office was nothing in comparison to Mi Mama's adventure. Her place of employment offered to put her up in a local motel to ensure her ability to get to work this morning. Since her kids are grown, and her life is nothing if not flexible, she agreed. So she heads out to her car this morning to find it coated in ice and despite much searching there was not an ice scrapper to be found. I am convinved my Gma probably "borrowed" them, but that's besides the point. What was Mi Mama to do? She went into her handbag looking for a tool to scrape with and pulls out...a comb. I am not quite sure how yet, but she managed to de-ice her car with a comb this morning.

What a woman!

Quote of the Day:
Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody may be looking.
H. L. Mencken

Although the 5th Harry Potter film and 7th (and final) book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows are both hitting the streets this coming July, they are not the only genre-bending entertainment that will be available.

On July 23rd, our good friend Jasper Fforde is finally bringing us another crack-like hit of the adventures of Thursday Next. As much as I have enjoyed the two books he has written in his Nursery Crime series, it will be really good to have Thursday back. So put in for some vacation time, Kids. You are going to need some time off.

Quote of the Day:
Growth purely for its own sake is the philosophy of cancer.
-Jasper Fforde, Lost in a Good Book

Did you see this headline today in the post?

Metrorail Car's Trial Run Lets Short Riders Get a Grip

No? I know. Once you heard the shocking news about the bottle blond everyone loved to hate, the news day was all over for you. Thanks to Ms. Write Again Soon, I did read the article. It is of special interest to me since I am a short Metro rider who has trouble reaching the overhead bars found in Metro's train cars. Before reading this article outlining the possible addition of spring loaded handles, I thought the only option available to me was the Transtrap. You may recall that back around Christmas time I expressed an intestest in receiving this handy friend of the height impared commuter. This device hooks over the horizontal bars that are attached to the ceiling of the train and gives you a loop to grasp when you can reach, or don't want to trouch the bar. When Santa didn't deliver this item to me in my stocking back in December, I broke down and bought one for myself.

I tried my Transtrap "Original" (P.S. these things are on a serious sale right now!) on an uncrowded train this evening, and I was pretty pleased with the results. I will say that the pictures on the Transtrap site don't represent the height of the bars on our Metro system. The bars shown are so much lower, the individuals photographed can hold their arms at a far more comfortable angle then I was able to on the Metro system. Their was also a certain amount of swaying that came along with the hook rocking a bit on the rail. I probably won't use the hook again just for fun, but in a crowded train where there is nothing to hold on to but my fellow man, I will surely use the Transtrap and be happy for it.

My Transtrap experience aside, I am very glad that Metro officials are finally taking height into account when they design train interiors. I am all for having lots of space for wheel chairs and work animals, but us shorties need a hand too.

In Other News This Evening:

Quote of the Day:
“What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise”
Oscar Wilde

Flounder and I have embarked on an intreptid experiment this week. As of last night, we have given up TV for a week.

Why?
Because I watch a LOT of TV. This means a spend a lot of time sitting on the couch. I started to wonder, if I didn't get sucked into the TV each evening, how would I spend my time? Would I still be on the couch? Would the laptop take the TVs place? Would I do more house work? Read more? Do my homework sooner? Work on projects? I thought the question was worth investigating.

The Rules
Prohibited: Any sort of programing that is consummed via the television set.
Allowed: Video content shown on the web or saved on our computers or iPods. DVDs are fair game but only when viewed on something other than a TV. Radio and recorded music is totally within bounds. Movies in theater are fair game. The internet in all it's glory is also allowed. The TiVo will capture the shows we are missing to be viewed later as needed.

Day 1
Last night on the way home from work, Flounder and I agreed to give up TV for a week. I suggested the scheme, and was surprised how quickly he agreed. Since he was so onboard we decided to start right away. I think it is fair to say that the clock started at 6:00 Tuesday the 6th.

Despite the fact that Veroncia Mars is on Tuesday nights, going with out TV for the evening wasn't hard. I was in class from 7:00 pm - 9:40 pm, so I was pretty distracted for the majority ofthe evening. Upon arriving home I was surprised how quiet the house was before I realized that the TV was off. I chatted with Flounder, checked my email and the news headlines on the laptop and turned in. Not hard at all.

Day 2 (Morning)
We will often get through the morning with out turning on the television. This morning I did have to stop myself from turning on the TV. I can forget things pretty quickly, and our new project is no exception. Once I remembered and moved on with my morning I didn't miss the TV, though I did take note that the red TiVo light was on -- Buffy was being recorded.

Quote of the Day:
I think that parents only get so offended by television because they rely on it as a babysitter and the sole educator of their kids.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone, South Park, Death, 1997

Now and then I get a little obsessed with baby names. Ever since my cousin named her beautiful baby girl Trystan, (a boys name with an unecessary "y") I have been rehashing the names I would consider for my own future children. While on a baby name site, I come across some truly terrible names inflicted upon celebrity children:

Bob Geldof (of Live8 fame) & Paula Yates named their children:
Fifi-Trixibelle Geldof
Peaches Honeyblossom Geldof
Little Pixie Geldof

Really awful right? Those poor kids. I really hope they are all female.

Rob Morrow & Debbon Ayer named their daughter:
Tu Simone Ayer Morrow (That's right her name is Tu Morrow!)

Criminal!

And then there is Penn & Emily Jillette's daughter:
Moxie Crimefighter Jillette

I mean really? REALLY? I mean they could have given her another name to fall back on like Jane or Anne of something. It blows my mind.

Quote of the Day:
Good will, like a good name, is got by many actions, and lost by one.
Lord Jeffrey

On the way to the Metro this morning, a gentleman who introduced himself as "Santiago" politely asked me "If I give you my phone number, will you let me take you to dinner sometime?" This marks the first time a stranger has come on to me since I became a married woman. It was frankly a relief to be able to thank the man and inform him that I am married. He courteously backed off, returning to his watching friend. I would probably have been more entertained by the whole encounter but I am moody today and not entertained by much of anything.

I have PMS. The kind of PMS that found me under a blanket on the couch last night wanting nothing for dinner but milk and buttery toast. The kind that had me tearing up while listening to the radio this morning. The kind that ensures it will be a rocky, roller coaster of a day.

At times like this I think first of my poor Flounder and how he will have to put up with me. Poor Man.

Quote of the Day
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction."
E. F. Schumacher