Dang Ed, you always beat me to your birthday post, although these pictures are way better than the ones I had. Hope you have a great day, I don't know what Pulaski Day is, but it sounds like it might involve perogis. Cheers to you, have a good day! Happy Birthday to you too Pete!
Happy Birthday Ed! Looks like you dressed up, and not in your birthday suit! Happy Birthday Pete! See you and Mely tonight for some fabulous German food.
We sawPhelan with Bird Names at Grinnell College on Saturday night...it was great! She has great stage presence knows how to put on a show. Hew bandmates are very nice, too. Read Brianne's review below (she's a paid jounalist).
And thanks to all of you well wishers. I had a great birthday. I got some ribs!
Tom - I do love a dirty martini.
Phelan - who is Michelle and why is she arming herself?
Molly - Pulaski day is celebrated in Illinois honoring the Revolutionary war hero from Poland Casmir Pulaski. They don't have school and the state offices are closed. I think there may be a prade too.
So last night we met mom dad pete and mely for german food at the Bohemian Garden in western Lake Worth. It had a sort of old supper club feel to it. LARGE portions - I think we all departed with leftovers. Potato pancakes, bohemian dumplings, red cabbage, escargot, goulash, schnitzel, chicken, soup, salad, all sorts of stuff on the table. Pete and Mely were headed back today at a slower pace. Planning on a three day drive, stopping each day by 3 so they could see the sites of wherever they landed.
Tomorrow I'm making a non-meat Italian vegetable soup for Generations. Besides the obvious (peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, zucchini, pasta) any ideas? Some kind of beans - what's Italian? Fava beans? I have one food-service size can of tiny corn-on-the-cobs that I think I'll throw in there - is that too weird? I always think of soup as a good way to get rid of leftovers. I'm also serving hearty chicken noodle soup and putting a warm loaf of homemade bread on each table. We're learning about the Liturgy of the Eucharist so I want them to BREAK the bread and share it - should I put wipes on the tables?
Happy belated birthday Ed! Hope it was a great one. Tomorrow in honor of your birthday and for your viewing pleasure I have arranged a pre-season game between the Cubs and White Sox at 9:05 PM on WGN, playing in Las Vegas. The Cubs will be using a split squad as some of the team will also be playing in Cleaveland earlier in the day but they will still beat the White Sox as a birthday present to you. The Cubs and White Sox will play again on Thurs at 3:05 PM again on WGN (this time with the full Cubs team) and I tried to get them to start at 6:00 PM so you could see the White Sox get beat again but they would not change the starting time. So unless you have a TV at work, I guess yhou will have to listen on the radio. Enjoy!
Here's a business that's thriving. From CNBC... In Mendocino County north of San Francisco the #1 crop is marijuana, it's 2/3 of the county's economy. It's legal to have a few plants in your own backyard. It costs $400 to grow one pound and it sells for $2,500. 20 good plants will produce $100,000. worth!!
Happy Birthday Pete! Hope you are having a good one and enjoying your day. I wasn't able to arrange any pre-season games for you and I'm not sure which Texas team you root for if any. Hope you get outside and enjoy your day with a cook-out of something.
An open invitation to everyone: You are all most cordially invited to a St. Patrick's Day dinner at our house on March 17, 2009. We will provide corned beef and cabbage with potatos, green dessert, green hats and beads. BYO liquid refreshment as you prefer. Dress code requires something green. Leprechauns optional. Dinner begins at 6:00 PM. See you then.
M.E., You are right. They show the game against Cleveland as an away game but they must be playing at Cleveland's spring training location and I don't know where that is, probably in Arizona, That is where the Cubs spring training camp is.
Cathy - use any beans you have on the shelf. Just make the soup tomato-ee and basil-ee. Orzo pasta is a good choice to add also.
At work we were just pooling a couple of bucks each for the powerball. I told everyone if we won that not a whole lot about me would change. I'd keep my cars, my house, I'd dress the same. About the only thing about me that would change is I would be saying, "Kiss my butt." a whole lot more. I could afford to.
I would get a different car, I'd use a personal trainer, and I would travel back and forth more. And I would buy more clothes and pay for a decent haircut. How much money are we talking about anyway? More changes may happen. When I win. p
I already have some acini di pepe, the little tiny pasta. Tomato-ee and basil-ee, that's the ticket.
I guess we're not going to Algona for St. Patrick's Day! Actually I can't anyway. Good motivation to get the house clean.
I would get a different car and a few select pieces of new furniture and pay someone to paint our house forevermore. oh, and gut the kitchen and start over. Hmmm. We might have to go live somewhere nice while that's happening....
What? No one else would be saying "Kiss my butt" a whole lot more? Liars.
Actually, Joe3 and I have talked about this on different occasions. We'd both be firing off letters to the editors, letters to schools, letters to mayors - railing against whatever got our dander up that day. It would be fun to call out idiots in positions of authority with no apprehensions what-so-ever.
As Tom's wife...I would like to say that our list would be more extensive than he suggests. For example: Pool New cars Finished basement Sell Sarah's...or, give it away to someone with a "dream." Cabin in northern Minnesota And, of course college for all three boys and retirement "plan" for us. Oh and yes, a personal trainer...the kind that comes to your house and forces you to do it.
This being said, for Lent I will give up "powerball" dreams.
I don't think I'd need to say it so much bc I wouldn't be financially dependent in any way shape or form on those people. Most of the time I want to say it, is in a work situation, which I decidedly will no longer find myself. Today for instance, someone on the phone said I don't know a thing bc I'm only the receptionist. I just agreed. That was easiest. P
Tom, you better learn how to say that in French. You gotta be a little fancier.
Happy Bday, Uncles!
Super Target is Amazing- my lunch was a french bread hogie with fresh smoked turkey and a huge slice of brie for $2! They also have the best selection of fancy marinades for $3.99
Oh, I think it depends on the situation. OF course you can tell that to some people at some times. But it's a heck of a lot easier when you have money. Right now in my current job, (and jobs are REALLY scarce in Florida right now) I basically have to let people treat me like crap.
I think maybe Ellen has busted in to the green beer already or sampled some of Andy's homemade brew.
Actually Pat, I know that one can not always say what they want but I like to think that is out of politeness or because it would probably be lost on them anyway.
Pat, you're sort of smart, learn a dead language and just swear at them in that. They won't know you're telling them to go kiss a goat if you say it in Aramaic.
We should try to do a whole table at Gala...c'mon...it's April 4th.
Tom and Joe...who is the Grand Marshall of the St. Patrick's Day Parade??? Is all your publicity ready?? The Grand Marshall of Emmetsburg's just died so they might grab the one you have in mind!! (I don't have any info for the rest of you 'cause I'm not on the committee)
We went to our great big new Target last night as we were out running errands, and who did we see but the Richardsons! Molly was working and the others came out for free red-and-white cake, punch, balloon critters, tattoos, goodie bags, etc. I think the Mall of the Bluffs is dead, or about to turn into a vocational school. Too bad for Barnes & Noble (guess they could be the college bookstore!) and Skeeter Barnes BBQ and all the small independent merchants. Even Dillard's looks dispirited.
Or maybe you are part of some large social experiment...? All these rude people may be testing you. You haven't found any strange electrodes on your temples, have you?
Happy belated birthday unc's! Everybody who doesn't have a facebook is missing out on all the cute pics Molly just uploaded.. Oscar is so much bigger than last time I saw him
Did anyone hear about the kid from Omaha who made a bong big enough to put his cat inside of so he could get it high?? His excuse was that the cat was too hyper and he wanted to "chill" it out. It made some national news reports.. What happened to regular old catnip?
I'm off to take my 6th and final midterm today (thank God) then off to Mexico for a week. Who's jealous??!!
m.e., Cathy and I are coming to Gala this year but have not received an invitation yet. Since seating is limited and we want to be sure to be at the Straub table, who should we contact to submit and comfirm a reservation?
Yes...Caitlin is lucky enough to have a friend, Emily Dixon, 20 years old...whose family didn't have another child untill the girls' senior high school year! So, now the family is going to a VERY fancy resort in Mexico and they decided Emily should have someone her own age on the trip...so the flight, food and the resort all all paid by the Dixon's, Caitlin just has to bring is a swimsuit!!
Thought you may all want to know that Josh and I are filing an application this week for adoption (which really means moving forward with it as the financial aspect immediately incurs.) It takes over a year and maybe two, but at least as of now, we expect we will have a kid. We are going international.
Stevo...I was so excited about Pat's news that i didn't answer your query...call BGHS @515-295-3521 and ask for Diane (or anyone in Development)..Hooray, you're coming to GALA!
Scott and I always say if we win the big one we would buy a lakefront house in Clear Lake and of course take really awesome vacations. I would get facials, massages, a personal trainer, get lasik, get my veins zapped, and oh who knows?
Is there anything more troublesome at my age? I cut them and when possible yank them out. But they seem to propagate like split amoebas. Very frustrating.
When you get older your life force diverts its energy to making things grow where you don't necessarily want them. While you slowly fall apart. After a certain point "May the Force be with you" is actually a form of curse.
This is funny: You know that study that came out last week saying women shouldn't drink even low levels of alcohol due to breast cancer worries? Oh....science. This is from an article I just read:
Third, the study is full of significant puzzles that suggest that its results are unreliable. For example, it reports that the incidence of all types of cancer studied in its non-drinking subjects was 5.7 per cent compared with 5.3 per cent for those subjects who had at least a drink a day, and up to 14 drinks a week.
In other words, not only was there no dose-response in terms of cancer risk, but teetotallers had a higher population incidence of cancer than those consuming up to 14 drinks a week!
Even those women in the study who drank the most (15 or more drinks a week) had a cancer incidence of 5.8 per cent, which is virtually identical to those who drank nothing.
Hey, everyone, I should have announced this sooner but I guess I was waiting to hear more details----anyway, Uncle Father Bob is coming here to Council Bluffs to give a mission at Queen of Apostles. He'll be here the last weekend of March and through Wednesday April 1. We have been unable to connect (phone tag) to get a lot of details, but anyway, anybody who wants to come visit is more than welcome. I think Sister Ana Maria is with him and I don't have any idea of if they're staying at our place or what, so staying at our place could well involve pulling up an air mattress, but there's plenty of square footage. Come on down!
The Beatles are launching a video game: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/story.aspx?guid=%7B5B350ABC%2DE504%2D4191%2DAE1E%2D6F48166EE733%7D&siteid=rss
Nearly 2 months into his presidency Obama has not clearly articulated a plan to deal with the wolf at our door. The banking crisis. In that time a whole generation's worth of wealth has been destroyed.
Instead, he holds summits on healtcare reform. He needs to back burner that issue and fix the banks.
People are losing jobs. Businesses are dying. Wealth is destroyed.
Creighton plays Wichita St. in its first MVC tournament game tonight on Fox Midwest at 6:00.
Go Jays!
Oh and Steve, thanks for putting that Cubs/CWS game on TV for me yesterday. Aaron Heilman got the start for the Cubs and didn't give up any runs. Cubs lost though.
Tom...people's 401K's and the rest of the collapse happened under Bush. You HAVE to stop listeneing to the leader of the Republican party! 89% of Americans trust in Obama's strategy right now...he was handed shi* on a plate. In time it will be beautiful sushi.
"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves."
The unemployment rate in Detroit is 21% and the median price for homes sold in December in Detroit was $7,500. That is true. There are no missing zeros there. $7.500.
ED X, You are welcome, glad you enjoyed the games. As you know, Jeff Samardzija got the start for Wed night's game and he did give up some runs and the Cubbies did not win that game either but it was a good game and good to watch Samardzija. Darn White Sox #@$%&**. My brother-in-law Dave Laird probably enjoyed it as he is a huge CWS fan. We'll get em next time.
Oh, m.e.,
Thanks for the info regarding Gala and guess what? We got our invitation in the mail yesterday.
I googled "detroit foreclosures" and found a bunch, but one AMAZING deal was a 13 house package, buy all 13 for $26,000 cash! You just have to pay back taxes and the water bill so it's about $4,300. total for each one...half of them are brick homes! They are using quit claim deeds, but still it's intriguing!
Yeah Detroit is a mess. Bill Paxton is trying to make it a movie industry hub, so all the local workers can become grips and crewmembers etc. He said there are so many vacant buildings it's ideal. p
Our wonderful leader has struck again. Twice. Another high level appointee cheated on his taxes to the extent of $10,000. That amount seems to be an acceptable figure for this administration. Then he appointed Kansas governor Sibelius to a cabinet position--Department of Health and Human Services. She has been at odds with her bishop over the abortion issue to the extent that he asked her not to present herself for Holy Communion, but of course she ignores that. I wish she were treasury secretary. She could not do any worse than Geithner and she'd be less likely to "regulate" the abortion industry.
By the way, Stevo. There is another ND pitcher working for the Cubs. He is also competing for the 5th starter's position. He is Aaron Heilman and he was drafted by the Mets in the first round about 7-8 years ago. He wants very much to be a starter but he ended up in the Mets' bullpen where he was very effective in the 7th or 8th innings of games until last year when he had a poor year. The Mets did let him start when he first came up and one year he pitched a one hitter but they needed him more in the bullpen and he's been frustrated for the past 5or 6 years. In his senior year at ND he was a starter and his record was 15-0. I'm hoping he gets to be the 5th starter. I like Jeff S. also but Heilman has paid his dues and Jeff has his whole career in front of him. Dad
Overheard at a catering job I did last week to an office building that is cubicle city. "I knew I should have been on the Punch Committee. This punch is awful."
I love punch. Any color, clear or creamy. Koolaid for grownups.
We wasted our entire weekend and didn't get anything done. Well, I had to be at the hall after every mass for the stewardship fair, so that was part of it. But I did finally get to watch Nacho Libre on TV. Now I know I don't need to watch it ever again.
Does it seem to you like this early time change left people more discombobulated than usual? Everyone at mass Sunday seemed sort of spacey, it was a light crowd, and the song leaders never showed up. We napped half the day away Sunday.
Stevo and I are going to Gala. Come on, team. This will be the day after we help Ellen move, which will be the day after we see Mom & Dad & Uncle Bob off which will be the day after we help with a tri-parish 3-day mission (with a little help from Uncle Bob, of course) which will be after.....my point being, we're all busy and broke. Let's fill a table anyway! It'll be fun!
Liam is in a quandary. His good friend is having a Birthday Party. Liam wants to buy him a $50 wii game that the friend reallllllllly wants. I told Liam that I only spend $20 on these gifts. He said that was fine...he'll use his own money for the rest. I reminded him that the money he has is from birthday gifts from people who wanted him to buy himself a present. He looks all worried and says, "I don't know what to do. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but I want to get Josh his favorite game!" So??? Do I let him get this extravagant gift? Part of me says "yes" this is an awesome quality of his and I should encourage it...part thinks no...he can be way too generous for his own good. Ideas?
My vote would be "no." I'm amazed and impressed at Liam's generosity but this sort of "ups the ante" or raises the bar for friend birthday party gifts. Maybe Liam could see if any other friends want to go in with him on such a gift. What would his friend's parents think they need to get for Liam's next birthday? Just explain to him that an expensive gift is sort of a violation of birthday gift protocol or etiquette (I know, he'll never understand that if he has such a generous heart) and offer to help him get a group gift of the game or a gift certificate that gould go toward that game.
Yeah...you're probably right. I suggested a gift card to go towards the game...but, I think he may have already "promised" it. I dunno. He looked "heart broken" at the prospect of not getting him "the best gift ever!" Sweet. This little boy came to Liam's party the other week. Liam does not care about gift protocol...he was more than pleased with another little boys "folded paper, chinese firecracker" gift that he was given.
That gift would spread like wilfire...like "Sarah's must be doing REALLY well so, let's eat Mexican tonight"...it would just piss parents off. My opinion.
Judge Judy says..."no good deed goes unpunished." I would hope that a parent wouldn't boycott Sarah's because Liam gave a nice gift. I am gonna tell him "no." However, he's gonna be realy upset. So, we'll see. Thanks for the input!
I'm impressed with Barbie. She's both a stewardess and a commercial airlin pilot! Which Barbie would you rather have if your flight is in trouble? Although I don't think she can sit with a seatbelt because her knees don't bend, do they? She does have built-in flotation devices!
wasn't she also an astronaut briefly befor "feminist" became a dirty word?
Face it. Girls who want Barbies want them to be all girl. Preferably with princess dresses. I always liked Lumberjack Barbie myself. Anyone who ever had a Barbie (I didn't) raise your hand. Not you, Frank. Dressing GIJoe in her clothes doesn't count.
Ohh, we got an old phonograph from the antique store this weekend. Right now it only plays old 78's, but it's really cool and in a little buffet/side board. It's from the early 1920s. We also got a cool art deco-ish dining room table and chairs from another antique store. I hope all the different decades of furniture go together. The wood is all similar so it should work.
Coolest part of the phonograph- you have to crank it to work! Apparently these are not rare as we've already seen a few others this weekend, but still neat!
Ellen, sounds very cool! One of my fav 45's was purple. It was ELO's Sweet Talkin' Woman...still love that song. I, also, had Disco Duck...not sure who sang that!
There's a sad but nice obituary in the Whittemore paper for a baby girl who died 5 hours after her birth. It's Harold Haag's grandaughter...but it said, "she lived life to the fullest,...(and then continued with something like this)... enjoying the sound of her brother's voice, her father's hands and her mother's touch. We loved every moment we spent with her and will miss her"...
OH my gosh that's sad. Do you really want a pregnant woman reading that? So sad for that family.
nance, yes I agree with Cathy and Mary about the gift. Do your best to explain to Liam the reasons why he shouldn't give a gift that big and - as the others said- see fi others will go in on it with him.
Is there flooding in Iowa? I heard some blurb on the news but didn't catch the story.
Well, I was able to get Liam to reluctantly agree to give him a $30 gift card...of which he'll have to put in $10. I think it's his thought that he'll give more than half towards it. Liam said that Josh asked his Mom if it was okay for him to give him this and Josh said his Mom said that was okay! I'b like to be a bug on the wall during their conversations about this whole deal! :-<>
Obama says he is willing to talk to "more moderate" elements of the Taliban. I guess this means he is willing to talk to those who only "moderately" disfigure girls who dare to crack a book.
After finding out who was not interested in the chandelier, we finally did the drawing. Cathy and Steve are now the proud owners of the mountain of brass and crystal. They also get the lovely circular mirror that goes with.
A new give away - first to contact me gets it.
Our kitchen ceiling fan.
Quite pretty. White with frosted glass. Hummingbird pull. We took it down for no reason other than Randy had an impulse buy a few months ago.
I was reading that Obit. to Mike last night and this is why it caught my attention..."she lived life to the fullest and loved to dance, her first dance was with her Dad..." we both got teary eyed... Dad said the Haag were very good writers, her Mom probably wrote it.
No we shouldn't talk to the Taliban. All we have done in Afghanistan is secure the cities and left the remote areas open to the Taliban. We would enter a remote area. Dispense some meds and a little food and tell the populace we are their friends and that they should cooperate with us. Most were willing to do so.
Then we would vacate and leave them to the mercy of the Taliban who would quickly fill the vacuum with their savagely unique brand of rule.
Then we would scratch our head and wonder why the Taliban had secured so much of the countryside.
At one time we had the rural residents on our side. We lost them. We need to show that we are willing to protect them. This means killing Taliban. Not talking to them.
Hancock County, Iowa, the next county to the east of our county, Kossuth, has almost 10% unemployment because of the Winnebago factory layoffs. The REGISTER had a feature story about it in Sunday's paper. (I didn't know it was such a huge factory, the article said it's the size of 8 football fields.)
There was a story on NPR the other day about all the unemployment in northern Indiana because of the trailer and RV business. So Ivy Tech is offering courses of study in computer-assisted machining because one of the fastest-growing businesses in the area is making prostheses and things like artificial knees and hips. So there's a community college system that's johnny-on-the-spot with ways to retrain for the local job market. Not so easy in Hancock County, maybe. The 39-year-old student they were featuring made the ultimate sacrifice---he sold his bass boat to go to school.
I don't believe in earmarks. That said, I'm pretty tired of outraged congressmen complaining about outrageous earmarks and using as an example the paltry $1.7 million earmark for swine odor control research. If you lived downwind of a swine producer I bet you wouldn't complain.
Tom, I agree with you on how we consistently blew it in Afghanistan by not following through. I also think at least half of all wars could be prevented with (intelligently run) aid programs that would operate at a tenth of the cost of war. If your father is a Talibani then maybe you become one by default, but maybe you are not so radical and maybe you are willing to talk reasonably. I'm just saying. It's worth a try. Chances are they're all thugs who like publicly beating women. You don't know until you talk with them.
I didn't say it was. But they have the upper hand in much of the country right now. We need to undo their gains and kill as many as possible before we talk to them. This will allow us to negotiate with strength. Also, maybe little Johnny Taliban will be less likely to follow dad's footsteps when he sees the herders 2 valleys over living relatively well.
Yesterday I bumped into a local Edward D. Jones guy. We talked briefly about the economy and markets. At one point I said, "Man, maybe it's time to buy some of that Citigroup." Of course I didn't.
Then after work I realize it went up 50% while I was schlepping burgers.
Things are not looking good for Creighton. Hoping for an at large bid while Cleveland State beat Butler last night. Butler was a shoe in for the tournament win or lose. Cleveland St. gets the automatic bid for winning the conference. This essentially eliminates one of the at large bids Creighton (and others) was hoping for.
Here's a story. North Dakota State won their conference. It is their first year of 1A eligibility and they make it to the dance.
Bush REALLY screwed up with Afghanistan...just say it...and we can't just start killing Taliban, that's crazy, because it's a crazy country...don't forget about the cash crop, that's a big deal, too.
So did Clinton when he panicked after our Somalia debacle. He wanted no more bad press for operations gone awry. He ordered all CIA support (personnel and technical) for anti Taliban tribes out of Afghanistan. Mahmoud the "Lion of the Panjshir" was a western educated tribal leader who we were helping. He had formed what was later called The Northern Alliance which was instrumental in rolling back the Taliban after 9/11.
After Clinton pulled the plug on assistance the Taliban was beating back the Alliance. They finally were able to assassinate Mahmoud.
Mahmoud's final words to his CIA contacts were "you are abandoning me." Had Mahmoud and the Northern Alliance continued to receive our help it is very possible that 9/11 would never have happened. They may have been able to displace the Taliban and kill those training at the Al Queda camps.
Bush and Clinton REALLY screwed up. None of this matters anymore. Now Obama has to not screw up. We'll see.
Clarification: Al Qaida actually assassinated Mahmoud as a gesture of goodwill for the Taliban. It was just another reason The Taliban allowed Bin Ladin to operate in their country.
Afghanistan is a terrible place for an outsider to try to gain a foothold.
When we invaded Dad said he was going by by stock in donkeys (actually, he said dankies so I didn't know what he was saying, but that's another story)... but the fact of the matter is, we need to know the terrain - both geographically and socially, and we don't. What happened to Russia could easily happy to us there and it's a lesson we need to keep in mind.
Right. And the lesson to be learned from the Soviets is to not use only brutal force. Use aid and diplomacy and a show of force to gain the population's backing. Afghanis have a reputation as born fighters. They respect force and will align themselves with the prevailing force.
Just and the Sunni tribes in Iraq "Awakened" and saw the US as the overwhelming force and allied with us.
Afghanistan is a tribal country as well. Meaning loyalty is based more on tribal relationships and less on some nationalistic or religious affiliation.
Start swinging the tribes our way by showing a willingness to kill their enemies (the Taliban) provide humanitarian aid and the job becomes much easier.
A kid in Sean's class killed himself this weekend. Sean knew him but did not hang around him. Anyway, there is no school tomorrow because of the funeral. One of his friends is having a bunch of kids overnight tonight. They are going to the wake tonight and then staying over and going to the funeral in the morning. Should I let him stay over? I know it will be more like a party, because there's no school, than anything else. None of these kids really knew him very well. It just seems disrespectful to me. Am I being too uptight?
We have to be willing to make some long-term commitments there too, like support for crops that aren't poppies, or helping Afganistan develop o strong biofuels market based on lichen or whatever grows there. Dramatically increase our imports of goat cheese and support them the way we do our own dairy industry. I mean we never got anywhere just throwing money at a local government without oversight. In Vietnem in the 50's we were sending them millions of dollars in food after a crop failure, and the bags of rice and grain were being offloaded and stamped with a hammer and sickle before they ever left port. We have to commit just as much manpower and effort to smart humanitarian aid as we do to military presence or we'll never win. It's going to take a lot of micromanagement.
Wow, Monica, that's so sad. I wonder what the mother if the kid having friends over is thinking - I don't mean that in a negative way. I mean, is she thinking this is a time for friends to be together and support each other and talk about it, or is she thinking having a little party would somehow distract them and make it not so bad (serious) as it is? It sure wouldn't be my first impulse. Tough call. They owe the victim at least the acknowledgement of his life and what a loss it is, but teenage friends do help each other through painful times like this too. Sean is such a good guy, if his friends are like him I don't think it would be disrespectful. But if it's going to be just a party I wouldn't want my kid to go.
Monica...I get your concern and my first instinct is to say "no" too. However, I can't help but think that although these kids didn't know him well...perhaps, they're feeling sad and confused about it. A little "party" may not be such a bad thing. What's the "story" about this boy? What happened and why?
This is a good website about ProLife: www.unborn.info When you first arrive listen to the music and watch the short video. Afterwards, look to the left of the screen and you'll notice a variety of "choices" to click on. If you select "Abortion videos" it's a series of video shorts where Fr.Frank Pavone explains the various abortion techniques used today. He's a good speaker and the information is profound and effective. I gotta say that the photos of 9 week old babies that are killed...is so very sad. Of course, all the photos are sad...but, I think people would be surprised at the 9 week old ones...in terms of...they're babies...and, there's no denying it. How can anyone think it's just a "medical procedure" after seeing these??? I wonder what age it would be "okay" to share some of this information with our kids???
I think it's fair to ask if they are staying together because they all plan on going to the wake together... I believe they all may wish to hang out so they don't feel so lonley.
After listening to Fathers explanation of abortion techniques...I considered this: If a child finds a baby frog and proceeds to rip off the arms/legs and tear off its head...a parent would be upset and, perhaps worried. This child may attend counseling, certainly receive a stern "what for" and you may secretly hope he/she doesn't grow up to be Jeffrey Dahmer. This being said, how is it that an adult can agree to have the same thing done to their baby growing inside of them...and, it's widely considered "okay?" In the video shorts...I like how Father takes off his collar and goes onto to say that if he weren't a priest...the information which he shared would be exactly the same.
Monica, I don't think it would be out of line to call the mother who is hosting the gathering to see what her plans are, and if she has no plans to ask her if she thinks it would be a good idea to "direct" a discussion about the boy, his good qualities, how important life is, etc. If she resents your inquiry, then it's her problem. Your responsibility is to Sean and not to her feelings. Dad
n, I didn't look at any of the info you're telling about yet, but I wouldn't show any graphic images of abortion to my children unless I were ready, and they old enough, to have a frank discussion about unprotected sex. Otherwise the subject matter would be very abstract, as in, "some bad people are out there killing unborn babies."
Afghanistan has 3 languages...2 in the south and the northern one around Kabul...all 3 were spoken at our house...There's Muslims and some Buddists..the Taliban blew upthe GIANT Buddists statues and temples near the eastern border where our guest Mossuma was from (she looked more Eastern than the other 2).
Monica, I agree with Dad...also you could tell the Mom that you have a nice prayer for kids in this situation and you can send it with Sean, and see how she responds...
Molly, I was thinkin' *sometime* in high school...not sure when. I did a speech on pro-life in the 10th(?) grade. I had slides of some graphic imagery...but, nothing as "straight forward" as the photos on the Priests for Life website. Perhaps, photos of healthy/live babies at different ages of gestation would be appropriate for a younger child. Speak more about when life begins and such. The boys do know "in general" what abortion is and that it's wrong. Re: Sean. I think that when tragedy occurs...people like to gather together and be reminded that things are still "okay." Perhaps, that's the intention of the over-night? I'm super sick with a cold/sinus infection. Tom gave it to me and his lasted a week+! Donny has the sniffles and Liam's coughing all the time. I think Liam's is allergy related...dunno. Eli is illness-free. The boys and I watched Animal Planet "Rescue" yesterday...gave me an "itch" for a puppy. Looking to get talked out of it...ha!
I've now had 3 out of town clients anxious to move here to an acreage and have "fainting goats"...the all say they saw them on Animal Planet...and the goats are hilarious because...they faint. I had never heard of them before.
Good thing I didn't see that show...or, may have had an itch for one of those...ha! We, also, watched Jeff Corwin in Madagascar...I'm very cool with not having a Lemur or a gecko-like creature. :-<>
The overnight thing solved itself. They are not doing it. I guess other parents had a problem with it also.
The boy who did it was a good kid with friends and involved in lots of school activities but he was troubled. He got kicked out of school last year for putting pot in another kids locker. On the day he died he had been picked up for shoplifting. I guess he and his mom had a huge fight about that and then she went to friends house for dinner, came home and his younger sister found him in his room. He had hung himself. I can't imagine his mothers pain.
Enough. Nance I have had a cold/sinus infection for 4 weeks now. I'm on my second round of antibiotics. My left ear is completely clogged up. Can't hear a thing out of it. Poor me.
Hope you feel better, Monica and Nance! I have puppy itch, too. I want to surprise Andy with this hilarious looking dog: http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=13099468
Our dream is to one day have goats. Not fainting ones, just ones that mill around the lawn and sun themselves on dog houses- (there's two houses around here that have goats that do that). I swear I would make goat cheese if I had some. Andy's brother-in-law's parents raise goats for meat. They let the babies live in their house when they are born, then they get sent to the slaughter house. I think its odd.
Poor Monica! I feel your pain! I've barely slept the past two nights 'cuz I can't breathe and my teeth hurt. I'm super clogged...but, my nose is running.
I'm dismayed by the stories that I hear about parents scolding their children and then, the child kills themself. There must be more to it...such as depression or mental health issues that have gone undetected/untreated...yes? So sad and scary.
We were gonna get a bird once. I was visiting with the pet store owner (animal lover/people disliker) and she said that Guinness could literally scare the bird to death. I paused and said "Well, the bird isn't that expensive...we could always get another one and try it again." She looked at me in horror...I realized what I said...and, she told me that she wouldn't sell me a bird. Oops!
Brian's grandpa (who lives about 7 blocks from my parent's house) used to have goats in his backyard when Catherine was 2. Two baby goats who used to hop all around, he named them Sugar and Spice, and they were hilarious!
So, they cut our hours at the museum from 40 to 35, which makes sense given that traffic in the off season is pretty much halved. But the funny part is when my boss said it hurts her the most bc it was hard to tell us. She's not getting cut, and makes about $140K a year. (it's public info so I know this). No one knew what to say to that. Josh's brother has a small parrot. I think a cockatoo? It always sits on someone's shoulder when let out. Even when playing ping pong, it will fly from shoulder to shoulder during the game. The problem is that they live like 40 years or something. p
Pat - this is your chance to be a suck up. Go tell your boss you are willing to donate back to the cause and work those 5 lost hours for free. She will say thanks but no thanks yet you will be held in great esteem. You may get to be put in charge of office supply inventories. This will provide great leverage over your coworkers. New stapler? Denied!
Just kidding. I hope the lost hours don't create hardships for you and your coworkers (oh, and your boss).
Why does the State of Iowa practice racial profiling? Every year they state and local law enforcement pushes an initiative which is a crack down on drunk driving. It always happens the week of St. Pat's Day. I say we gather our pitchforks and torches and meet on the capital steps.
Big story on the front page of today's Algona paper. A review of Sister Sarah's. I'm very pleased with all the points they made.
It's a nice article...however, Nathan states that a person can "share" the salad bar...not so. Sigh. He, also, says that Sarah's was recommended by Tracey Teague...the recommendation actually came from Teresa...she even spelled it for the interviewer. Her husband is Tracy...no "e." Lastly, I would have preferred he spoke on about how affordable we are withOUT talking about how expensive he thought we were...yah know? I'm not sure if that matters.
I read it. I think, to the nonowner, employer, it does get across that you can eat both inexpensively and in fine dining fashion if you wish. Tom, I'm already in charge of inventory. That's why I use nicer pens than everyone else. The 35 hours doesn't hurt me so much (and may make it bearable until better job comes along) but for some it's really tough. It's a nonprofit, and already nonprofits are on the low end of the payscale. What's crazy is people don't work very hard here anyway. THey were already at a 35 work week bc we come at 9, leave at 5 and take an hour lunch which is paid. So now I guess I"ll come in at 10 leave at 5 and take an hour lunch. It's about 20 hours less than my academic job. p
Nice story about Sarah's. Even with a few mistakes, I think the net effect would be to encourage some new customers to try it.
Ellen, that dog has great eyebrows. Does he have a Scottish accent? When a dog is 2 or 3 years old and they say "house training is going well" I say run like the wind. In the other direction.
231 comments:
1 – 200 of 231 Newer› Newest»Happy Birthday Ed! Hope that cocktail isn't for breakfast. Have a great day!
Monica
Dang Ed, you always beat me to your birthday post, although these pictures are way better than the ones I had. Hope you have a great day, I don't know what Pulaski Day is, but it sounds like it might involve perogis. Cheers to you, have a good day!
Happy Birthday to you too Pete!
Brianne, re: the show, did you wear the peacock feathers or the facial hair?
Happy Birthday Ed! Looks like you dressed up, and not in your birthday suit!
Happy Birthday Pete! See you and Mely tonight for some fabulous German food.
p
Happy Birthday to both of you! Great pictures! When's the pig roast?
Happy Birthday Ed!
Good thing you
don't have bed head
on your birthday
or folks might say
he started drinking the previous day!
We sawPhelan with Bird Names at Grinnell College on Saturday night...it was great! She has great stage presence knows how to put on a show. Hew bandmates are very nice, too.
Read Brianne's review below (she's a paid jounalist).
"na zdrowie"
Ed, looks like you share my affinity for an extra filthy martini. Pete, you share my love of beautiful women.
Happy Birthday,
Tom
Happy Square Root Day, mathmetician fans. 3/3/09.
Tom
happy birthday uncles!
thanks for the smashing review brianne!
what do you guys think of michelle's arms?
oxoxox
Happy Birthday Pete!
And thanks to all of you well wishers. I had a great birthday. I got some ribs!
Tom - I do love a dirty martini.
Phelan - who is Michelle and why is she arming herself?
Molly - Pulaski day is celebrated in Illinois honoring the Revolutionary war hero from Poland Casmir Pulaski. They don't have school and the state offices are closed. I think there may be a prade too.
So last night we met mom dad pete and mely for german food at the Bohemian Garden in western Lake Worth. It had a sort of old supper club feel to it. LARGE portions - I think we all departed with leftovers. Potato pancakes, bohemian dumplings, red cabbage, escargot, goulash, schnitzel, chicken, soup, salad, all sorts of stuff on the table.
Pete and Mely were headed back today at a slower pace. Planning on a three day drive, stopping each day by 3 so they could see the sites of wherever they landed.
Happy Birthday Pete. Sounds like you had a great dinner last night.
Have a safe and relaxing ride home.
Peter also says, "Happy Birthday Uncle Pete!"
Monica
Interesting:
The oldest words, resistant to evolution:
I, Who, We, Thou, Two, Three and Five
Words that are evolving rapidly, and likely to disappear:
Dirty, squeeze, bad, because, guts, push (verb), smell (verb), stab, stick (noun), turn (verb), wipe
p
happy birthday Pete!
I'm curious...how does the annual performance review go for a weather person? Do they get in trouble for being wrong?
i repete, happy birthday Pete!
I think they're supposed to be wrong 50% of the time.
Happy BIrthday to Ed and Pete. That is a great picture of a maritini - and Ed.
Gotta run. Jude is running rampant in the lobby.
Tomorrow I'm making a non-meat Italian vegetable soup for Generations. Besides the obvious (peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, zucchini, pasta) any ideas? Some kind of beans - what's Italian? Fava beans? I have one food-service size can of tiny corn-on-the-cobs that I think I'll throw in there - is that too weird? I always think of soup as a good way to get rid of leftovers. I'm also serving hearty chicken noodle soup and putting a warm loaf of homemade bread on each table. We're learning about the Liturgy of the Eucharist so I want them to BREAK the bread and share it - should I put wipes on the tables?
Cathy -
How bout instead of wipes put some hand sanitizer?
Lisa
Ed and Pete!
My birthday wishes for you didn't post!
Happy, happy day!
Ed, tell us what you did!
Pete, a trip to Florida and a slow trip home sounds perfect.
love,
lisa
black beans
mushrooms
regular corn...not mini's
hominy
Happy belated birthday Ed! Hope it was a great one. Tomorrow in honor of your birthday and for your viewing pleasure I have arranged a pre-season game between the Cubs and White Sox at 9:05 PM on WGN, playing in Las Vegas. The Cubs will be using a split squad as some of the team will also be playing in Cleaveland earlier in the day but they will still beat the White Sox as a birthday present to you. The Cubs and White Sox will play again on Thurs at 3:05 PM again on WGN (this time with the full Cubs team) and I tried to get them to start at 6:00 PM so you could see the White Sox get beat again but they would not change the starting time. So unless you have a TV at work, I guess yhou will have to listen on the radio. Enjoy!
That Italian "dot" pasta would be good.
Here's a business that's thriving. From CNBC...
In Mendocino County north of San Francisco the #1 crop is marijuana, it's 2/3 of the county's economy. It's legal to have a few plants in your own backyard. It costs $400 to grow one pound and it sells for $2,500. 20 good plants will produce $100,000. worth!!
Happy Birthday Pete! Hope you are having a good one and enjoying your day. I wasn't able to arrange any pre-season games for you and I'm not sure which Texas team you root for if any. Hope you get outside and enjoy your day with a cook-out of something.
Stevo...very cool gift of baseball! But, I would think it would be about 18 degrees in Cleveland!!
An open invitation to everyone: You are all most cordially invited to a St. Patrick's Day dinner at our house on March 17, 2009. We will provide corned beef and cabbage with potatos, green dessert, green hats and beads. BYO liquid refreshment as you prefer. Dress code requires something green. Leprechauns optional. Dinner begins at 6:00 PM. See you then.
M.E., You are right. They show the game against Cleveland as an away game but they must be playing at Cleveland's spring training location and I don't know where that is, probably in Arizona, That is where the Cubs spring training camp is.
Oh, and green soda bread too.
Cathy - use any beans you have on the shelf. Just make the soup tomato-ee and basil-ee. Orzo pasta is a good choice to add also.
At work we were just pooling a couple of bucks each for the powerball. I told everyone if we won that not a whole lot about me would change. I'd keep my cars, my house, I'd dress the same. About the only thing about me that would change is I would be saying, "Kiss my butt." a whole lot more. I could afford to.
Tom
I would get a different car, I'd use a personal trainer, and I would travel back and forth more. And I would buy more clothes and pay for a decent haircut. How much money are we talking about anyway? More changes may happen.
When I win.
p
I would get facials.
I already have some acini di pepe, the little tiny pasta. Tomato-ee and basil-ee, that's the ticket.
I guess we're not going to Algona for St. Patrick's Day! Actually I can't anyway. Good motivation to get the house clean.
I would get a different car and a few select pieces of new furniture and pay someone to paint our house forevermore. oh, and gut the kitchen and start over. Hmmm. We might have to go live somewhere nice while that's happening....
What? No one else would be saying "Kiss my butt" a whole lot more? Liars.
Actually, Joe3 and I have talked about this on different occasions. We'd both be firing off letters to the editors, letters to schools, letters to mayors - railing against whatever got our dander up that day. It would be fun to call out idiots in positions of authority with no apprehensions what-so-ever.
Tom
I'd get facials.
Buy a nice 2 year old car.
Gut and re-build the kitchen.
I'd really say kiss my butt by not even acknowledging those who make me crazy.
lisa
As Tom's wife...I would like to say that our list would be more extensive than he suggests.
For example:
Pool
New cars
Finished basement
Sell Sarah's...or, give it away to someone with a "dream."
Cabin in northern Minnesota
And, of course college for all three boys and retirement "plan" for us.
Oh and yes, a personal trainer...the kind that comes to your house and forces you to do it.
This being said, for Lent I will give up "powerball" dreams.
I don't think I'd need to say it so much bc I wouldn't be financially dependent in any way shape or form on those people. Most of the time I want to say it, is in a work situation, which I decidedly will no longer find myself.
Today for instance, someone on the phone said I don't know a thing bc I'm only the receptionist. I just agreed. That was easiest.
P
Why does one have to be financially independent to be able to say "kiss my ****?
Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose.
Stevo, you've busted into the green beer already haven't you?
p
Tom, you better learn how to say that in French. You gotta be a little fancier.
Happy Bday, Uncles!
Super Target is Amazing- my lunch was a french bread hogie with fresh smoked turkey and a huge slice of brie for $2! They also have the best selection of fancy marinades for $3.99
So, who is going to Gala?
P
I agree with my dad about the financial independence thing. I tell ANdy to kiss my butt all the time and he's basically my sugar daddy.
Oh, I think it depends on the situation. OF course you can tell that to some people at some times. But it's a heck of a lot easier when you have money. Right now in my current job, (and jobs are REALLY scarce in Florida right now) I basically have to let people treat me like crap.
I think it's a nice ideal but not always real.
P
I think maybe Ellen has busted in to the green beer already or sampled some of Andy's homemade brew.
Actually Pat, I know that one can not always say what they want but I like to think that is out of politeness or because it would probably be lost on them anyway.
Ellen, just kidding.
Pat, you're sort of smart, learn a dead language and just swear at them in that. They won't know you're telling them to go kiss a goat if you say it in Aramaic.
We should try to do a whole table at Gala...c'mon...it's April 4th.
Tom and Joe...who is the Grand Marshall of the St. Patrick's Day Parade??? Is all your publicity ready?? The Grand Marshall of Emmetsburg's just died so they might grab the one you have in mind!! (I don't have any info for the rest of you 'cause I'm not on the committee)
Look for the white smoke arising from Sarah's. That will indicate that "The Next" has been chosen.
Tom
Emily, did you get rid of those animals yet?
FYI:
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/6659/concerns.jpg
We went to our great big new Target last night as we were out running errands, and who did we see but the Richardsons! Molly was working and the others came out for free red-and-white cake, punch, balloon critters, tattoos, goodie bags, etc. I think the Mall of the Bluffs is dead, or about to turn into a vocational school. Too bad for Barnes & Noble (guess they could be the college bookstore!) and Skeeter Barnes BBQ and all the small independent merchants. Even Dillard's looks dispirited.
(Pant, pant) Just replaced both print cartridges. They were glued to the packaging with kryptonite.
Instead og GENERAL GROWTH MALLS (landlords to many of us in the Midwest for years)...they'll become GENERALLY SMALL MALLS...or GENERAL EMPTY MALLS!
I work in a General Growth Mall. I mean, connected to it. The museum owns our building.
p
Pat - has it ever occurred to you that you may be an unwitting exhibit at this museum?
Tom
I might be. I sit in the Violet and Joseph Soffer Administration Reception Area.
If Joseph Soffer comes in, you better be worried!
Or maybe you are part of some large social experiment...? All these rude people may be testing you. You haven't found any strange electrodes on your temples, have you?
Tom
Happy belated birthday unc's! Everybody who doesn't have a facebook is missing out on all the cute pics Molly just uploaded.. Oscar is so much bigger than last time I saw him
Did anyone hear about the kid from Omaha who made a bong big enough to put his cat inside of so he could get it high?? His excuse was that the cat was too hyper and he wanted to "chill" it out. It made some national news reports.. What happened to regular old catnip?
I'm off to take my 6th and final midterm today (thank God) then off to Mexico for a week. Who's jealous??!!
m.e.,
Cathy and I are coming to Gala this year but have not received an invitation yet. Since seating is limited and we want to be sure to be at the Straub table, who should we contact to submit and comfirm a reservation?
Good luck Caitlin!
I also use the restroom donated by Dani and Jack Sonnenblink. I am more worried about meeting them.
p
Caitlin, I saw that about the kid from Omaha. Do you know him?!?!
I want to go to Mexico.
Monica
I never watch these "Real Housewives of Wherever" shows. But I am unfortunate enough to have been exposed to them.
Question: Why are they called "Real" when so often there are certain anatomical parts that aren't real?
Tom
Pat just whisper,"A spincter says WHAT?" Then laugh politely. Or say, "Bico mina bunda" and hope they aren't from norhtwestern Spain.
My sphincter apologizes for dropping the "h" in the previous post. If I offended anyone, please polib mi zadek.
Caitlin I am done with my book.
Yes...Caitlin is lucky enough to have a friend, Emily Dixon, 20 years old...whose family didn't have another child untill the girls' senior high school year! So, now the family is going to a VERY fancy resort in Mexico and they decided Emily should have someone her own age on the trip...so the flight, food and the resort all all paid by the Dixon's, Caitlin just has to bring is a swimsuit!!
Thought you may all want to know that Josh and I are filing an application this week for adoption (which really means moving forward with it as the financial aspect immediately incurs.) It takes over a year and maybe two, but at least as of now, we expect we will have a kid.
We are going international.
P
Awesome! Shall we call you guys Posh?
I don't get that joke? p
The resort Caitlin's going to is called Iberostar Paraiso Lindo...it's just so pretty!!
Pat and Josh combined is Posh...it means you're very cool and I think it moves the process along faster when you're cool.
Oh, I was thinking Posh Spice. Maybe that should be our family last name. Josh Posh. Pat Posh.
p
And you can name the baby Pish.
Stevo...I was so excited about Pat's news that i didn't answer your query...call BGHS @515-295-3521 and ask for Diane (or anyone in Development)..Hooray, you're coming to GALA!
Yeah Pat and Josh!!! I'm very excited for you.
Monica
You could call it Jat Posh Waub Strilkes.
Monica
or you could name it Monica.
Pat and Josh,
Greeeeeeaaaaaatttttt news!
CONGRATULATIONS!
m.e., Thanks for the info. See you and Mike and everyone there.
congrats pat and josh! international? awesome, I'm so excited for you
Caits - have fun in Mexico!
Pat and Josh - good news and good luck!
Scott and I always say if we win the big one we would buy a lakefront house in Clear Lake and of course take really awesome vacations. I would get facials, massages, a personal trainer, get lasik, get my veins zapped, and oh who knows?
Next year we'll come to Algona for St. Pats and we'll go to Gala if we can get a sitter. I promise!
Watched a good movie today..."Nurse Betty." It's a dark comedy with Renee Zellweger and Morgan Freeman. :-)
Nose hairs.
Is there anything more troublesome at my age? I cut them and when possible yank them out. But they seem to propagate like split amoebas. Very frustrating.
Tom
A good family movie is Son of Rambo. A funny coming of age story.
Tom and Nance I think your boys would like it.
Monica
When you get older your life force diverts its energy to making things grow where you don't necessarily want them. While you slowly fall apart. After a certain point "May the Force be with you" is actually a form of curse.
Monica~ We just rented that! :-)
This is funny: You know that study that came out last week saying women shouldn't drink even low levels of alcohol due to breast cancer worries? Oh....science. This is from an article I just read:
Third, the study is full of significant puzzles that suggest that its results are unreliable. For example, it reports that the incidence of all types of cancer studied in its non-drinking subjects was 5.7 per cent compared with 5.3 per cent for those subjects who had at least a drink a day, and up to 14 drinks a week.
In other words, not only was there no dose-response in terms of cancer risk, but teetotallers had a higher population incidence of cancer than those consuming up to 14 drinks a week!
Even those women in the study who drank the most (15 or more drinks a week) had a cancer incidence of 5.8 per cent, which is virtually identical to those who drank nothing.
p
Hey, everyone, I should have announced this sooner but I guess I was waiting to hear more details----anyway, Uncle Father Bob is coming here to Council Bluffs to give a mission at Queen of Apostles. He'll be here the last weekend of March and through Wednesday April 1. We have been unable to connect (phone tag) to get a lot of details, but anyway, anybody who wants to come visit is more than welcome. I think Sister Ana Maria is with him and I don't have any idea of if they're staying at our place or what, so staying at our place could well involve pulling up an air mattress, but there's plenty of square footage. Come on down!
Yay Pat and Josh! I hope everything goes smoothly and quickly for you. What a lucky kid he or she will be!
The Beatles are launching a video game:
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/story.aspx?guid=%7B5B350ABC%2DE504%2D4191%2DAE1E%2D6F48166EE733%7D&siteid=rss
Pat and Josh. Yay!
Hey Mary and Mike,
according to missingmoney.com the MORTGAGE GUARANTY INS CORP owes you guys over $100.
Tom
and the COUNCIL BLUFFS NONPAREIL LLC owes Joe Jayjack less than $100.
Tom
I always think those postings of money owed are a trick...if we win the lottery we'll collect our $100 from Mortgage Guarantee Corp.
I happen to know that the NonPariel owes Joe money. So unless you've skipped bail somewhere you should claim it!
Yep, get it before Obama does.
Tom
so for those of you who remember Danny Waller (Missy's little brother) he will be on The Beast tonight on A&E.
Happy St. Casimir Feast Day.
73 and sunny today. Beat that Florida!
Monica
Nearly 2 months into his presidency Obama has not clearly articulated a plan to deal with the wolf at our door. The banking crisis. In that time a whole generation's worth of wealth has been destroyed.
Instead, he holds summits on healtcare reform. He needs to back burner that issue and fix the banks.
People are losing jobs. Businesses are dying. Wealth is destroyed.
We can achieve nothing if we are poor.
Tom
OK.
Creighton plays Wichita St. in its first MVC tournament game tonight on Fox Midwest at 6:00.
Go Jays!
Oh and Steve, thanks for putting that Cubs/CWS game on TV for me yesterday. Aaron Heilman got the start for the Cubs and didn't give up any runs. Cubs lost though.
Tom...people's 401K's and the rest of the collapse happened under Bush. You HAVE to stop listeneing to the leader of the Republican party! 89% of Americans trust in Obama's strategy right now...he was handed shi* on a plate. In time it will be beautiful sushi.
BTW go to recovery.gov and apply for some of the money!
The dow has lost one fourth of it's value since Jan. The other indexes have lost more.
Meanwhile, the Whitehouse is "taking advantage of a crisis" in trying to pass it's agenda.
No plan for the banks, yet they dink with Limbaugh.
Tom
A rational conservative talks about the budget:
http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&id=29803151-3048-741E-3189347166650072#comments
"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves."
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you can get rid of him for the entire weekend."
Is this work day going to end?
The unemployment rate here in Palm Beach County is 9.1%.
p
The unemployment rate in Detroit is 21% and the median price for homes sold in December in Detroit was $7,500. That is true. There are no missing zeros there. $7.500.
ED X,
You are welcome, glad you enjoyed the games. As you know, Jeff Samardzija got the start for Wed night's game and he did give up some runs and the Cubbies did not win that game either but it was a good game and good to watch Samardzija. Darn White Sox #@$%&**. My brother-in-law Dave Laird probably enjoyed it as he is a huge CWS fan. We'll get em next time.
Oh, m.e.,
Thanks for the info regarding Gala and guess what? We got our invitation in the mail yesterday.
See you all then!
I wonder what Bob Seger thinks about that.
I googled "detroit foreclosures" and found a bunch, but one AMAZING deal was a 13 house package, buy all 13 for $26,000 cash! You just have to pay back taxes and the water bill so it's about $4,300. total for each one...half of them are brick homes! They are using quit claim deeds, but still it's intriguing!
Yeah Detroit is a mess. Bill Paxton is trying to make it a movie industry hub, so all the local workers can become grips and crewmembers etc. He said there are so many vacant buildings it's ideal.
p
Mike is teaching band at Algona Middle School...I think he's has to be a conductor...he also taught physics and biology this week.
Build a man a fire and keep him warm for a day.
Burn a man to death and keep him warm the rest of his life.
Our wonderful leader has struck again. Twice. Another high level appointee cheated on his taxes to the extent of $10,000. That amount seems to be an acceptable figure for this administration. Then he appointed Kansas governor Sibelius to a cabinet position--Department of Health and Human Services. She has been at odds with her bishop over the abortion issue to the extent that he asked her not to present herself for Holy Communion, but of course she ignores that. I wish she were treasury secretary. She could not do any worse than Geithner and she'd be less likely to "regulate" the abortion industry.
By the way, Stevo. There is another ND pitcher working for the Cubs. He is also competing for the 5th starter's position. He is Aaron Heilman and he was drafted by the Mets in the first round about 7-8 years ago. He wants very much to be a starter but he ended up in the Mets' bullpen where he was very effective in the 7th or 8th innings of games until last year when he had a poor year.
The Mets did let him start when he first came up and one year he pitched a one hitter but they needed him more in the bullpen and he's been frustrated for the past 5or 6 years. In his senior year at ND he was a starter and his record was 15-0. I'm hoping he gets to be the 5th starter. I like Jeff S. also but Heilman has paid his dues and Jeff has his whole career in front of him.
Dad
67 and sunny today in VA. Supposed to be in the 70s tomorrow.
Those Michigan stats are incredible. Where is the bottom of this mess?
After leading by 22 in the second half Creighton needed and got a last second shot by Booker Woodfox last night to beat WSU 63-62.
They play Ill St. today at 4:00 on Fox Sports Midwest.
Go Jays!
Hey everybody, Don't forget to set your clocks ahead one hour tonight so that you will not be late for Mass tomorrow. DAD
Happy Birthday to everyone who's had a birthday!
Pat & Josh, great news! Good luck!
Cubs are projected to go to the WS again. Hope springs eternal.
If I won the lottery I'd hire a housekeeper and spend summers traveling all over the world with Ryan and the kids. And get facials.
Overheard at a catering job I did last week to an office building that is cubicle city. "I knew I should have been on the Punch Committee. This punch is awful."
Tom
the punch is always awful.
I love punch. Any color, clear or creamy. Koolaid for grownups.
We wasted our entire weekend and didn't get anything done. Well, I had to be at the hall after every mass for the stewardship fair, so that was part of it. But I did finally get to watch Nacho Libre on TV. Now I know I don't need to watch it ever again.
Does it seem to you like this early time change left people more discombobulated than usual? Everyone at mass Sunday seemed sort of spacey, it was a light crowd, and the song leaders never showed up. We napped half the day away Sunday.
This guy is my fraternity pledge brother (Tom, you might like what he has to say):
http://www.foxbusiness.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3765210&referralPlaylistId=search%7Candy%20roth
Stevo and I are going to Gala. Come on, team. This will be the day after we help Ellen move, which will be the day after we see Mom & Dad & Uncle Bob off which will be the day after we help with a tri-parish 3-day mission (with a little help from Uncle Bob, of course) which will be after.....my point being, we're all busy and broke. Let's fill a table anyway! It'll be fun!
Liam is in a quandary. His good friend is having a Birthday Party. Liam wants to buy him a $50 wii game that the friend reallllllllly wants. I told Liam that I only spend $20 on these gifts. He said that was fine...he'll use his own money for the rest. I reminded him that the money he has is from birthday gifts from people who wanted him to buy himself a present. He looks all worried and says, "I don't know what to do. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but I want to get Josh his favorite game!"
So??? Do I let him get this extravagant gift? Part of me says "yes" this is an awesome quality of his and I should encourage it...part thinks no...he can be way too generous for his own good. Ideas?
My vote would be "no." I'm amazed and impressed at Liam's generosity but this sort of "ups the ante" or raises the bar for friend birthday party gifts. Maybe Liam could see if any other friends want to go in with him on such a gift. What would his friend's parents think they need to get for Liam's next birthday? Just explain to him that an expensive gift is sort of a violation of birthday gift protocol or etiquette (I know, he'll never understand that if he has such a generous heart) and offer to help him get a group gift of the game or a gift certificate that gould go toward that game.
Yeah...you're probably right. I suggested a gift card to go towards the game...but, I think he may have already "promised" it. I dunno. He looked "heart broken" at the prospect of not getting him "the best gift ever!" Sweet. This little boy came to Liam's party the other week. Liam does not care about gift protocol...he was more than pleased with another little boys "folded paper, chinese firecracker" gift that he was given.
That gift would spread like wilfire...like "Sarah's must be doing REALLY well so, let's eat Mexican tonight"...it would just piss parents off. My opinion.
Judge Judy says..."no good deed goes unpunished."
I would hope that a parent wouldn't boycott Sarah's because Liam gave a nice gift.
I am gonna tell him "no." However, he's gonna be realy upset. So, we'll see.
Thanks for the input!
I didn't mean boycott, it's just an attitude someone may get...can't he and a couple friends go in together on the gift?
I saw Tom at KMart Sunday...I think he was parked in handicap parking...is he OK?
Well, he's getting over a cold??? In fact, he gave it to me!
I'm impressed with Barbie. She's both a stewardess and a commercial airlin pilot!
Which Barbie would you rather have if your flight is in trouble?
Although I don't think she can sit with a seatbelt because her knees don't bend, do they?
She does have built-in flotation devices!
wasn't she also an astronaut briefly befor "feminist" became a dirty word?
Face it. Girls who want Barbies want them to be all girl. Preferably with princess dresses. I always liked Lumberjack Barbie myself. Anyone who ever had a Barbie (I didn't) raise your hand. Not you, Frank. Dressing GIJoe in her clothes doesn't count.
I believe the correct term is astronautette.
Ohh, we got an old phonograph from the antique store this weekend. Right now it only plays old 78's, but it's really cool and in a little buffet/side board. It's from the early 1920s. We also got a cool art deco-ish dining room table and chairs from another antique store. I hope all the different decades of furniture go together. The wood is all similar so it should work.
Coolest part of the phonograph- you have to crank it to work! Apparently these are not rare as we've already seen a few others this weekend, but still neat!
There's one in your old family room at home, but it doesn't come with a buffet.
This is fun:
http://redeye.chicagotribune.com/red-worstalbumcovers-pg,0,1348740.photogallery
Ellen, sounds very cool! One of my fav 45's was purple. It was ELO's Sweet Talkin' Woman...still love that song. I, also, had Disco Duck...not sure who sang that!
There's a sad but nice obituary in the Whittemore paper for a baby girl who died 5 hours after her birth. It's Harold Haag's grandaughter...but it said, "she lived life to the fullest,...(and then continued with something like this)... enjoying the sound of her brother's voice, her father's hands and her mother's touch. We loved every moment we spent with her and will miss her"...
OH my gosh that's sad. Do you really want a pregnant woman reading that? So sad for that family.
nance, yes I agree with Cathy and Mary about the gift. Do your best to explain to Liam the reasons why he shouldn't give a gift that big and - as the others said- see fi others will go in on it with him.
Is there flooding in Iowa? I heard some blurb on the news but didn't catch the story.
Well, I was able to get Liam to reluctantly agree to give him a $30 gift card...of which he'll have to put in $10. I think it's his thought that he'll give more than half towards it. Liam said that Josh asked his Mom if it was okay for him to give him this and Josh said his Mom said that was okay! I'b like to be a bug on the wall during their conversations about this whole deal! :-<>
Obama says he is willing to talk to "more moderate" elements of the Taliban. I guess this means he is willing to talk to those who only "moderately" disfigure girls who dare to crack a book.
There are no moderates in the Taliban.
Tom
So let's not talk at all? That's worked well so far.
There are moderate Taliban...and it's a good idea to talk with them.
The great chandelier give-away.
After finding out who was not interested in the chandelier, we finally did the drawing. Cathy and Steve are now the proud owners of the mountain of brass and crystal. They also get the lovely circular mirror that goes with.
A new give away - first to contact me gets it.
Our kitchen ceiling fan.
Quite pretty. White with frosted glass. Hummingbird pull. We took it down for no reason other than Randy had an impulse buy a few months ago.
Lisa
holynameparish@cox.net
I was reading that Obit. to Mike last night and this is why it caught my attention..."she lived life to the fullest and loved to dance, her first dance was with her Dad..." we both got teary eyed...
Dad said the Haag were very good writers, her Mom probably wrote it.
No we shouldn't talk to the Taliban. All we have done in Afghanistan is secure the cities and left the remote areas open to the Taliban. We would enter a remote area. Dispense some meds and a little food and tell the populace we are their friends and that they should cooperate with us. Most were willing to do so.
Then we would vacate and leave them to the mercy of the Taliban who would quickly fill the vacuum with their savagely unique brand of rule.
Then we would scratch our head and wonder why the Taliban had secured so much of the countryside.
At one time we had the rural residents on our side. We lost them. We need to show that we are willing to protect them. This means killing Taliban. Not talking to them.
Tom
Hancock County, Iowa, the next county to the east of our county, Kossuth, has almost 10% unemployment because of the Winnebago factory layoffs. The REGISTER had a feature story about it in Sunday's paper. (I didn't know it was such a huge factory, the article said it's the size of 8 football fields.)
There was a story on NPR the other day about all the unemployment in northern Indiana because of the trailer and RV business. So Ivy Tech is offering courses of study in computer-assisted machining because one of the fastest-growing businesses in the area is making prostheses and things like artificial knees and hips. So there's a community college system that's johnny-on-the-spot with ways to retrain for the local job market. Not so easy in Hancock County, maybe. The 39-year-old student they were featuring made the ultimate sacrifice---he sold his bass boat to go to school.
I don't believe in earmarks. That said, I'm pretty tired of outraged congressmen complaining about outrageous earmarks and using as an example the paltry $1.7 million earmark for swine odor control research. If you lived downwind of a swine producer I bet you wouldn't complain.
pork producer.
Tom, I agree with you on how we consistently blew it in Afghanistan by not following through. I also think at least half of all wars could be prevented with (intelligently run) aid programs that would operate at a tenth of the cost of war.
If your father is a Talibani then maybe you become one by default, but maybe you are not so radical and maybe you are willing to talk reasonably. I'm just saying. It's worth a try. Chances are they're all thugs who like publicly beating women. You don't know until you talk with them.
I don't think we should negotiate from a position of weakness.
Tom
Why is talking a position of weakness?
p
I didn't say it was. But they have the upper hand in much of the country right now. We need to undo their gains and kill as many as possible before we talk to them. This will allow us to negotiate with strength. Also, maybe little Johnny Taliban will be less likely to follow dad's footsteps when he sees the herders 2 valleys over living relatively well.
Tom
Yesterday I bumped into a local Edward D. Jones guy. We talked briefly about the economy and markets. At one point I said, "Man, maybe it's time to buy some of that Citigroup." Of course I didn't.
Then after work I realize it went up 50% while I was schlepping burgers.
Tom
After beating the #15 seed, Rutgers 61-50 last night, ND will be on ESPN at 6 CT playing the #7 seed West Virginia tonight (Wed).
Things are not looking good for Creighton. Hoping for an at large bid while Cleveland State beat Butler last night. Butler was a shoe in for the tournament win or lose. Cleveland St. gets the automatic bid for winning the conference. This essentially eliminates one of the at large bids Creighton (and others) was hoping for.
Here's a story. North Dakota State won their conference. It is their first year of 1A eligibility and they make it to the dance.
Tom
I'm stuffing an envelope right now addressed like this:
Dear Countess:
p
Bush REALLY screwed up with Afghanistan...just say it...and we can't just start killing Taliban, that's crazy, because it's a crazy country...don't forget about the cash crop, that's a big deal, too.
Bush REALLY screwed up with Afghanistan. Happy?
So did Clinton when he panicked after our Somalia debacle. He wanted no more bad press for operations gone awry. He ordered all CIA support (personnel and technical) for anti Taliban tribes out of Afghanistan. Mahmoud the "Lion of the Panjshir" was a western educated tribal leader who we were helping. He had formed what was later called The Northern Alliance which was instrumental in rolling back the Taliban after 9/11.
After Clinton pulled the plug on assistance the Taliban was beating back the Alliance. They finally were able to assassinate Mahmoud.
Mahmoud's final words to his CIA contacts were "you are abandoning me." Had Mahmoud and the Northern Alliance continued to receive our help it is very possible that 9/11 would never have happened. They may have been able to displace the Taliban and kill those training at the Al Queda camps.
Bush and Clinton REALLY screwed up. None of this matters anymore. Now Obama has to not screw up. We'll see.
Tom
Clarification: Al Qaida actually assassinated Mahmoud as a gesture of goodwill for the Taliban. It was just another reason The Taliban allowed Bin Ladin to operate in their country.
Tom
Afghanistan is a terrible place for an outsider to try to gain a foothold.
When we invaded Dad said he was going by by stock in donkeys (actually, he said dankies so I didn't know what he was saying, but that's another story)... but the fact of the matter is, we need to know the terrain - both geographically and socially, and we don't. What happened to Russia could easily happy to us there and it's a lesson we need to keep in mind.
Lisa
Right. And the lesson to be learned from the Soviets is to not use only brutal force. Use aid and diplomacy and a show of force to gain the population's backing. Afghanis have a reputation as born fighters. They respect force and will align themselves with the prevailing force.
Just and the Sunni tribes in Iraq "Awakened" and saw the US as the overwhelming force and allied with us.
Afghanistan is a tribal country as well. Meaning loyalty is based more on tribal relationships and less on some nationalistic or religious affiliation.
Start swinging the tribes our way by showing a willingness to kill their enemies (the Taliban) provide humanitarian aid and the job becomes much easier.
Tom
Throwing around a few bribes never hurt either.
Tom
When is this wyeth pfizer thing supposed to happen? How long do these things usually take?
I was wondering the same thing.
A kid in Sean's class killed himself this weekend. Sean knew him but did not hang around him. Anyway, there is no school tomorrow because of the funeral. One of his friends is having a bunch of kids overnight tonight. They are going to the wake tonight and then staying over and going to the funeral in the morning. Should I let him stay over? I know it will be more like a party, because there's no school, than anything else. None of these kids really knew him very well. It just seems disrespectful to me. Am I being too uptight?
Monica
Terribly sad. I would let Sean go. If they want to commiserate together, why not?
Maybe a mention of what respect means in times like this would be a good idea.
Tom
We have to be willing to make some long-term commitments there too, like support for crops that aren't poppies, or helping Afganistan develop o strong biofuels market based on lichen or whatever grows there. Dramatically increase our imports of goat cheese and support them the way we do our own dairy industry. I mean we never got anywhere just throwing money at a local government without oversight. In Vietnem in the 50's we were sending them millions of dollars in food after a crop failure, and the bags of rice and grain were being offloaded and stamped with a hammer and sickle before they ever left port. We have to commit just as much manpower and effort to smart humanitarian aid as we do to military presence or we'll never win. It's going to take a lot of micromanagement.
And we have to be willing to train our diplomats and staff to speak the local language, at a minimum.
Wow, Monica, that's so sad. I wonder what the mother if the kid having friends over is thinking - I don't mean that in a negative way. I mean, is she thinking this is a time for friends to be together and support each other and talk about it, or is she thinking having a little party would somehow distract them and make it not so bad (serious) as it is? It sure wouldn't be my first impulse. Tough call. They owe the victim at least the acknowledgement of his life and what a loss it is, but teenage friends do help each other through painful times like this too. Sean is such a good guy, if his friends are like him I don't think it would be disrespectful. But if it's going to be just a party I wouldn't want my kid to go.
Monica...I get your concern and my first instinct is to say "no" too. However, I can't help but think that although these kids didn't know him well...perhaps, they're feeling sad and confused about it. A little "party" may not be such a bad thing.
What's the "story" about this boy? What happened and why?
This is a good website about ProLife:
www.unborn.info
When you first arrive listen to the music and watch the short video. Afterwards, look to the left of the screen and you'll notice a variety of "choices" to click on. If you select "Abortion videos" it's a series of video shorts where Fr.Frank Pavone explains the various abortion techniques used today. He's a good speaker and the information is profound and effective.
I gotta say that the photos of 9 week old babies that are killed...is so very sad. Of course, all the photos are sad...but, I think people would be surprised at the 9 week old ones...in terms of...they're babies...and, there's no denying it. How can anyone think it's just a "medical procedure" after seeing these???
I wonder what age it would be "okay" to share some of this information with our kids???
Oh Monica
This is so sad.
I think it's fair to ask if they are staying together because they all plan on going to the wake together... I believe they all may wish to hang out so they don't feel so lonley.
lisa
After listening to Fathers explanation of abortion techniques...I considered this:
If a child finds a baby frog and proceeds to rip off the arms/legs and tear off its head...a parent would be upset and, perhaps worried. This child may attend counseling, certainly receive a stern "what for" and you may secretly hope he/she doesn't grow up to be Jeffrey Dahmer. This being said, how is it that an adult can agree to have the same thing done to their baby growing inside of them...and, it's widely considered "okay?"
In the video shorts...I like how Father takes off his collar and goes onto to say that if he weren't a priest...the information which he shared would be exactly the same.
Monica, I don't think it would be out of line to call the mother who is hosting the gathering to see what her plans are, and if she has no plans to ask her if she thinks it would be a good idea to "direct" a discussion about the boy, his good qualities, how important life is, etc. If she resents your inquiry, then it's her problem. Your responsibility is to Sean and not to her feelings. Dad
n, I didn't look at any of the info you're telling about yet, but I wouldn't show any graphic images of abortion to my children unless I were ready, and they old enough, to have a frank discussion about unprotected sex. Otherwise the subject matter would be very abstract, as in, "some bad people are out there killing unborn babies."
uh oh...staff meeting at 3. I think our hours are getting reduced to 32 per week.
p
Afghanistan has 3 languages...2 in the south and the northern one around Kabul...all 3 were spoken at our house...There's Muslims and some Buddists..the Taliban blew upthe GIANT Buddists statues and temples near the eastern border where our guest Mossuma was from (she looked more Eastern than the other 2).
Monica, I agree with Dad...also you could tell the Mom that you have a nice prayer for kids in this situation and you can send it with Sean, and see how she responds...
Molly, I was thinkin' *sometime* in high school...not sure when. I did a speech on pro-life in the 10th(?) grade. I had slides of some graphic imagery...but, nothing as "straight forward" as the photos on the Priests for Life website. Perhaps, photos of healthy/live babies at different ages of gestation would be appropriate for a younger child. Speak more about when life begins and such. The boys do know "in general" what abortion is and that it's wrong.
Re: Sean. I think that when tragedy occurs...people like to gather together and be reminded that things are still "okay." Perhaps, that's the intention of the over-night?
I'm super sick with a cold/sinus infection. Tom gave it to me and his lasted a week+! Donny has the sniffles and Liam's coughing all the time. I think Liam's is allergy related...dunno. Eli is illness-free.
The boys and I watched Animal Planet "Rescue" yesterday...gave me an "itch" for a puppy. Looking to get talked out of it...ha!
I've now had 3 out of town clients anxious to move here to an acreage and have "fainting goats"...the all say they saw them on Animal Planet...and the goats are hilarious because...they faint.
I had never heard of them before.
Good thing I didn't see that show...or, may have had an itch for one of those...ha! We, also, watched Jeff Corwin in Madagascar...I'm very cool with not having a Lemur or a gecko-like creature. :-<>
The overnight thing solved itself. They are not doing it. I guess other parents had a problem with it also.
The boy who did it was a good kid with friends and involved in lots of school activities but he was troubled. He got kicked out of school last year for putting pot in another kids locker. On the day he died he had been picked up for shoplifting. I guess he and his mom had a huge fight about that and then she went to friends house for dinner, came home and his younger sister found him in his room. He had hung himself. I can't imagine his mothers pain.
Enough.
Nance I have had a cold/sinus infection for 4 weeks now. I'm on my second round of antibiotics. My left ear is completely clogged up. Can't hear a thing out of it. Poor me.
Monica
Hope you feel better, Monica and Nance! I have puppy itch, too. I want to surprise Andy with this hilarious looking dog: http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=13099468
Our dream is to one day have goats. Not fainting ones, just ones that mill around the lawn and sun themselves on dog houses- (there's two houses around here that have goats that do that). I swear I would make goat cheese if I had some. Andy's brother-in-law's parents raise goats for meat. They let the babies live in their house when they are born, then they get sent to the slaughter house. I think its odd.
If we put a shirt on our cat it will fall over like those fainting goats. It's a riot.
Monica
Poor Monica! I feel your pain! I've barely slept the past two nights 'cuz I can't breathe and my teeth hurt. I'm super clogged...but, my nose is running.
I'm dismayed by the stories that I hear about parents scolding their children and then, the child kills themself. There must be more to it...such as depression or mental health issues that have gone undetected/untreated...yes? So sad and scary.
We were gonna get a bird once. I was visiting with the pet store owner (animal lover/people disliker) and she said that Guinness could literally scare the bird to death. I paused and said "Well, the bird isn't that expensive...we could always get another one and try it again." She looked at me in horror...I realized what I said...and, she told me that she wouldn't sell me a bird. Oops!
Brian's grandpa (who lives about 7 blocks from my parent's house) used to have goats in his backyard when Catherine was 2. Two baby goats who used to hop all around, he named them Sugar and Spice, and they were hilarious!
So, they cut our hours at the museum from 40 to 35, which makes sense given that traffic in the off season is pretty much halved. But the funny part is when my boss said it hurts her the most bc it was hard to tell us. She's not getting cut, and makes about $140K a year. (it's public info so I know this). No one knew what to say to that.
Josh's brother has a small parrot. I think a cockatoo? It always sits on someone's shoulder when let out. Even when playing ping pong, it will fly from shoulder to shoulder during the game. The problem is that they live like 40 years or something.
p
Pat - this is your chance to be a suck up. Go tell your boss you are willing to donate back to the cause and work those 5 lost hours for free. She will say thanks but no thanks yet you will be held in great esteem. You may get to be put in charge of office supply inventories. This will provide great leverage over your coworkers. New stapler? Denied!
Just kidding. I hope the lost hours don't create hardships for you and your coworkers (oh, and your boss).
Why does the State of Iowa practice racial profiling? Every year they state and local law enforcement pushes an initiative which is a crack down on drunk driving. It always happens the week of St. Pat's Day. I say we gather our pitchforks and torches and meet on the capital steps.
Big story on the front page of today's Algona paper. A review of Sister Sarah's. I'm very pleased with all the points they made.
Tom
I'm a Joaquin Phoenix fan.
Tom
Sister Sarahs featured in the paper:
http://www.algona.com/site/tab2.asp?brd=2700#openCorner
It's a nice article...however, Nathan states that a person can "share" the salad bar...not so. Sigh. He, also, says that Sarah's was recommended by Tracey Teague...the recommendation actually came from Teresa...she even spelled it for the interviewer. Her husband is Tracy...no "e."
Lastly, I would have preferred he spoke on about how affordable we are withOUT talking about how expensive he thought we were...yah know? I'm not sure if that matters.
I read it. I think, to the nonowner, employer, it does get across that you can eat both inexpensively and in fine dining fashion if you wish.
Tom, I'm already in charge of inventory. That's why I use nicer pens than everyone else.
The 35 hours doesn't hurt me so much (and may make it bearable until better job comes along) but for some it's really tough. It's a nonprofit, and already nonprofits are on the low end of the payscale.
What's crazy is people don't work very hard here anyway. THey were already at a 35 work week bc we come at 9, leave at 5 and take an hour lunch which is paid. So now I guess I"ll come in at 10 leave at 5 and take an hour lunch. It's about 20 hours less than my academic job.
p
Nice story about Sarah's. Even with a few mistakes, I think the net effect would be to encourage some new customers to try it.
Ellen, that dog has great eyebrows. Does he have a Scottish accent? When a dog is 2 or 3 years old and they say "house training is going well" I say run like the wind. In the other direction.
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