I'm Ready For School!

Parked first in line to drop Emilie off at school and about 15 minutes before the morning chaos was to start. The calm before the storm - before the buses begin to arrive to unload kids, parents start dropping off kids and the walker & biker appear.

When, look, out of the sky - it's a bird, it's a plane, it's superman...nope it was a duck. A male Mallard swooped in and landed in the middle of the parking lot! Weird, since there isn't a pond nearby within walking distance, hmm.

He slowly waddled his way towards the side of the school, where the scrubs are and what to my wandering eyes should appear but his mate, a female Mallard.

Then the two decided to skip school and off then flew into the wild blue yonder.

The End

Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick...

According to the Wall Street Journal article tittled This Season's Ticking Bomb, 2012 is expected to be a high alert year for tick activity.

Warm winter temperatures and decreased low field mice population are two of the primary causes of the increased potential for finding a tick on yourself or your pets. Ticks Will Be Out Early; A 'Horrific' Season for Lyme and Other Diseases.

So, consider yourself warned and be careful out there!

The Urinal Dance

zip·per [noun]

A device consisting of two flexible strips of metal or plastic with interlocking projections closed or opened by pulling a slide along them, used to fasten garments, bags, jeans and other items.

Where would we be without the zipper today? What a great invention for sure!

Well, I have this new pair of jeans that when the zipper is unzipped all the way down it's next to impossible to zip them back up and man is it frustrating. Now, it's not because of any defects in the zipper itself but rather how the zipper's pull tab gets stuck in the down position and gets lodged. When this happens it's all I can do to get it free so I can zip up!

Makes for an embarrassing urinal dance!

Move To Beat Parkinson's

Did you know that April is Parkinson's Awareness Month!

Visit the National Parkinson Foundation for more information on the disease and what you can do to help!

Massachusetts "Move Over Law"

So, the state of Massachusetts has a law, often referred to as the "Move Over Law" (Massachusetts General Law Chapter 89, Section 7C), in which it requires operators of cars and other vehicles to pull into the left lane (when travelling on roads with 2-4 lanes heading in the same direction) if "practicable." If it is not practicable to change lanes, the law require drivers to reduce speed and "proceed with caution."

I think we can all agree that this is a well-intended law designed to save lives. I would argue that the law is vaguely written and I would think difficult to enforce, however, that's not why I am writing about it here.

I am writing in an attempt to illustrate just how stupid and dangerous and dangerously stupid some drivers can be! In general, some of the things I've seen during my commutes to and from work are scary! It's funny how some drivers take things so literal and then there are the ones who are completely clueless.

Let me try to paint the scenario:

Mr. Big Rig Truck driver is cruising in the slow-lane and traveling at 70+MPH.
Mr. Big Rig Truck driver sees blue flashing lights up ahead. The State police have someone pulled over and they're pulled over in the breakdown lane.
Mr. Big Rig Truck driver (assumption here) is aware of the states Move Over Law, so, and if your lucky, his left directional comes on and here he comes moving his big rig into the center lane!! It doesn't appear to matter to Mr. Big Rig Truck driver that Mr. Small 4-Cylinder Automobile is occupying the center lane at that point, nope. After all, I must "Move Over, it's the law" (being literal and NOT practical), DAH! What about the slow down portion of the law, hmm?!?! So, just get out of his way, he's not gonna slow down otherwise he'll run you over!

In the end Mr. Big Rig Truck driver doesn't want to risk getting a $100.00 ticket for not abiding to the law, so he's moving over. It doesn't matter if he runs Mr. Small 4-Cylinder Automobile off the road, or causes an accident in his wake. He must move over!

So, although the law has good intentions to protect anyone pulled over on the highway from getting run over, it fails in terms of the dangers it introduces when these BIG trucks decide to change lanes at high speeds because - wait for it...wait for it...wait for it...it's the law!

Word to the wise, stay alert out there!

Trixie Patient

Here's the lady of the house, Miss Trixie, stretching out and trying to catch a nap. As you can see she's wearing a lovely blue soft collar, size XS. The ladies of the house just love to accessorise!!



Actually, dog-dog here had a Monday morning vet appointment and went under the knife; we had her spayed. While "under" the doctor had to pull her last baby tooth to make room for her new, big girl canine tooth that was already on it's way in. She did very well but the poor thing was listless and just plain blah when we got her home. Here we are a couple days later and she's doing just fine and almost back to her old self. Still wearing the collar though so she won't fuss and pull at her one stitch.

2012 Garden Tilling, Done!

I spent last Sunday (manually) turning the soil in our BIG vegetable garden. The Winter Rye I planted in the fall was growing too tall and thick with this fabulous weather we've been having, so it was best to get this all tilled sooner rather than later. Our gardens have all been turned and are sitting ready for when it's planting time.



I uncovered a wild rabbit nest dug into the ground and perfectly hidden in the tall Winter Rye, see picture below. I suspected I might find one, as I came across one last year (at least I think it was last year but as I write this I'm having some doubts. It very well could have been two years ago, yikes...). The one last year didn't fare too well. I only learned of it by the squealing of the kits that I had tilled, and which ended up being compost.

This years nest meet the same fate as the one before and was tilled under too. However, this one didn't have any young it, which is good since it spared me from having to compost baby bunnies again.

Spring Has Sprung!

What a day! 73 degrees this afternoon here at the ole homestead!

At this point I don't think there is anything still in it's winter dormancy - everything is bursting or getting ready to pop.

Here is a lone yellow crocus that sprang up in the middle of our lawn -


Here's a cluster of our Snowdrops wide awake and in full bloom -


Here's a nice light purple crocus bunch with a couple Tulips poking their way up -

So Long Ladies, Thanks!

So, I pulled the plug and sold our (4) older hens; the non-buff ones, the other day. And what a difference that makes in the hen house and with their food consumption. They were great ladies. We had a lot of fun with them and they rewarded us with plenty of eggs. Sounded like they were going to another nice home, so it's a win win for all.

Vintage Bottle Finds

Here are some pictures of old, vintage, antique bottles that Emile has found recently. Several were found at my dads house. She's had to do some digging to get them out of the ground but enjoys it. They all cleaned up pretty well and are kinda cool. Just need a way to date them and try to determine what they were used for back in the day.

Playskool Old Woman's Wooden Shoe game

1960s vintage Playskool Old Woman's Wooden Shoe game

"Farmers Market" - #5 of 2012

Another 1000 piece puzzle completed.

Tsk, Tsk, Tsk Hard Way to Learn

I hit some traffic on my way into the office yesterday, which was a result of a 3-car, high speed lane accident on Rt. 495. Since I was closer to the accident the delay wasn't too bad but I'm sure it had a terrible effect on the commuters behind me.

Naturally, traffic was stop and go until I got past the accident scene. I find this the worst type of traffic to drive in, as you need to pay attention and stay alert plus you don't want anyone cutting in front of you - it's my space so back off, GRRR

Back in September 2010, Massachusetts became the 30th state to ban texting while driving. However, I can tell you with 100% certainty, as I see it EVERY day, that most folks do NOT adhere to this ban. I see drivers ALL the time driving and texting away. What's even more scary is that I see this occurring at speeds of 65, 70, 75+ miles per hour.

So, as I'm sitting in this stop and go traffic I see a dude to my right in a white Toyota Camry texting away. He was not paying attention because when traffic began to move he hit the gas, however, the traffic only moved 15 feet or so. Can you take a guess at what happened next...BAM he hit the car in front of him. It was funny to watch, (of course it's funny when it's not happening to me), as if the entire event was happening in slo motion. It looked like he hit the brakes about the same time as the accelerator. The front wheels locked up and his car learch forward trying to stop but there wasn't enough space. What makes it even funnier is that he rear-ended a fancy newer white Mercedes.

From what I could see there was minimal damage but I've learned first hand that doesn't matter and the dude is in for an insurance rate increase and perhaps even more.

What a #jackwagondipshit! That'll learn him...

Mystery Solved

So, last night Emilie and I were searching hi and low for the house cordless phone handset but it was no where to be found. The unit has a handy "locator" button that is used for just a situation, so we pressed it. All that did was tell us that the living room handset was in the wrong base up in the bedroom. Therefore, the bedroom handset was still missing.

The ironic thing is that when I called the house on my way home from work, the call was answered using the bedroom handset...

So, where in the world is Waldo the phone handset?!

Good news folks, JoAnne found it this morning...in the refrigerator's cold cut drawer, under the bag of American cheese, go figure! That's going to be a "chilling" next call...

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Pretty much says it all...

"The Supervisors" - #4 of 2012

Now we're talking challanging! This bad boy was a 1000 piecer, WOW!

A Fish-cicle!

Think I may have found yet another source of "fishy" odor at my dad's house last weekend. And this time it IS a fish...

Now mind you I'm no Paula Deen, Gordon Ramsey, Bobby Flay, Julia Child, etc., yet, I'm pretty sure that this is the incorrect way to store fish in the freezer.

However, not to ruffle any feathers, or in this case scales, I put the little feller back where and how I found him.

"Hanging Out" - #3 of 2012

Banged out another 550 piece puzzle. Number 3 of the year.

The Harlem Globetrotters Game

1971 vintage "The Harlem Globetrotters" game by Milton Bradley.

Why?

It's 2:05PM on Thursday, February 2nd and currently a chilly 39 degrees outside.

A dude just drove by the house on a motorcycle.

What a #dimbulb!