Goodbye and thanks for all the mooseberries

RIP Alexander Anderson, Jr., creator of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Dudley Do-Right who died today. Didn't know he also created Crusader Rabbit which as I recall was one of my very first favorite cartoons.

I love cartoons and have many favorites but Rocky and Bullwinkle remain in my heart as the best cartoon ever.

Trouble in the little city

Posting will be light today. Won't have time to post anything till later tonight. My Dad was taken to the hospital late last night. He appears to be okay now but they're keeping him at least another day so of course, I'll be there and not on line. Please send a good thought for him.

I'm such an idiot

I was looking at three days off in a row from the Big Box job and what did I do? I picked up shifts for two of them so now I'll only get one day to rest out of about 12 shifts in a row. It's a drag, but I really need the money and you have to work a whole lot of hours to pay the bills at my current pay rate. Which is a long way of saying, between the job and my annual SAD induced narcolepsy, posting is likely to remain a bit slow for a while.

Helluva Jump

You might not appreciate this video if you've never hung around with skydivers or made a jump yourself, but it looks to me like this guy had some serious problems with tangled lines on the way down, on very short jump. Pretty sure those red toggle handles were supposed to be hanging down at hand level. No idea how he managed to nail this landing without them.



Thinking most people would have done a cutaway on that one. I was holding my breath waiting for him to land on the bleachers.

Life in the slow lane

I've been just riveted to the raw live feed of the miner rescue in Chile for the last couple of days. I loved that there was no commentary on that livestream. I liked just watching the action without the incessant bleating of US newspeople telling me what I was seeing. Even though my Spanish is so weak that I couldn't understand most of what they were saying, I got more out of it than the the diced and sliced US teevee coverage. This is my kind of reality show.

I've seen a lot of my atheist friends scorn the idea that this was a miracle of God. But while it's true that the rescue itself was a testament to man's development of technology, the fact the they found these guys alive after they spent 17 days in the dark hole with virtually no food and no way to contact aboveground seems to be in the miracle of the universe category. Anyway, I loved watching the family reunions as the guy emerged from that impossibly small cage. Very interesting to see the difference in the reactions.

On the little city front, I've been working a lot since I picked up some extra shifts in the last two weeks. On Tuesday, my one day off, the weather was so grand I went out for a drive to hit the thrift stores. Scored big at the church one. Got the perfect navy blue cardigan -- importantly with pockets -- so I'm ready to rock the new color code at the Big Box store. Also picked up a brand new beige snakeskin belt and an old Eckoware stainless steel paring knife with a wooden handle and a serrated edge, all for the grand total of $3.50. I do so love a bargain...

And now, I'm off to work again.

Good News, Bad News

I've been slacking here again. Between the job and my annual bout of SAD kicking in with the failing light, I've been too exhausted to deal with the internets. Barely been posting anywhere. But the good news is I got a great bargain the other day at work. They do have the best clearance sales there.

I've been trying to not spend money on anything not essential but couldn't resist the final clearance. With the employee discount I snagged two more shirts and a pair of blue jeans for just over five bucks total. Really needed the new jeans. They're a bit ugly but they are straight leg and they'll fit perfectly once they go through the wash and dryer and finding a great bargain makes me happy. So there's that.

The bad news is really, really bad though. Just found out a couple of days ago that yet another dear friend has been diagnosed with Stage IV cancer. Trying to stay positive about it. They have her starting chemo next week so I have to believe they might be able to put her into remission, but I have to admit I'm kind of a wreck over it. I'm getting pretty old, but thinking I'm still much too young to be losing so many friends who are younger than me. Still, trying to be brave and visualizing her being with us for many more years than expected.