Chewie’s Diary Week 78: Stay with duration
4 weeks ago
Friday, January 23, 2009
Sorry Wrong Email Address
I was surprised earlier tonight to find an email from Rudy Giuliani begging for bucks for the GOP's fight to keep Norm (the loser) Coleman's fight going for the Minnesota Senatorial seat. Wow, I thought. They really got it wrong that time. So, being a good died-in-the-wool Democrat, I copied the text of the email and sent it to Al Franken and to Harry Reid, both of whom were mentioned in the email. Mr. Giuliani, AKA "noun, a verb and 9-11", please keep your GOP begging for bucks to yourself. Say, if you guys really need the money maybe you could auction of Sarah Palin's campaign wardrobe.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
America the Beautiful
Only 12 hours to go. For some reason I'm feeling particularly patriotic these days. Ray Charles did the best version of America the Beautiful, bar none, in my humble opinion. He puts the lyrics in a slightly different order than Sister Mary Oliphant may have in second grade, but it's a great rendition. Joining all of you fellow patriots at noon tomorrow with tissues at the ready.
O beautiful for heroes prov'd
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.
America! America!May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine.
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
Tried to figure out how to embed the video, but couldn't. The link will have to suffice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7Wt4XlXUrc&feature=related
O beautiful for heroes prov'd
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.
America! America!May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine.
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
The Alaskan Cruise - day three: Ketchikan
Day three of the 7 day cruise brought our first encounter with dry land. We were to arrive at Ketchikan, "Alaska's First City" sometime in the morning. Ketchikan gets its name from its location...the first city you arrive in when coming from the lower 48. The husband and I met a nice couple from San Francisco at breakfast and made plans to meet up while in town. She is a fiber fan (yarns, not grains) and I am a beading fan and there was a store in Ketchikan that just happened to cater to both.
Our first view of Ketchikan was this:
A quaint little fishing village on the inside passage and shopping nirvana. The rather large building at the bottom of the picture is the Tongass Trading Company. It's Ketchikan's answer to WalMart. If Tongass Trading Co doesn't stock it, then it probably doesn't exist in Alaska. It's a great store. It has everything you could ever want for outfitting yourself for an Alaskan adventure. AND it has lots of fun, inexpensive kitsch to take home to the relatives. Want a ball cap with a bill that looks like you were ravaged by a bear? You can find one at Tongass. You can also get supplies to smoke your fresh-caught salmon. That you can buy supplies to catch said salmon should go without saying. You can find stuff to repair a plumbing problem, goodies to send to Aunt Mable back in the Smokies or gear to kit yourself out with while preparing for an assault on the local Tongass Wilderness. It is one cool place to explore.
The fun and shopping don't end at Tongass. This is a shopper's haven. You can find all kinds of lovely Alaskan Jade and Inuit art at the local fancy shops. What you can't fit in your bag you can have sent to the ship or just shipped to yourself at home. The locals are very accommodating. There are lovely art shops, fur shops, Russian artifact shops (harkening back to Alaska's original owners and heritage), and tourist sites to explore.
My new friend and I went to the fiber/bead shop and I have to admit, although I did find a few things I found the clerk to be unpleasant. I would've spent more money if she had been pleasant to deal with, so her loss. She was an aberration, though, because in all the other shops and all the other towns we visited the clerks were most pleasant and welcoming. Maybe she needed caffeine...who knows.
After a quick shopping trip in the morning, husband and I returned to the ship to see if we could rouse our daughter and entice her into a little trip into town. Being a new college graduate, she was making up for four years of lost sleep, so her hours of operation were a little later than her dad's and mine.
The three of us set off for greater Ketchikan to see the sigh
ts. Our first excursion was to Creek Street. Descriptively named, it is a street right on a creek and is also the location of the red light district of bygone days. During the Alaskan gold rush days, certain types of ladies arrived in Ketchikan to help relieve the miners of the weight of all that gold and also to help comfort them if they were having trouble finding any. Those poor boys could always find a little something on creek street. The local saying was, "Where fish and fishermen go upstream to spawn." Now Creek Street is home to lots of nice galleries and restaurants. We learned a lot about the three "G's" of Alaska: Glaciers, The Gold Rush and Girls of negotiable affection (as they were called).
I didn't get a good enough picture, but we did see a harbor seal swimming up creek street. Wonder if he was trying to spawn?
Our first view of Ketchikan was this:
A quaint little fishing village on the inside passage and shopping nirvana. The rather large building at the bottom of the picture is the Tongass Trading Company. It's Ketchikan's answer to WalMart. If Tongass Trading Co doesn't stock it, then it probably doesn't exist in Alaska. It's a great store. It has everything you could ever want for outfitting yourself for an Alaskan adventure. AND it has lots of fun, inexpensive kitsch to take home to the relatives. Want a ball cap with a bill that looks like you were ravaged by a bear? You can find one at Tongass. You can also get supplies to smoke your fresh-caught salmon. That you can buy supplies to catch said salmon should go without saying. You can find stuff to repair a plumbing problem, goodies to send to Aunt Mable back in the Smokies or gear to kit yourself out with while preparing for an assault on the local Tongass Wilderness. It is one cool place to explore.
The fun and shopping don't end at Tongass. This is a shopper's haven. You can find all kinds of lovely Alaskan Jade and Inuit art at the local fancy shops. What you can't fit in your bag you can have sent to the ship or just shipped to yourself at home. The locals are very accommodating. There are lovely art shops, fur shops, Russian artifact shops (harkening back to Alaska's original owners and heritage), and tourist sites to explore.
My new friend and I went to the fiber/bead shop and I have to admit, although I did find a few things I found the clerk to be unpleasant. I would've spent more money if she had been pleasant to deal with, so her loss. She was an aberration, though, because in all the other shops and all the other towns we visited the clerks were most pleasant and welcoming. Maybe she needed caffeine...who knows.
After a quick shopping trip in the morning, husband and I returned to the ship to see if we could rouse our daughter and entice her into a little trip into town. Being a new college graduate, she was making up for four years of lost sleep, so her hours of operation were a little later than her dad's and mine.
The three of us set off for greater Ketchikan to see the sigh
ts. Our first excursion was to Creek Street. Descriptively named, it is a street right on a creek and is also the location of the red light district of bygone days. During the Alaskan gold rush days, certain types of ladies arrived in Ketchikan to help relieve the miners of the weight of all that gold and also to help comfort them if they were having trouble finding any. Those poor boys could always find a little something on creek street. The local saying was, "Where fish and fishermen go upstream to spawn." Now Creek Street is home to lots of nice galleries and restaurants. We learned a lot about the three "G's" of Alaska: Glaciers, The Gold Rush and Girls of negotiable affection (as they were called).I didn't get a good enough picture, but we did see a harbor seal swimming up creek street. Wonder if he was trying to spawn?
After leaving Creek Street we took the tram up to the side of a hill to the Cape Fox Lodge. You can look down and see the city or look out and see the water and islands. Great scenery. It also has a small collection of totem poles out front. Ketchikan has lots of totem pole scattered around town.
After taking in the great scenery of snow capped mountains on the front side of the lodge, we decided to forego the trip back down in the tram and took the trail. We stopped a few times for pictures and to take in the flora. Alaska has HUGE dandelions as this picture attests.
Some of the scenes returning to town:
And the fam on the walkway. The look on Husband's face is saying: wait a second. We got the stamp so we could RIDE the tram downhill, not walk! He was just joking, of course.
Closer to town, off Creek Street you can see the horse drawn trolley in the background along with the mountains and such. Ketchikan is a very scenic city.
Of course, there's lots more to do in Ketchikan than what we did. We chose to just wander and take in the shopping and scenery. The cruise ship has over 40 tours you can take. Everything from the horse drawn trolleys to touring the local rain forest, to touring the waterways for wildlife. There's even a lumberjack show right downtown. I think if we went back, we'd opt for a tour. We just wanted to get a feel for the place and we did.As the cruise ship set off for our next port, the naturalist got on the intercom and told us about some of the local wildlife, pointed out a bald eagle sitting on a buoy and also told us about this funny bridge to nowhere business. First I'd heard of it. Now I know more about that than I'd ever imagined!
Location of the Ketchikan bridge to nowhere. See my post from Dec 2 for more details on the bridge. Next up: Tracey Arm and glaciers.
Brrrrrrrrr
Got up a little before 6 to answer the call of nature and discovered our house is freezing. Well, not quite, it's actually a balmy 45 degrees. Have checked the fuse box...nothing amiss there. The heat just kicked on for a few minutes, but has now turned off. Don't know what the heck is wrong, but there is clearly something not right with this picture. Can't wait for a decent hour to call our heating and cooling guy to see if he's bored of a Saturday morning and can't wait to come see us. Sigh. Rosanna Danna was right: It's always somethin'. Sheesh.
UPDATE: Well, the heat finally started kicking on. It's warming up slowly. I put on several layers of clothing, got out a sleeping bag and snuggled up in that on the couch. I had also put on a watch cap (knitted cap) and a heavy jacket. Added a couple of throws on top of the sleeping bag for added warmth. Woke up a few hours later, and voila! I found we had a self-healing heating system. It just couldn't keep up with the cold. Hmmmm...no broken water pipes, no undo damage. I guess that's o.k. I assume the unit just took a rest so as to not overheat and blow something out, but it is a little disconcerting that it happens with extreme cold. I better go check the Farmer's Almanac for the predictions for the rest of winter. We may need a back up! Now, for some hot coffee....
UPDATE: Well, the heat finally started kicking on. It's warming up slowly. I put on several layers of clothing, got out a sleeping bag and snuggled up in that on the couch. I had also put on a watch cap (knitted cap) and a heavy jacket. Added a couple of throws on top of the sleeping bag for added warmth. Woke up a few hours later, and voila! I found we had a self-healing heating system. It just couldn't keep up with the cold. Hmmmm...no broken water pipes, no undo damage. I guess that's o.k. I assume the unit just took a rest so as to not overheat and blow something out, but it is a little disconcerting that it happens with extreme cold. I better go check the Farmer's Almanac for the predictions for the rest of winter. We may need a back up! Now, for some hot coffee....
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Sea kitten? Seriously??
O.K., so the animal enthusiasts have taken on a whole new world. They are pushing to rename fish, "sea kittens". What the??!?? You gotta be $h!tt!n' me. Seriously? SERIOUSLY? You want me to refer to scaly, wet fish as kittens ? Are you out of your freakin' mind? Don't answer that...I already know the answer.
It's been reported on various websites that this is the newest effort to save non-human critters. In fact, they have devoted a whole section of their website to this: http://www.peta.org/sea_kittens/index.asp. You can make your own sea kittens, name them, and make up stories about them. How cute. Nah...I ain't buying it...this is totally lame. Try this on: if you don't want to eat fish then DON'T. But don't tell me they're brainiacs of the sea. Sorry, but I'm not buying that one.
Taking this foolishness even farther, they're trying to talk Spearfish High School and Whitefish High School into changing their names to Sea Kitten High School. http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/peta_whitefish_high_school_should_be_sea_kitten_high/7580/
You have to admire an entire organization for not suffering one iota of embarrassment for this silliness. I don't care if they throw red paint on fur, I am not a fan of cattle farms and cruel animal practices, but I just can't bring myself to extend any sympathy to fish. Sorry. Sea kittens indeed.
It's been reported on various websites that this is the newest effort to save non-human critters. In fact, they have devoted a whole section of their website to this: http://www.peta.org/sea_kittens/index.asp. You can make your own sea kittens, name them, and make up stories about them. How cute. Nah...I ain't buying it...this is totally lame. Try this on: if you don't want to eat fish then DON'T. But don't tell me they're brainiacs of the sea. Sorry, but I'm not buying that one.
Taking this foolishness even farther, they're trying to talk Spearfish High School and Whitefish High School into changing their names to Sea Kitten High School. http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/peta_whitefish_high_school_should_be_sea_kitten_high/7580/
You have to admire an entire organization for not suffering one iota of embarrassment for this silliness. I don't care if they throw red paint on fur, I am not a fan of cattle farms and cruel animal practices, but I just can't bring myself to extend any sympathy to fish. Sorry. Sea kittens indeed.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Bracing for the brrr...and odd weather terminology
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know it's winter and winter is supposed to be cold, but I live in the mid-Atlantic states because I like mild winters and I don't WANT single digit temperatures. According to weather.com, the average high in January around here should be 44 and the average low should be 24. However, we are expecting an "Alberta Clipper" (i.e. cold air from Canada) and the temperature tomorrow night is supposed to be 9 degrees...as in single digits. This is quite simply not acceptable and I'm looking to lodge a formal complaint.
Around these parts, we use "Alberta Clipper" to refer to a cold front coming down from Canada. In Texas, they used the phrase, "Blue Norther". If you look at a topographic map of the U.S. and look at the area between Canada and Texas you will see that there is absolutely nothing to break the coldfront. There's barely a bump in the road. Erse: Blue Norther...and when they roll in they're quick and harsh. I sat on my patio one afternoon and felt the temperature drop 30 degrees in 20 minutes. It was a tad windy.
When we lived in Seattle, I learned a few weather terms that were new to me. "Sun break" is one that is used often in winter...as in after a week to ten days of steely gray skies you might actually look out your window and see sunshine that day. The other phrase I recall from living in The Emerald City is: snowline. The Cascades are just up Snoqualmie Pass from Seattle and in winter they report the lowest altitude where snow has fallen. i.e. "The snowline is at 5,000 feet." You just hope that your house is at less than whatever the snowline has been reported to be. Aside from the ubiquitous rain in the winter, Seattle had some of the most unusual weather I'd ever seen. The only times I saw lightening were during a snowstorm and during a hailstorm...never saw an old fashioned thunderstorm like you get on the east coast or in the southwest.
Heavy rainstorms in Texas are referred to as "frog stranglers" or "gully washers". Ice storms are just referred to as four letter words, hissed between clenched teeth. Texas is unprepared for snow or ice. You might as well hang up your spurs and stay home.
Stay home is exactly what I plan to do tomorrow night when it's supposed to be 9 and Friday when it's not even going to get as warm as freezing. Come on spring.
Around these parts, we use "Alberta Clipper" to refer to a cold front coming down from Canada. In Texas, they used the phrase, "Blue Norther". If you look at a topographic map of the U.S. and look at the area between Canada and Texas you will see that there is absolutely nothing to break the coldfront. There's barely a bump in the road. Erse: Blue Norther...and when they roll in they're quick and harsh. I sat on my patio one afternoon and felt the temperature drop 30 degrees in 20 minutes. It was a tad windy.
When we lived in Seattle, I learned a few weather terms that were new to me. "Sun break" is one that is used often in winter...as in after a week to ten days of steely gray skies you might actually look out your window and see sunshine that day. The other phrase I recall from living in The Emerald City is: snowline. The Cascades are just up Snoqualmie Pass from Seattle and in winter they report the lowest altitude where snow has fallen. i.e. "The snowline is at 5,000 feet." You just hope that your house is at less than whatever the snowline has been reported to be. Aside from the ubiquitous rain in the winter, Seattle had some of the most unusual weather I'd ever seen. The only times I saw lightening were during a snowstorm and during a hailstorm...never saw an old fashioned thunderstorm like you get on the east coast or in the southwest.
Heavy rainstorms in Texas are referred to as "frog stranglers" or "gully washers". Ice storms are just referred to as four letter words, hissed between clenched teeth. Texas is unprepared for snow or ice. You might as well hang up your spurs and stay home.
Stay home is exactly what I plan to do tomorrow night when it's supposed to be 9 and Friday when it's not even going to get as warm as freezing. Come on spring.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
New Profile Picture
Changed the profile picture from bridge to nowhere site to me and the kid at her graduation in May. Yes, she is wearing heels and I am wearing flats. Yes, she is still taller than I am no matter what each of us is sporting on our barking dogs (That one was for you, Meredith). Yes, she's just that adorable. No, I'm not biased in any way on that point.
Let me assure you that this picture MAY deceive you just a bit...in my mind I'm 5'7" and svelte. In real life, not so much. **sigh**
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