Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Moneyball

Today, I spoke with my insurance agent and signed papers for my Medicare supplement.

I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and had absolutely no success finding anything to put my multi-sized spices in. I may have to construct something.

After going to Bed, Bath and Beyond, I went to AMC Regency and saw the movie Moneyball with Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. What a great story and it’s true. Pitt plays Billy Beane, manager of the Oakland Athletics, who seeks to create a good team with very little money. I can’t imagine anyone, including people who don’t like baseball, not liking the movie.

I was so excited to see a poster for One for the Money, the movie starring Catherine Heigl that is based on Janet Evanovich’s first Stephanie Plum book. She’s up to eighteen books as of 11/22/2011/

I talked with my cousin Ethelyn a couple of times today. They made it home safely.

Well, tonight is a great tv night.

Until next time…

Monday, November 7, 2011

No Go

Last night, a few hours after posting my blog, I had a call from Esther telling me she had what she thought was the flu. This meant no trip to Epcot today. Instead, we’re going to try to go on Friday. It’s probably just as well we didn’t go since I didn’t sleep very well last night. In fact, I’ve been up since about 3:55 am.

Today, I made some Spanish Rice. It’s quite spicy since I used 1 10-oz can of RoTel, 2 10-oz cans of diced tomatoes and 1 1/2 cups of water. I gave some to my cousin, but he’s been away all day. I don’t know if it will be too hot for him to eat or not.

I spent some more time taking care of stuff. I’m trying to figure out what to do with all of my spice. I also have a bunch of extracts and flavorings and food colors the store somewhere. The size of all of these things makes it impossible to just put them loose in a cabinet. Maybe I’ll go to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to see if they have something I can use. It has to handle a number of different sized bottles.

Well, I just talked with my cousin Ethelyn. She and Elwyn were already near Winchester, VA and were planning to stay in PA tonight. I jsut realized today that I’ve been a little gloomy since they’ve been gone.

Until next time…

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Tower Heist

This morning, I went to AMC Regency to see Tower Heist with Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, and Alan Alda. It was a great movie. The audience loved it. I don’t want to give away the story, but it was filled with twists. See it if you’d like to enjoy a couple of hours of fun.

When I ordered my popcorn and drink today, I expected it to be $11.50 as usual, but they’ve raised the prices; it’s now $11.75. The movie price stayed the same.

I changed the time on my microwave today, checking my watch to make sure I had it right, not realizing I hadn’t yet changed the time on my watch. What a doofus!. I finally got them both right.

Tomorrow, I’m off to Walt Disney World and the Epcot International Food and Wine Tasting event with my sister-in-law Esther and our friend Patti. I’ll try not to eat too much and I definitely won’t drink too much. I love Epcot and am really looking forward to it. The weather looks lie it will be perfect: High of 80 and Low of 64. I guess I’ll have to drag along my jacket for the night (fireworks are supposed to be beautiful).

Until next time…

Saturday, November 5, 2011

A Very Long Day

I just looked at the clock and saw that it was 10:04 PM. I haven’t even had lunch or dinner yet, but I have made a lot of progress inventorying all of the stuff in my cabinets and under my dining room table benches. I still have a few things to take care of, but I still have 3 cabinets and half of one dining room table bench empty. Since it’s so late, I think I’ll eat and finish my project in the morning. It shouldn’t take much more than a couple more hours, but I’ve been going since early morning.

Congrats to my GREAT-nephew Johnny and the Sheffield football team for winning their play-off game last night 38-14 against Cordova. Go, Johnny, go!

Until next time…

Friday, November 4, 2011

Gone, Gone, Gone

This morning, my cousins left to go see their great-granddaughter.  I’ve enjoyed their company so much and will really miss them. It’s so hard to live so very far away. We’ve been playing cards almost every night and that has been fun, even though I lost most of the time.

Most of the day, I spent catching up on sleep. Tomorrow, I think I’ll remove everything from my cupboards, make sure the expiration date is clearly showing, and inventory my food supply. It’ll be a time-consuming job, but i need to get a good idea how many months of food I have on hand. It is supposed to be really cold in the morning, so some hard work will be welcome.

Well, I think I’ll probably go to sleep early.

Until next time…

Thursday, November 3, 2011

11/1/11 Visit to Clearwater Marine Aquarium

On Tuesday, we went to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, ho9me of the famous Winter the Dolphin. Following are some of the 81 pictures I took on that trip:

If you go to the left as you enter through the gift shop, you’ll find the Stingray Exhibit with a description of the Stingray Shuffle.

smClearwater Marine Aquarium-08

 

I got a pretty good shot of one of the stingrays. Just like at Sea World you can reach in and touch them as they go by.

 smClearwater Marine Aquarium-09

 

All through the building you’ll find props from the film Dolphin Tale, just like this description of Green Seat Turltes.smClearwater Marine Aquarium-14

 

At the aquarium, you’ll find an otter exhibit.smClearwater Marine Aquarium-16

 

On the wall near where Winter swims around, there is a story of how she lost her tale.

  smClearwater Marine Aquarium-23

 

In this tank, Winter and her friend sim around, showing off for the crowd. Winter is on the right.

 smClearwater Marine Aquarium-31

Here’s another picture of Winter. smClearwater Marine Aquarium-33

 

While there, we went on a boat ride. Here, Elwyn, Ethelyn and Richard wait for the boat to arrive.smClearwater Marine Aquarium-39

The book in the middle backing in is the one we went on. smClearwater Marine Aquarium-40

The boat seats were quite comfortable and the staff was very friendly and savvy about their work. Here are Elwyn and Ethelyn and a family visiting from Ontariou, Canada.

smClearwater Marine Aquarium-43 

This is a picture of a cormorant with some monofilament line wrapped around him.

smClearwater Marine Aquarium-48

Pelicans gathered together on top of one of the buildings.

smClearwater Marine Aquarium-50

Lots more cormorants gathered on this sand bar.smClearwater Marine Aquarium-59

 

During the course of the boat ride, they pulled a net behind the boat for awhile and brought it up filled with a bunch of sea creatures.

smClearwater Marine Aquarium-62

 smClearwater Marine Aquarium-63

They popped the critters into containers like these and passed them around the boat.smClearwater Marine Aquarium-65

This is a very bad picture of a Roseate Spoonbill, a rare and protected bird.smClearwater Marine Aquarium-73 

We also stopped at an island with lots of shells for picking up. People were allowed out of the boat and could bring any shells they wanted back.

smClearwater Marine Aquarium-78

Here’s a sea squirt they brought up. That’s not the technical name, but it is what they called it. When they squeezed the squirt, he squired. smClearwater Marine Aquarium-81

If you get a chance, please take the time to visit the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

Until next time…

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Class Always Shows


A doctor had his TV on in his office when the news of the military base shootings at Ft. Hood, TX came on. The husband of one of his employees was stationed there. 
He called her into his office and as he told her what had happened, she got a text message from her husband saying, "I am okay." Her cell phone rang right after she read the message. It was an ER nurse, "I'm the one who just sent you a text, not your husband. I thought it would be comforting but I was mistaken in doing so. I am sorry to tell you this, but your husband has been shot 4 times and he is in surgery."
The soldier's wife left Southern Clinic in Dothan, AL and drove all night to Ft. Hood. When she arrived, she found out her husband was out of surgery and would be OK. 
She rushed to his room and found that he already had two visitors there to comfort him. 
He was just waking up and found his wife and the visitors by his side. The nurse took this picture:

clip_image001

What? No news crews and cameras? This is how people

with class respond and pay respect to those in uniform.

I sent my cousin in Fayetteville, N.C. (Retired from Special

Forces) that picture of George W. visiting the wounded at

Ft. Hood. I got this reply;

What is even better is the fact George W. Bush heard about Fort Hood, with Secret Service escort got in his car and drove to Fort Hood. He was stopped at the gate and the guard could not believe who he had just stopped. Bush only asks for directions to the hospital then drove on. The gate guard called that "The President is on Fort Hood and driving to the hospital." He stayed at Fort Hood for over six hours. President Obama flew in days later and held a "photo opportunity" session in a gym, and did not even go to the hospital. All this I picked up from two soldiers here who happened to be at Fort Hood when it happened. Did you even hear about former President & the First Lady visiting Ft. Hood? I didn't...

This Bush/Obama/Ft.Hood story is something that should be sent to every voter in the US. Those who wanted "change." You certainly got it.

In God We Trust! "I love this country, it's the government I'm afraid of"

 

RECENT VIRGINIA CHURCH SERVICE - STIMULUS SERMON, etc

I would love to give the Pastor of this predominantly black church in Virginia three cheers. This guy is obviously a leader. Perhaps we should each decide who our real leader is... It is amazing to see that very little has changed in 4,000 years.

Good morning, brothers and sisters; it's always a delight to see the pews crowded on Sunday morning, and so eager to get into God's Word. Turn with me in your Bibles, if you will, to the 47th chapter of Genesis. We'll begin our reading at verse 13, and go through verse 27.

Brother Ray, would you stand and read that great passage for us? ... (reading) ...

Thank you for that fine reading, Brother Ray. So we see that economic hard times fell upon Egypt , and the people turned to the government of Pharaoh to deal with this for them. And Pharaoh nationalized the grain harvest, and placed the grain in great storehouses that he had built. So the people brought their money to Pharaoh, like a great tax increase, and gave it all to him willingly in return for grain. And this went on until their money ran out, and they were hungry again.

So when they went to Pharaoh after that, they brought their livestock - their cattle, their horses, their sheep, and their donkey - to barter for grain, and verse 17 says that only took them through the end of that year. But the famine wasn't over, was it? So the next year, the people came before Pharaoh and admitted they had nothing left, except their land and their own lives. "There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land. Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh." So they surrendered their homes, their land, and their real estate to Pharaoh's government, and then sold themselves into slavery to him, in return for grain.

What can we learn from this, brothers and sisters?

That turning to the government instead of to God to be our provider in hard times only leads to slavery? Yes... That the only reason government wants to be our provider is to also become our master?
Yes. But look how that passage ends, brothers and sisters! Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt , in the land of Goshen . And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly." God provided for His people, just as He always has! They didn't end up giving all their possessions to government, no, it says they gained possessions! But I also tell you a great truth today, and an ominous one.

We see the same thing happening today - the government today wants to "share the wealth" once again, to take it from us and redistribute it back to us. It wants to take control of healthcare, just as it has taken control of education, and ration it back to us, and when government rations it, then government decides who gets it, and how much, and what kind. And if we go along with it, and do it willingly, then we will wind up no differently than the people of Egypt did four thousand years ago - as slaves to the government, and as slaves to our leaders.

What Mr. Obama's government is doing now is no different from what Pharaoh's government did then, and it will end the same. And a lot of people like to call Mr. Obama a "Messiah," don't they? Is he a Messiah? A savior? Didn't the Egyptians say, after Pharaoh made them his slaves, "You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh"?

Well, I tell you this - I know the Messiah; the Messiah is a friend of mine; and Mr. OBAMA IS NO MESSIAH! No, brothers and sisters, if Mr. Obama is a character from the Bible, then he is Pharaoh.
Bow with me in prayer, if you will...

Lord, You alone are worthy to be served, and we rely on You, and You alone. We confess that the government is not our deliverer, and never rightly will be. We read in the eighth chapter of 1 Samuel, when Samuel warned the people of what a ruler would do, where it says "And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day..."

And Lord, we acknowledge that day has come. We cry out to you because of the ruler that we have chosen for ourselves as a nation. Lord, we pray for this nation. We pray for revival, and we pray for deliverance from those who would be our masters. Give us hearts to seek You and hands to serve You, and protect Your people from the atrocities of Pharaoh's government. In God We Trust...

Those Who Voted Against Reaffirming “In God We Trust” as the National Motto

A Real Nanny State

Can you believe that the idiot Senator Richard Blumenthal wants to use federal block grants to pay for diapers?

Check out some of the comments:

“Politicians are like diapers; they need to be changed often and for the same reason.”
― Mark TwainBY SoquelCreek on 11/02/2011 at 14:38

And why is this a problem in the feminized US? BY Mike Alright on 11/02/2011 at 14:57

Somebody tell Condoleeza Rice to shut her yap. When's the last time you heard her say a word about the fraud in the Whitey House?BY Condomleeza Lice on 11/02/2011 at 14:58

So Democrats want to add diapers to the list of things Americans are entitled to? What has happened to this once great nation?BY Marie on 11/02/2011 at 14:59

Gee, when I had kids in daycare, I had to provide diapers for my kids. BY jb80538 on 11/02/2011 at 14:59

Senators using our money for SHlT.
Go figure.BY Mark on 11/02/2011 at 15:00

MANDATORY STERILIZATION for ALL PARTICIPANTS of the PROGRAM !!!!!
CAN'T FEED or CLOTHE THEM—-DON'T BREED THEM YOU RATS!!!!!BY Common Sense on 11/02/2011 at 15:00

This one even those with limited intelligence should be able to understand…if you have no money…don't have kids. If you have no education…don't have kids. If you can name all the Kardashians…don't have kids. The rest of us, who pay the taxes, are sick of taking care of you and your spawns.BY Jenny on 11/02/2011 at 15:00

How did we survive 220 years before?
Sick. BY JWH on 11/02/2011 at 15:01

DemocRATS need stimulus for diapers because they spend so much of their energy sticking up our rears.BY Paolo on 11/02/2011 at 15:01

Until next time…