Happy day, it's Friday. This is Tiger and Luna, and we've taken over
the keyboard this morning in order to bring you the feline view of the
week.
Tiger here- The boys have been working up at the camp.
They were home for the day earlier this week to do laundry, swing
strings, feed us catnip, and dangle the magic shiny feather thing around
for us to chase. Luna got her ears cleaned out! (not funny, tiger)
And we both crawled up on the boys and took turns sleeping on top of
them when we got the chance.
The girl has been fun to chase around this summer. Luna does a very
good job at waking her up each morning. (thank you for noticing my hard
work) She likes to sit on the pillow and lick the girls' nose until
she wakes up. It's funny to watch her try and flick Luna away and put
stuffed animals over her head. Luna will bat the animal away and go
back to work on her nose.
Luna here- in my defense, if she'd get up before 10, I
wouldn't have to lick her nose. Mom has already called her a couple of
times before I go in and finish the job!
It's rained a lot here the last couple of days. Thunderstorms mostly,
but we'll take any kind of water we can get. We're a couple of inches
short for the month and the flowers are very dry. I like butterfly
watching in the garden... we've got to keep those flowers happy!
Tiger here- I caught a mouse this week. I was so proud
of myself, I brought it inside for Mom. It was still mostly alive. She
needs to learn how to mouse. She's spend less time at the grocery
store if she could just catch a few mice in the back yard and fry them
up for dinner.
She wasn't happy with the mouse. I dropped it at her feet, and it ran
for a paper bag. Mom screamed, and I kept trapping the mouse and
dropping it back at her feet again. I wish I could have told her that
if she'd stopped screaming long enough, she'd actually be able to catch
the mouse and kill it herself.
Don't you hate when you have to finish a job for somebody?
(Luna's note- it was really, really funny the third time Tiger brought the mouse back to Mom's feet!)
Friday, July 20, 2012
Sunday, July 15, 2012
When the Brakes Fail
I wish this was just an imaginative title for a post. The brakes on our
car failed last week while my husband was driving our daughter home
from camp in the city.
He went to take an off ramp from the Beltway, and the brakes were not working as he entered the deceleration ramp and went into the curve.
Fortunately, this was not the tight, inside edge of a clover leaf ramp. this was a long, curvy, but mostly straight ramp with grass on the left side, and woods on the right. The ramp is an uphill ramp, with a stop light at the top of the ramp.
My husband mentioned that he noticed the brakes were having problems before he entered the exit ramp, and his foot had been off of the gas pedal and on (and on and on) the brake pedal for quite some time before he hit the C/D ramp, and he had his emergency flashers on. His car had slowed to 40 mph, and was continuing to slow, but not fast enough to stop at the light. He lowered the car down to 3rd gear, and then to 2nd, hoping the weight of the engine would slow the car down more.
As they entered onto the exit ramp itself, he pulled on the emergency brake, and lowered the gear down to 1st as they went up the hill.
Miracle of miracles, the car slowed as it went farther up the hill, and he was able to pull safely into the grass on the left side of the ramp. The car stopped about 10 feet into the grass.
I got a rather shaky call from my daughter, explaining what had happened.
My husband just shrugged it all off and said "It really wasn't that big of a deal."
We towed the car to a garage. They showed us the remains of the brakes.
Today, I am thankful. Very thankful. Very, very thankful, that this story had a happy ending.
Travel safely!
He went to take an off ramp from the Beltway, and the brakes were not working as he entered the deceleration ramp and went into the curve.
Fortunately, this was not the tight, inside edge of a clover leaf ramp. this was a long, curvy, but mostly straight ramp with grass on the left side, and woods on the right. The ramp is an uphill ramp, with a stop light at the top of the ramp.
My husband mentioned that he noticed the brakes were having problems before he entered the exit ramp, and his foot had been off of the gas pedal and on (and on and on) the brake pedal for quite some time before he hit the C/D ramp, and he had his emergency flashers on. His car had slowed to 40 mph, and was continuing to slow, but not fast enough to stop at the light. He lowered the car down to 3rd gear, and then to 2nd, hoping the weight of the engine would slow the car down more.
As they entered onto the exit ramp itself, he pulled on the emergency brake, and lowered the gear down to 1st as they went up the hill.
Miracle of miracles, the car slowed as it went farther up the hill, and he was able to pull safely into the grass on the left side of the ramp. The car stopped about 10 feet into the grass.
I got a rather shaky call from my daughter, explaining what had happened.
My husband just shrugged it all off and said "It really wasn't that big of a deal."
We towed the car to a garage. They showed us the remains of the brakes.
Today, I am thankful. Very thankful. Very, very thankful, that this story had a happy ending.
Travel safely!
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Super Hero Summer
As far as movies go, this summer we've had a plethora of Superhero
movies based on Comic Books. The Avengers and Spider Man come quickly
to mind.
I saw The Avengers with my middle child over Mother's Day weekend. What an amazing movie! I am so in awe of that movie. I was especially touched that the directors seem to have gone to great lengths to find an actor who is very reminiscent of Bill Bixby, who originated the role of Bruce Banner on the television series back in the late 70's, early 80's. Iron Man was new to me. I've never been a big fan of Robert Downey, Jr, but his portrayal of Iron Man sold me on his acting abilities. And Thor... *sigh*... what's not to love about Thor?
Today I went with the boys to see Spiderman. Another excellent movie. It's not the version I originally saw back in the day, but I really enjoyed the special effects and the acting. Seeing Martin Sheen and Sally Field in the role of Peter's Aunt and Uncle was an unexpected pleasure. Oh, and the special effects. It goes without saying that the CG special effects were off the charts, blow your mind fantastic!
One big thing I noticed today is that the authors are no longer writing wimpy, helpless roles for women. No longer are they just sitting by helpless, and hapless, waiting to be rescued.
In Spiderman, when Gwen faces down the giant lizard man - not once, but twice - I was impressed. When she used her brains to help solve a very large problem (and looked smoking hot while engaging in science related activities!) I was in awe of the genius who wrote the plot.
In the Avengers, the Black Widow is a gorgeous, beautiful, smart, intelligent, kick ass woman who can take care of herself. My personal favorite scene in the movie is at the beginning. She is being held captive by an evil criminal overlord. And she's wearing her classic little black dress. When it is time for her to exit the scene, she breaks free of her bonds- by herself, and gets rid of the bad guys- by herself, then picks up her stacked black high heeled pumps, straightens her dress, and sashays out of the room.
Stan Lee, thank you for writing strong roles for women! No longer are we relegated to be beautiful but stupid, or smart but ugly. You are writing roles that show women in all of their glory- strong, smart, beautiful, and capable of solving any problem that comes their way in a well thought out, well reasoned manner that doesn't make them look hapless and hopeless.
You are truly showing the beauty and power of women. We are amazing, we are powerful, we are smart. We have the power to change the world. Thank you for capturing this!
I saw The Avengers with my middle child over Mother's Day weekend. What an amazing movie! I am so in awe of that movie. I was especially touched that the directors seem to have gone to great lengths to find an actor who is very reminiscent of Bill Bixby, who originated the role of Bruce Banner on the television series back in the late 70's, early 80's. Iron Man was new to me. I've never been a big fan of Robert Downey, Jr, but his portrayal of Iron Man sold me on his acting abilities. And Thor... *sigh*... what's not to love about Thor?
Today I went with the boys to see Spiderman. Another excellent movie. It's not the version I originally saw back in the day, but I really enjoyed the special effects and the acting. Seeing Martin Sheen and Sally Field in the role of Peter's Aunt and Uncle was an unexpected pleasure. Oh, and the special effects. It goes without saying that the CG special effects were off the charts, blow your mind fantastic!
One big thing I noticed today is that the authors are no longer writing wimpy, helpless roles for women. No longer are they just sitting by helpless, and hapless, waiting to be rescued.
In Spiderman, when Gwen faces down the giant lizard man - not once, but twice - I was impressed. When she used her brains to help solve a very large problem (and looked smoking hot while engaging in science related activities!) I was in awe of the genius who wrote the plot.
In the Avengers, the Black Widow is a gorgeous, beautiful, smart, intelligent, kick ass woman who can take care of herself. My personal favorite scene in the movie is at the beginning. She is being held captive by an evil criminal overlord. And she's wearing her classic little black dress. When it is time for her to exit the scene, she breaks free of her bonds- by herself, and gets rid of the bad guys- by herself, then picks up her stacked black high heeled pumps, straightens her dress, and sashays out of the room.
Stan Lee, thank you for writing strong roles for women! No longer are we relegated to be beautiful but stupid, or smart but ugly. You are writing roles that show women in all of their glory- strong, smart, beautiful, and capable of solving any problem that comes their way in a well thought out, well reasoned manner that doesn't make them look hapless and hopeless.
You are truly showing the beauty and power of women. We are amazing, we are powerful, we are smart. We have the power to change the world. Thank you for capturing this!
This post originally appeared in my now defunct "Mom's View" blog. I
moved it to this blog at the request of my kids, who wanted to have all
of the various posts that accompanied their high school years in one
place. I've matched the publication dates here to their original post
date. If you're reading these posts, I sincerely thank you for taking
the time to go back through them all!
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Derecho Wind Storms
Last week, we had a pretty phenomenal weather event roll through the Mid-Atlantic: A Derecho Wind Storm.
Winds of 70 mph destroyed homes, trees, and our power grid.
I'm sure that by now, you've seen pictures of the damage around the Mid-Atlantic region, and seen the close up pictures of how bad the damage was in and around the DC Metro area.
Our power is up and running now, and I have a few observations I'd like to share:
1) Gas runs out quickly. If you are fortunate enough to have a generator and a garage or shed to store gas in, keep the tanks full. Fill a new can as soon as you use it up.
2) Generators make life bearable. Keeping the refrigerator running and the fans moving the air made life not quite as miserable.
3) Sleeping outside in tents or screened in porches can get downright chilly. That's right. When it's miserable in the house, it gets downright cold overnight in a tent. We live in the outer suburbs, and felt quite safe sleeping in a tent. Many of our neighbors spent the night outdoors, also. It was a great bonding experience!
4) Solar Powered LED lights are a thing of beauty. I have solar powered garden lights. Put them out in the morning, they charge in the sunlight. Bring them in at night, and they lit the house without danger of fire. The only problem we had was that we couldn't shut them off!
5) Hot showers are a wonderful thing.
6) Cooking can get tricky when the power is out. We used our grill. I experimented with our solar oven. We have a propane camp stove that we used. We also have a fire pit and cast iron cookware that we used. The best thing about this is that we used it outdoors. Yes, we have a gas stove, but we didn't really want to heat up a hot house by using a gas stove.
7) Food at the store runs out quickly. Since I am a home canner, we have a lot of food that was safely stored in the basement, ready to be heated and eaten. I heard that the lines at the grocery store were long, and that they'd had to throw out everything from the freezer and refrigerated sections due to the power outage. I stopped by the grocery store this afternoon, and a lot of the aisles are still very low. According to the store manager, they've been wiped out. They just can't stock the shelves fast enough.
8) This was an awesome time to meet the neighbors. Spending time out of doors, trying to stay cool, heading down to the lake to fish, we ran into a lot of people we've only ever had a waving acquaintance with. Nice to actually learn their names and talk with them for a while!
9) Solar Powered cell phone charges have moved to the top of my "must have" list. My birthday is at the end of the month, and that's now the ONE thing I want. Yes, we could charge it with the generator, but we had to pull a fan out in order to charge the phones. Next time, we'll have a solar charger.
10) A hand cranked emergency weather radio is a very nice luxury. Ours came from L.L. Bean. It has an LED flashlight on the end, and gets bulletins from the NWS, as well as all AM and FM stations. Just a few cranks would power the radio for quite some time!
I hope everyone who reads this is safe and sound. It's been an interesting week in the Mid-Atlantic. Stay safe!
Winds of 70 mph destroyed homes, trees, and our power grid.
I'm sure that by now, you've seen pictures of the damage around the Mid-Atlantic region, and seen the close up pictures of how bad the damage was in and around the DC Metro area.
Our power is up and running now, and I have a few observations I'd like to share:
1) Gas runs out quickly. If you are fortunate enough to have a generator and a garage or shed to store gas in, keep the tanks full. Fill a new can as soon as you use it up.
2) Generators make life bearable. Keeping the refrigerator running and the fans moving the air made life not quite as miserable.
3) Sleeping outside in tents or screened in porches can get downright chilly. That's right. When it's miserable in the house, it gets downright cold overnight in a tent. We live in the outer suburbs, and felt quite safe sleeping in a tent. Many of our neighbors spent the night outdoors, also. It was a great bonding experience!
4) Solar Powered LED lights are a thing of beauty. I have solar powered garden lights. Put them out in the morning, they charge in the sunlight. Bring them in at night, and they lit the house without danger of fire. The only problem we had was that we couldn't shut them off!
5) Hot showers are a wonderful thing.
6) Cooking can get tricky when the power is out. We used our grill. I experimented with our solar oven. We have a propane camp stove that we used. We also have a fire pit and cast iron cookware that we used. The best thing about this is that we used it outdoors. Yes, we have a gas stove, but we didn't really want to heat up a hot house by using a gas stove.
7) Food at the store runs out quickly. Since I am a home canner, we have a lot of food that was safely stored in the basement, ready to be heated and eaten. I heard that the lines at the grocery store were long, and that they'd had to throw out everything from the freezer and refrigerated sections due to the power outage. I stopped by the grocery store this afternoon, and a lot of the aisles are still very low. According to the store manager, they've been wiped out. They just can't stock the shelves fast enough.
8) This was an awesome time to meet the neighbors. Spending time out of doors, trying to stay cool, heading down to the lake to fish, we ran into a lot of people we've only ever had a waving acquaintance with. Nice to actually learn their names and talk with them for a while!
9) Solar Powered cell phone charges have moved to the top of my "must have" list. My birthday is at the end of the month, and that's now the ONE thing I want. Yes, we could charge it with the generator, but we had to pull a fan out in order to charge the phones. Next time, we'll have a solar charger.
10) A hand cranked emergency weather radio is a very nice luxury. Ours came from L.L. Bean. It has an LED flashlight on the end, and gets bulletins from the NWS, as well as all AM and FM stations. Just a few cranks would power the radio for quite some time!
I hope everyone who reads this is safe and sound. It's been an interesting week in the Mid-Atlantic. Stay safe!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)