November 2003 | Main | January 2004
December 31, 2003
More Predictions for 2004...
Ghost of a Flea will be in the next Cheeky Girls Video. He will be a .... Cheeky Boy!!! And the first Nekkid Cheeky Boy!!!
Kevin at Wizbang will get his own Reality TV Show - Blogging Through Life and Making Big Money.
Grouchy Old Cripple will get to go on a 2 month long trip around the world to scuba dive in the most interesting waters on earth.
Jim, and the rest of his family, will all get flu shots in 2004.
Posted by Beth at 7:56 PM | Comments (1)
Predictions for 2004
Many of you may not realize that I have this incredible 'Second Site Sight'.
Yes, I can see the future.
Only one day a year do I reveal the future to other human beings.
This is that day.
Drum roll, please...
John of Argghhh!! will collect more weapons. He will also buy his wife a new car.
Pam, Drowning at 2 foot sea level, will become a successful stripper, and create new nude animations on the side.
LeeAnn, of The Cheese Stands Alone fame, will see a shrink, and her multiple personality disorder will add 3 new personalities.
Eric, the ex-Marine at Straight White Guy, will travel to Kansas.
Jack, of Random Fate, will move to France, and his brown-eyed girl will soon follow.
Helen, our Everyday Stranger, will have dramatic changes in her life. (yeah, I know, duh!) She will meet someone entirely new, Mr. X, and will fall hopelessly in love with him - only this time, he loves her so much back that he takes her away to a chalet somewhere in the Alps, and she doesn't even have to get a job, unless she wants to.
Rob, our favorite Acidman, will get an agent, and will pre-sell his book for $200,000.
Brainstorming's DC, will successfully quit smoking on March 18th, 2004, and she will remain smoke-free forever after. (Quitting takes practice, I think I quit 20 or 30 times before it stuck, and that was 18 years ago).
The lovely Rachel will start posting again. Yahoo!
Beth's Contradictory Brain will be soothed with Nerdstar's return in 2004.
Jed and Owen of Boots and Sabers will go in on a lottery ticket together and win the whole thing - only it will be the first drawing after someone wins the Big Jackpot.
Lovely Joanie will have really fantastic luck for all of 2004 and all her dreams will come true!
Chris Muir will have his comic strip, Day by Day, syndicated, and start making loads of money on Day By Day Calendars.
The State of Hawaii will extend Venomous Kate's yard 1,000 feet by bringing in 1 Billion buckets of sand. And that asshole who made rude comments to her after the big storm will find that his fingers can no longer type. He will have to make comments with his toes.
Heather will ride a bike from Maine to San Diego.
Key Monroe will get a new job as a radio sexologist. She will become more famous than Dr. Ruth. Key will also get off of Blogspot and onto MT!!
That's all for now. More later. If you would like me to predict your future for 2004, leave a comment!
Posted by Beth at 6:58 PM | Comments (4)
Eric is Redecorating, Too!
This is soooo cool
Straight White Guy has redecorated his pad!
I love the new glassware!
Posted by Beth at 6:30 PM
Sgt. Hook has 50,000 visitors
How cool is that! Congrats toSgt Hook!
Posted by Beth at 4:27 PM | Comments (2)
Updated Update by the House Elf to SWWBOAW (At Work)
DobbyJohn is tired. DobbyJohn also empathizes with wizards who make a living painting houses who have arthritis. DobbyJohn needs a drink.
There are no major offending white spots. DobbyJohn is now going to let the paint dry to see all the spots he didn't do so well. There are probably many, so DobbyJohn will not make his drink too strong.
DobbyJohn also thinks that SWWBO should not get too used to reports like this when she works and sets tasks for poor DobbyJohn. Or DobbyJohn might find wizard to cause SWWBO to give DobbyJohn clothes!
No! No! DobbyJohn did not paint nekkid! That was DobbyJohn's ancestors who ran around nekkid and painting themselves blue.
Posted by John at 3:53 PM | Comments (6)
Update...
The House Elf declares an end to major painting operations. In an unprecedented blitz, DobbyJohn overran the great white expanses in under 4 hours.
There are however, pockets of resistance remaining.
She Who Will Be Obeyed will no doubt demand better performance from DobbyJohn in the hall than Rumsfeld has achieved in Iraq. And if Rummy was facing SWWBO, we'd be gone by now.
Posted by John at 2:04 PM
While Beth goofs off at work, the House Elf is busy...
DobbyJohn, the House Elf, is busy painting. Busy busy busy. Paint paint paint.
The story so far:
Posted by John at 12:12 PM | Comments (6)
Time to submit your Rosters
To Amish Tech Support's annual Dead Pool.
It's also nice to throw some money into the pot so that when I win, I can spend it!!!
Posted by Beth at 6:24 AM
December 30, 2003
Warplanes?
Since when do we call any kind of plane a warplane? Damn, Reuters is fricking weird! My Way - News
I thought they were called fighter jets!
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The skies above New Year's Eve revelers in New York, Las Vegas and some other U.S. cities will be off-limits to certain aircraft and patrolled by warplanes as part of increased vigilance for terror attacks, the Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday.
Somehow, I suspect that no one in the Department of Homeland Security used the heretofor unknown word "warplane". I betcha it's them Reuters folks who think all Americans are 'warmongers'?
The frickin' Reuter's writer goes on to say:
The United States blames Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organization for the deaths of nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001, when hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.
Hmmm - we blame bin Laden's outfit, eh? As if they had not already taken credit!! Geeze, Louise. Who pays Reuters? I say, cut them off!
Then, to further clarify what they believe:
Warplanes are often on patrol or on standby in key areas of the country, like the eastern corridor from New York to Washington, when the alert level is raised to orange.
Ends up, Tom Ridge said this:
"We will have in play ... not only temporary flight restrictions over cities but we will have aviation patrolling the skies and on alert," Ridge said on CBS's "Early Show."
Seems that the 'warplanes' term strictly belongs to Reuters.
Indeed
sorry Glen. It works.
Posted by Beth at 9:24 PM | Comments (1)
Damn it, LeeAnn!
I don't have the time it takes to play with this thing - I have woodwork to mask.
LeeAnn, stop entertaining me!!
Posted by Beth at 9:09 PM | Comments (1)
When there is an English Translation
I am going to buy this guy's book.
PARIS - Reporter Alain Hertoghe's book accused the French press of not being objective in its coverage of the U.S.-led war in Iraq (news - web sites). His newspaper fired him. The book, "La Guerre a Outrances" (The War of Outrages), criticizes the French reporting for continually predicting the war would end badly for the U.S.-led coalition. "Readers can't understand why the Americans won the war," Hertoghe said in a telephone interview. "The French press wasn't neutral."
Read more here: Journalist Lambasts French War Coverage
Posted by Beth at 6:50 PM | Comments (1)
The aftermath of Christmas, or what happened to my bank account!
I'm such a dolt. I waited until the last minute to buy my sister and her family gifts (well, certificates, really - they live in Buffalo, New York). I talked to my nephew to get the important info as to where everyone shops, so I could get appropriate certificates.
My sister shops at JC Penney's, it seems, so I went online and ordered an electronic gift certificate to her. After a day, I never got a receipt in my email, so I went back to the JC Penney web site and ordered her a real live gift certificate that JCPenney's would mail to her for the reasonable mailing price of $15.00 - what a rip. But it was at that point two days before Christmas and I thought, what the hell, maybe she will get it on time.
I must have hit enter twice.
The day after Christmas I got 2 receipts from JC Penney's and one electronic gift certificate.
At least I can use the electronic gift certificate.
But my sister will think it odd when she gets two gift certificates (each mailed at a cost of $15.00, mind you).
I don't mind spending all that on Anne, she just bought a new house, and I'm sure she can use the spending money. But, I will never, ever buy anything on-line from JC Penney again.
Except to spend that damned $50 electronic gift certificate.
I am a dolt.
Posted by Beth at 6:50 AM
Lileks has a great column today
Please, go read The Bleat. Even if you are an anarchist, Democrat or other-worlder, you must read The Bleat today.
"...we live in an era of non-contiguous information streams. I believe one thing; someone else believes another, and the bedrock assumptions are utterly contradictory.
Posted by Beth at 6:41 AM
December 29, 2003
Joanie tells a great joke!
Go read Da Goddess: Just Humor Me.
You will be happy you did.
Posted by Beth at 6:29 PM
Something new for me to worry about when traveling...
They're back: bloodthirsty bedmates - bedbugs.
Like I don't have enough to worry about when I'm traveling for work - now there appears to be a huge problem with bedbugs.
Posted by Beth at 1:28 PM | Comments (1)
This is the best week at work!
It's Blue Jeans week! I love being able to get up in the morning and not have to think about what to wear to work. I love it! I love it, I love it! (kicking right leg in air now).
I sang my 'I'm so happy it's blue jeans week' song this morning in the house - you can ask John.
The rest of the year we are nice business casual or sometimes just business.
I love Blue Jeans week!
Posted by Beth at 9:00 AM | Comments (1)
December 28, 2003
Redecorating ....
John and I spent most of today working on getting the front hall and the hallway prepared for painting. We had some serious foundation work done (the house, not me!) last summer, and we were told to wait 6 months before repairing cracks in the walls and ceilings. Well, it is now time to start fixing things up.
Yesterday, we took all the pictures and other things off the walls and John started repairing all the cracks and holes and stuff. He continued with that today. I have visited the Sherwin Williams Paint Store so often that they gave me a discount card today, thankfully!
We finally decided to paint the old woodwork in our house - which has turned a kind of yellowish color because it is so old. Anyway, after looking at a ton of paint chips, going online to see what our colors look like together and one mistaken purchase (I did that - got wrong color), we ended up with the paint and the base coat thing for the wood and all the other stuff we need.
Tomorrow, after work, we will mask off all the woodwork, and start painting.
Mind you, this is only the front entry and the hallway - we still have dining room, living room, kitchen, and at least 2 bedrooms to go. Oh, and 2 bathrooms, too.
This is gonna take a long time. Neither of us love doing this. But I do know we will be really happy to have it all look nice in the end. At least I am pretty sure we will be happy!
Posted by Beth at 6:50 PM | Comments (5)
December 27, 2003
I cooked something new tonight
And it was good. My sister-in-law gave me a cookbook for Christmas - one of those cookbooks that church ladies put together. I love those kind of cookbooks, because I know that real live normal people have tried these recipes and found them acceptable.
I made Sherried Chicken tonight - pretty easy and extremely tasty!
If anyone is interested, here is the recipe:
Preheat oven to 350
Chicken Breasts or other chicken pieces (I used 3 large boneless breast halves)
2 tablespoons flour that is salted and peppered.
Equal parts olive oil and butter for sauteing.
1 teaspoon crushed rosemary
1 can artichoke hearts
1 cup of sliced mushrooms (canned works just fine)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 to 1 cup sherry.
Dredge the chicken in flour and saute in the olive oil/butter mixture until browned. Remove the chicken to a flat casserole dish - I used a 9 X 13 pyrex dish.
Place the artichoke hearts around the chicken.
add the rosemary, onion, mushrooms, chicken broth and sherry to the olive oil/butter mix and stir unti thickened - you may want to add a wee bit of flour.
Pour this mixture over the chicken and artichoke hearts.
Place in 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until chicken is tender.
This is very good - you could serve over rice or pasta unless you are watching the carbs.
Posted by Beth at 7:55 PM | Comments (2)
I'll never eat soft-serve icecream again
And it is all Grouchy Old Cripple's fault
Posted by Beth at 6:15 PM | Comments (4)
Some of us just don't have any taste...
I admit it. I need help. I need help in the worst way.
Last summer, we had the long put-off foundation work done to our house. When they finished jacking up the house and filling in the holes, they told us to wait 6 months before repairing all the cracks in the walls, ceilings and basement floor.
John and I agree that it is now time to start the interior repairs.
This house was built in 1960 or '61. It is a ranch style house with a walk-out basement. We have 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, living room, dining room and kitchen on the street level floor. We have 1 very large bedroom, 1 bath, a den w/wet bar (now better known as John's collection of guns), and a large unfinished area in the basement.
This house is due for some serious redecorating. I have been browsing different sites, such as Martha Stewart Color Palette from Sherwin-Williams - even though I'm sure that Martha is the debil,
Choosing the Right Paint Color, Tips for home decorating, design, ideas, House & Home, and Behr.com Explore Color.
I actually took a pillow from my sofa to Sherwin Williams and tried to pick a few colors that 'pop' with the colors in the pillow. I'm not really sure what the hell 'Pop" means, but I ended up with about 5 different color palattes.
I brought them home to show John.
And John, of course, said - pick whatever you like, I have no idea how to do this. I have no preference at all.
So I picked a palette.
A bit later in the day, we needed to go to Home Depot to get a few things for the weather station that I gave John for Christmas. I stopped by their paint display. They had a nice pamphlet with examples in them. I showed John an example of colors close to the palette I had selected. He liked them, but he really really really liked a different picture, and started discussing how we could make the dining room work with that green and put in a pilaster between it and the living room so my original green would work there.
The problem being, the green that John loves so much is not in my palette. So, now I have to start all over.
Arghhh!!! I need help. I may very well send Joanie a roundtrip ticket to come here and help me!!!
Posted by Beth at 5:21 PM | Comments (3)
Acidman has the right of it
We are all going to die. Can't get around that - go read: Gut Rumbles: use your head. In fact, read everything he has written today - good stuff. And I hope his mama makes it ok through her next round of chemo.
Posted by Beth at 6:57 AM | Comments (1)
Petey, the wonder horse
Is the pretty little horse looking at you up there. He is a bit of a stinker, having bucked me off more times than I can count on two hands. Part of the problem is that he has this awful thing called Equine Uveitis. He is blind in his left eye. And it is downright tiring riding him, because he needs a ton of attention and attending to - and I am not the good horse mommy I should be, because I will ride Willy before I ride Petey because Willy is just a lot of fun to ride, while Petey is a lot of work.
Don't get me wrong, Petey is a wonderful horse, he will follow me anywhere in the pasture or paddock, and he has yet to trip over a log in the woods or run into a sapling. He is best if I can get someone else to ride Willy, because they are stable mates, and Petey is much more secure around Willy.
I think that Pam made an excellent choice among all our critters for my banner. I'll think of Petey every time I see it, and hopefully, saddle him up more often.
Posted by Beth at 6:29 AM | Comments (2)
December 26, 2003
Amazing, beautiful, incredible
Pam had Madfish Willie redesign my site for me. It was Pam's gift to me! Isn't it beautiful? It was a total surprise to me! I can't get over how cool it is! And, most incredibly of all, it is Pam's gift to me - Pam, one of my very favorite bloggers, did this for me. I am well, almost, speechless with gratitude and happiness!
Both Pam and Madfish did a fricking fantastical job on the design. It's perfect!
Thank you Pam . If there is ever anything I can do for you....!!!!
Posted by Beth at 5:59 PM | Comments (6)
France
Yahoo! News - France finds no evidence to support US scare over Air France flights
An anti-terrorist investigator told AFP that there were "insufficient elements to justify opening a judicial inquiry."
He said the US intelligence given to the French counter-espionage service DST, based on wiretaps and other sources, had focused on one name that US authorities thought might be tied to Al-Qaeda.But checks showed that the individual in question, a Tunisian man with a pilot's licence, was still in Tunisia, not France, and that he was not in French anti-terrorist files.
I'll betcha that Saddam was not in French anti-terrorist files, too - in fact, shouldn't those files be called terrorist files?
Posted by Beth at 10:59 AM
December 24, 2003
No more Christmas bitching
It's pretty much here now, and I'm running all over the place trying to remember where I hid presents the last few months. This is seriously silly.
Merry Christmas to all of you!
Posted by Beth at 10:00 AM | Comments (3)
December 23, 2003
Sam's sick of Christmas, too
And she probably really has better reasons than I do! Sam, hope things go better for you.
Posted by Beth at 7:13 PM | Comments (1)
Merpy Chriskwanzukkah
I like that! I wish I had read Madfish Willie's Cyber Saloon: Merpy Chriskwanzukkah earlier today, then my co-worker could not have bitched so!
Merpy Chriskwanzukkah
Posted by Beth at 6:48 PM
Bobo the monkey stars in
Chris Muir's latest:
I'm sure this is a nod to LeeAnn's Bobo!
Posted by Beth at 6:03 PM | Comments (1)
Well, I do tend to be a bit overdramatic
Thanks to LeeAnn for the link!
Posted by Beth at 5:53 PM
More Chrismas Woes
Well, at least I'm not the only one who is sick of Christmas, Geoffrey has it worse that we do!
Dog Snot Diaries: Christmas sucks
Posted by Beth at 5:32 PM
10 Things I hate about Christmas
10. Other people send us Christmas cards - therefore making me feel guilty because I had not the foresight or time to send Christmas cards to anyone.
9. Somebody will give me an unexpected Christmas present - therefore making me feel guilty because I had not the foresight to buy that person a present.
8. Someone at work or in the Blogosphere will brag about finishing all their Christmas shopping, wrapping all their gifts and getting those gifts mailed out on time to arrive for Christmas - therefore making me feel guilty because I have yet to even wrap a gift, much less get it in the mail in time for Christmas.
7. Other people manage to find and fit into Christmas sweaters - therefore making me feel guilty that I have no idea what happened to the several I think I had at one time and making me doubly guilty because I'm pretty sure they would be too small for me anyway!
6. We will be invited to a lovely Christmas party in a home that is beautifully decorated and uncluttered - therefore making me feel guilty because my home is neither beautifully decorated or uncluttered and all the walls need painting.
5. Because it is the last quarter of the fiscal year for my company, I had to travel 7 weeks out of the last 9 weeks so we could make our numbers - therefore making me feel guilty because I'm not spending enough time at home.
4. I really hate driving to see relatives on Christmas, I want to be at my house with my family - and just thinking that way makes me feel guilty.
3. One of the guys at work objected to my saying, Merry Christmas - he said I should say Happy Holidays, in case he was Jewish or Muslim - I told him that I know he is Christian, and to just live with it - I tell my Jewish co-worker Happy Hanukkah and even the Hindus I work with told me Merry Christmas - arggghhhh!!!! He wants me to feel guilty.
2. I have to go into work on Friday - therefore making me guilty because we have to leave my inlaw's house early Friday morning..
1. Because liberals are trying to secularize Christmas, and take all meaning away from it. Therefore trying to make me feel guilty because I believe in God and His Son.
Posted by Beth at 5:25 PM | Comments (3)
December 22, 2003
It's time for
Snooze Button Dreams: Bestofme Symphony, 3rd performance
Go, read, enjoy
Posted by Beth at 4:39 PM
Yes, I loved this character
 | Eowyn If I were a character in The Lord of the Rings, I would be Eowyn, Woman of Rohan, niece of King Theoden and sister of Eomer. In the movie, I am played by Miranda Otto. Who would you be? |
Posted by Beth at 7:46 AM | Comments (1)
December 21, 2003
Stole this from John
Cause I really like it!
Posted by Beth at 7:59 PM | Comments (2)
Christmas Cookies.
Mom could not cook, but boy, could she bake Christmas Cookies! Every year, a few days before Christmas, we would have an all day bake-a-thon. We made Spritz cookies, Bourbon Balls, Pecan Puffs, Almond cookie cutter cookies, gingerbread, and my Grandmother's famous Rock cookies. If anyone wants the recipes for any of the above, let me know. I will warn you, though, the Rock Cookie recipe calls for a box of this, and a box of that - and the recipe makes at least 12 dozen cookies.
The last few years, I have been working a lot, and traveling. It's harder and harder to keep up the Christmas traditions. I'm pretty much down to doing Pecan Puffs and Bourbon Balls. Just finished the Bourbon Balls - yes, Eric and Pam, you will get some!
I am waiting for the butter to get soft so I can make my Pecan Puffs (Balls) - they are yummy, yummy, yummy. Melt in your mouth yummy.
The Spritz cookies, though I love them, are pretty time consuming because I have always felt the need to decorate them with great precision - using tweezers to place the silver sugar balls, nonpareils and colored sugars.
My son, Andy, has no interest at all in baking cookies - he just wants to eat them, so I guess the now pared-down tradition will disappear after me.
Posted by Beth at 7:52 PM | Comments (5)
Cooking
My mom was a terrible cook. The first Thanksgiving that my mom and dad were married, they had the family over for dinner. Their apartment was so small that they had to put a cardtable in the hallway to seat everyone.
My mom had never roasted a turkey before. She followed all the directions, but the darn thing never browned. Mom went to the pantry, and saw Kitchen Bouquet. Well, it is advertised as a browning sauce, so Mom brushed it all over the turkey. The bird was beautiful, according to Dad. The only problem was that there was no white meat. The Kitchen Bouquet had turned the white meat dark.
Mom never lived that down. She finally learned to cook 6 different meals for dinner - so every Sunday we had roast beef. Mondays were pork chops, Tuesdays meat loaf, Wednesday baked chicken, Thursday was lamb chops with mint jelly. Friday night was always a problem, because my dad really hated fish, and this was prior to Vatican II - so mom and the kids would have tuna salad, and Dad would have grilled cheese.
Saturday nights, Dad took over the cooking and grilled steaks.
Sometimes, Mom would try something different, usually to really bad reveiws.
When Mom and Dad entertained (fairly often, really) she hired a cook. Her name was Frances, and she taught me to bake the best cinnamon pecan rolls on earth. She also taught me about cooking meat and vegetables and making fancy radishes for salads.
So I ended up being a good cook, despite Mom. Thanks, Mom (up in heaven) for hiring Frances!
Posted by Beth at 7:45 PM
Oh, my
Please, go see Peter Pan and be sure to check out his fashion pages.
Peter Pan's Home Page!
This is a very interesting odd different person.
Posted by Beth at 9:26 AM | Comments (1)
Just getting caught up
Traveling for three weeks in a row really slowed down my blog-reading capabilities. I'm just now finding such gems as Margi's definition of blogging, and LeeAnn's giftwrapping job.
Helen is back in the USA.
I missed Jim's anniversary - he says such sweet things to his wife!!
Eric is very good at telling
My own John is whining about Donnie's interview at Jennifer's place.
Pam has her gifts wrapped and sent, but feels kinda sad - I agree with her. However, anytime someone says to me, Happy Holidays, I say to them, Merry Christmas, or if I know they are Jewish, Happy Hannukkah.
And if someone sneezes, I say God Bless You. I refuse to be pc about these things.
I missed out on Sam's new puppy, Ruby - scroll down it's blogspot -(yes, another Ruby, but you can't confuse Sam's Ruby with Sugarmama's Ruby). I was actually really happy to see that Sam's significant other let her get a puppy. I know it means a lot to Sam.
Oh, and Da Goddess has a sick little girl, and one little boy who doesn't like flu shots - may all of them be healthy by Christmas!
I have a lot to do today. More than a lot, so I may not blog much until this evening, but I'm so glad to be home and to have the time to read all of you. Thanks for blogging!
Posted by Beth at 8:19 AM | Comments (1)
December 20, 2003
I am a failed Baby Boomer
I was born in '53 - yeah, I'm supposed to be one of those baby boomers. People love to complain about my generation, like this blog,
Buscaraons:
Yet what's so striking about the boomers on both sides of the Atlantic is how they fleeced everybody. In North America there were the junk bonds, leveraged buyouts, the payment of exorbitant salaries to the CEOs, huge layoffs; in Europe, the fleecing came through the illegal financing of the political parties, ripping off the state agencies, dubuious commissions, etc etc. The result was a meltdown in the stockmarket in the U.S. followed by the saving and loan financial instutitions' bankruptcy. In Europe, it's the ongoing anti-corruption trials.
Damn, I missed every single one of these chances of becoming rich. Every damn one! I never made a ton of money in the market, I never got any ceo exorbitant salaries. But it seems that those a generation or so behind me believe that it is all. . . my . . . fault.
Like I got to pick out which damn year I was born in? Everyone, face it, we so-called boomers who were born after 1951 or so were the younger sister and brother baby boomers to the older baby boomers. By the time we graduated from college, all the older boomers had taken the good jobs, bought their first homes, and entered into politics.
Generations X, Y, and Z, and 1, 2, 3 or whatever really think it is all my fault. Dammit. I'd take responsibility for all kinds of stuff if I had one of those 1/2 million dollar homes that so many of the slightly older boomers managed to get. But I didn't get that stuff, never will.
I am a failed boomer.
Posted by Beth at 6:10 PM | Comments (1)
December 19, 2003
This past trip, I learned these things
No one who was born in Durham knows how to make a proper margarita. However, there are so few people there who were actually born there, you can turn to other sources.
The people there are very nice, but don't worry too much about what they see as unimportant things. For example, I was on the 5th floor of the hotel, and I had to let the water run for 10 to 15 minutes every morning before the hot water got up to that level of the hotel. I asked the front desk clerk if this was normal, and she said, well, yeah, it's been like that for awhile, maybe a year.
A very nice young woman tended bar at the hotel, and I noticed that every time someone ordered a drink, she woud fix half of it and then run over to the Sports Bar and Grill at the other end of the lobby and return with the rest of the drink. I asked her why, and she said, well this bar doesn't have that kind of liquor, so I have to go get it there. Not terribly efficient, but I guess it's just not a big deal to them.
The level of service at the hotel varied from one day to the next. I have a Hilton Honors card, and that is supposed to entitle you to a few perks, like a newspaper ouside your door in the morning. The first week I was there, no newspaper. This past week, I got a newspaper two out of the three mornings I was there. One evening I might have a mint on my pillow, then next, nothing - and I always leave a tip.
The food was not good at the hotel - fast food was better. There was one fast food place that only sold biscuits - and they were fricking fantastic. I think it is called Bisuitworld or Biscuitheaven or something like that. Best place to eat anywhere around that area.
I could not find a bookstore within 10 miles of where I was staying and working, unless you want to count the University bookstore.
But it really didn't matter, as I said, the people I worked with were incredibly great and fun, and everyone else was very nice, just not terribly ept.
Have to go to a fancy Christmas party now. John is all dressed up and looks quite handsome. I'm semi-dressed up, and tired!
Posted by Beth at 6:11 PM | Comments (3)
Finally, I'm home
It's been a long 3 weeks - only 2 1/2 days at home in all that time. My plane got in right around midnight last night, or this morning, and John, dear sweet love of mine, picked me up. He does not like to wait around at airports, who does? But he takes me to and from the airport all the time just because he loves me.
I got up this morning and drove out to the Little Apple (Manhattan, Kansas) to retrieve Andy from KSU for the holidays. On our way home, we stopped at our wonderful veterinarian to pay off anything we owed her before the holidays (Nicki lets us run a tab, we have a lot of critters!). Nicki had Mickey's ashes for us, so I got Mickey, too.
Thru the years, I have had a lot of veterinarians, but Nicki Greene is a precious gift to animals and their humans. She came out to give me a hug because we lost Mickey (a few weeks ago) and this was the first time she had seen me. Honest to God, true tears came to her eyes while we talked about Mickey's last days and how much John had done to make her last days as happy as possible. She is as much a physician for our souls as she is for our pets. Dr. Greene cares as much about her patients' humans as she does her patients. A lot of medical doctors could learn from her.
So now, I have 5 little boxes of pet ashes. Some day, I need to think about where to put the ashes of our best friends. I have thought about throwing a special pot for each one, and putting some kind of likeness on the pot. ( yeah, I have a wheel and kiln, but no time). I don't know. They do deserve better than cardboard boxes.
Posted by Beth at 3:10 PM | Comments (1)
December 18, 2003
Comment spammers
I guess I should have expected this - pharmacy ads in one of my comments.
81.218.208.148
Ban that IP!
Posted by Beth at 4:42 AM | Comments (4)
December 16, 2003
Jack's Second Blog
Jack has decided to have two blogs - one just for political commentary:
The Unrepentant Curmudgeon and of course, Random Fate..
Go and read both. I have spoken, go do what I say!
Posted by Beth at 7:35 PM | Comments (2)
I have worked very hard for 2 days
I finally have a couple of free hours, so I thought I'd surf my favorite blogs. My first stop was LeeAnn's place. And she linked to this.
I have been laughing myself almost sick of it. You must wait until the entire thing is over, but once again. LeeAnn has found the very funniest stuff on the internet and shared it with us.
Posted by Beth at 6:43 PM | Comments (3)
December 14, 2003
damn, damn, damn
The weekend has totally flown by, and though I bought the cookie tins, ingredients, etc., I still have not made my balls. I have to get up at 4:00 am again tomorrow morning so John can take me to the airport, so I won't get them made this weekend after all.
I'm sorry, Eric and Pam. I am a total slug. But I promise they will be mailed next Saturday - 2nd day delivery. Really and truly!
I need a different job. Sigh.
Posted by Beth at 7:12 PM | Comments (8)
Save your job and others
Cheeky Squirrel links to a site that has this very cool code:
It is a web fire escape.
I think I'll add it to my sidebar.
The website is http://weblog.garyturner.net/escape.html
Clever idea. You have the option of going to a spreadsheet or document, if you wish. I like it! It's vewy, vewy sneaky!
Posted by Beth at 4:29 PM | Comments (2)
Nekkid Bloggin' Web Ring
Cheeky Squirrel has been so kind as to start at Nekkid Bloggin' or Bloggin Nekkid or whatever Web Ring. Please go and join, and be sure and let me know, so I can add you to my Congress of Nekkid Bloggers.
Cheeky has a wonderful sense of humour. I have finally had some time to go and peruse his blog, and he did, indeed, make me laugh quite heartily.
I told Cheeky it was ok to use Eric's logo, since I'm paying Eric in Bourbon Balls.
(which I have still not quite made). I may also need to send some to Cheeky Squirrel, as he as worked so hard for our cause!
And, even better, Cheeky makes our Congress of Nekkid Bloggers an international group!!!!!
Posted by Beth at 3:58 PM | Comments (7)
Operation USO Care Package
The USO makes it easy to help out our soldiers. For $25, they will send a care package and a message from you to one of our soldiers overseas.
I'm going to do that right now. Hope some of you will also do so.
Go to http://www.usocares.org/donate
Posted by Beth at 1:42 PM
One must wonder about the sanity of some of these folks!
Here is one of the comments from Howard Dean's Blog for America
"Now more than ever we need Dean as President. He would pardon Saddam, the right thing to do." Posted by Freda Sorce at December 14, 2003 12:24 PM
I bet this makes Howard Dean proud, that he has such supporters!
Update: Another Dean supporter has this to say:
Look- this is great news for us as well. The capture of Saddam means that the resistance can take on a nationalist image. In order for us to win, the Iraqi people must work to defeat the imperialist aggressor mecenaries which we have sent to their country.Let them send home one hundred thousand of our imperailists dead- then the American people will know never to trust a Republican again.
Posted by Invincible Dean at December 14, 2003 12:21 PM
Posted by Beth at 11:33 AM | Comments (6)
Go Read the Corner
They are doing a fantastic job of covering today's events.
The Corner on National Review Online.
And K-LO even mentioned the F word! That has to be a first!
Posted by Beth at 9:37 AM
This is so cute
Got this from Dog Snot Diaries
Barney Bush
Even the President takes part in the video. I love it!
Posted by Beth at 8:22 AM
YES!!!
Hussein Is Captured In a Cellar Near Tikrit.
Posted by Beth at 7:53 AM | Comments (1)
December 13, 2003
Day by Day
Chris Muir now provides code that allows you to have Day by Day on your site. Now I have to figure out how to keep this entry from disappearing into archives after a few days.
Posted by Beth at 7:03 PM | Comments (1)
It's not easy being green
You are Kermit the Frog.
You are reliable, responsible and caring. And you
have a habit of waving your arms about
maniacally.
FAVORITE EXPRESSIONS:
"Hi ho!" "Yaaay!" and
"Sheesh!"
FAVORITE MOVIE:
"How Green Was My Mother"
LAST BOOK READ:
"Surfin' the Webfoot: A Frog's Guide to the
Internet"
HOBBIES:
Sitting in the swamp playing banjo.
QUOTE:
"Hmm, my banjo is wet."
What Muppet are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Well, I suppose it is better than being Miss Piggy!
Thanks to Ghost of a Flea for the link!
Posted by Beth at 6:51 PM
I'm trying to think of another song
so I can fit in the other bloggers I read. Beth's Contradictory Brain just didn't have the right number of syllables to fit in right in the earlier one, and I'm not really sure how to pronounce Tritical, so they were left out, among others. Please don't think I don't love you, I only have limited imagination!
Posted by Beth at 6:44 PM | Comments (8)
These are a few of my favorite blogs
To be sung to the tune of Raindrops and Roses from The Sound of Music.
Chaos and Blackfive and Everyday Stranger,
Electric Venom and Snooze Button Dreams,
The Cheese Stands Alone, and Da Goddess and Pam
These are a few of my favorite blogs.
Cheeky Squirrels weblog and Baldilocks, also,
Misha and Straight White Guy, brainstorming, Calblog,
The Bejus Pundit and Acidman, too
These are a few of my favorite blogs!
When the libs sting, when the media sucks, when I'm feeling sad. . .
I simply browse through all my favorite blogs ..
And then I don't feel so bad!
Posted by Beth at 4:28 PM | Comments (4)
ummm, well, yeah, could be
You are starch. You are rigid, opinionated, hard-
willed and not too friendly about it. You keep
people out of places, or you keep them in, and
without you a lot of things would collapse.
hopefully you'll never have the authority to
burn people at the stake. Sir. Ma'am.
Which Biological Molecule Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Posted by Beth at 2:55 PM
California schools
Pam is absolutely correct. Go read her post about Allah in our schools.
I remember when people were upset that their kids were being forced to dress up like Muslims in a public school. And now, the 9th Circuit Court has upheld this practice.
I can only hope it goes to the Supreme Court.
Kid's in public schools no longer have Christmas vacation, they have Winter Holiday, but the kids can be told dress up like Arabs and pray to Allah in order to learn about Islam.
This makes me crazy.
Completely crazy.
Arggghhhh!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by Beth at 11:03 AM | Comments (2)
sgt hook
Got a new puppy for his family:Mad Max. He is very cute.
Sgt. Hook also has what looks like a wunnerful recipe for Lobster Chowder.
I love lobster. I especially love Maine lobster. We have a client in Bangor, Maine, and I spent a week there a year ago. I ended up really loving Bangor, Maine, too. With luck, I'll go there again in the next few months. The lobster there is plentiful, cheap and incredibly yummy.
I better go make John and I some breakfast, I'm getting hungry.
Posted by Beth at 10:45 AM | Comments (1)
Such a little bit of cheer, ruined by rules
Acidman links to the Sun-Sentinel's story: Orders to kill adopted puppy leave Florida soldiers mourning.
I know that rules are rules, but what would it have hurt for those in command to ignore the rule disallowing a puppy? And to order the puppy killed right before Christmas is just very stupid, venal, dumb, cruel and otherwise uncalled for.
Posted by Beth at 10:33 AM
Added to Blogroll
The Gleeful Extremist was on Blackfive's suggested reading list for the weekend.
He has some cool things over there. I especially appreciate his link to Smeagel's singing debut.
Posted by Beth at 10:23 AM
LeeAnn exercises
You must go and read about LeeAnn's aerobics adventure: the cheese stands alone under the mistletoe: Built For Comfort, Not For Speed.
Once again, she brought the first smile of the day to my face!
Posted by Beth at 10:03 AM | Comments (1)
Home
I'm back home, actually got home very late on Thursday night. My luggage didn't make it back the same day I did this time. I'm just glad it was on my way home that happened. Last winter, my luggage went to Orlando, Florida for 3 days. Hope it enjoyed the sun! I was in Bridgeport, Connecticut. In a blizzard.
I have a lot to do this weekend.
I need to do two weeks worth of travel laundry, for I head out again to North Carolina on Monday morning.
I will bake pecan balls and bourbon balls for Eric. These are his reward for designing the Congress of Nekkid Bloggers logo.
I need to do housework.
I need to spend quality time with John!
and I need to buy a lottery ticket.
Sorry I have not been here to blog much. I can do it a bit from the road, but when I'm at a client site, I often put in 12 hours of work, and by the time I eat something and get back to the hotel, I'm too darn pooped to do anything else.
I wish I had the energy you young bloggers have!
Posted by Beth at 9:25 AM | Comments (4)
December 10, 2003
new IP to Ban!!!!
62.213.67.122
Conmment spammers - ban those IP's!!!!
Posted by Beth at 9:22 PM | Comments (6)
Donnie = Bejus
Donnie is now The Bejus Pundit.
So change your links, and go visit and let him know that he can make it through jump school. Indeed.
Posted by Beth at 8:55 PM | Comments (1)
Well, I'm bloggin' nekkid tonigh
Sometimes, I just can't stand to have anything on. Tonight is one of those nights. It has been a rainy, damp, chilly day here in North Carolina, and I've been cooped up in a basement conference room for 3 days. Couldn't wait to get back to my hotel room, strip and take a nice warm bath. Bra's are so damn constricting!
Sometimes I think I might be too old for this job. Other times, I am scared to death that they are going to figure out that I don't really know anything and they are going to fire my ass! Thank God my clients usually love me and give me high, high ratings. But then, I love working with our clients - I have learned way more from them they do from me.
For example, today, one of the OpenVMS/AIX administrators I have been working with taught me all about something called Warnier/Orr diagrams. It makes a lot of sense, in fact, I have made outlines like that just as a logical way of thinking, but I didn't know there was an official name for it, or that you could buy a program that makes it really easy to do.
And almost everytime I travel, I learn something from a client that broadens my knowledge. It's great, excep that I really, really, really miss being home with John and all our critters.
But without my traveling career, we would not be able to do all we are able to do, and I do not think I am willing to give up all our fun and hobbies.
However, if I won the lottery on Saturday....
Posted by Beth at 8:47 PM | Comments (7)
December 9, 2003
I am shopping!
I have to work all the time, out of town at that, so I'm shopping now. Found Andy's stuff on Amazon.com. John is impossible to buy for .. I can't afford any guns he wants anymore, we have all the cheap one already.
The best thing about shopping on line is that I can have someone else wrap the gifts and deliver them. I have to figure out what to get for my 16 year old niece and her 18 year old brother who live in Buffalo, New York - suggestions are welcome.
Posted by Beth at 8:59 PM | Comments (5)
This Dennis person
makes me want to scream - I can't say a thing about how awful Kucinich is, so go read Baldilocks. and my beloved, John of Arrggghhh!
Posted by Beth at 8:34 PM
North Carolina
Here I am in beautiful Durham, North Carolina. The people I'm working with are extremely nice, and even though I'm really, really tired after only 4 hours of sleep, it was a good and productive day.
This morning, while I was in the security line at the Kansas City Airport, they pulled me out of line and put me in front of everyone because I was going to be one to get a total inspection, if you know what I mean. The asshat who they put me in front of was having a fit that I got "to butt in line". I turned around and looked at him and said - what a jerk you are - you think this was of my choosing?
He then said "you should stand in line like everyone else". I told him that if the TSA wants me in front of him, that's where I am gonna be. He continued to make rude comments, and I finally just told him " geeze, you are so fricking rude! I pray to God that you will not be sitting next to me on my flight!"
Asshat!!!
Posted by Beth at 7:09 AM
patterns
What Pattern Are You?
Got this one from LeeAnn!
Posted by Beth at 7:07 AM
December 8, 2003
Wizbang's Best of Poll
Go and vote for your favs at Wizbang. And, while you are at it, be sure to leave something in the tip jar.
Posted by Beth at 12:26 AM
The Flu!
Go read Da Goddess. She has some excellent posts about the FLU.
I have personal experience with the damage that Influenza can do to a person.
11 years ago, I was 4 months pregnant - just had a healthy sonogram.
But then, I got the flu. I was so sick and my fever so high (104) that I hallucinated, and worst of all, the fever killed my baby.
I have not missed a flu shot since. You should do the same.
Posted by Beth at 12:18 AM | Comments (1)
How on Earth can I catch up?
Geeze, I spent a long week working, and I only had dial-up at my hotel, and now I'm trying to catch up with all my favorite bloggers, and I have to quit, or I'll be up all night and I'll get in a wreck driving from the Raleigh/Durham Airport to Duke.
I want to know what's going on with everyone. I did see that Helen has a picture of herself blogging nekkid - she is a very pretty young lady, and deserves to have her very own Prince Charming!
And LeeAnn, author of The Cheese Stands Alone, my very favorite really funny blogger, is in Wizbang's contest - go vote for her, she is very funny, and deserves a much larger audience. LeeAnn has made Margarita's come out of my nose.
And then, there is Pam, of PamIBe.
Pam has an interesting take on forests, fires, and logging. I think she has a point.
And of course, there is Eric, Nekkid Blogger extraordinaire, with a recipe for mulled wine and some information about decorating Christmas trees.
And I am getting tired, folks, time to turn in, after unpacking my clothes, or at least some of them.
The cats are pissed at me for being gone. They will really be pissed when I get home Thursday night.
You all make life a bit more interesting, informative and fun. Take care!
Posted by Beth at 12:05 AM | Comments (2)
December 7, 2003
Damn, it's late!
past 11:00 pm, and I have to get up in about 5 hours, pack, get to the airport and be on my way once more. At least this week, I'll come home on Thursday night, and the client is very nice, so I'll have time to blog, I think.
John and I had a very wonderful weekend. We went to Virginia City, Nevada, a very old tourist trap, and then decided to see Catch a Rising Star on Friday night. If you are ever in Reno, that is the best deal in town. $20.00 for 2 tickets, we sat at a table right next to the stage, and even though there was a two drink minimum, they give you a buy one get one free coupon, so our two drinks only cost us $8.00.
And it was fun. The comedians were pretty good, and one hardly swore at all, which is something of a relief.
On Saturday, we drove up to Lake Tahoe - it was a rainy day, so we mostly just acted like rubber necking tourists. It is a beautiful place to visit. I love mountains more than any other terrain type.
And we spent some wonderful quality time together in our room at the hotel.
I have not read a newspaper, watched or listened to news or surfed the internet for a week. It is kinda relaxing.
But back at it in the morning!
Posted by Beth at 11:17 PM | Comments (1)
And the winner is:
Eric!
Out of 50 votes total, Eric's design got 15.
So, Eric will be getting a tin of bourbon balls and pecan balls, but I won't be able to make them until next weekend, as I leave for North Carolina early tomorrow morning.
Congrats, Eric, you are the best Nekkid Blogger designer around!
Posted by Beth at 11:05 PM | Comments (2)
December 4, 2003
It's good to be female
1. Our reputation doesn't depend on our muscles
2. We can show our feelings
3. We have more than the emotional range of a teaspoon (taken from HP)
4. We can change our last name if we hate it
5. The garage belongs to the men, they can have it
6. Chocolate is not just another snack
7. We can wear lots of fun colors, not just black, blue, brown, and white
8. Our clothes are more fun
9. We don't have to wear the same boring shoes all the time
10. We got off the Titanic first.
11. We can scare male bosses with mysterious gynecological disorder excuses.
12. Taxis stop for us.
13. We don't look like a frog in a blender when dancing.
14. No fashion faux pas we make could ever rival The Speedo.
15. We don't have to pass gas to amuse ourselves.
16. If we forget to shave, no one has to know.
17. We can congratulate our teammate without ever touching her rear.
18. We can hug each other without other people thinking we must be gay.
19. We never have to reach down every so often to make sure our privates are still there.
20. We have the ability to dress ourselves.
21. We can talk to people of the opposite sex without having to picture them
naked.
22. If we marry someone 20 years younger, we're aware that we look like an
idiot.
23. There are times when chocolate really can solve all your problems.
24. We'll never regret piercing our ears.
25. We can fully assess a person just by looking at their shoes.
26. We can make comments about how silly men are in their presence, because they aren't listening anyway.
Posted by Beth at 7:02 PM | Comments (7)
thanks, all
for your kind words about Mickey. A lot of people don't understand how much some of us love our critters.
We are such suckers for animals. Any stray within miles seems to find his/her way to our front door. Sometimes I think John leaves trails of treats for them to find their way to our house!
Anyway, it means a lot that you care so much, thank you.
Posted by Beth at 6:59 PM | Comments (3)
December 3, 2003
Mickey McBear
We lost our Mickey girl last night. I wish I had been home. She was a
wonderful girl, the most faithful dog possible.
She also refused to sit still for a picture, thus the bad quality!
I miss her terribly, but I'm glad that John was there for her.
Posted by Beth at 10:07 AM | Comments (9)
December 2, 2003
Dateline: Reno, Nevada
The client I am working for is in downtown Reno, so I stay at the Silver Legacy.
It's odd, I feel like I'm the only person in the whole casino who is here to work.
I get up in the morning, get dressed for work, and go down to eat breakfast at the buffet (which is a whole lot better and cheaper than the 24 hour cafe). Everyone else around has been up all night, or straggled in from the streets.
I was surprised that they now have penny slots. How desperate can someone be to play penny slots?
Anyway, it has been a rough couple of days - things are not going as smoothly as they usually do, so I'm putting in a lot of hours. I'll be happy when everything gets installed and configured, then I will be able to relax a bit.
Anyway, please continue to vote for a logo! You all have until midnight, Friday.
On Saturday, the winner will be announced!
Posted by Beth at 10:44 PM | Comments (2)
December 1, 2003
Well, I'm herein Reno, Nevada
I don't normally fly on holiday weekends, but I needed to be at my client's site bright and early this morning, so I flew here yesterday.
It was definitely amateur flyer night. Probably 70% of the people in the security line caused the detector to go off. They didn't know they should take hard sole shoes off, and all these poor little grandmas and grandpas were confused as to what on earth was wrong with their shoes. I blame the security asshats. After the first 10 people walked through with their shoes on, they should have started letting people know that maybe taking their shoes off would get them through - but no, they waited until about 60 people set off the alarm. Idiots.
Then, there were sick people all over both planes I was in. They were coughing, sneezing, wheezing - it was enough to make me sick!
I got to the hotel last night around midnight - around 2:00 am my home time.
I checked in, went up to my room, and realized it was not a non-smoking room.
I figured, I would worry about it in the morning, but I got maybe 2 hours of sleep, because I am very allergic to whatever the hell is in cigarette smoke, and I kept waking up, unable to breathe.
I changed rooms this morning, but it is only a queen size bed, and a smaller room. I'm a bit miffed.
No offense to those of you who smoke. I once smoked, too, but I quit 16 years ago, and though I don't object to other people smoking, I sure as hell don't like staying in a room that reeks of all the components of smoking, especially when I'm paying for it.
I looked at the walls, and realized that they were not painted yellow, they were yellowed from smoke.
Posted by Beth at 9:16 PM | Comments (5)