Processing work email with the Phantoms pregame show on Ustream. Life is good. (It'll be even better when WNYQ restores their audio stream.)

Copycats! Synchronized Sleeping

That's Stanley in the foreground, and Captain in the background. When I say they do everything together, I'm not kidding. They even nap in harmony. :-)

Yay! I ordered a 12x telephoto lens for my iPhone. It arrived in time for the outdoor hockey games. :-) Yes, I'm a geek & easily amused. ;-)

Well, Merry Christmas to all of them, even the ones I didn't know I was texting. :-)

LOL. I just responded to a "Merry Christmas" text msg which, unbeknownst to me, was to a whole group. Getting "Who is this? responses now.

Buon Natale to all!

A particular favorite Christmas song of mine -- which, regrettably, does not seem to make it into the rotation on the All-Christmas, All The Time radio stations.

Welcome, Christmas! Christmas Day!

Every gift is now bought and wrapped. And as an added bonus, I came home from my errands to find work in my inbox. Yay! :-)

Yes! Work email = Inbox Zero! I just completed a week's worth of work in 2.5 days. Go, me. :-)

I keep seeing Phantoms ads during Flyers games. They serve to remind me that three years later, I STILL miss my team. Nothing replaces them.

I hate when I eat something too hot and scald the roof of my mouth. Ow. Note to self: next time, let the food cool off longer.

Last week's system outage made for a dreadfully slow work week. This week seems poised to make up for it. Thank You Lord. I like being busy.

You know it was a bad game when the only legit
reason you have for cheering, outside of some fights, is that your injured player got up.

You know, I really do loathe that "delay of game" rule. Seriously.

Nothing freakish about Boston's 2nd goal. Grr. But the fans are chanting so the WFC crowd is still "in" the game.

Holy cow. Jody Shelley fights literally the biggest guy in the league. And takes one of the league's best D off the ice for five minutes.

Aw, Jiminy Cricket! A freak deflection lease to an early Bs goal. Well, time to start some freak deflections of our own.

Joan

Dear Joan,

We all still miss you, but particularly on the anniversary of the day you left us.

I heard this song for the first time recently, and I thought of you instantly.

Enjoy Heaven. We'll see you when we get there.

Love,

D, J, & J

I wish it was posible to un-see things

Yesterday, I went into a Walgreen's and, since the umbrellas were hidden in plain sight, I went over to a clerk to ask where they were. She answered with a location, then turned her back to me and bent to pick something up off the floor.

Her low-rider pants revealed at least a quarter-moon. I had to bite my tongue not to blurt out, "Also, where is the eyewash?"

What is seen, cannot be un-seen. Regrettably. Think of me as an Old Phart if you will, but I just don't appreciate seeing the posterior cleavage of total strangers.

My Friday aide job was cancelled today, but I was productive anyway. Prepped 2 gifts for mail & made ALL jewelry I was commissioned to make.

&)€#¥%*?•!!!!!!! Pronger is out for the season with severe post-concussion syndrome. As a friend of mine used to say, SOAFB. :-(

YAAAY -- FCC moves to squelch extra-loud TV commercials

Those of us with a long memory will remember that in June of 2009, I posted THIS ARTICLE about a proposed bill that was before Congress, to limit the volume of TV commercials.

Well, freaking FINALLY, the FCC is telling TV advertisers to lower the volume of commercials. Gotta love bureaucrats -- it only took two and a half years from the time of that first article until there was concrete action to report today.

FCC tells advertisers to CALM down, lowers the volume on commercial breaks

By Joseph Volpe posted Dec 14th 2011 2:31PM

Pretty soon, you won't have to scramble to lower the volume during noisy commercial breaks -- that's if you even watch live TV. After making its way through Capitol Hill, the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (or CALM) -- which aims to keep the sounds coming out of your flat panel even-keeled -- has just been adopted in a ruling by the FCC. Starting next December, ads and promos will have to remain in-step with the audio levels of scheduled programming. While the affected parties have a full year to get their acts together, the main burden of enforcement lies with broadcasters and MVPDs like Comcast and Verizon FiOS. So, come next holiday season, you'll be able to tune in and tune out without being blown away.

Los Angeles Times FCC

I always coil my earphones neatly when putting them in my pocket. So why do they come out looking like someone knitted a scarf with them?

What a ripoff that TicketB@st@rd wants you to pay MORE money to use YOUR OWN ink and paper to print tickets. Will Call Window, here I come.

FINALMENTE! I got a shipping notification from an item I ordered at the end of October. 'Bout time!

Sitting in the car listening to the song about Snoopy &the Red Baron. It came on while I was parking the car. I waited to hear all of it.

My Amazon saga

I got a damaged item from an Amazon seller last week. Two emails requesting an exchange went unanswered. Today I got an email from them requesting feedback. "Please leave a 5 in all categories".

I'll give them a 5. I'll give them five fingers in a knuckle sandwich.

I got back on Amazon and basically dropped the gloves. I told them i was displeased that they found the time to request feedback from me, while ignoring my two emails to them about exchanging the defective item. Moreover, if I don't hear from them by Wednesday, I will file a claim with Amazon and request a refund.

I think I'm being MORE than fair. More fair than they might deserve, frankly. But they get one more chance. If they don't start the exchange process by Wednesday, they're dead to me and I file a claim.

My phone recognizes, and offers to auto-complete, the names of Bryzgalov and Bobrovsky. :-) Smartphone

25 Clever Ideas to Make Life Easier

I've got to share this great article that I just found on Facebook:

25 Clever Ideas to Make Life Easier

Holy pinball shots, Briere! 1-0 Flyers. Wow. What are the odds of banking it off BOTH defensemen and in

For the 2nd time, our new railing's installation was rained out. Come on, Mother Nature! Send some SUN so we can get this railing put in!

Though I am going to keep using my Mr. Softee ringtone, I now have a backup. A Tardis ringtone. I love the internet.

OMG, I'm on Cloud Nine

 This Flyers/Rangers Alumni Game gets better and better!

Neil Little is playing. Lindros and LeClair are playing. Bobby Clarke is playing

AND NOW BERNIE PARENT IS PLAYING! OMG OMG OMG

Two Goalies Added to Flyers Roster

Pinch me, I'm dreaming. On second thought, DON'T wake me up. This is like my lifetime fantasy Flyers team come to life.

Wow. When the doc said my incision could continue itching for a year after surgery, he wasn't kidding. It still does sometimes. Like today.

On Christmas Decorating Themes

I love the decorations, particularly the lights, that go up at this time of year. If it were up to me, the displays of lights would stay on for the duration of the winter. I find it kind of ironic that the end of the Christmas season comes during the time period when the hours of daylight are at their shortest. Christmas itself comes a few days after the Winter Solstice, and the liturgical end of the Christmas season comes on the Sunday following New Year's Day. At that point of the year, there's precious little daylight and those of us with Seasonal Affective Disorder would really benefit from leaving all the pretty lights ON when the sun goes down.

But I digress.

My main hint to all those who are setting up their Christmas decorations is this: it looks best when you choose either a secular OR a religious theme. Not both. Santa was not present at the Nativity, nor was Frosty the Snowman. Neither the Magi nor the shepherds were accompanied by reindeer, nor did they present gifts of candy canes to the Holy Child.

When I was walking my dog last week, I passed a display that included three snowmen, a Nativity, and three Santas. I thought, "What the heck is this? The Three Wise Snowmen? We Three Kringles of Orient Are?"

But even this mixture of secular and religious pales beside the display my friend's neighbor put up a few years ago. That house had an enormous illuminated Nativity on their lawn, and a couple feet away was a huge, also-illuminated sign: SANTA STOP HERE". The first thought that came to my mind was, "Santa didn't come down the chimney to stick gold, frankincense and myrrh into the Christ Child's Christmas stocking. Sorry."

Anyway, let me reiterate: please do decorate, as it makes the world a prettier place. But pick a theme and stick to it. It looks better and makes more sense.

I *finally* got print drivers installed on my laptop. I got tired of using the old, slow, senile laptop in the computer room to print.

Mini is on my tummy, snoring. Captain is above me on the back of the love seat, also snoring. Clearly, my pets are inspired by my presence.

Hooray for Boscov's free gift wrapping!

I'm down to needing three gifts for Christmas. And I know what I'm doing for two of those. Dang, I'm good. :-)

See Donna. See Donna stay up late to watch the Flyers game in CA. See Donna wake the whole neighborhood when the Flyers SCORE IN OT!

Flyers @ Anaheim. The crowd has cheered Flyers goals so loudly, it sounds like a home-team goal. Wow, lots of our fans in the Ducks' house!

Dear IGNORAMUS who left their dog's mess on my pavement: I hope you step in ten canine land mines for every one you leave behind. Forever.

Watching La Streisand on public TV with Mark.

By the way, Café Valentino is phenomenal! Absolutely excellent food. I'd recommend it to anyone.

I had 2 inches of wine at the dinner meeting. That's about 2 inches more than I normally have, so now I'm sleepy. I think I'll take a nap.

Busy day!

Well, today was a busy day. It started off with my first interpretation of the new Mass translation. Today was the day that the Church began using the new translation of the Roman Missal. I had the opportunity to read through everything last night, so I was not bombarded by brand-new things this morning. Everything went all right, but I'm still aggravated that they changed some of those things at all. Some parts of the Mass, they should have left alone. MHO.

So from there, I headed over to the fourth meeting of the Italian Museum committee. We had a dinner meeting at Café Valentino. First was meeting, then was dinner. We got a lot accomplished during the meeting part, and the food was absolutely fantastic. When I say phenomenal, I mean it.

I even had 2 inches of wine. That might not sound like much, but my norm is 0 inches of wine. I can't even remember the last time I had more than a sip. The last time I can think of was about eight or nine years ago. So now between the work, the food, and the wine, I'm very sleepy. I think I'll take a nap. :-)

Well, I survived interpreting the new Mass translation. It helped a lot that I was able to read through ALL of it in advance last night.

Ahahaha! "Olé olé olé olé..."

Color me Very Happy! I just saw that Neil Little is on the Flyers Alumni roster! :-)

Stupid Criminal Tricks

It's baaaaack! I have a stupendous example of Stupid Criminal Tricks to post

Burglar Breaks Into Home to Dry Off, Check Facebook Page

Too bad he won't be able to check his Facebook page from JAIL!

My dog is not a morning person

On Thanksgiving morning, I had to get up about two hours earlier than normal. (Ouch.) I also had to get Mini the Wee up equally early, because I had to walk and feed her before I embarked on what promised to be a long day.

When I opened up her crate door, Mini was still half-asleep. She toddled out of the crate slowly and carefully, as befits a little old lady doggie. But one part of her was moving normally. Her tiny little tail was wagging like mad.

I said to Mini, "I see your TAIL is awake. The rest of you, not so much, huh? I can relate. I'm not a morning person, either." :-)

Hahaha! I just dictated a text msg via Siri, and she knew to spell the word "Flyers" properly and capitalize it. Yes, this IS a SMART phone!

It was already late when they mailed it to me.

This missive arrived on November 22. Before I even opened the flipping envelope, it was already 12 days late. I love bureaucrats. Like I love a hole in the head.

Just got a tax form accompanied by instructions dated 11/18/11, telling me to return the form no later than 11/10/11. :facepalm: :headdesk:

No false alarms this time! DOOP DOOP DOOP! Flyers cut the deficit in half: 2-1 Carolina.

Someone seated near me absolutely reeks of smoke. It's all over their clothes. Either they're a chain smoker or they're on fire.

The anthem singer filling in for Lauren Hart did a really nice job.

Want to see closed-captions of the PA announcements in the Wells Fargo Center? http://ping.fm/geuFQ

Per the radio broadcast, Jagr is done for the rest of the night. Shoot. :-( Not what I wanted to hear.

Cont'd from previous post: So Thank You God for my 2nd chance. We don't always know it when we've gotten a 2nd chance, but THIS one, I know.

November 16. The one-year anniversary of my surgery. As well as the anniversary of my return from crisis later that night due to med issues.

How music helped Gabrielle Giffords heal. http://ping.fm/6AlHs

Beware of ripoffs masquerading as deals on Black Friday. http://ping.fm/LCKbY

Tiny Chihuahua snores are emanating from the love seat. :-)

GRRRR.... freaking Niaspan side effects of itchy heat all over. It's my own fault for forgetting last night's meds and taking them this AM.

Didn't there used to be a Lancaster County smorgasbord whose name started with a Z? Does anyone recall what the name was? Thanks!

OMG OMG OMG chocolate pecan pie at Miller's Smorgasbord OMG OMG OMG

th the new words.

Well, there you have it. I've just interpreted a Mass with the old words for the last time. In 2 weeks, my next interpreted Mass will be the first day wi

e update.

Now that I'm updated to iOS 5.0.1, we'll see if the battery life of this phone has improved any. Although really, my battery life was fine even before th

It's Veterans Day, and I'm thinking of my 89 year old father-in-law who served in World War II and fought in the Battle of the Bulge.

Hooray! I found a way to report the robo-calling bastages who keep calling my freaking cell phone! http://ping.fm/5u0Px

The only thing so far that got the Emergency Broadcast System test was WBEN FM. My TV, SMS alerts, & NOAA radio gave no sign of the test.

Congrats, Mayor Nutter!

My 6ABC app just broadcast a headline saying the New York Times reports that PSU is planning JoePa's exit. Wow. I'm floored.

RIP Joe Frazier. My 6ABC app just gave me a bulletin with the sad headline. So sorry to see this news. :-(

Tostitos Scoops + Amish corn relish = happy taste buds. :-)

Dear Political Phone Calls: GO AWAY.

You know you and your friends are not wild partners when "one more for the road" means taking an extra after-dinner mint.

Just a bit of catching up

On Saturday, we had a meeting of a new PA-based deaf-blind group. We also had a tech demo there. One of the deaf blind members had created a special braille device when he was at Temple University. It allows for a very large display of one braille cell. This is useful for people who have limited finger sensitivity. They can connect the device to a keyboard or computer. Then they place their entire hand, or forearm, or any part of the body over that braille cell, and read the letters one at a time. Our deaf-blind friend JEJ, who lost the ability to read braille two years ago, was able to understand the braille letters on this device. He said he NEEDS this device in order to resume reading books again. He used to read constantly and he really misses doing it. So the engineering students at Temple are going to get a list of specs in order to build a device for JEJ. God willing, this will all work out. Let us pray.

I just dictated this entire post, with a few manual corrections for some unusual words, via Siri on my iPhone. My hands are killing me right now, so typing is tough. Technology can be a godsend.

Experimenting with the Vlingo app for the iPhone. It, like Siri, allows for voice dictation.

I just found out the St. Rocco is the patron saint of dogs. Nice.

Went to dinner with Mark for my birthday. Yay, Tartufo!

And no sooner do I observe that the Blue Jackets goalie wasn't the issue, we score on the replacement goalie.

3-0 Flyers in the first period. Columbus is changing goalies, but he wasn't the problem by far. Without him, we'd have a bigger lead.

Per Tim Saunders on the radio, the Flyers' top line has been together for 7 games, with 14 goals and 30 points in that span.

Don't look now, but the Flyers are having a good game. 4:09 into the first, it's 2-0 Flyers. :-)

For what they're charging for these hockey tickets, I should think they would be able to afford filling the toilet-seat-cover dispenser.

We gain an hour of sleep tonight! Yaaay! Occupy Dreamland FTW!

FINALLY. The roofers came today to fix the skylight, which was accidentally sealed shut when we got the new roof months ago. 'Bout time!

Time to take part in Occupy Dreamland.

Talbot is awarded a penalty shot and SCOOOOOORES! 3-2 Flyers!

NJ ties it, causing dissent as the Devils fans sitting behinds get jeered by the Flyers Faithful.

Aaaand Parise cuts the lead to 2-1. Must be the night for guys named Za to score.

GIROOOOOUX makes it 2-0! :-) Don't look now, but the Giroux/Hartnell/Jagr line is scary good!

Rinaldo! From Couturier! Rookie players FTW! 1-0 Flyers! :-)

JVR was supposed to be in tonight's game, but was a very late scratch. Announcers don't know why. Shelley replaces him in the lineup.

Goalie matchup for tonight: Hedberg (NJ) vs. Bobrovsky (Flyers). Briere is on the ice for warmups, even as I type. I hope he plays.

Hail Mary, Full of Grace, thank you for the parking space. Amen. ;-)

Lappy is on the Flyers pre-game show as an analyst. <3 <3 <3 *Such* a nice, genuine, down-to-earth person. I can't compliment him enough.

Hooray, Bank of America bowed to pressure and nixed the $5 debit card fee!

OHHH NOOOO. The store is out of Kettle Corn! What if they've stopped stocking it? Ordering online is expensive. :-( FirstWorldProblems

OMG! IHeartRadio app has a Radio Manilow channel, including his music, his faborite songs by other artists, and his narration! Mega-LIKE!

I wonder if the field used in the pumpkin-flinging Punkin Chunkin competition turns into a pumpkin patch the following year?

When did the Campbell Collection of Soup Tureens get moved from Camden to Winterthur? Or is the one at Winterthur a separate collection?

When did the Campbell Collection of Soup Tureens get moved from Camden to Winterthur? Or is the one at Winterthur a separate collection?

OK already with the winter weather in OCTOBER. Can we go back to having autumn now?

BOOOOOSH is in goal for Carolina! He's on my fantasy team, so I hope we have a low-scoring game tonight!

I'm Dreaming of a White... Halloween?

Ok, what the Sam Hill is wrong with the weather? We've had slushy snow falling all freaking day! Since when is October 29 supposed to be slushy or snowy?

Fortunately, most of the mess has melted, though it's accumulating on cars and grass. And to call the temperatures "unseasonably cold" would be putting it mildly.

I hope it improves by Monday, or the local kids will have to go trick-or-treating in mukluks. Sheesh.

Mark's on one end of the sofa. I'm on the other. Mini keeps moving from one lap to the other and back. She can't decide. :-)

What the Sam Hill is with snow in October? I demand a recount! Snow, snow, go away!

This ref drove me nuts when the Phantoms were in Philly. We've been in ADK for multiple seasons & he's still at it. Some things don't change.

Oh, ma fanabla.

Aaaaand we tie it yet again. 8-8. This team refuses to go away. At least that's ONE positive to take from this contest.

LOL. Tim Saunders on the radio: "It'd be easier to tell you who HASN'T scored in this game." No kidding.

THIS game is the ANTI-goalie-duel. They're scoring like an All-Star Game out there. Jiminy Cricket.

OH! EM! GEEEE! We went from trailing 5-1 to leading 7-6, with three of those goals coming in the past 4 minutes!

TIIIIIEEE freakin' GAAAAAMEEEE! 6-6!

Ohhhh YEAHHHHH! Flyers!

MUCH better! Keep it up!

Mannaggia.

Aaaand here comes Bryzgalov.

Aw, come on, Flyers! Jiminy Cricket! You're better than this!

Hartnell from Jagr! Those two guys are en fuego lately! Gotta love it!

I think I've got this posting by Siri technique down pat.

Testing one, two, three.

Phantoms on the Internet. Flyers on TV. Both teams lead their games. Life's good. :-)

I just got the text message from Mark -- we're going to the Winter Classic! Woo hoo! :-)

Aaaaand the Flyers are back in the "W" column! :-)

JAAAAAGRRRR! OMG I never thought I'd see the day when I screamed for Jagr in a Flyers uni. Just goes to show, anything really CAN happen!

DOOOOP! Hartnell scores again!

HartnellUP 2-1 Flyers!

I just saw that our GM said Pronger will not return to the game. &%#€!!! DIIISLIIIIKEEEE! :-( I hope his eyes are all right.

Jaromir just put the Ja in Jagr! DOOP!

The local Oldies Station now includes the 80s. Wait, what? 80s?! SINCE WHEN is that music "old"? I demand a recount!

Testing posts by SMS. Go Flyers and Phantoms!

On taking SEPTA to Flyers games

Last Thursday, Mark and I were waiting for the Subway train to go home after a Flyers game. Usually, the rides are uneventful. (And inexpensive. Tokens cost $1.55, so it's $3.10 to ride the Subway round trip, as opposed to $18.00 to park in the lot. But I digress.)

So anyway, there we sat, waiting for a northbound local train at Pattison AT&T Station, when I heard a plasticky clattering noise coming from the direction of the open doorway of an express train that was waiting on a nearby track. The Flyers-garbed young man who'd been standing in the doorway of the train leaned down to try and see whatever he had dropped. His companion came and leaned to see, as well.

To make a long story less long, this inebriated fellow had dropped his cell phone between the train and platform, and was quite angry about it. So much so that he began yelling profanity at top volume.

That's when the security guard told Cell Phone Boy to calm down, and after the train departed, someone would attempt to retrieve the phone. Cell Phone Boy had some snideness to voice to the guard. Which set off the extremely petite young woman who was also awaiting a local train. If cell Phone Boy was 3 sheets to the wind, Petite Female was 2.5 sheets to the wind. So the two of them got into a drunken debate, standing face-to-face like cartoon characters, till Cell Phone Boy's buddy literally picked him up and carried him bodily away from the confrontation.

Before the local train left the station, we did get to see the express depart and someone from SEPTA retrieve the phone for Cell Phone Boy. Goodness knows if it still worked. But wven if it did, seriously... would YOU put a phone up to your face if it had been on that disgusting floor of the track area? EWWWWW. I say no way!

An interesting article on OWS from someone who has actually seen it: http://ping.fm/XegCw

WinMo's latest OS: Mango. Google's Android iterations: Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich. IPhones: made by Apple. Tech news makes me hungry!

I've officially begun my Christmas shopping

That does it. I officially began my Christmas shopping.

It started a few weeks ago when I tried to purchase a particular item from ThinkGeek, only to find that they were out of stock. I set up an email notification for when said item would get back IN stock.

The notice I just got was that ThinkGeek was discontinuing the item. BOO. So I went looking around for the same thing elsewhere, and found ONE left on Amazon. Not wanting to risk another "This item is sold out" issue, I ordered it immediately. And thus begins my Christmas shopping.

Thank God for internet shopping. I would much rather do my shopping at home than run out to brave the insane crowds, limited stock availability, and terrible parking that the malls have to offer. It saves time and gas, too, and the fact that the online stores are open 24/7 means that it's easier to fit the shopping into my schedule.

But anyway, it's beginning to look a little like Christmas around here. But just a little. I won't be shopping in earnest until a bit closer to the holiday.

Day Five With The New Toy

Well, I've had the iPhone for five days now. I have experimented a lot with Siri. I'm really loving all the commands I can enter just by using my voice. I have set my iPhone's alarm clock with voice commands every day. I can even dictate text verbally to the phone and have my words rendered into speech automatically.

In fact, I dictated this entire post with my voice.

There are two cats and a doggie on the sofa with me. Life is good. :-)

The Beach Boys station on Pandora = major ear candy. <3

DOOOOP Matt Carle! Flyers tie it 2-2!

They just Rickrolled the entire Wells Fargo Center!

Aieee, we came this-close ][ to scoring shorthanded! So close and yet so far!

DOOOOP goes Briere on the Powerplay!

Loud cheers accompanied the announcement of Mike Richards as the starting center.

I can see right now that I'm going to get seriously addicted to Siri. :-) This thing is from the future.

Would a short fortune teller who escaped from prison be a small medium at large?

My iPod Touch says, "iOS 5 is IN THA HOUSE". :-) And my iPhone is slated to arrive tomorrow. It's a good tech week so far.

I'm gonna smack these fargin' referees. All the way from the second level.

Meszaros MESZes up Vancouver! 5-4 Flyers! :-)

The Flyers get their 4th of the night... Free Egg McMuffins for everybody! :-) Here's to a fattening season!

Egad. WTH are the Ice Girls wearing? I wear more than that to go swimming.

Ya know those CGI ads that appear on the glass behind the net for TV viewers? Now they appear on the Jumbotron image of the on-ice action.

GIROOOOOOUX! I <3 that boy! 1-0 Flyers!

Holy cow. I'm at Inbox Zero. It's a miracle. (And it surely won't last, lol.)

Figlio di puttana. NLDS

Looking forward to interpreting the Phillies game for my deaf-blind friend. The Phightins had better give me good things to interpret!

Voracek! Welcome to the Flyers! 2-1 Flyboys!

GIROOOOOOUX scores the first Flyers goal of the season! :-)

RIP Steve Jobs.

Fittingly, I received the news of Steve Jobs's passing via a bulletin that came through on my iPod Touch. RIP Steve Jobs. 56 is too young to go.

Wow. Looking at my 6ABC headlines. RIP Steve Jobs. :-(

STL needs to borrow the cat colony from the old Vet Stadium. They've got squirrel infestation issues, lol.

Jiminy H. Cricket, the Phillies know how to get a fan wound up. Eeeeee. Thank God THAT'S over.

OK, Phillies, stop making it so freakin' interesting and just get the final out! ASAP. Kthx.

I'm Not Amused Apple is releasing iPhone 4S instead of 5. We'll see if I want to upgrade now or suffer w/my senile WinMo phone till iPhone5.

I just rooted a generic 7" Android tablet to run Android Market. Go, me. Tablet + keyboard case < $100. Not bad. :-)

Etsy, here I come

My order of silver-plated copper wire came in on Saturday, just after I used up the last of my previous supply making these:

Numbers on the Flyers roster tonight: 8, 28, 48, 68. But no 88.

Dear jogging jaywalker: If you keep blowing through red lights while cars are coming, you'll be the fittest person in the Emergency Room.

Jewelry polishing cloths, where have you been all my life? WOW do they make the metal shine, with next to no effort.

'Splain This To Me

I just got home from spending the day at the Art Museum with JFM, JR, and Betty (hereafter "Mrs. B."); we went to see the exhibit about Rembrandt and the Faces of Jesus.

The exhibit extends through several rooms in the museum. There are guards in the doorways between one room and the next. Most of the rooms had doorways at "12"00" and "6:00", allowing a person to go in and then view the images by either walking clockwise or counterclockwise around the room. In most cases, I was able to tell which was the logical "first" image to view in the room, because of numbers posted under the image that corresponded to the audio tour.

Then I got to the last room of the exhibit. My three friends had completed viewing everything, but I take my time absorbing detail so I was trailing well behind the rest of our group. I walked through the doorway into the last room, and found myself in a dilemma, as I wasn't actually sure which image to visit next -- the one on my left or the one on my right. So I turned and asked the guard which which picture I should walk to upon entering the room.

"Did you come in here from the Gift Shop?" (Which was located after the exhibit's exit.) "You know there's no re-entry into the exhibit once you leave..."

"No. I came in from that room." (Pointing at the room.) I wanted to know which was the first image to visit in this room."

"You know you're not allowed to re-enter the exhibit once you leave..."

"I *didn't* leave. I just got to this room. I wanted to know what order I should view the images in."

"Where did you come in from? The Gift Shop?"

"NO. I came in from THAT room," (pointing), "through THIS doorway," (pointing), "and now I'm in THIS room." (pointing). "I want to know if I should start viewing the pictures by going to THAT picture first" (pointing) "or THAT picture" (pointing).

"You can't come back in here after you exit."

"I DIDN'T exit. I came from THAT room."

By this time, JFM had come back to see where in tarnation I was, overheard the conversation, and said, "Start with that one over there."

Now why couldn't the guard do that? As far as I could tell, he was a native speaker of English. (Unless he has zero native languages to boast of, and after that conversation, I could very well believe it.)

And this guy has a full time job, but I have to work three different part-time jobs because I haven't been able to find full-time work. What's wrong with THIS picture?

My foray into Android

Well, I did it. I saw an EXTREMELY inexpensive Android tablet on sale at my favorite electronic store online, and I couldn't resist ordering it. You know you're in good shape when the tablet, the keyboard case, and the shipping total up to less than $100.

The only drawback is that the device is very generic and, even though it has a near-current version of Android (2.2), its half-baked version of the Android Market is less than ideal, and its native email and browser leave a lot to be desired.

So I am researching what I need to do to root the tablet. Slatedroid.com has got some methods to root the tablet and get it a more standard selection of Android apps, including the all-important App Market, plus better volume and faster performance. All for under $100. Then I'll be a well-pleased geek. :-)

Woo hoo, Fly-Boys! The Flyers start the preseason with a 4-0 win! I know, it's preseason. But a win and a shutout are always good things.

"Whisker Wars" is a reality show about beard competitions; the contestants look like ZZ Top. Is there NOTHING that's not Reality TV fodder?

The only negative to weekend starts to Flyers training camp is the place is a MOB SCENE. But I know it helps fans who are busy Mon thru Fri.

Taking part in the three-person team that's dismantling a funnel cake. Yum!

I'm really liking this baby goalie Houser! Flyers hang on to win 3-2!

Caps take advantage of one too many scrambles in front of our net. 3-2 Flyers.

It wouldn't be a Flyers home game without Dancing Shawny! Oh, and we resume play to a NICE stop by Houser!

Caps take advantage of one too many scrambles in front of our net. 3-2 Flyers.

DOOP! Hyka gives Flyers a 3-1 lead and another round of fisticuffs ensues. Our Hostetter vs. Their 71 who also got 2 for crosschecking.

Both teams change goalies with about 9.5 mins left in the second period.

Bout #2: Their Edmonsen vs. our Mathers. Edge: Mathers. During the ensuing break, Ian Laperriere was on Arenavison and got a Standing O.

We liked that DOOP so much, we scored again (Kessel) followed by a fight (Stevenson vs Elnyiuk). I'd score the bout as a draw.

DOOP DOOP DOOP! Brown from the Flyers fans on a shot attempt, connects on the retry and scores. Assist: Kessel.

Fans are now being directed to the upper level, as the lower bowl of the WFC is full.

Fans are starting to fill in the

PK looks excellent. Especially the 17 seconds when we were down 5 on 3. :facepalm: Not even preseason yet and the refs are calling everything.

Dang. The puck went off the post, off our goalie's back, and trickled in. Incidentally, WOW our goalie has a tiny blocker.

Flyers starters: 75 Phillips, 38 Lauridsen, 78 Kessel, 36 Rinaldo, 51 Ranford, 10 Schenn. Moment of silence for Yaroslavl & McCrimmon. Lauren Hart sings the anthem.

The Wells Fargo Center is offering free wifi again, as they did during last year's quotes. The lower bowl is at least half full, not bad for 4:45 on a workday. Surely some fans will arrive late.

Brad Phillips wl start in go for the rookie Flyers. Our other goalie is Michael Houser.

Orange and black faux dreadlock hats. Hmmm. I wonder if those fans handmade them or if they are an item available for sale?

Flyers rookie game: listen at Philadelphiaflyers.com . I am SOOOOOOO ready for this offseason to be O-V-E-R! Bring on the hockey!

Orange and black faux dreadlock hats. I wonder if those two fans made them, or if they're a new item for sale.

Pray for peace. Work for justice.

In Remembrance

We remember all the victims of September 11, 2001, both the ones who lost their lives and those who, though they did not die, suffered internally or externally as a result of that day.



CLICK HERE for my post, written on the fifth anniversary, of my experiences of that day. It's long.

RIP Brad McCrimmon and KHL team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl

Dreadful news has come out of Russia today. The plane carrying the KHL team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl has crashed, and aside from two survivors, one player and one crew member, everyone else on the plane is confirmed dead. That includes the team's coach, popular former Flyer Brad McCrimmon, part of the best defense pairing ever to don Orange and Black, and several other former NHL players.

Besides the pang of grief at McCrimmon's untimely passing -- he was only 53 -- I was also specifically saddened to see that one of the funniest people on my Twitter feed, player Pavol Demitra, was listed among the victims. RIP, sir, I always got a snicker from your tweets.

It's just a crying shame, no matter if you are an avid hockey fan or never heard of the sport. Of course, every accident with casualties is tragic, but in this case, there are additional layers of grief besides the losses to families and friends in ten countries. The victims were also a significant part of a larger community, all of which is reeling at their loss. Pro hockey in general, not to mention the Kontinental Hockey League, and every league for which these people played and worked in their histories, is hurting right now. And as a human being, as well as a hockey fan, I hurt along with them.

Thoughts and prayers to all the bereaved, be they families, friends, or fans. RIP to the many people who've left us far too soon.

Our Flyers tickets arrived today. The Winter Classic game is -NOT- part of the season ticket package. I'm not amused.

Best quote I've seen in a while: "We must save the Earth! It's our only source of chocolate!" :-)

Aftermath

Moyamensing Avenue has everything from twigs to moderate-sized branches down. (And one BIG branch that I'm glad didn't land on someone.) It's still windy -- watch out for your screen doors when you open them! They might just keep going! ;-) Other than that, we seem to have come through the adventure in one piece.

Our house, tree, & neighborhood came through OK. Our region has many downed trees and flooding, though. Now for damage assessment & cleanup.

WIND! Our tree's branches are going a mile a minute in the teeming rain. Tornado watch extended to 5 AM.

Salem County, NJ has declared a travel ban. Only emergency personnel are permitted to be on the roads.

I'm listening to the Philadelphia Fire Department Radio's internet stream at http://ping.fm/GbTx8.

SEPTA and PATCO have suspended service. NOAA reports indications of a tornado at King of Prussia. Stay safe, all!

Philly-area friends, a tornado was confirmed in Vineland, NJ. Keep a TV or radio on so you know if there's trouble in your immediate area.

Raindrops Are Falling On My Head

Mark and I just got home from JFM and JR's. The rain isn't quite heavy yet, but it's steady and the wind is picking up. One block we drove through had green, leafy broken twigs all over the street. If that's what their street looks like now, I hate to think of what it'll look like when the REAL wind hits overnight.

We took our wind chimes indoors, so they won't become a projectile at any point during the night. We expect sustained winds of 50 MPH with gusts of 65-70. There have been easily a dozen flood warnings today on the NOAA weather radio. Now we're getting tornado warnings issued for all over south NJ, including Atlantic City, and for several PA and NJ counties south of Philly. DISLIKE.

I called my parents. They're doing OK. They have a sump pump in the basement now, so there's less concern of having a flooded cellar. Other than that, everything's relatively quiet. And rain-soaked.

Even Lawrence Welk got into the spirit. One of tonight's songs was Good Night Irene. The show was originally recorded in 1969; it's on WHYY.

Philly's getting the first of the rain. It doesn't look like much now, but I know better. It'll get interesting before the night is out.

Just for kicks, here's my Ustream broadcast of Irene in Philadelphia. http://ping.fm/alC0j So far we just have rain.

The necklace cords I ordered, thinking they were satin b/c the brand name is Silkies, are actually colored rubber. Dang it. My mistake.

It's getting cloudier by the minute. I think we're done with the sun until Irene passes. SE Wilmington DE is evacuating. Yikes.

More on Irene

I was far from pleased to wake up to an alert on my cell phone declaring that a Hurricane WARNING, not Watch, has been issued for Philadelphia. Evidently there's a legit concern that Irene will be coming up the coast a lot farther west than most hurricanes do.

Then I saw the article that the AC casinos are closing. Uh-oh. They almost NEVER close the casinos. They'd keep those gambling floors open right through The Apocalypse if they could.

This storm is no joke. Book it.

Hurricane WARNING, not watch, issued for Philly. DE and NJ are evacuating coastal areas. AC casinos are closing. Here comes Hurricane Irene.

Hurricane Irene is coming

Apparently, one natural disaster wasn't enough this week. Now we have Hurricane Irene on the way.

Brigantine is being evacuated. My aunt is going with my cousin and his wife to in-laws' home in Mays Landing. That's still in the storm track, as is Philadelphia, but at least it's farther from the ocean so they won't get hit as hard.

This freaking storm is supposed to make a royal mess of the eastern seaboard. Oh, fun.

Poor Mini. She hates taking walks in the rain. I'm going to have to get her a little life preserver to cross some of the larger puddles.

Mini and Sari

Edie and her hearing dog Sari are staying with JEJ and his mom this week. I brought Mini over to visit, since she generally likes other dogs.

But things got off to a boisterous start when Sari, who's barely past puppy stage at 3 years old, wanted to play and bounce around too vigorously for Mini's taste. Mini (6 lbs) soon had Sari (52 lbs) following her orders. It was interesting to watch Mini teach Sari some doggie manners, such as "don't stick your whole face in another dog's face repeatedly". "AR AR AR" went Mini, and Sari backed up. Then Sari tried to paw at Mini, curiosity written all over her face. I can understand if Sari was puzzled by the sight of a dog that's smaller than one of her toys. "AR AR AR" went Mini, and there was no more pawing.

Once Sari got the idea of respecting Mini's personal space, they got on fine.

Incidentally, Edie said that during the earthquake on Tuesday, Sari was trying to "alert" Edie to what was going on. She nudged Edie and then lay down on the floor. (A hearing dog is supposed to alert its owner by nudging at them and then leading them to the source of the sound, touching it to show that's where the sound was coming from.) Edie wasn't sure what the dog was trying to alert her to, until she turned on the TV and saw the news reports about the earthquake.

I introduced Mini to my friend's hearing dog, Sari, last night. Sari tried to figure out what Mini IS, as she's got toys bigger than Mini.

I created some settings for wire-wrapped jewelry. I'm awaiting some wire and tools in the mail, but I can still work with supplies I've got.

Earthquake coverage in the news

From Philly.com: Phila. area rocked by Va. quake

We don't seem to have incurred a lot of actual damage, though there's at least one broken window on the Blue Cross building. Yikes. Heck, I'm just glad that we didn't have a bunch of reports of windows detaching themselves when the tall buildings flexed and swayed. There's always so much foot traffic in Center City, if THAT had happened there'd surely have been casualties. Considering that buildings in this area are not necessarily constructed to withstand earthquakes, we got off pretty easy in this region.

Shake, Rattle, and Roll!

Well, THAT was interesting. And I mean that in the sense of the Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times".

I was resting on the loveseat when the shaking started. Having experienced an earth tremor before, the one that was epicentered in Plattsburgh, NY in about 2002, I recognized the sensation immediately as another quake. It wasn't too strong at first, so I wasn't troubled.

Then it got stronger. The crystals on the lamp and the chandelier started to clink together. The china closet started rattling. As the noise level grew, I got less placid.

The shaking turned itself up a few more notches. Louder clinking and rattling. The whole chandelier was now moving. OK, this wasn't funny anymore. Row houses in PA are not designed to be earthquake-resistant, not by any stretch of a vivid imagination. I went and stood in the front doorway. Fortunately, that's when the shaking wound down and eventually became undetectable. (Though the chandelier kept swinging for a bit afterward.)

Captain and Stanley, who'd been parked in the front window, hid. But before long, Stanley came out of hiding and started following me around the house. Everywhere I went, Stanley was about four inches behind me. Mini wasn't too pleased about the quake while it was happening, but she forgot all about it the moment it ended. There's something to be said in favor of "living in the 'now'", let me tell you.

All in all, I could've done without that jolt of adrenaline. I hope the house doesn't decide to do the Mummer's Strut again for a long time. How do people in earthquake-prone areas put up with this? Sheesh.

In other news, today, Mark returned to a regular work schedule. The striking workers agreed to return to work, sans contract, and work while the negotiations for the new contract continue.

EARTH TREMOR. The whole house just shook for a good 30 seconds. The chandelier is still swinging. Where'd THAT come from?

Every time I set up a computer, I'm reminded that every freaking program wants to install its own browser toolbar. ARGH! Toolbar overload!

What Microsoft nitwit decided to create an error dump file in a format that nobody can farging OPEN? that's no freaking help!

thank God for the NETBOOK1 it's the way I can keep working while I restore the laptop. Multitasking. Gotta love it.

I had to reformat the hard drive. [Insert long multilingual list of expletives here.] Restoring now. There go my plans for the day. %#€*@$&!

Do Want.

I'm loving this. I wish I had infinite cash to throw around.

Harry Potter/Hermione's Voice Activated Wand Flashlight

FANABLA. A corrupted file is preventing my laptop from booting. I might end up restoring. The repair tools aren't helping. Uggggggh.

Strike: Day 7

We've settled into the new routine whereby Mark leaves unmercifully early for work, but comes home at the normal time. He and the rest of the non-union management employees will be working ten-hour days for the duration of the strike.

I need to ask him if they're still providing bagels for the people who are working extra hours. He brought a few of those home last week, and doggone, they were good!

I'm looking forward to seeing Edie come and visit later this week. She'll be staying with JJ and his mom for about a week. I'm sure she'll have her hearing dog with her. It'll be nice to see pretty Sari, too. What a great dog!

I have officially watched all of the first 7 Harry Potter movies online, as of Saturday. So I'm ready to see #8. I'm hoping to see that happen this week.

I have a major case of HWS (Hockey Withdrawal Syndrome). Training camp's not until next month. Ugh. I hate the offseason.

See Gabey hear thunder. See Gabey remember her friend's 'puter recently got fried by lightning. See Gabey unplug her laptop.

Edit to add: See Gabey's laptop battery go POOF after five minutes. Evidently it needs to be replaced. GRRRR. >_<

Harry Potter #7: I *totally* need that infinite-internal-depth magic handbag of Hermione's. DO WANT. ;-)

Strike: Day 5

Mark found out yesterday that his work schedule, for the duration of the strike, will now encompass five 10-hour days per week. He'll still be showing up sometime before the crack of dawn, but at least he'll be getting home at a reasonable hour.

They'd better settle this strike before the hockey season starts. They have 'till October to get their collective act together.

Harry Potter: the prequel?

I've been doing a lot of thinking about the Harry Potter series lately, as I've been following him online through the course of the first seven films. One of my friends recently posted on her blog about her disappointment that after the eighth film, currently in theaters, there will never, ever be any more HP.

I have my doubts about that. I can't help but ponder the idea that there is, couched in the HP series itself, plenty of material that could lead to a lengthy prequel. Tom Riddle's childhood and his transmutation into Lord Voldemort. Backstories of various characters like Dumbledore, Hagrid, and Snape, not to mention Harry's own parents, are ripe for writing. There's a long list of good and bad characters who took a stand during Voldemort's first rise to power whose history could be explored in greater depth, as well.

So let's just say that I won't be the least bit surprised if additional, prequel stories come out. J. K. Rowling, who probably enjoys things like having a steady income, would be giving her fan base something that they genuinely want: a continued connection to well-loved characters.

From where I sit, it just makes sense, both from a creative and business standpoint, to venture into prequel territory.

Six HP movies watched, one more to go. Then I'll be ready to see the HP grand finale in the theaters.

Strike: Day 4

Mark's department has managed their workload efficiently enough that today and tomorrow, they'll only need to work 10-hour days. Next week, they are tentatively slated to return to having 8-hour workdays. This is subject to change at any time, just as the "not working Saturdays" directive could be revoked at any time.

I suspect that as long as other departments are withstanding the work stoppage as well, the extra hours won't be needed. But if any other departments start to fall behind, the people who aren't needed for extra hours will be recruited to help bring everyone back up to speed.

Figured out how to post my Twitter feed to the blog

You may already have noticed that my most recent post to Twitter is displayed at the top left of the blog. But I've figured out how to use ping.fm to post ALL my Twitter posts to the body of the blog itself.

That ought to prevent days-long gaps between posts from happening here from now on, which is something that I've been trying to resolve for a while. So don't be surprised at the brief little blurbs that will show up without a title from time to time. The little drive-by postings are the ones that come from Twitter.

In other news, I'm waiting on the call from JEJ's mom to determine if I'm going to be able to work today. They had some errands to run, including one to a wheelchair-repair place to correct an issue with the brakes being too loose. I told her to check and see how JEJ feels when they get home from all the errand-running. After all, yesterday his headache didn't kick in full force until after he'd had some activity during the day. I don't trust that @(#*$&@#($ headache to stay away today, not unless he gets home from today's errands and still feels OK.

I wish I could stamp out chronic pain. I can attest, by the number of people who are always waiting in the headache pain center when we're there, that he's far from the only one who deals with this hellish symptom. There's even some artwork on the walls that was created by headache patients, depicting what their pain is like. I can empathize with some of those pictures, thanks to the migraines I've dealt with at times (though they're rare now, thank God). I feel terrible for him and everyone else who's living with this issue on a regular basis.

Edit: I just got the call. No dice on that whole "feeling OK" thing. :-( We'll try again tomorrow. Bleep chronic massive headaches, no matter what the cause.

I <3 the Pandora app. I never knew until just now that Air Supply covered "Without You".

Continuing Education

Lately, I just can't shake the idea that I'd like to go back to school and pick up a few more programming languages.

I was a programmer/analyst for over 15 years. But most of the languages I've used in the process are in very limited use (or perhaps I should say "in limited demand") these days. Go on the job sites and look for programming openings, and you're likely to see a requirement for at least one programming language that I've never used.

So I can't stop wondering if there's a way to reconcile my experience and knowledge with the current nature of the IT field, and the only answer I can see is to learn some of the newer programming languages that are out there now.

I'm printing out info on the computer courses that are available at the community college where I studied ASL interpreting. They seem to have courses in some of the computer languages I'm looking to learn. Once I get a good look at the courses they're offering, I'll have a word with someone from their admissions office, and see if they're willing to have a former computer professional, who's already got a degree, come in and pick and choose which courses I take.

I've been doing some long-overdue updating of my blog template. All the sidebar links now connect to live sites. :-)

Five Down, Two to Go

I've now watched the first five Harry Potter movies on Vudu, walmart.com's video on demand streaming service. I've actually seen the sixth and seventh movies in the theater already, but I'm going to watch them online anyway. There are some details in those last two that are sure to become clearer to me, with the fresh memories of the entire previous catalog of films to draw on.

I seriously need one of those wands. And a flying broom. I might only employ a broom for mundane tasks like sweeping when absolutely necessary, but rest assured, I'd be rather more enthused about using one in lieu of SEPTA or driving the car.

I'd also like to hit up the Hogwart's infirmary to see if they've got anything to stop my incision from itching. The surgeon told me in June that it could itch for up to a year. Ugh. It's a lot better than it was, but I don't need to spend the next few months wondering when the next "aaaargh, it won't stop itching" bout will take place.

My work schedule got a little jumbled this week. I was supposed to head over to JEJ's today to help with email and other things, but he's got a massive headache. So it's rescheduled for tomorrow, instead. I feel so sorry for him. These stupid chronic headaches have got to go. He was even at the headache pain center only 24 hours ago; even so, the headaches are back already. The painkilling shots that are supposed to last days, if not weeks, only last for a few hours with him before the pain comes back. And he has to wait three weeks until the next appointment? Blargh. I hope today's not an example of what the next three weeks will be like. That would really be rotten.

Strike: Day 3

Mark's company got their court injunction overnight last night, to prevent strikers from blocking the doors. The original injunction was overturned by the union, as the union wanted to have separate injunctions for each location. The replacement injunction was available as of about midnight last night, but of course there were no picketers at that hour to read it to. They did, however, get to tell the picketers the new rules when they arrived on Tuesday morning.

God bless Mark for being able to function at the hour he's leaving the house. I'd be an absolute zombie. Heck, I remember when I had to catch the subway before 6 AM for that Fort Washington temp job. I was just awake enough to drive to the Park & Ride lot, totter to the subway station, and wield the TransPass. I loved that job, but wow, that schedule was PAINFUL.

Using that Park & Ride did have a few side benefits, though. First of all, it only cost $1/day. You can't beat that with a stick. Then, I was able to park right next to the Spectrum exit when it was a Phantoms game night. It was nice to be able to walk out the door and be *right at* my car, especially on nights when it was bitter cold.

But I digress. We got some good news about Mark's altered work schedule. He might not have to work a six-day week; however, that could change at any moment. For now, I think the prospect of an actual two-day weekend will be pretty appealing for him after working these 12-hour days. Downtime is good.

Strike: Day 2

Yesterday, Mark arrived 30 minutes prior to the already-crack-of-dawn time he was supposed to report to work for the duration of the strike. Good thing he showed up early. Had he arrived at the time he was supposed to get there, he might have been among the people who couldn't get into the building because of the picketers blocking the entrance. He said some people had to go home, including some people who work in OTHER companies in the same building, because they couldn't get in.

Now I'm not anti-union, but I AM against breaking the law. I couldn't care less if they want to protest 24/7 until the new contract is signed, as long as they're not breaking the law in the process. And I don't think our constitutional right to peaceable assembly includes disrupting other people and other companies from their ability to do business.

So if a court order hasn't already been signed, to set limits on what exactly constitutes lawful picketing behavior, then I hope it gets there soon. I really don't see how messing everyone else's day up is going to win friends or influence people in favor of the strikers. I mean, they WILL have to work with these (non-union) managers, and work in the same building with these other companies, once the strike is over. I see no sense in causing needless hostility.

Having said that, I have no doubt that Mark will be able to get into the building with no trouble, as long as he continues to arrive at the same time he did on Monday morning. I don't think the picketers are so motivated to protest that they'd want to show up THAT early, when there's pretty much no one around to see them carrying signs. Good thing he's a morning person. That makes one of us. ;-)

When Google+ starts providing a link for us to send out, to invite our friends to join, I'll post it here.

Indistinguishable From Magic

In preparation for attending the eighth and final Harry Potter movie, I've been digitally renting, and watching online, the first seven movies in the series from walmart.com's Vudu service. As I've only read some of the books, and (until embarking on this project) had seen only some of the movies, I thought that it would give me the clearest possible understanding of the final, wrapping-up movie if I made certain to see all the things that led up to it.

So here I am, clicking on little icons to pay for and watch movies on a laptop screen. And, in the moments when my video stream was interrupted by a glitch, tapping on my iPod screen to view the news items for which a popup bulletin had appeared, while waiting for the stream to resume.

While doing all this -- watching the movie I want, instantly, while checking on the news articles that are coming to ME (rather than my having to seek them out) -- I confess that I almost felt like my own actions were worthy of inclusion in the Harry Potter universe.

It's like the old saying goes: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

So far it's four movies down, three to go.

Strike

Mark, as a manager, is not a union member. Therefore, he and his colleagues will be putting in 12-hour days and six-day work weeks for the duration of the strike.

The last time they had a strike was 2000; Mark wasn't in management then, so he was a part of the strike. That one only lasted a few days. We'll see what happens this time around.

Update: Yay!

Update: the vendor emailed a little while ago to say they're shipping out replacement cables. So now it's up to the USPS to avoid beating up my parcel this time around.

Everybody, go get your charging cables from the vendor "item44less" on Amazon. They shipped two more cables to me even though the problem originated with the Post Office, not with them. I'm going to post huge positive feedback for them on this order. :-)

Doggone it

Fanabla. The USPS damaged a package of mine. It arrived yesterday in a plastic bag and stamped with the following message: "Rewrapped by the Phila. BMC. Please accept our apology for damaging your mail. Phila BMC", and the ZIP code of the Bulk Mail Center.

I wouldn't even be posting about this, except for the fact that two of the three charging cables that should've been in the envelope are missing. So I called the Post Office to seek reimbursement.

It turns out that because the package was not insured, they are not only not liable to reimburse my loss, but "not authorized" to pay me any damages. The best I could get out of them was a case number, a promise to search their recovery center and see if my cables made their way there, and the promise of a callback. Whoop-de-do. I'm sure that the two stray Apple cables went home in the pocket of the first person who saw them and recognized them as something they could use. If any other result takes place, if they have strict enough control that they actually did prevent the cables from being stolen, I will happily eat my words. But I doubt that'll happen.

So I emailed the vendor, who sells their items via Amazon.com, to tell them that my package arrived damaged and only one cable actually arrived. Maybe they'll replace the cables out of sheer goodwill. Again, I have my doubts.

I'm not going to have a nervous breakdown either way, as this vendor charges an incredibly low price and I'm only out $5, but still, it's the principle of the matter. I can prove what I ordered, and as far as I'm concerned, I shouldn't HAVE to insure my freaking package to be reimbursed by the USPS when they were the ones that dropped the ball. Especially when I don't think I even *had* the option of insuring the package in this case.

Oh, well. We'll see what the vendor has to say. If they don't ship out two more cables, I might as well order two more and hope the Mail Gremlins find some other parcel to use for target practice.

Hallelujah!

I finally figured out how to get titles to display on these posts! Not bad for someone whose limited knowledge of HTML code is entirely self-taught. I had to manually add the code, since at the time Blogger created this blog template, they didn't have the option to show titles.

In other words, I put my insomnia to constructive use. Go, me.

Good night. Or should I say morning. Whatever.

Linguini on the Ceiling: Excuse me, I believe you have my stapler...*

Whatever you do, click this link and read the post. Seriously.

Linguini on the Ceiling: Excuse me, I believe you have my stapler...*: "Yahoo! recently asked its readers to submit their stories of being unemployed. For some reason, they were 'surprised' at the number of respo..."

Oh. My. Gosh. Let me just say, "My sentiments exactly!" I'm tired of being unemployed (well, is three part-time jobs "unemployed"? Yes, if I'm still making barely-part-time income when I add them all together), and being waited on by people who not only are incompetent and unmotivated, but don't CARE that they are.

Extra points for the correct use of "bachagaloop" (sp?) in a sentence. I don't know the proper spelling, which is the case for a lot of Italian dialect words, but I know the word and its application. Don't know what it means? Read the post. You'll have no trouble deciphering its meaning from the context.

All I can answer to this post is, "I couldn't have said it better myself."

Welcome to Gremlin Central

Good grief. What a Gremlin-filled day.

The problem actually started last night, when a major thunderstorm rolled through. I had a bad feeling about that particular weather event, but when we got past it without any damage or incident, I figured that the only problem was just me worrying too much.

No such luck. At about 11 PM, JFM called me to say that he thought his computer had fried in the storm. And, unfortunately, his description of the situation bore out that diagnosis, because the machine was completely dead.

Today, he discovered that not only his computer, but also his landline phones were hosed, as well as his mom's landline phones. His mom lives on the next block, so I suspect that lightning hit a phone line somewhere and caused a lot of toasted phones in the immediate neighborhood.

The good news: he was able to procure a surplus computer this afternoon from a school that's upgrading its equipment this summer. Hooray. He asked for me to help set the new machine up, so I went over there this afternoon. At which point, I found that he'd just come back from picking up a surplus *keyboard* to replace his old one, which was also tostada.

I sat down, booted up the machine, and immediately discovered that I couldn't get on the internet. The Verizon tech had been to the house already and had pronounced the DSL modem to be "working properly", and indeed, the DSL and Power lights were both a steady green. But the computer was steadfastly refusing to recognize that it had a modem plugged into its ethernet port. Nor could the modem tell that it was attached to a computer; the Ethernet light on the modem should also have been illuminated in green, but it wasn't lit at all.

I tried a few basic things that might have gotten the computer to notice the modem, but nothing I did worked. At which point, it was time to bring in a few more techies. Multiple troubleshooting phone calls ensued to JFM's nephew and to his cousin. Their ideas didn't work, either. Next, we thought maybe the ethernet cable was damaged by the power surge. Conveniently, the Verizon tech was still in the neighborhood, and he had a spare ethernet cable in his truck. To our disappointment, the new cable didn't work any better than the original one did, so that wasn't the source of the problem.

Unfortunately, that's where I had to leave the situation. But I've had a few hours to process the issue, and now I'm wondering if the ethernet port on the modem is borked. Just because the modem is getting the DSL signal properly doesn't mean the entire modem is happy and healthy. So I just texted JFM to get hold of Verizon's tech support and have them walk him through the steps to get his machine online. If they determine that the modem is kaput, they can start the process of shipping out a replacement device.

After today, I'm considering reviving my old habit of unplugging my electronic equipment when there's a thunderstorm. Mark used to laugh about it, and I eventually fell away from doing it as time passed. But when I see the mess one unwanted power surge can make, I start thinking I was right all along to start unplugging those power cords.

ARGH. Gremlins are a royal pain in the caboose. And today they were running freakin' RAMPANT.

Mixed feelings

I am so happy, and at the same time, so sad, at the recent turn of events in Trenton.

On the one hand, I am ECSTATIC that the Trenton Titans (ECHL) hockey team is returning to Trenton, and that they will have the Flyers as an affiliate. When the Flyers' hated rival, the Devils, owned and operates the team, I couldn't bring myself to attend or root for them. (The exception was the far-too-brief span when Max Ouellet was their emergency goalie. I'd cheer for him no matter what logo was on his jersey.)

Anyway, the Devils cleared out of Trenton 3 weeks ago, having given up on fielding a team in Flyers country. And in that time, fans and local investors pulled together to resurrect their team's much-loved previous incarnation: the Titans. I couldn't be happier about that.

But it has resurrected my sadness over losing the Phantoms. No, I am not over it. It's a chronic pain, flaring in the background every time I watch a Phantoms home game in ADK online and see sparse attendance, or any time I see a Phantoms road game, also online, that has even sparser attendance. It's frustrating to think that we fans who loved our team, lost it, and the people who HAVE an AHL team in town don't take advantage of it.

I miss my team. All the time. It hurts like my knee hurts, on a daily basis that has become part of the backdrop of my life. Glens Falls is too bleeping far away, and IMO even Allentown will be too far away, if we ever live to see the day when the already-behind-schedule, ground-isn't-broken-yet arena is built. On land that was plagued by sinkholes in recent years. Foe which the city wants to use Eminent Domain to forcibly relocate businesses. For which every local resident swears the traffic patterns as they exist now can't possibly withstand the spikes of a hockey game or a concert.

Why did stupid Comcast not push for the Bellmawr, NJ location? STUPID STUPID STUPID. Its a stone's throw from Philadelphia. The existing fan base could easily have made the jump. NooooOOOOOoooo. That made too much sense.

There is a part of me that hopes something happens to MAKE the team move closer to Philly than Allentown. What that is, or where that'd be now that the Bellmawr site has other construction plans not including an arena, I don't know.

But hey. Trenton just got their beloved Titans back, and a Flyers affiliation to boot. Who ever thought THAT could happen? Not even a month ago, that was an unrealistic pipe dream. So anything can happen.

Flat tires and road trips

Driving back from a visit with JEJ on Wednesday night, as I was about to make a left turn onto Bartram Avenue, my car's steering wheel suddenly started pulling vigorously to the right. I knew that the last time I had the steering wheel take on a life of its own, I was in the process of getting a flat tire. Still, I was only a few minutes from home, so my hope was that the tire would hold out for the rest of my trip. I made the left turn when the light turned green.

A moment later, the telltale noise of a flat tire started up. WUBWUBWUBWUB went the tire, and "@#$*&" went I. It's not just that it was a really inconvenient hour for the tire to kick the bucket. It's also that there's not so much as ONE inch of shoulder on any part of that road to pull over onto, so I *had* to keep driving in traffic, flat tire or no flat tire. I put my hazard lights on and kept moving. WUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUB. @*&$@*#&$@$.

Fortunately, almost immediately after I made my turn onto Essington Avenue, there was a parking lot available to safely turn into. Even better, this particular lot belongs to an airport parking service, where a person can pay to park their car, then take a shuttle bus to the airport. So it's a business that's actually open 24/7.

I called Mark and AAA, both of whom arrived within ten minutes. The AAA driver actually called to verify my location, and he was entirely familiar with the area once I described where I was.

My biggest concern was whether the spare tire would actually fit onto the car. My previous car had a spare with a mismatched rim; I didn't find out until I needed it that the rim didn't fit the car, rendering the spare unusable. So I was kind of holding my breath this time around, until I actually saw the rim go onto the car without difficulty.

Of course, the only drawback here is that the spare tire is a little Barbie-tire-sized donut. I took one look at the tiny tire and realized that there was no way I would be able to drive to Brigantine in that car the following day, as I'd planned. So Mark agreed to switch cars with me, and let me drive his car to Brigantine on Thursday.

Which is what I did. Cousins Michele, Bryen, Mary, and Connell were visiting Aunt Rita from Illinois, so I wanted to get out there and see them while they were in Brigantine. Hence, I drove there on Thursday and came home today.

We had a great time on the beach. Mary and I went into the ocean -- it's been way, WAY too long since I was in the ocean! -- and I was surprised at how cold the water was. The temperatures on land have been unseasonably hot, but unfortunately that didn't translate into a warm ocean yesterday. I'm told that there was a storm out at sea, which does explain the cold water. Storms churn the water from the depths up to the surface, and BRRR, that can translate into cold water. Then again, with a heat wave that's downright ridiculously hot scorching most of the continent, I can't exactly complain about the water being cold. If there's one week we've needed it, it's this week.

But if I thought yesterday was hot, today is even worse. Even Brigantine was hot, and Atlantic City (and Philly!) were scheduled to reach triple digits today. Ugh. Too bad I couldn't hang out for a while in Brigantine *today* and take another swim, but I had to get home.

It was so nice to see everyone this week. I only wish I could have spent more time with them all. But I was feeding JR's cat all week while he and JFM were away, so I couldn't spend more than one day at the shore. It's an unfortunate coincidence that both events were in the same week.

Anyway, it's been a great few days. other than that whole flat-tire situation that I could have done without. Then again, at least the tire didn't conk out on my to or from Brigantine. In this heat, the last thing in the universe that I'd have wanted to do is get stuck somewhere on a highway between here and the shore. That would have been dreadful. So if the tire had to go kaput, at least it was kind enough to do it when I was close to home.

Family History

JFM, JR and I went to the National Archives this afternoon and started looking through their digital records for pieces of family history. JR found relatives who were here as far back as the 1790s. JFM found his grandfather's draft registration and learned that he'd served in WWI.

I was able to pinpoint several relatives' arrival in the USA in 1870 (naturalized in 1893), 1909, and 1910. I actually met the great-grandparent who got here in 1909; the others had passed before I was born. It was also interesting to see that the relative who'd been listed as Antonio in the 1900 census was "Tony" in the 1920 census; he also dropped the final syllable of his surname to make it more Anglicized. He wasn't the only one, either. Two Giuseppes became Joseph, Lucia became Lucy, Rosa became Rose, Giovanina became Jennie. (And in one census, boy was THAT name butchered by the English-speaking person who recorded the data. Holy cow.)

Armed with a few more birth years and arrival years than I'd had before, I hope I can track down some additional information in the future when I sit down to tackle the non-digital records.

Special Date

So my Dad called this evening and asked, "What day of the week was October 30, 1955?"

I was out walking the dog at the time of the call, but said I'd look it up when I got home. Then I asked why he was asking. "That's the day I met your mother."

When I looked it up, I found that the date fell on a Sunday, at which point, he said, "Then I met your mother at a party the night before, on October 29."

So there you have it. Now I know the date my parents met: October 29, 1955. I think that's kind of cool. :-)

Camp

My robo-call post was actually a digression. When the phone rang, I was actually just about to write THIS post.

You might notice that i didn't blog during deaf-blind camp. As much as I enjoyed it, it caused me some dilemmas because there are some things I just didn't know how to say. I first worked with this particular camper just over 20 years ago, and let's just say that the passage of time has been a mixed blessing. Yes, there has been substantial knowledge and experience added in those two decades. I wouldn't trade that part of the equation. But there has been a physical toll that is painful to witness, such as the progression of obviously painful arthritis. My osteoarthritis is largely under control. My camper's, not so much. I hate to see this person in pain, but that issue cropped up time and again.

Worst of all, though, was seeing probably the most brilliant individual I have ever met, or most likely ever will meet, suffering from classic signs of age-related short term memory issues. That's genuinely painful. I don't think the words exist that could adequately describe just how that hurts. Wow. Just... wow.

But I will say that we got as much out of camp as we could, all things considered, and if my camper opts to attend next year, I'll be more than glad to fill the same role for them again. Having an interpreter/guide who knows the person's backstory is probably a beneficial thing in a case like this.

Time, you farging bastage. Why do you have to be such a vandal to the body and mind? Isn't the fact that you pass irretrievably enough for you? :-(

Robo-call

The Large Teaching Hospital that did my surgery just gave me an automated appointment reminder. The robo-voice opens with, "This call is from Large Teaching Hospital for :Donna: to remind you that you have an appointment on :date: at :time: with :Doctor X: at :address:." Robo-lady rattles all this very specific data off without even verifying who has answered the telephone.

The next sentence she utters is, ironically, "In order to ensure our patients' privacy, we ask that you bring all your insurance information with you to your appointment." Privacy? Um, I hate to tell you, robo-lady, but you blew my privacy out of the water when you recited every atom of my appointment data without first confirming, via a check such as "if this is :Donna:, press 1", that the person answering the phone is the actual patient who has the appointment.

Thank God I have no medical secrets from Mark. But what about people who are trying to keep their relationship with a particular doctor quiet? Maybe they don't want to worry their spouse, kids, parents, etc. about their visit with, say, an oncologist until they have a concrete diagnosis of what's going on. I can easily see where a robo-call would throw a big monkey-wrench into the ability to keep such an appointment quiet. There has got to be a better way.

Fashions

A pox on whoever devised low-rise waistlines in women's clothes! It's hard enough to find flattering clothes WITHOUT having to weed through stuff that only looks good on Barbie dolls. &$@%#¥!!!

I just wanted some darn shorts that fit, look right on me, and feel comfortable. Who knew it'd devolve into a major treasure hunt? I finally did find something, fortunately. Thank you, Walmart.

Airline update

Here's the latest on my deaf-blind friend JJ's attempt to get a reasonable accommodation from the airline. They are requiring him to be accompanied by an assistant when he flies, but are also prepared to charge the assistant a full fare.

The issue has been escalated via some disabled advocacy groups and has reached the desk of an attorney who works for the Department of Transportation. The attorney has this to say: "The bottom line is in cases where carriers disagree with a passengers self-assessment that he or she can travel alone, we require that the carrier transport the safety assistant without charge."

So it IS illegal for the airlines to attempt to line their pockets at the expense of disabled travelers or their assistants. I thought as much. I hope the airline sees this and does the right thing, and just comps the assistant's fare.

Because if they don't make a move to that effect ASAP, I'm going to start looking up the consumer advocacy reporters at local TV stations. Man, where's Herb Denenberg when we need him?

Haiku

A haiku for my former classmates:

It doesn't feel like
We graduated high school
Thirty years ago.

But we did. Happy 30th to my fellow alumnae!

50th Anniversary

Happy 50th Anniversary to my parents! I just got off the phone with my mom a little while ago. Dad was taking a nap, but she'll tell him I called.

I'm pleased to mention that Mark and I come from a background that's full of long marriages. His parents have been married over 60 years. And both my sets of grandparents were married over 40 years, and each case it would've been longer if not for poor health claiming the life of one spouse relatively young.

Mark and I have a lot of catching up to do to reach those landmarks. We'd better get to it. :-)

JJ and travel

My deaf-blind friend JJ will be attending AADB's convention (or, as they're calling it this year, "symposium") later this month. I will be missing AADB for the first time since 1989, and that disappoints me, but the reality is that I can't afford it. I haven't worked full-time in quite a while, and the air fare would be a killer.

JJ is going, but as he's not only deaf-blind, but uses a wheelchair and -- this is the obstacle the airline is most concerned about -- has no way to communicate with the airline staff on the plane, the airline is requiring him to bring a traveling companion to assist with communication. I can't dispute that. What I DO dispute is that the airlines are trying to charge the assistant, who is there at THEIR insistence, full fare for both round-trips, both to help him get to the convention and a week later to help him come home.

Excuse me? I understand that they are insisting on a companion to be with JJ because in this specific case, that's the best way to ensure communication with a person who hasn't got clear speech, and whose neuropathy prevents him from reading Braille or print-on-palm. This concept, I get. But I DON'T get the attempt to force the companion, whose presence they are requiring, to pay full fare for two round trips. I'm sorry, but that smacks of an attempt by the airlines to line their own pockets.

This can't be legal. There has got to be some part of ADA that sets down guidelines for this particular Reasonable Accomodation. JJ's mom sent an email with an excerpt from something called DHHCANN, which states that the airlines are not to charge the companion a fare; but I don't know what DHHCANN is. Is it a law? A guideline? I'll have to look it up.

But it would make life a whole lot easier if the freaking airlines would just do the right thing without being forced to, and just offer the free companion ticket. Sheesh. One would think they'd WANT to make nice to potential customers these days, as they're all hurting for business in this rotten economy. But noooo, that makes too much sense. :-P

Been quiet lately

It's been relatively quiet in these parts lately, which is a good thing. I've been prepping for this year's Deaf-Blind Camp in MD, where I'm looking forward to working with KC again. I haven't seen her in almost two years. It's been WAY too long. One of my additional duties at camp will be to mentor some less-experienced interpreter-guides, which I'm also looking forward to.

I'm still awaiting approval for the application I filled out to be the "personal assistant" of my deaf-blind friend JJ. He's received a grant from a local agency to have people come in and interact with him, keep him caught up on current events, help him with emailing since his neuropathy has largely robbed him of the ability to read braille, and so on. I told JJ's mom that I also want to do some tasks for them that aren't listed in the very open-ended description of job duties. For one, I want to help compile his medical records, which are comprised of a huge amount of complex information, into computer files that can be printed or burned onto a CD every time he goes to a new doctor (a regular occurrence). And I want to mentor the local interpreting students who are in their practicum class. This last item will have benefits for both JJ and the students -- he will get to chat with new people, and the students will get experience working with deaf-blind consumers. That's huge, as there are a lot of interpreters who refuse to take deaf-blind jobs because they THINK they can't do tactile signing. If we can get the student interpreters on board with signing into a deaf-blind person's hands, they won't be intimidated by the prospect when an actual job comes up, so this is a case where everybody wins.

In other news, I downloaded an interesting scanner app for my iPod Touch, and I've found an intriguing way to use it in conjunction with weather.com. If I see severe weather warnings on weather.com for a particular county, I take a look on the scanner app (5-0 Radio) to see if that county's emergency services have a stream. If they do, I listen in and find out just what's going on in said county. Though with the Tornado Watch and Severe T-Storm Warnings that we're currently operating under even as I type, I might as well listen to my own city's police and fire radio streams. Doggone, but Mother Nature's in a grumpy mood today.

5-0 Radio has also got some streams for ham radio repeaters and railroad radios. I can't help but think how I'd have LOVED to have had access to these things when I was a kid. I used to tune in to distant AM stations when I was in grade school. I made a whole list of stations by call letters, frequency, and city of origin, as well as a map where I could look up said cities. I used to love it. So my grandpop got me a multi-band radio including shortwave, weather, aircraft, and others, and I used to love THAT, too. Honestly, I think I'd have run this 5-0 Radio app 24/7 if I'd had access to it 30+ years ago.

Yeah, I was a nerd. Still am. And darn proud of it. :-)

Lost and Found

I had an interesting sequence of events take place during the course of the past week (May 13-17). It began when I was walking Mini on my usual route on the evening of Friday the 13th. Lots of other people also like to walk their dogs on that same walking path, and if you go out at similar times every day, you're likely to see a lot of the same people on a regular basis.

One of the other regulars saw me with Mini and asked a question that puzzled me. "Was it your dog that ran out in the street?" I didn't know what he meant, but I answered that no, thank God, Mini had never run into the street.

It wasn't until I reached the far point of our walk and started on the return trip, that I started to get an idea of what he meant. I noticed several posters on the way back reading "FOUND 5/12/11 -- blond/beige Chihuahua. Call [phone number]". Aha, I thought. Mini fits that description. He must have seen that and thought it was her.

Still on my way back, I encountered the daughter of the man who'd asked me the question, and she asked the same thing. Then she explained that a stray Chihuahua had been chased into Broad Street by a larger dog, and unfortunately had been injured by a car. :-( The person who rescued the dog and took it to the vet had also put up the posters.

Well, DOUBLY Thank God, Mini is not the dog mentioned in the posters. But of course, I felt sad for the poor tiny foundling dog, not only separated from its family but injured into the bargain. I hoped the FOUND posters would be effective in reuniting the dog with its family.

Fast-forward to Monday the 16th. Mini and I were on our normal walk, when I noticed a new poster at the point where I turn around to come back home. "LOST - CASH REWARD - 5/12/11 - 6 year old female Golden Chihuahua", with a photograph and a phone number. It doesn't take a Sherlock Holmes to realize that the same date, same breed and description, and same neighborhood means it's probably the same dog. I took a cell phone picture of the LOST poster. Then on my way home, I located and took a cell phone picture of a FOUND poster.

Then I did my best to get the two poster-makers in touch with one another. You'd think that would be a simple process, but human nature makes everything more convoluted than it needs to be.

First, I phoned Mr. Lost Poster to give him the data on the FOUND poster. He became confused and thought *I* had his dog. "No, I don't have your dog, sir, but the person who found her put up a poster on H____ Street and here is the information on it. [read the info]. If you have a number where I can send a picture message from my cell phone, I'll send you the picture I took of the FOUND poster." Which I did. He called me back. "That's not a picture of my dog. That's just a poster." I don't HAVE the dog. The person who made the poster has the dog. Call the number on the poster to talk to them."

So that's how that convo ended. Then I called the number from the Found poster. I got voice mail. I left a message that I'd found a lost poster, etc., etc. For good measure, I took a chance and sent that number a picture message of the LOST poster, and promptly got a text message in return asking who I was. I explained how I'd seen both posters while walking my own dog, realized they were both probably referring to the same lost Chihuahua, and was doing my best to get both people in contact with one another. The Found Poster person texted back that the dog in question was at the vet's in bad shape :-( , there was a big vet bill, and that three other people had already tried to call and claim the dog as theirs.

I texted Found Poster Person that I was sorry to hear that, and that they should try to contact the person who made the Lost poster, as that individual actually had included a picture of the dog on the poster so they were probably legit. They wrote back that they would do that.

I thought that would be it. Nope. The next day, I got a call from Morris Animal Refuge about the dog I'd found. I explained that I hadn't found the actual dog, only two posters, and related everything that'd happened. Seems that Found Poster Person hadn't returned the calls of Mr. Lost Poster, and so Mr. Lost Poster contacted the animal refuge, giving them my phone number along with whatever other info he told them. So I gave the requisite phone numbers to the person from Morris, and they said they would work to get the two people in contact with one another. Then I asked them to keep me updated, as I feel invested in seeing that the little lost dog gets reunited with her family.

Whew. I sure hope the right people get in touch with one another and everything works out. Poor little doggie. I'd feel for her even if I *didn't* have a dog that pretty much matches her description. But I have a major soft spot for Chihuahuas now, so I want this to work out even more.

Still here!

Hey, all! Sorry to say, the Rapture never did take place on May 21 (last Saturday), so I'm still here on Earth.



This van drove past the Melrose while Betty, John R., JFM and I were having lunch. I got a photo of it as it sat on 15th Street waiting for a green light. A few minutes after it passed, an SUV with big yellow posterboard Judgement Day signs plastered over its rear and rear-side windows (isn't it, er, ILLEGAL to block your field of vision like that?) drove past the diner, heading east on Snyder Avenue. The waitress remarked that she had seen several similarly-marked vehicles during the course of the day. I wonder if there were even more of them driving around, or whether it was just the same few making a circuit repeatedly all day.

Either way, I feel legitimately sorry for anyone who quit their job and burned through their life's savings, thinking that they wouldn't need either one after May 21 because they were going to "meet the Lord in the air". I feel only partially sorry for anyone who decided to run up enormous debts in advance of May 21, thinking that they would never have to pay for any of it, because gaming the system is decidedly UNpious and would probably have eliminated them from being Raptured up anyway. And for Harold Camping, the delusional self-styled preacher who started this mess, I wish his family would seek involuntary mental health treatment for him.

I'm curious to see how quickly the lawsuits start being filed by the people who feel deceived and cheated, particularly those who gave Camping and his Family Radio their life's savings to help spread the word about this bogus Rapture event. After all, one of his slogans was "The Bible GUARANTEES it!", and he was on TV, radio, and in print stating things like "This will happen beyond the shadow of a doubt", "There's no way this doesn't happen", and so on. That's the kind of verbiage that has led to people being held liable for damages in a court of law.

You know what upset me the worst about this whole thing? I read an article last Tuesday about the May 21ers, and some of them were planning to euthanize their pets (!!!) in advance of the Rapture. Their logic was that they didn't want their pets to suffer on earth between May 21 (the day of the Rapture) and October 21 (the day when the Lord would come back and destroy the Earth completely). The thought of those innocent pets being betrayed so terribly by their misguided owners literally made me cry. :-( I hope that the vets either were able to talk the owners out of it, or covertly re-homed the perfectly healthy pets. I certainly would have done my best to do the one or the other, had I been the vet.

In any event, Watch This Space for any reports of lawsuits that I happen to run across. And if you feel like utilizing Bible verses to determine how best to end up in Heaven with the Lord for all eternity, let me direct you to a few that will actually be of use. First of all, remember that in Matthew, Jesus is quoted as saying that not the angels, nor the Sun, but only the Father knows the day and the hour that the world will end. So instead of worrying about that, we need only worry about our own behavior between now and the time we stop breathing. And how, pray tell, should we behave? Well, Jesus has another quote for that: the most important Commandment is that we should love God with our whole heart, soul, and mind, and the second-most important Commandment is that we should love our neighbor as ourself. He said the whole of the law and the prophets is based on these two commandments. So there you have it. Two commandments to follow, and you're good to go for all eternity. Simple, isn't it?

Scary stuff

I was walking the dog tonight on the walking path that borders what used to be a hospital. Lots of other dog walkers also favor that path, and I've discovered that if I go out at similar times each day, I'm likely to encounter some of the same people.

Tonight, I met up with a Corgi and his owner, who was with another man walking a pair of Dachshunds. The Corgi's owner asked me, "Is your dog the one that ran out into the street?" I answered no, thank God, she hasn't run into the street.

A few blocks later, I saw a sign attached to a telephone pole. "FOUND: BEIGE/BLOND CHIHUAHUA" and a phone number to call. I felt sorry for whoever might have lost the dog, and it was not lost on me that Mini fits that same description.

On my way home, I saw the Corgi again, this time being walked by his owner's daughter. She also asked me if Mini was the Chihuahua that had been found, since she remembered seeing us on the walking path. I also got a bit more backstory from her: the found Chihuahua had been chased out into the street by two larger dogs, and unfortunately got hit. But someone took her to the vet for treatment and she's going to be OK. And now they want to reunite her with her owner.

Thank God for good people in the world. I hope they're able to find the Chihuahua's owner. But I was impressed that more than one dog-walker actually remembered Mini and me when these events took place. South Philly -- a small town in a big city. Seriously.