Halloween - bring it on

My Carbon Footprint

I'll cut to the chase. My pilot light won't light. It is 40 degrees in DC and I can't make my furnace turn on. Blast the dumb house inspector who told me that it was better to turn the bloody thing off in the summer because the copper would last longer.

So, it's cold in my house. I have a space heater and plenty of wool socks, but it's getting colder and the kitties are getting restless. (Actually, I don't think they care. They have fur and each other.)

The nice guy is coming on Saturday to see what he can do, and here's hoping that it works. Hopefully he will try something that I didn't try, because all the things I did try didn't work out very well.

They say that air conditioning units create a bigger carbon footprint than heaters, so I guess my carbon footprint is really small... for the next 4 days. Then, I'm going to kill myself some ozone. (Just kidding, I recycle and eat tomatoes from my garden; I think that gives me an hour or two of heat.)

Burrrr....

Nothin like a good protest...to make you late for work.

World Bank Protesters Keep Police Busy on Capitol Hill
Monday, Oct. 22, 2007; 10:55 am

Nearly 60 people have been arrested this morning on Capitol Hill — and more arrests could occur throughout the day — as an array of groups hold protests for causes entered on the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Eleven people were arrested early this morning for unlawful assembly and incommoding at the Cannon House Office Building, and 10 more were arrested in the Cannon Rotunda. Police also arrested seven people on the sidewalk outside of Cannon.

Near the intersection of New Jersey and Independence avenues Southeast, protesters sat in the middle of the road shortly after 8 a.m., forcing police to temporarily divert traffic. Twenty-six people were arrested for unlawful assembly.

Just as police reopened the street, another group of protesters then took the road, forcing police to arrest an additional five people for unlawful assembly, including two minors. The streets have since been reopened.

Protests have taken place throughout Washington, D.C., in the past several days as officials gather at the World Bank and the IMF for annual talks. Several streets near those offices remain closed.

— Elizabeth Brotherton

Copyright 2007 © Roll Call Inc. All rights reserved.

Scream like a girl.

I jumped out of an airplane over the weekend. Crazy, right?! It was crazy, and I did scream like a girl. But, then again I am a girl. I was strapped to a guy who happens to be a four time world skydiving champion and who took is first step out of an airplane when he was nine. As reassuring fact you kind of forget when you are staring out of a door at 11,000 feet. Thusly...












Yeah, right?! It is hard to explain how difficult it is to talk yourself into doing something so counter-intuitive. It went something like this... Me: Hey, want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane?! Self: What, are you nuts-o? That's maddness.

But I did it (mainly because I was strapped to Mr. Four Time World Championship and he kept walking as I was voicing my reservations - apparently 'no' sounds a lot like 'go'). And for the first 6 seconds you feel like you are falling and I think my eyes were closed during that part, because all I remember is screaming.

But after that first backflip (I am not making that up, picture below) you lay on your belly in a free fall, try not to suck in too much air and think of that Tom Petty song.

And you know what? It's a pretty damn good time.






















"And once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you long to return."

-Leonardo DaVinci

Thanks to The History Channel and "This Day in History", I discovered that on my birthday in 1957 Elivis was drafted into the military.

Neat-o....or not.

If only I could have been born two days later, the day the first gorilla was born in captivity.

Alas.

I HEART Traffic

I spent 5 hours and 45 minutes in my car today. I am not exaggerating. Let me give you the play by play.
I had a meeting in Maryland so I went up in the morning: 1 hour 15 minutes. (Semi-Normal day at the office...)
I finished my meeting around 2:00pm and drove to DC - traffic was bad and I took the advice of my boss and went 70 to 29 to 32 to 295 and got lost: 1 hour 30. minutes. (Kind of annoying...)
I realized I had my co-workers keys in my purse so I then turned around and drove BACK to Maryland: 2 hours. Traffic was so backed up on the Parkway heading north I was filing my nails as I was driving. (So very painful...)
I then, of course, had to come home and traffic, again, was not all that good but it only took me an hour. (A moral victory, but still pretty much road rage central...)

I had much time to focus on my inner chi. By the end of nearly 6 hours, my leg was numb and if one more person didn't let me in, so help me.

I live in the city, I love the city. I love that you can walk places and go to the corner store and buy milk. I love that you can find the metro and you can hail a cabbie and (for a price) they will take you anywhere worth going. I love that I can not drive my car for a whole weekend and half the week. I live in the city so I don't have to drive, because this commuting stuff is HORRIBLE.

A co-worker of mine lives in Baltimore and takes the train down to DC everyday. We often have light-hearted debates about how crapy her commute is vs. how expensive my mortgage is. Although, there are days that I would be happy to take a train to pay a cheaper mortgage. And while the theory of taking a train to work is lovely, my co-worker repeatedly tells us all train horror stories of people tending to personal hygiene to help pass the time commuting. Everything from doing their makeup (not too bad pending on what it is, I guess) to clipping their nails (awful, awful, awful). And if the train is late or broken or lost - what do you do?! With all that said, however, the train is a much better option that what I did today.

I heard a story on the radio the other day about a growing number of Americans who drive something like 2 and a half hours to work - one way. Super Commuters I think they were called. These people are clearly nuts-o. 5 hours in a car? I would be in Danbury minimum. If I had to do that every day I would get another job.

It's a good thing today's little excursion in the car was a one time deal, because if I had to do it everyday I would need another job... and I like the one I have quite a bit.

Good Mormon Kitty

For those of you who don't get the joke... a little Mormon 101. Twice a year, Mormons watch (or attend) General Conference, during which, all the leaders of the church give general guidance about what we should be doing with our lives...feed the poor, go to church, be nice to kitties and puppies etc. General Conference is not always the most exciting event and it is not uncommon to fall asleep.

Apparently, even my kitty couldn't stand the excitement.

Take that Lou Dobbs.

"You shall know that no one is illegal. It is a contradiction in itself. People can be beautiful or even more beautiful. They may be just or unjust. But illegal? How can someone be illegal?" -- Elie Wiesel

Holy Cool

I think perhaps I have too much time on my hands in the evenings. I really need to get on my knitting. I had this great idea in February that I should knit all my female family members scarves for Christmas. It is a good theory in February. Pushing into October... it gets a little iffy. Also, if I didn't knit slower than cold tar going up hill in the middle of January, it would be helpful.

Anyway, through 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon via a blog I don't even remember I found Peter Callesen. It appears that he is from Denmark, but wherever he is from...the dude has a GREAT imagination.

Neat-o

Democracy in action... even in Texas

Or perhaps not... at least the desks are contiguous.

">

Democracy in action... even in China

I totally want to see this movie! I can't believe they made the poor girl cry! I feel so much better about the inside-the-beltway partisan politics.

Please Vote For Me

Add to My Profile | More Videos">Please Vote For Me!