Sunday, August 31, 2014

Guest Blogger 8/31/14

     

The Trucks Just Keep Getting Bigger

I admit it.

We have a truck addiction in our household.

First, there was the glory and wonder of that little tan Toyota 4x4, the one we bought when we were young and stupid. We paid and paid and paid for that truck because we had no credit and didn't know enough to dicker at the signing table. Still, the truck served us well and we had many years good use out of it.

Then, enter the amazement of the Tundra. Toyota's first true full-size truck (the T-100 was a joke; nice enough, but *not* full-size). We snuck in on the ground floor of that, purchasing one of the first year's models. It's sitting in our driveway this very moment, with about 70,000 miles on it. I'm still in lust with that truck.

You can see the progression, right? Start small, then move into the stronger stuff, then . . . then what comes next? You got it! The hard stuff.

Sigh. Today we signed papers for something a bit bigger.

It's a Volvo VNL64T300. For those of you who know truck-talk, it's the front half of a tractor-trailer rig, with three axles. It's a day cab, in white, with a short nose.

Whether you know truck-talk or not, I think Harry said it best, "This one's torquier."

I hope there's nowhere bigger we can go with trucks . . .

Copyright 2014 Michelle Hakala
http://www.winebird.com/









 

Saturday, August 30, 2014

8/30/14

     


____________________


"We are all tattooed in our cradles with the beliefs of our tribe; the record may seem superficial, but it is indelible."
--Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

_____


Did You Know . . .?

Male students at Brigham Young University need a doctor's note before they can grow a beard.

_____


HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1967, Thurgood Marshall became the first African American to be confirmed as a Supreme Court justice. He would remain on the Supreme Court for 24 years before retiring for health reasons, leaving a legacy of upholding the rights of the individual as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Justice Marshall came out in favor of abortion rights and against the death penalty, as he continued his tireless commitment to ensuring equitable treatment of individuals -- particularly minorities -- by state and federal governments.

_____


WORD FOR TODAY

hooligan (HOO-lih-guhn)
noun
1. a rough lawless young person
2. A tough and aggressive or violent youth.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS


(born August 30, 1930)
Warren Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is the chairman, CEO and largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway and consistently ranked among the world's wealthiest people. He was ranked as the world's wealthiest person in 2008 and as the third wealthiest person in 2011. In 2012, American magazine Time named Buffett one of the most influential people in the world



(born August 30, 1972)
Cameron Diaz is an American actress. She rose to prominence during the 1990s, with roles in the movies The Mask, My Best Friend's Wedding and There's Something About Mary. Other high-profile credits include the two Charlie's Angels films, voicing the character Princess Fiona in the Shrek series, Any Given Sunday, Knight and Day, The Holiday, The Green Hornet and Bad Teacher.



(born August 30, 1963)
Michael Chiklis is an American actor. Some of the roles for which he is best known include Commissioner Tony Scali on the ABC police drama The Commish, LAPD Detective Vic Mackey on the FX police drama The Shield, the Thing in the Fantastic Four film series, and Jim Powell on the ABC science-fiction comedy-drama No Ordinary Family.



(born August 30, 1966)
Michael Michele is an American film and television actress. She played Dr. Cleo Finch on the medical drama ER and Detective Rene Sheppard on the police procedural Homicide: Life on the Street. Her films include the Academy Award-nominated film Ali.

__________

Literature is the art of discovering something extraordinary about ordinary people, and saying with ordinary words something extraordinary.
--Boris Pasternak

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Friday, August 29, 2014

8/29/14

     


____________________


Did You Know . . .?

Mobile devices can carry ten times more bacteria than toilet seats.

_____


HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 2005, Hurricane Katrina, the most destructive hurricane ever to hit the United States, makes landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast, near New Orleans, Louisiana. Katrina, which formed over the Bahamas on August 23, was the third major hurricane of a particularly severe 2005 season.  The storm caused massive devastation in and around the city of New Orleans and major damage elsewhere in Louisiana and along the coasts of Mississippi and Alabama. Hurricane Katrina was the most costly natural disaster in American history, with damages of more than $80 billion. In all, more than 1,800 people died, 1 million more were displaced and 400,000 lost their jobs as a result of the disaster.


_____


CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS


(August 29, 1958 - June 25, 2009)



(born August 29, 1936)
John McCain is the senior United States Senator from Arizona.

__________

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Thursday, August 28, 2014

8/28/14

     


____________________


“Every man's memory is his private literature.”
--Aldous Huxley

_____


Do You Know . . .?

Where the city of Halifax is located?


_____


HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1941, more than 23,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered by the Gestapo in occupied Ukraine. The irony is that Ukrainians had originally viewed the Germans as liberators from their Soviet oppressors and an ally in the struggle for independence. On August 28, SS General Franz Jaeckeln marched more than 23,000 Hungarian Jews to bomb craters at Kamenets Podolsk, ordered them to undress, and riddled them with machine-gun fire. Those who didn't die from the spray of bullets were buried alive under the weight of corpses that piled atop them. All told, more than 600,000 Jews had been murdered in Ukraine by war's end.


_____


WORD FOR TODAY

trenchant [TREHN-chunt]
adjective
1. Forceful, effective, and vigorous: a trenchant argument.
2. Caustic; cutting: trenchant criticism.
3. Distinct; clear-cut.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS


(born August 28, 1969)
Jack Black is an American actor. He starred primarily in comedy films. He is best known for his roles in High Fidelity, Shallow Hal, School of Rock, King Kong, Nacho Libre, Tropic Thunder, The Holiday, Bernie and the Kung Fu Panda films.



(born August 28, 1961)
Jennifer Coolidge is an American actress and comedian, known for playing "Stifler's mom" in the film American Pie, Hilary Duff's stepmother in A Cinderella Story, Paulette in Legally Blonde and its sequel, the voice of Aunt Fanny in the animated feature Robots, for her role in The Secret Life of the American Teenager as Betty; and for her regular role in the NBC sitcom Joey. She stars in the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls as Sophie.



(born August 28, 1956)
Luis Guzman is a Puerto Rican American actor, who is known for his character work. For much of Guzman's career, he has played character roles largely as sidekicks, thugs, or policemen. He was cast in Out of Sight, The Limey, and Traffic, Boogie Nights, Magnolia and Punch-Drunk Love. Guzman recently starred in the HBO original series How to Make It in America.



(born August 28, 1960
Emma Simms is an English television actress best known for her role as Holly Sutton on the American daytime soap opera General Hospital and for replacing Pamela Sue Martin as Fallon Carrington Colby on the prime time soap opera Dynasty.

__________

“I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and I look at it, until it begins to shine.”
--Emily Dickinson

Halifax is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada.

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Wednesday, August 27, 2014

6/27/14

     



____________________

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.
--Plato


_____


Did You Know . . .?

Lemons contain more sugar than strawberries.

_____


HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1883, the volcanic island of Krakatoa near Indonesia erupted, killing thousands in one of the worst geologic disasters of modern times. At noon, the volcano sent an ash cloud 20 miles into the air and tremors triggered several tsunamis. This turned out to be just a small indication, however, of what would follow the next day. For four-and-a-half hours beginning at 5:30 a.m. on August 27, there were four major and incredibly powerful eruptions. The last of these made the loudest sound ever recorded on the planet. It could be heard as far away as central Australia and the island of Rodrigues, 3,000 miles from Krakatoa. The air waves created by the eruption were detected at points all over the earth. At least 35,000 people died, though exact numbers were impossible to determine.

_____


WORD FOR TODAY

craven  [KRAY-vuhn]
adjective
1. Characterized by abject fear.
2. Cowardly; contemptibly timid.
noun
A coward.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS


(born August 27, 1952)
Paul Reubens is an American actor, writer, film producer, game show host, and comedian, best known for his character Pee-wee Herman.



(born August 27, 1976)
Sarah Chalke is a Canadian actress known for portraying Dr. Elliot Reid on the NBC/ABC comedy series Scrubs, Rebecca "Becky" Conner on the ABC sitcom Roseanne, and Stella Zinman in the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. She has also had a recurring role in the third season of ABC sitcom Cougar Town.



(born August 27, 1969)
Chandra Wilson is an American actress, best known for her role as Dr. Miranda Bailey in the ABC television drama Grey's Anatomy.



(born August 27, 1947)
Barbara Bach is an American actress known as the Bond girl Anya Amasova from the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. She subsequently starred in Force 10 from Navarone with Robert Shaw and Harrison Ford. She is married to former Beatle Ringo Starr.


__________

One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do.
--Henry Ford

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Tuesday, August 26, 2014

8/26/14

     


____________________


I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.
--Mahatma Gandhi

_____


Did You Know . . .?

A bear has 42 teeth.

_____


HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1920 the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote, was formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution by proclamation of Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby. The amendment was the culmination of more than 70 years of struggle by woman suffragists. Its two sections read simply: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex" and "Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

_____


WORD FOR TODAY

denounce
verb
1. To condemn openly as being evil or reprehensible.
2. To accuse formally.
3. To give formal announcement of the ending of (a treaty).


_____


CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS


(born August 26, 1980)
Macaulay Culkin is an American actor and musician. He became famous for his role as Kevin McCallister in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. He is also known for his roles in Richie Rich, Uncle Buck, My Girl, The Pagemaster, The Good Son, Party Monster, and the music video for Michael Jackson's "Black or White".



(born August 26, 1970)
Melissa McCarthy is an American actress. She first gained recognition for her role as Sookie St. James on the television series Gilmore Girls. On the ABC sitcom Samantha Who? she portrayed Dena from 2007 to 2009. McCarthy was then cast as Molly Flynn-Biggs on the CBS sitcom Mike & Molly.



(born August 26, 1980)
Chris Pine is an American actor. He is best known for his role as James T. Kirk in the 2009 film Star Trek, and its sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness, and has also appeared in films including: The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, Just My Luck, Smokin' Aces, Unstoppable, This Means War, Rise of the Guardians, and as Jack Ryan in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.



(Aug 26, 1935 - Mar 26, 2011)
Geraldine Ferraro was an American attorney, a Democratic Party politician, and a member of the United States House of Representatives. She was the first female vice presidential candidate representing a major American political party.

__________

The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.
--Albert Einstein


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Monday, August 25, 2014

Work-A-Day

     



____________________


We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.
--Benjamin Franklin


I am once again out in the scrubland watching over Eva and over the house while the owners are over near Baltimore on business for at least two weeks, maybe three. Eva always misses them when they are gone, but she seems to know that even though I am not in residence all the time, that I am part of the family... or part of the pack, or something like that. We have a pretty well established routine as to feeding times, exercise, play, bedtime, etc. And Eva is most certainly a creature of routine.


A friend of mine that I often talk with during my morning walks (his name is Cedric) recently told me that the TV news reported sightings of a rabid coyote in the Speedway Boulevard area. He said that residents were warned that if they see the critter, not to approach it. I told Cedric that I do not approach, but actively avoid any coyote, rabid or not. He said, "Ne too."

_____


Did You Know . . .?

Vanna White from TV's Wheel of Fortune hasn't actually turned a letter since 1997.


_____


HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1835, the first in a series of six articles announcing the supposed discovery of life on the moon appeared in the New York Sun newspaper. The articles were supposedly reprinted from the Edinburgh Journal of Science. The byline was Dr. Andrew Grant, described as a colleague of Sir John Herschel, a famous astronomer of the day. On September 16, 1835, the Sun admitted the articles had been a hoax People were generally amused by the whole thing, and sales of the paper didn’t suffer. The Sun continued operation until 1950, when it merged with the New York World-Telegram.


_____


WORD FOR TODAY

bailiwick  [BEY-luh-wik]
noun
1. the district within which a bailie or bailiff has jurisdiction.
2. a person's area of skill, knowledge, authority, or work.

The word bailiwick is now more generally used in a metaphorical sense, to indicate a sphere of authority, experience, activity, study, or interest.

_____


CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS


(born August 25, 1930)
Sean Connery is a Scottish actor and producer. He is best known for portraying the character James Bond.



(born August 25, 1968)
Rachael Ray is an American television personality and author. She hosts the syndicated daily talk and lifestyle program Rachael Ray, and three Food Network series, (30 Minute Meals, Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels and $40 a Day).



born August 25, 1931)
Regis Philbin is an American media personality known for hosting talk and game shows since the 1960s. Sometimes called "the hardest working man in show business", Philbin is most widely known as the host of the New York City-based nationally syndicated talk show Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee starting in 1988, which became Live! with Regis and Kelly starting in 2001 and continued until Philbin's departure in 2011.



(born 25 August 1970)
Claudia Schiffer is a German model and creative director of her own clothing label. Schiffer rose to popularity and became a household name during the early 1990s as one of the world's most successful models. She appeared on more than 1000 magazine covers, and in 2002, Forbes estimated her net worth at about $55 million.

__________

Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do.
--Benjamin Franklin

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Sunday, August 24, 2014

Guest Blogger 8/24/2014


Work Update and Cat Lessons

A few of you have asked, so I'll tell you all: work is... work. Some things have not changed in my new department. I still work mostly with databases, and the to-do list I had twenty-odd days ago when my old department dissolved continues to be my ongoing to-do list today. Well, mostly (more there in a sec).

Some very good changes have been made, as well. I no longer have to travel to the other office at least every other week. In fact, I should rarely need to travel at all. I can still work from home if my workload or the urgency of something demands it. I have a very small team, but I do have a team, which some folk in the office aren't fortunate enough to have. (If you need to understand better why having a team is important, see me after class.)

Some not-so-good changes are happening, too, and today I felt the first rumblings of the mighty landslide I was hoping wouldn't occur. Briefly, I felt surrounded by a cloud of dust. You see, over the last while, my previous half a Manager spent a lot of her half Management time helping myself and another Analyst develop and maintain a process
for what we do. A standard way of seeing that all the work gets touched, at least, even if it doesn't all get done. A fair way of making sure all database requests are handled based on a similar "script," a sorting and prioritizing method applied to each and every request no matter where it originated.

Now, under the new hierarchy, that other Analyst and I report to different bosses. My new boss's boss hinted early on about the "great things" I could do, now that I was on their team.

Over the last week, my time has been consumed by a project I was supposed to have a very small part of. The next couple of weeks looked to be more of the same, with maybe a little time to do the "other stuff" on my database plate. (Currently, the Database Team's inventory has about twenty-five or so items.) Then today I was snatched out of that project and hustled into a meeting room, where several agitated people were sure I could save their day for them.

How? Build them an emergency database.

Within a week, a torturous manual workflow will need to be done again, and they envision that a database could import two files from Excel and magically do most of their manual work for them. Well, yes, it probably can. "But what about...?" I started to ask.

Every one of the agitated people threw a comment into the pot. "Maybe they can do without you for a few days." "We can't wait." "We have to report on this straight to the top."

Sigh.

And so tomorrow (or maybe tonight) will find me working on a database which is not on the database request list. And a project and twenty-five (or so) previous items lie untouched. The landslide begins, and I see no way to save the work we'd done to build a request process that was successful. You all know how it happens: once one thing becomes an exception and makes it to the front of the line, that sets a precedent for the next important item to be an exception, too, and soon there might as well not be a line. Sadly, that's the environment we started with, where anybody anywhere could request a database change and the ones that got worked on were the ones which originated with the people who were the loudest, the highest, or had the clout in some other way to shove to the front. I find myself disheartened to think we might be returning to that way of business life.

However, while work may sometimes be discouraging, home life is not. The kitten, Kona, grows like a weed and is starting to look like a cat, rather than a big-headed kitten. She and Bounty have worked out how to play together and mostly they do well, although Kona is not yet allowed free run of the house when no one is home to supervise. Likely that will happen within the next week or so. She is learning daily lessons, and teaching me some, as well. I think it's time to share a few with you.


Kona's Lessons:
* If it moves, it's a toy.
* If it doesn't move, it's a toy.
* If it's attached to the dog, it's a toy.
* If it has a hole, stick your paw in as far as you can; it's a toy.
* If it doesn't have a hole, make one. It will be a toy.
* If someone says "No!" do it again, faster. It must be a toy.

My Lessons:
* Cats are hard to catch.
* Dogs chasing cats are hard to catch.
* Dogs and cats can learn to get along. Sometimes.
* When you tell the cleaners to lock the cat up again when they're done, make sure you tell them it's Okay to leave the cat under the bed.
* When you and your husband want to make love, lock the cat out of the bedroom.


Copyright 2014 Michelle Hakala
http://www.winebird.com/








   

Saturday, August 23, 2014

The ALS Icebucket Challenge, Etc.

     


____________________


You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.
--Albert Einstein


The ALS Association has the latest news regarding the ALS Icebucket Challenge.

But, Pamela Anderson, an actress who used to make a living submerged in water, is speaking out against the viral video campaign. Anderson, on Facebook denounced the way ALS researchers conduct their testing. "Sorry, I can't bring myself to do your ice bucket challenge," she wrote. "I enjoy a good dare; it's always good to bring awareness in fun, creative ways. I don't want to take away from that. I thought instead, I would challenge ALS to stop animal testing."

Anderson concluded with her own call to action, urging people to visit an organization that supports charities who -- according to her -- "never harm animals and which pour their time and resources into advanced, promising, human-relevant cures."


Yesterday I discovered (on Jeopardy) a new word... astrobleme, that I had never heard before. According to the dictionary, an astrobleme [as-truh-bleem] is an erosional scar on the earth's surface, produced by the impact of a cosmic body, as a meteorite or asteroid.

This Is An Astrobleme


Wikipedia says: The term 'impact structure' is closely related to the terms impact crater or meteorite impact crater, and is used in cases in which erosion or burial have destroyed or masked the original topographic feature with which we normally associate the term crater. This is the fate of almost all old impact craters on Earth, unlike the ancient pristine craters preserved on the Moon and other geologically inactive rocky bodies with old surfaces in the Solar System. Impact structure is synonymous with the less commonly used term 'astrobleme' meaning 'star wound.'

This Is Also An Astrobleme



_____


Did You Know . . .?

In 1982, the city of Kennesaw, Georgia passed an ordinance that requires every head of household residing in the city limits to own a firearm and ammunition.

_____


HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1927, despite worldwide demonstrations in support of their innocence, Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed for murder. On April 15, 1920, a paymaster for a shoe company in South Braintree, Massachusetts, was shot and killed along with his guard. The murderers, who were described as two Italian men, escaped with more than $15,000. After going to a garage to claim a car that police said was connected with the crime, Sacco and Vanzetti were arrested and charged with the crime. Both men carried guns and made false statements upon their arrest. On July 14, 1921, they were convicted and sentenced to die. On August 23, Sacco and Vanzetti were electrocuted.

_____


WORD FOR TODAY

puissance [PWIS-uhns, PYOO-i-suhns]
noun
1. Literary: power, might, or force.
2. Archaic: Great power, influence, or prowess.
2. Horse Training: a competition in showjumping that tests a horse's ability to jump a limited number of large obstacles.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS


(born August 23, 1970)
Jay Mohr is an American actor and radio host. He is known for his role as Professor Rick Payne in the TV series Ghost Whisperer, the title role in the CBS sitcom Gary Unmarried, and as a featured player for two seasons on Saturday Night Live, and the back-stabbing sports agent Bob Sugar in Jerry Maguire. As of January 2, 2013, Mohr is the host of Jay Mohr Sports, a daily midday sports radio talk show on Fox Sports Radio.



(born August 23, 1949)
Shelley Long is an American actress, best known for her role as Diane Chambers in the sitcom Cheers. She also reprised her role as Diane Chambers in four episodes of the spinoff Frasier. She had a recurring role as DeDe Pritchett on the ABC comedy series Modern Family. Long has also starred in several films, notably Night Shift, Irreconcilable Differences, The Money Pit, Outrageous Fortune, Hello Again, Troop Beverly Hills, The Brady Bunch Movie, A Very Brady Sequel, and Dr. T & the Women.



(born August 23, 1974)
Ray Park is a British actor, stuntman and martial artist, best known for playing Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Toad in X-Men, Snake Eyes in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and Edgar on Heroes.



(born August 23, 1931
Barbara Eden is an American film, stage, and television actress and singer. She is best known for her starring role of "Jeannie" in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.

__________

Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.
--Albert Einstein

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