Songs You Love To Hate and Some Cuteness

Over on CNN.com they have a story about the worst songs of all time. I guess they asked their readers to send them their choices and they have published the five top vote-getters. Here they are:

5. "Seasons in the Sun," by Terry Jacks. This is a definite classic. If you don't remember this, it is only because you don't know the title. I can GUARANTEE you have heard it at some point in your life.

4. "I've Never Been To Me," by Charlene. I am sure I have heard this, but it really doesn't ring a bell.

3. "You Light Up My Life," by Debby Boone. This one has to be the most over-played song of all time. Even if you DID like it when it first came out, you were trying to gouge out your eardrums with anything handy (paper clips, soup spoons, car keys, pencils, etc.) by the time they stopped playing it.

2. "Muskrat Love," by The Captain and Tennille. What more can you say.

And the all time worst song, as voted by the people:

1. "(You're) Having My Baby," by Paul Anka. WHAT was he thinking?

I'm not sure if I feel these were MY top five worst songs, but they sure are at the top of my list. I will think on it for a few days and post some of my picks. What are YOUR picks for worst songs? You can read the rest of the article here.

For those of you who take exception to "Muskrat Love" being named a bad song, you can go here for some of the cutest darn pictures of otters you have ever seen. I believe a muskrat is just another name for a river otter. (We used to have a family living in the stream that used to run next to The Parent's house when I was growing up. Totally adorable.)

No More Noise Or Smell

While I agree it is a problem, I think this has to be a slow news day in order to generate SO many world-wide headlines for this story: gas-free beans. The headlines in Australia are: Fart-free beans and Not to be sniffed at: a chance for bean-eaters to go fart-free. The UK says: Beans That Don't Give You Wind and Experts make flatulence-free bean. In the US: Study shows secret to gas-free beans and Helping Beans Run Out Of Gas. Just wanted everyone to know the problem had been solved, so you can have baked beans at ALL of your summer barbeques this year!

I Cannot Believe It

I'm still in a state of shock. Halfway through the second overtime period, Edmonton scored and won the game. They now lead 2-1 in the series. I am sad. I will now go and overeat to try and heal my shattered soul. Next game: Thursday.

mental_floss

I get a variety of magazines every month--and I ACTUALLY read them. There is Time, (to keep me informed,) People, (because I'm nosy,) a couple of "women's" magazines, (because I'm, well...) three, yes THREE, computer mags, and mental_floss. I used to get more, but decided to downsize--there are, after all, only so many hours in each day!

mental_floss is a magazine of trivia. But it isn't presented in the normal way trivia is; i.e., as lists of facts. The style is very informative, educational, and a bit snarky, but thoroughly enjoyable. It really is the best $21.97 I spend every year. The biggest problem I have with the mag is that it only comes out 6 times a year. It is absolute hell waiting for the next issue to arrive, as I devour the issues as soon as I get them. Happily, they have a website where I can get my daily dose of trivia AND their daily quiz, which I usually fail. Anyone who professes to be a "knowledge junky" should go to the site and enjoy. And, just maybe, if enough people subscribe, the mag MAY start being a monthly! I can dream, can't I?

Monday Blahs

You would think a person who is a stay-at-home wouldn't get the Monday blahs. I don't know what it is about Monday, but it isn't a favorite day of the week. I suppose the fact that it is cloudy, cool, and grey outside has something to do with the way I am feeling. It is supposed to rain/snow tonight. Yeah.

I usually have tons of phone calls to make on Mondays. You know the kind: those phone calls that you think about making all weekend long but can't because the people you need to talk to don't work weekends. For someone who lives with a shift worker, businesses that don't have weekend hours just seem so wrong on so many levels. Or, are businesses WITH weekend hours the ones that are wrong?

K is in the middle of his fourth week without a day off--and I am the one feeling burnt out! How can that be? Right now he is scheduled to be off on Friday and we won't know till Thursday whether or not that will happen. Yeah: overtime--feast or famine. Well, we need the money as car insurance is going to be due and we have to pay off our trip to Canada. Another thing to be mad at Canada for: K having to work overtime! (j/k) :) K works at an electrical power plant, so, being a public utility, workers can be FORCED to work overtime if the need exists. K does mostly volunteer overtime 'cause he can pick and choose his times and days to work, rather than have them dictate to him.

I'm still trying to get over the Red Wings losing to Edmonton yesterday--this after BARELY winning the first game of the series! I hate to say it, but, if they don't start playing any better, and lose the series, they deserve it. The Wings had the best record in the league and Edmonton JUST made it into the playoffs, yet they are making life hell for the Wings--what gives? Hopefully tomorrow's game will be A LOT better. Go Wings?

New Rules For 2006

I got this as an email claiming it was written by George Carlin,--his site says it wasn't--I found it quite amusing no matter who wrote it! Enjoy reading and have a great weekend!

New Rules for 2006

New Rule: No more gift registries. You know, it used to be just for weddings. Now it's for babies and new homes and graduations from rehab. Picking out the stuff you want and having other people buy it for you isn't gift giving, it's the white people version of looting.

New Rule: Stop giving me that pop-up ad for Classmates.com! There's a reason you don't talk to people for 25 years. Because you don't particularly like them! Besides, I already know what the captain of the football team is doing these days: mowing my lawn.

New Rule: Don't eat anything that's served to you out a window unless you're a seagull. People are acting all shocked that a human finger was found in a bowl of Wendy's chili. Hey, it cost less than a dollar. What did you expect it to contain? Trout?

New Rule: Stop saying that teenage boys who have sex with their hot, blonde teachers are permanently damaged. I have a better description for these kids: lucky bastards.

New Rule: If you need to shave and you still collect baseball cards, you're gay. If you're a kid, the cards are keepsakes of your idols. If you're a grown man, they're pictures of men.

New Rule: Ladies, leave your eyebrows alone. Here's how much men care about your eyebrows: do you have two of them? Okay, we're done.

New Rule: There's no such thing as flavored water. There's a whole aisle of this crap at the supermarket - water, but without that watery taste. Sorry, but flavored water is called a soft drink. You want flavored water? Pour some scotch over ice and let it melt. That's your flavored water.

New Rule: Stop f***ing with old people. Target is introducing a redesigned pill bottle that's square, with a bigger label. And the top is now the bottom. And by the time grandpa figures out how to open it, his ass will be in the morgue. Congratulations, Target, you just solved the Social Security crisis.

New Rule: The more complicated the Starbucks order, the bigger the a**hole. If you walk into a Starbucks and order a "decaf grande half-soy, half-low fat, iced vanilla, double-shot, gingerbread cappuccino, extra dry, light ice, with one Sweet-n'-Low and one NutraSweet," ooh, you're a huge a**hole.

New Rule: I'm not the cashier! By the time I look up from sliding my card, entering my PIN number, pressing "Enter," verifying the amount, deciding, no, I don't want cash back, and pressing "Enter" again, the kid who is supposed to be ringing me up is standing there eating my Almond Joy.

New Rule: Just because your tattoo has Chinese characters in it doesn't make you spiritual. It's right above the crack of your ass. And it translates to "beef with broccoli." The last time you did anything spiritual, you were praying to God you weren't pregnant. You're not spiritual. You're just high.

New Rule: Competitive eating isn't a sport. It's one of the seven deadly sins. ESPN recently televised the US Open of Competitive Eating, because watching those athletes at the poker table was just too damned exciting. What's next, competitive farting? Oh wait. They're already doing that. It's called "The Howard Stern Show."

New Rule: I don't need a bigger mega M&M. If I'm extra hungry for M&Ms, I'll go nuts and eat two.

New Rule: If you're going to insist on making movies based on crappy, old television shows, then you have to give everyone in the Cineplex a remote so we can see what's playing on the other screens. Let's remember the reason something was a television show in the first place is that the idea wasn't good enough to be a movie.

New Rule: and this one is long overdue: No more bathroom attendants. After I zip up, some guy is offering me a towel and a mint like I just had sex with George Michael. I can't even tell if he's supposed to be there, or just some freak with a fetish. I don't want to be on your webcam, dude. I just want to wash my hands.

New Rule: When I ask how old your toddler is, I don't need to know in months. "27 Months." "He's two," will do just fine. He's not a cheese. And I didn't really care in the first place.

Getting More Famous

I was going to make note of the fact that I have had more than 1500 visitors to this blog, but the number came and went before I had a chance! People continue to come here from the article with my quote in it--amazing what will bring people. And I truly am amazed at the people who actually stay for awhile and read the posts. I guess they aren't ONLY interested in tech talk, even if they are geeks or work in the technology field. :)

Cat Lover

I love cats. I know, this makes me less of a good person in some people's eyes, but, whatever. Cats are not like dogs--DUH! Dogs will crawl all over themselves just to make a person happy--cats couldn't care less if their person is happy. As long as a cat is fed, the litter is clean, and they can sleep where ever and whenever they want, it's good enough for them. I love cats' "I don't give a shit" attitude. And cats definitely have a lot of attitude. The world would be a better place if more of us were a little bit like cats: just do what we WANT, not what others always think we should. (That is, as long as we aren't hurting anyone.)

My cat is the queen of the world--and she lets me know that at every opportunity. She came in bed with me again last night, and proceeded to sleep across my left leg. Now, this wouldn't be that big of a problem except for the fact she weighs somewhere in the vicinity of 16 pounds! This really is a bit uncomfortable for me, but does she care? NOOOOOO!!!!!! She is happy and comfortable, so I should be okay with that. And she has the gall to give me dirty looks if I try to move her! Queen of the world, like I said!

The attitude of hers that I can really do without is the one where she feels she doesn't have to work for her keep. You know, where she could be catching flies, spiders, and various other bugs, or catching, and killing, the occasional mouse I get in the house. But will she put herself out enough to help me? Again, NOOOOOO!!!!!! If there is a fly in the window, she will sit on the windowsill and call for me, asking me to kill the damn thing. Once it is dead, she will sniff it and then leave for her post-breakfast, pre-snack, nap. Thank you very much! And she was NO help with the last mouse we had--she just sat there and stared at it, looking at me every once in awhile as if to say, "Well, are you going to DO something about this?" And she doesn't even have the decency to act embarrassed by this! She has forgotten that her cousins are the king of the jungle, obviously.

Another attitude she has is the one where she ALLOWS me to pet her--and I should be grateful for the opportunity, in her eyes. Of course, she is not happy if I should decide to stop petting her before she is done being petted. The act of stopping too soon will produce a series of headbumps to my leg--actually hard enough to leave bruises, sometimes--until I resume the petting. Oh, the life of a cat! If there was such a thing as reincarnation, I would LOVE to come back as a cat living in a household like mine--then I could be queen of the world, too.

Here is a picture of her sunning herself:
And here is picture of her being quite indifferent:
She IS one fluffy kitty cat!

On To The Playoffs!

I'm sitting here feeling a bit depressed because the Red Wings lost their last regular season game tonight. Even though it didn't mean a thing in terms of standings, etc., it would have been nice for them to go into the playoffs with a win. Oh, well, Friday starts the playoffs and, essentially a whole new season. They will be playing Edmonton for the first round and I am hopeful they will do well--the regular season was absolutely awesome for them, so they have a good chance for the Cup this year. We will see.

If all of the rounds go the full seven games to determine the winners, we could be watching hockey all the way into June! Yeah! It would be nice, but I couldn't take that many nerve-wracking games, so I will hope for easy, short rounds and a quick end to the season--hopefully with the Red Wings bringing home the Cup! Go Wings!

About My Youngest

I talk so much about my oldest daughter, it is easy to forget I actually have TWO children. Of course, the youngest, A, did get a lot of coverage lately because of the wedding, but I thought I would post a bit of an update on her today.

Last night A and I had a marathon phone session: we talked for over 4 hours! We both were home alone as our husbands were working, so it was a good time to catch up on what all has been going on. She and her husband are finally settled in to their new place--they had to start packing as soon as they got home from the wedding, as they only had four days to move from where they were living. I guess they are almost completely unpacked. If this is true, I give her a lot of credit--I STILL have a couple of boxes that were never unpacked after we moved into this house: 25+ years ago!

A works as a vet tech in a veterinarian's office. (DUH!) She is somewhat of a phenomenon when it comes to handling animals. I have never seen anyone who could become "friends" with every animal she comes across as easily as A can. She loves the animals and they love her--she could be a female Dr. Dolittle! Whenever I think of the book "The Horse Whisperer," I think that A could be just like the guy in the book. She is a wonder to watch whenever she is with an animal. (She cannot abide snakes or rats, though--will not work with them if she can help it. The practice she is at does not handle reptiles and only one of the drs. handles rodents--and he isn't the dr. she works for. She got lucky.)

A and her husband have three pets--ONLY three?--a dog and two cats. While the cats are allowed to be just cats, the dog is being trained. Last night when we were talking, I heard a bell. When I asked her what that noise was, she informed me that the dog rang the bell to let her know he wanted to go outside! EXCUSE ME!!!!! One smart dog, that one is.

A and her husband had their first wedding party over the weekend. I think this "almost eloping" might be the way to go when getting married: when all is said and done, they will have had AT LEAST four separate parties/receptions! Her friends from work threw the party last weekend, I will have a small get-together here at the house in May, and in June there will be one at her in-laws' place, and C will have a party for them up north! They should have a nice haul when it is all over with! :) And the best part of all: I WILL NOT HAVE TO DO TOO MUCH PLANNING OR WORK!! YIPPEE!!

(An update: I am still getting quite a few hits from the article I was quoted in. I am amused!)

Almost Famous...

...well, among certain geeks, maybe? Here's the story:

I couldn't quite figure out why I had so many hits here yesterday and then I went to my tracker and found most of the people came here from another site--a comment/review blog post about the Dell E1505, my laptop model. Turns out, my comments about my new laptop were quoted in this article. Who would have thought I would have been quoted by some geek--and who would have thought I could actually sound knowledgeable and articulate about something relating to computers! I am humbled over the fact that Mr. Moltzen thought I sounded informed enough to quote me! Thank you so much, Mr. Moltzen, for the boost to my ego! You made my day.

T-Shirt Slogans

Here are some of my fav t-shirt slogans:

--Some days, it's not even worth chewing through the restraints.

--It's Better To Have Loved & Lost Than To Live With The Psycho The Rest Of Your Life

--With Luck & Planning I'll Retire at 149

--I'm only wearing black until they make something darker.

--Good Morning is an oxymoron.

--My mind's been gone for years. I hardly miss it.

--I work for the fun of it. It sure ain't for the pay.

--Am I getting older or is the supermarket playing great music?

--They say I have A.D.D. but they just don't understand. Oh Look! A chicken!

--Most of the people who drive me nuts are in my family.

--I've stopped listening-why haven't you stopped talking?

Trip Pics

Nothing exciting happening in my life right now, so I decided to post a few more pictures from our trip.

This is a place that is down from the actual falls. It is called the whirlpool, I believe. The cables you see are for the cablecar that runs between the American and Canadian sides. It wasn't running while we were there--the off-season, you know--but I'm not sure I would have ridden in the car, anyway!


In this picture, you just MIGHT be able to see the cable car parked on the American side. It is that little, red thing at the top of the pic, right in the middle.

It definitely would be a bit of a drop if anything happened while you were halfway across!






Here's another shot of the whirlpool, looking down-river.













And one last shot looking up-river.

Another Wedding Pic

Here is one more pic of the happy couple right after the ceremony. I thought it was rather nice. :)

Getting To Know You

Well, actually, I'm getting to know my laptop. I am actually writing this post on it. So far, so good.

I got the laptop on Wednesday and spent that night and Thursday getting it to behave like my desktop--or, at least, as close as possible. I put Thunderbird and Firefox on here and changed all the settings to make it as familiar as I could. I even put my Red Wings background as wallpaper! It all seemed to be going okay and then some glitches reared their ugly heads--only ONE of which I was responsible for creating. I couldn't figure my way out of the mess I was in, so I had to restore this thing back to the way it was when I got it--two days worth of work down the drain!

On Friday I restored everything back to original and started all over again. Luckily, I had just been through everything, so it took much less time to work on settings, etc. All was going well and then a program started to try to update itself and I kept getting error messages and nothing I did worked. By that time, I was tired and shut down for the night.

Saturday evening I finally felt up to trying again. I vowed to myself that I WAS NOT going to call tech support. Sorry, but most of them don't know much more than I do about how to fix these problems. And the reason I say this is, their first and "best" fix for any problem is reformatting the hard drive and reinstalling the OS. Not gonna happen if I can help it! So I decided to find a solution on my own and turned to Google. Turns out, the problem I had wasn't all that uncommon and it was easily fixed. This brought me to a conclusion: computer manufacturers PURPOSELY have sent their tech support overseas so that we won't use it--we can't understand most of them, anyway. This forces us to try to fix the problem on our own--which might or might not happen. Best case scenario is that you can find a solution, as I did. OR you can screw the thing up so much that you have to pay the manufacturer to fix it, and this helps them make more money. A method to the madness.

Although this thing is pretty close to how my desktop is, it still isn't the same--and never will be. I'm having some problems with configuring one of my email accounts, but it really doesn't matter: I can just go online to check it. Also, I will never be able to do some of the things on this that I can on my desktop: photo editing and storage, or storing a lot of music. But, that's what a desktop is for. While I'm happy with this laptop, it isn't what I REALLY want. (See the post from 21 November 2005.) It isn't nearly as powerful as I want, but it is more than adequate for what I NEED. Let's have a drumroll, people, and then you can follow this link to see my newest baby, a Dell Inspiron E1505! (Mine is the second one from the right--the one that says it's for music and pictures.) Pretty, isn't it?

Oil Change

This is for all the women out there--and all the SECURE men that read this blog! Enjoy.

Oil Change

Oil Change instructions for Women :

1) Pull up to Jiffy Lube when the mileage reaches 3000 miles since the last oil change.
2) Drink a cup of coffee.
3) 15 minutes later, write a check and leave with a properly maintained vehicle.
Money spent:
Oil Change $20.00
Coffee $1.00
Total $21.00

Oil Change instructions for Men:

1) Wait until Saturday, drive to auto parts store and buy a case of oil, filter, kitty litter, hand cleaner and a scented tree, write a check for $50.00.
2) Stop by 7 - 11 and buy a case of beer, write a check for $20, drive home.
3) Open a beer and drink it.
4) Jack car up. Spend 30 minutes looking for jack stands.
5) Find jack stands under kid's pedal car.
6) In frustration, open another beer and drink it.
7) Place drain pan under engine.
8) Look for 9/16 box end wrench.
9) Give up and use crescent wrench.
10) Unscrew drain plug.
11) Drop drain plug in pan of hot oil: splash hot oil on you in process. Cuss.
12) Crawl out from under car to wipe hot oil off of face and arms. Throw kitty litter on spilled oil.
13) Have another beer while watching oil drain.
14) Spend 30 minutes looking for oil filter wrench.
15) Give up; crawl under car and hammer a screwdriver through oil filter and twist off.
16) Crawl out from under car with dripping oil filter splashing oil everywhere from holes. Cleverly hide old oil filter among trash in trash can to avoid environmental penalties. Drink a beer.
17) Buddy shows up; finish case of beer with him. Decide to finish oil change tomorrow so you can go see his new garage door opener.
18) Sunday: Skip church because "I gotta finish the oil change." Drag pan full of old oil out from underneath car. Cleverly dump oil in hole in back yard instead of taking it back to Kragen to recycle.
19) Throw kitty litter on oil spilled during step 18.
20) Beer? No, drank it all yesterday.
21) Walk to 7-11; buy beer.
22) Install new oil filter making sure to apply a thin coat of oil to gasket surface.
23) Dump first quart of fresh oil into engine.
24) Remember drain plug from step 11.
25) Hurry to find drain plug in drain pan.
26) Remember that the used oil is buried in a hole in the back yard, along with drain plug.
27) Drink beer.
28) Shovel out hole and sift oily mud for drain plug. Re-shovel oily dirt into hole. Steal sand from kids sandbox to cleverly cover oily patch of ground and avoid environmental penalties. Wash drain plug in lawnmower gas.
29) Discover that first quart of fresh oil is now on the floor. Throw kitty litter on oil spill.
30) Drink beer.
31) Crawl under car getting kitty litter into eyes. Wipe eyes with oily rag used to clean drain plug. Slip with stupid crescent wrench tightening drain plug and bang knuckles on frame.
32) Bang head on floorboards in reaction to step 31.
33) Begin cussing fit.
34) Throw stupid crescent wrench.
35) Cuss for additional 10 minutes because wrench hit bowling trophy.
36) Beer.
37) Clean up hands and forehead and bandage as required to stop blood flow.
38) Beer.
39) Beer.
40) Dump in five fresh quarts of oil.
41) Beer.
42) Lower car from jack stands.
43) Accidentally crush remaining case of new motor oil.
44) Move car back to apply more kitty litter to fresh oil spilled during steps 23 - 43.
45) Beer.
46) Test drive car.
47) Get pulled over: arrested for driving under the influence.
48) Car gets impounded.
49) Call loving wife, make bail.
50) 12 hours later, get car from impound yard.

Money spent:
Parts $50.00
DUI $2500.00
Impound fee $75.00
Bail $1500.00
Beer $40.00
Total - - $4,165.00
But you know the job was done right!

Just HAD To Post This!

Okay, this is a real groaner, but here goes:

A woman brought a very limp duck into a veterinary surgeon. As she lay her pet on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the bird's chest. After a moment or two, the vet shook his head sadly and said, "I'm so sorry, your Duck Cuddles has passed away.
The distressed owner wailed, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am sure. The duck is dead," he replied.
"How can you be so sure," she protested. "I mean, you haven't done any testing on him or anything. He might just be in a coma or something."
The vet rolled his eyes, turned around, and left the room, and returned a few moments later with a black Labrador Retriever. As the duck's owner looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the examination table, and sniffed the duck from top to bottom. He then looked at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head.
The vet patted the dog and took it out, and returned a few moments later with a cat! The cat jumped up on the table and also sniffed delicately at the bird from head to foot. The cat sat back on its haunches, shook its head, meowed softly, and strolled out of the room.
The vet looked at the woman and said, "I'm sorry, but as I said, this is most definitely, 100% certifiably, a dead duck." Then the vet turned to his computer terminal, hit a few keys and produced a bill, which he handed to the woman.
The duck's owner, still in shock, took the bill. "$150!" she cried, "$150 just to tell me my duck is dead!!"
The vet shrugged. "I'm sorry. If you'd taken my word for it, the bill would have been $20, but with the Lab Report and the Cat Scan, it's now $150.00."

(Told you it was a groaner!) :)

And, finally, after reading this headline from Reuters, "Couric leaving "Today" for CBS News," all they have to do is get rid of Matt Lauer and I can start watching "Today," again! (And, no, I don't want any "I love Katie" comments.)

Just To Say Hi

Just popping in for a minute to say I MAY not be posting for a couple of days. I got my new laptop today and I have been trying to get it in the shape I want it to be in. I had to set up a wireless network and get it all updated, etc. Now I have to rid the thing of all the bloatware that came with it and start to personalize it the way I like it to be. I'm in hog heaven! (I'm such a geek.)

Mini Chapel

I don't really know what the reason is behind a mini-chapel, but there seem to be a few all over the world. Some were built as shrines, some are there for travelers to use for worship, and some are just novelty items. I am not sure why the one was built in Niagara Falls. I wish I would have taken a picture of the inside, looking from the outside. Unfortunately, you couldn't take a pic that really showed what the inside was like. Any pic of the inside just made it look much bigger than it actually was. (Don't know what kind of optical illusion was in effect for THAT to happen!) The "aisle" was barely wide enough for two people to stand side-by-side. There was a pew on each side of the aisle, facing the center of the chapel. Because we "sardined" 10 people into the place, no one had the opportunity to sit during the ceremony. And there were three of us taking pictures the entire time--made for some interesting shots of backs, bald spots, and hands. Needless to say, the Pastor REALLY didn't need to heat the place up before the wedding. (He brought in heaters so the bride wouldn't be cold.) With ten people standing "ass-to-jowl" in a little room, our collective body heat was more than enough to make the place toasty!

There will be more pictures posted in a few days. I have to sort them out, first.

Pictures

I decided to post some pictures from our time in Niagara Falls. The first one is a picture of The Living Water Wayside Chapel--the only authentic Miniature Chapel of its kind in the Niagara Falls area. We managed--I still don't know how--to squeeze ten people in here for the wedding.









Also, here is a pic of A and her husband so that you can get a little bit of a better idea of the size of the place. The trees on either side of the photo are cherry trees--there is a small cherry tree orchard surrounding the chapel. Must be gorgeous in the spring!