Saint VI is headed for the wake of Hurricane Isaac. Her team was interviewed in Ann Arbor before they left.
In the clip below, it MAY be that @saintvi is identified as "another worker."
It MAY be that she's the mysterious figure in the passenger side of the ERV.
You decide.
Red Cross Sending Help (note - 30 sec ad precedes video)
Or “When a Project Never Ends”
In late January, the light bulb over my desk went out. It was an old drop down light with a pull string. It looked very similar to this:
No problem – just change the bulb. Not so lucky. After changing the bulb, the light still didn’t work. Okay, so I’ll change the fixture. Not too big a deal. It looks about like this:
Still doesn’t work. Hmmm, now we’re starting to get a bit more serious. I look at the wiring. It’s the old cloth type, which looks like this:
I’m not especially optimistic, but I hope that perhaps the breaker is the problem and attempt to replace that. It’s not too big a deal - loosen a screw, pop it out and remove the wires:
“She’s a got no more lives.”
Now it’s serious. It is conceivable that I could replace the wires. It’s also conceivable that @SaintVi would cash in on my life insurance policies. I know there’s a bonus amount for accidental death. (Kind of weird, when you think about it – extra points for dying by accident.) But, I’m not sure there’s bonus cash for dying because you got in too deep with a home repair project.
Since I was in the final months of my Licensing Certification class and didn’t want death to be the easy way out, I hired electricians. I knew working with contractors would be a challenge. They don’t seem to understand either calendars or the meaning of, “This is what I want.”
I said, “I want to replace the old wiring with new, and the old fixtures with small fluorescent ones. I want to be able to turn the whole circuit on and off with the switch at the top of the stairs, and also each individual light locally with a pull chain.”
He says, “Sure!”
“When can you be here?”
“Last Monday in March.”
Agreed. That will give me enough time between studying to make an exodus of basement ballast to a storage unit. Over the next few weeks we do that and save us some money for the expense.
Last Monday in March arrives. Basement is cleaned out and the dog is kenneled so that he doesn’t go bananas with strange men traipsing though the house.
No electricians. Phone calls ensure, and money to kennel the dog is wasted. They show up on Tuesday. They ask if we want all four lights at the front of the basement where my desk is located.
“NO! I want … (see above).”
They work on Tuesday and @SaintVI overhears that they are not changing the circuit to be on/off at the light switch.
I call, “Why aren’t you changing the light circuit to be on/off at the light switch.”
“You said that’s not what you wanted.”
“NO! I want … (see above).”
“Fine! We’ll do it that way, but it gets hard when the customer keeps changing his mind.”
Whatever.
Eventually the lights get repaired.
I think I’m done when @SaintVi suggests this might be a good time to paint/seal the basement, since most of the ballast is already in storage.
Ugh. But she’s right. There are a few pinhole leaks in the concrete that reveal themselves in heavy rain, and I certainly don’t want to move all the stuff out again.
I begin planning the next phase of this project. All this time, my hammock is in storage. I did that as motivation for me to finish my project. I look for the best paint, calculate the amount I need, and being the several week task of repainting/sealing the basement. Bear in mind this is at the same time I’m in the finals of my Licensing Certification course that I just barely passed. We also had our 3rd of July party, trip to Arkansas, and a couple of outdoor concerts in July.
Here are a few shots of the project in progress:
This past week, I finished the painting/sealing and have begun the task of returning our things from the storage unit back to the basement.
Among my first items – my hammock.
At the end of the day, on a lovely starlit night, I laid in the hammock and gazed at the sky ... for about 30 seconds. And then the hammock rope broke.
Ouch.
Guess I have another project ahead of me.
Final text of the GOP platform will be released Monday. But here are some previews:
Looks to be a close election.
Do you think these positions will help or hurt the Republicans?
Is Mario a superhero? Watch this video and YOU decide!
(short ad leads the video. such is life.)
How The Dark Knight Rises SHOULD have ended.
(Click on the photo.)
PS: I LOVE the very end ... after the trailer.
I grew tired of filling pockets in the morning and emptying them at night.
I grew tired of my Dockers getting wear-marks in the pants leg near my pockets.
I grew tired of weird bulges that weren't ... well, I grew tired of weird bulges.
So, I opted for what some would say is the more feminine solution - a bag.
We can't say "purse." That's way too girly. I could say "man bag," but that's so '70s. I like "travel bag," but that sounds like luggage. And I could say "geocache bag," but that would be a misnomer.
Just "a bag," thank you.
I've been operating with it for about three months now. I tried a practice bag for a while before committing to the Indiana Jones adventure version. (Thanks to wife and daughter on Father's Day.) I have to say, it's been worth the switch. Slacks are more comfortable and look better. Morning and evening routines are quicker - no loading and unloading everything.
There is the mental switch of not leaving the thing behind, but it's not much different than remembering your jacket. I find that keeping my keys in the bag is a good human performance barrier, as I can't go far without them.
And you know what? Not one remark have I received in the three months I've been using it. No weird looks, not snide comments, no "how cool is that." Mostly - it's socially invisible.
I wondered why that might be, and then I began paying more attention. (It's kind of like buying a new car. You never notice that anyone else has the same thing until you buy one, then suddenly you see your same make and model all over the road and in parking lots.)
Guys carry bags.
Oh ... they may not THINK of them the same way, but they are there. I see backpacks, fanny-packs, huge lunchboxes that contain way more than lunch, and laptop cases with many extra pockets. We guys don't want to admit that the women have once again outsmarted us in practical matters, so we look for containers that don't look like purses. But a bag by any other name is still a bag.
There we are - a man and his bag. The only question left: What does he keep in it?
A civilian worker accused of setting a fire that caused $400 million in damage to a nuclear-powered submarine is returning to court, where he faces arson charges that carry a sentence of up to life in prison.
Casey James Fury, 24, of Portsmouth, N.H., who faces two counts of arson at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, was scheduled to appear Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Portland for a probable cause and detention hearing.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service says Fury, a shipyard worker, confessed to setting a fire inside the USS Miami while it was in dry dock May 23, as well as setting a second blaze outside the sub on June 16.
Fury, a painter and sand blaster, told NCIS investigators that he was suffering from anxiety and set the first fire to avoid completing his shift stripping paint in the submarine's forward torpedo room, according to prosecutors.
An affidavit in federal court indicates Fury walked with investigators through another Los Angeles-class sub, the USS Pasadena, where he demonstrated where he'd set fire to rags on a bunk bed before returning to his post in the torpedo room.
By the time the fire alarm sounded, the smoke in a passageway was so thick that Fury and a co-worker had to find another route to safety, departing through an "escape trunk" farther back on the submarine, the affidavit said.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2018820125_apussubmarinefire.html
People approach their faith in different ways. I find the "why" people believe what they believe an extremely fascinating topic. When one takes the time to actively listen vice preparing their mind for the next rebuke or rebuttal, one discovers very interesting facets about a person and people in general.
For instance, I look at the daily Bible verse on BibleGateway and Our Daily Bread as a morning focus. Our Daily Bread also has a topical search engine. In their sidebar, they show which topics have been searched most frequently. Notice what is LARGEST and smallest in their picture:
Christlikeness, Savior, trials, love for, and obedience rank among the most searched.
Hope, missions, and wisdom are among the least searched.
I find that people seek information for two general reasons.
The first is to find information that supports what they already believe. I'd give that about 80% in what I've seen in most people. (Just look at a bookshelf or computer search history, and you'll see.) I find that people tend to avoid reading or hearing information that challenges them, spiritually, politically, or personally.
The second reason is to find an answer to a question. Generally, this type comes from students and a very few people who are lifelong truth-searchers.
IF I am correct, then I'd say that most of the high-search topics above illustrate topics Christians believe they already have together and are looking for confirmation, while the smaller ones are the ones represent qualities most don't want to look at.
Great blog to the answer:
http://pagelady.wordpress.com/2012/07/23/what-do-gandalf-and-superman-have-in-common/
For those of you less interested, here's the short of it:
The first teaser trailer for the new Superman movie, Man of Steel, was recently released online. My first time seeing it was at the theater for the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises. I thought at the time that the music sounded suspiciously like part of the soundtrack from Lord of the Rings, a score I am very familiar with since I have seen those movies dozens of times and the complete 3-disc soundtrack was my go-to music when I would stay up all night writing research papers for school. A quick visit to my ipod confirmed my suspicions–the music featured in the Man of Steel trailer is the last minute of a track titled The Bridge of Khazad Dum, from The Fellowhip of the Ring..
Two tragic stories, this week. One continues to capture American attention, the other does not.
1) Iraq suffered its worst day of violence in nearly two years as bombings and attacks in nearly two dozen towns left almost 100 people dead, in what Iraq's government characterized as a clear spillover of sectarian violence from neighboring Syria.
2) A heavily armed, masked gunman opened fire in a packed Colorado movie theatre during a midnight screening of the new Batman movie, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others.
Why does 12 dead garner more headlines than 100?
Because terrorist killings "over there" are "all part of the plan."
"Do I really look like a man with a plan, Harvey? I don't have a plan.
The mob has plans, the cops have plans. you know what I am, Harvey? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught one. I just DO things. I'm a wrench in the gears.
I HATE plans. Yours, theirs, everyone's. Maroni has plans, Gordon has plans. Schemers trying to control their worlds. I am not a schemer. I show schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are. So when I say that what happened to you and your girlfriend wasn't personal, you know I'M telling the truth"
*Gives Dent Gun*
"It's a schemer who put you where you are. You were a schemer. You had plans. Look where it got you. I just did what I do best-I took your plan and turned it on itself. Look what I have done to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple bullets.
Nobody panics when the expected people got killed. Nobody panics when things go according to plan, even if the plans are horrifying. If I tell the press that tomorrow a gangbanger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will get blown up, nobody panics. But when I say one little old mayor will die, everyone loses their minds!!
Introduce a little anarchy, you upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I AM AN AGENT OF CHAOS. And you know the thing about chaos, Harvey. It's fair"