Here is a link to a News Story video for you, Click Here. The whole gist of it was a reporter went out and offered a bunch of guys panhandling $20 if they would do an hours worth of manual labor and all but one refused.
This story reminded me of a time about 15 years ago when I managed a store in Santa Barbara, Ca. A group of pan-handlers “worked” the intersection out front and when they had accumulated enough money, they would come into my store and buy the cheapest jug of wine I sold and a pack of cigarettes. They would then return to their “Camp” located in a field behind my store and drink until they passed out. Eventually, they would wake up and do it all over again. I remember thinking to myself what a sad existence this must be.
More recently, when I worked at the Mall in Frederick, Md. The very busy intersection on my way home one day yielded a man holding a sign that said…”Traveling disabled Veteran, Please Help”. The fella must have took a respite from his road trip because I saw him regularly for the next two years. A quick chat with the clerk at the Convenience Store at the intersection confirmed my suspicions… beer, smokes & drugs.
Now I’m not doing that “EVIL-STEREOTYPING” that I’m sure has popped into your head by now, I’m sure there are plenty of legitimate cases. All I’m saying is that when I give charity, I don’t wish to support an individual’s debilitating habit. I remember a time in my life when approaching the entrance to a grocery store and spying the Salvation Army bell-ringer, I felt awkward and wanted to walk by this individual as quickly as possible with my head down… Just someone else asking for a hand-out. Life experience has taught me differently now and I don’t hesitate to drop what can in the bucket because I feel good that my donation is going to folks who have a real need.
End of Rant
/Rant
A husband was in big trouble when he forgot his wedding anniversary. His wife told him “Tomorrow there better be something in the driveway for me that goes zero to 200 in 2 seconds flat”.
The next morning the wife found a small package in the driveway. She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.
Funeral arrangements for the husband have been set for this Saturday.
Phyllis sent me the link to Jib-Jab’s latest masterpiece. A spoof on what the “Big Box” discounters are doing to our country. Very funny, yet sort of sad in the same breath.
Click Here
Most of you will probably not even “Get” this. I came across the article this morning and almost sprayed coffee through my nose while reading it. Be warned if you attempt to google it, don’t say I didn’t warn you for whatever results come up!
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It seems like I get continuing education as a parent every day. Jennifer sent me a link to a story that happened close to where Barb lives near Baltimore. A popular fad with the kids nowadays is to make homemade bombs. Apparently, this can be accomplished by mixing some common household chemicals into a soda bottle and dropping in a few strips of aluminum foil. A chemical reaction ensues and eventually the bottle will explode. The culprits find it particularly amusing to place these “bombs” into people’s mailbox where the eventual explosion creates shrapnel. In this instance, a 17 month old baby found a bottle and drank before his Grandmother could stop him. he’s still alive, but in critical condition.
I guess I’ll be keeping my eye’s open for bottles lying around at the playground from now on!
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In other news, my favorite “Trailer Trash” pop star Britney Spears is making headlines for a couple of reasons. First, it’s rumored that there is a Paris Hilton – like sex tape in existence of her and Federline (Cletus) in their pre-baby days. I’m thinking this might be a hoax cuz it’s difficult for me to place faith in news deriving from a dot com that ends in (.za).
Second, msnbc is reporting that there is already trouble in paradise as Britney is allegedly complaining about the paternal qualities of Cletus. Umm… considering Federline’s track record, this story gets my Captain Obvious tag. Apparently, all her riches never prepared her for the “Bad Boy”.
I give it another month… tops!
I went into 7-11 the other day and asked for five dollars
worth of gas.
The clerk farted and gave me a receipt
“You know… PO-TA-TOES… boil em’, mash em’, stick em’ in a stew?”
Anyone who has read my bio might have discovered that the potato is my absolute favorite food. It is a wonderful vegetable full of meaty goodness! It’s everything the body needs! Ireland proved this in the 1800’s with a substantial portion of their population existing solely on a potato diet. Sadly for them, in 1845 their entire crop failed for six straight years due to an airborne fungus. Thus began what became known as “The Irish Potato Famine”. During the course of the famine, over 1 million Irish men, women and children perished from starvation. Another 1 million Irish immigrated to the United States to escape the death & misery taking place in their native country. So if you’ve ever wondered how America obtained such a rich and wonderful Irish tradition/population, you can thank the potato for that!
Although I do enjoy my potatoes boiled, mashed, even in a stew… fried taters holds the key to my taste buds. I’m not talking about french fries here, I’m talking about pan fried potatoes! Over the years, through trials and tribulation, I’ve perfected my dish of choice.
What’s this you ask… Mike can cook? You can wager your knickers I can cook, better than Wendy too! Heck, I’d be willing to bet she would admit it if you asked her! My taters have become somewhat of a family legend. Everyone keeps asking me what I season them with but I shall impart that knowledge to only a “select few”. So without further delay, I present you with 10 reasons why my taters RULE!
* Nice meaty chunks… Pure olive oil is the only way to go.
* Onions diced, minced, pulverized. Adds the flavor without the “Onion Chunks”. Extra sharp Cracker Barrel cheese shredded.
* Porterhouse steaks… seasoned to perfection!
* Cooked at a super-secret temperature setting to ensure just the right crispy texture.
* Patented, copyrighted, top secret seasonings added! Pssstt… Phyllis, I incorporated that Nantucket seasoning you gave me into the recipe.
* Whip up some corn quickly to trick the wife into thinking we are eating healthy!
* Add the cheese… Oh baby.. YES! YES!
* Check it out!
* One lucky little boy.
* Even the Cheez-Wizzer can’t resist! Don’t tell him there was a pill in that bite.
Since many of you have inquired about the status of Chee’s Vet appointment, here’s the scoop. She took blood from him to ascertain if the dosage of Digoxin she had prescribed was correct. Apparently the stuff can be lethal if not given in the correct amount.
She listened to his heart confirming that he indeed still had his murmur but still could not hear any fluid in the lungs (Which is good). She told me that his heart-rate was down to 150. The last visit it was up around 200. I’m assuming the 150 and 200 refers to beats per minute. She also indicated that this was a good sign that meant the Digoxin was doing its job of making the heart beat stronger and more efficiently. She asked me about his Hacking (coughing). Indeed it has been noticeably less than what it had been for which she prescribed another medication.
So the Cheez-Wiz is now on four prescriptions.
* Digoxin
* Torbutrol (cough suppressant)
* Lasix
* Enalapril
So… all in all, he’s shown steady signs of improvement and I’d like to say I’m hopeful but the last couple of days have me worried as he seems to have lost his appetite. I think I’ll try to tempt him with some Porterhouse Steak tonight!
Just 60 days left until we get treated to the next Harry Potter movie. I’m holding out high expectations for this flick because it’s one of the best books of the series so far.
Has anyone seen the Trailer yet? Did you know there is a second, VERY AWESOME Trailer which was just released? I got extremely giddy watching this one. Among other things, it shows…
* The Beauxbatons flying carriage
* The ship of the Durmstrang’s
* The Goblet of fire
* Fleur Delacore, Viktor Crum, Cedric Diggory
* Madame Maxine
* Mad-Eye Moody
* Cho Chang
* Rita Skeeter
* Merpeople
* Hungarian Horntail
* Deatheaters at the Quiddich World Cup
* The Yule Ball
The clip is over two minutes long and very good quality.
Download it here
I hope the movie is nice and long and rich in detail. That is certainly a complaint I had about the Prisoner of Azkaban. It was certainly good… they just left out so much! When Peter Jackson did the Lord of the Rings, he released the theatrical versions which were long enough, but they also made available extended versions with their DVD releases that were so much better. Why can’t they do that with Harry Potter too?