68 posts from 2007

What's your favorite thing to drink when it's cold outside?

I really like hot chocolate or spiced apple cider.  If neither of those two are available, I will usually track down a cappuccino.  This is why I like Starbuck's so much.  They have a variety of different drinks that I like.  My recent favorite there is the peppermint hot chocolate.  Yum! Hot chocolate and apple cider both seem to scare the cold out of my body.  Yum!

If you could easily choose to live in another country without all the red tape and legal stuff, which one would you select and why? 
Submitted by Matthew 25.

I would have to do quite a bit more traveling to actually give a fair answer.  There are several countries I would like to visit.  As for those that I have already visited, if I could stay in any of them, it would be either Great Britain or Spain.  Both countries have a great deal of history, and both have areas that are beautiful.  I was stationed in England for two years and got to wonder around a bit.  The advantage that living in Great Britain has over Spain is that there is not as much of a language barrier.  And yes, there was a bit of a language barrier between American and British English.  We use different terms for different things, and it took a while to get used to all of them.  My knowledge of Spanish is very limited these days, so I would have to learn quite a bit more before I could really comfortably live in that country.  I went to Spain with my family when I was seventeen.  We traveled mostly along the southern cost, also known as Costa del Sol.  It was beautiful, and I would like to go back one of these days.

Might have to change this to snow storm, because that is what it is actually doing at the moment.  It has been foggy off and on throughout the last several days.  It gets really annoying when people decide they do not have to drive with headlights on through the fog and rain.  I will get more into that thought later.  I am still trying to figure out what exactly happened.  I have suspicions, but no proof just yet.

I turned my rental in the other day.  No, I have not gotten my car back.  The front bumper for the car is on backorder, so that is what is delaying them fixing it.  I am a little peeved.  My friend, Khandi was nice enough to let me borrow her Jeep until either my car gets fixed, or she comes back from Virginia, whichever comes first.  If she comes back first, I guess I will borrow her husband's car.  I am sure the car needs to be driven a little bit.

My boyfriend, Rob has a friend staying with him for a couple days until his power finally comes back on.  It has been out since sometime Sunday, so a week now.  I hope his power comes back on soon.

So far, the roads are still clear, and I had to exert minimum effort to scrape the snow off the Jeep's windshield.

Over the years, numerous stray or feral cats have frequented my parents' kitchen for the abundance of dry cat food.  The first cat that I can remember off the top of my head was a short haired gray cat that my brothers and I called Nermal.  Another cat that wandered in was Interloper.  He was a orange tomcat that lived a couple of houses down that liked to come in at night and cause trouble with our cats.  We had a long haired orange cat named Jesse that was related to our indoor cats, but was never tamed as a kitten.  Another cat that we named Ragamuffin was a long haired black and white cat.  Some of these cats have wandered on or vanished over the years.  Others have been found and buried.

The current stray or feral cat that frequents the kitchen is a white cat with gray points.  My brother named him Tundra.  He has been coming in for a few years now.  I do not remember if he started coming in before I joined the Air Force in 2001.  I do not think he did.  We are not sure how old he is, but I hope my parents will take him to the vet soon and get him checked out.  Maybe the vet can offer an opinion.

Tundra at first would come in when he knew he was not likely to be disturbed while eating, usually while everyone was asleep or not home.  After a while, he started coming in whenever he felt like it, because he seemed to realize that we would not bother him if he wanted to eat.  He would watch warily as we walked in and got or did whatever we needed.  As long as we made no effort to touch him, he continued to eat.

Every now and again, I would hear amusing stories.  My parents' male cat, Prince was sitting on the coffee table one day.  My dad, who was sitting on the love seat on the other end of the table, noticed him reaching down and batting at something on the floor.  When my father bent over to look, he was surprised to find that it was not one of their other cats, but Tundra, who my father says was on his back batting at Prince.

Over the last couple of weeks, which have been very wet, windy, and cold in the Seattle area, Tundra has been coming in more and more.  My mom likes to put whipped cream in her coffee.  She will usually put some down for whichever cats might be present.  It is a trend that has gone on for years and years.  Tundra has apparently taken a liking to it.  He even shared a bowl of milk with Prince and Prince's mother, Gypsy.  According to my mother, he has been known to sit on the arm of the love seat, and even had a "love attack", which required my dad to scratch his ears, back, and tummy.  Needless to say, this is very strange behavior for Tundra.  I am glad he is becoming more friendly.  Obviously, the other cats (mainly Prince) have accepted him.  So, I think it is safe to assume my parents have another cat.

I will list the others off.

Smokey-  A fourteen year old, long haired, gray tortoiseshell.  She is a mostly outdoor cat, though she comes in during the winter when it gets cold.  We hardly see her during the summer.  When she does decide to come in, though, one cannot get rid of her.  She is an aggressive lap kitty at that point.

Patches- A thirteen year old, long haired, black tortoiseshell.  Patches is a very sleek cat.  She is also extremely bratty.  I have lost count of the number of times I have gotten yowled at when I overlooked something she wanted.  Patches is an indoor/outdoor cat.  Patches also likes to "help" my mom with reading assignments, academic papers, needlework, and quilting.  I have joked that when my mom gets her degree later this month, she needs to make sure Patches and Prince get one, too, for all the help they have provided.  Patches is Smokey's niece.

Gypsy- An eleven year old, short hair, black tortoiseshell.  Gypsy in some ways, is more feral than Smokey.  She may come in more frequently, but she does not aggressively demand attention.  Gypsy disappeared for about a year when she was about two.  We long presumed her to be dead when she suddenly reappeared on the front porch one summer evening.  Her meow is usually quiet, but every now and again, we get a haunting reminder of where her kittens got their meows.  She scared me one evening a few years ago when she howled in the hallway.  It sounded very much like that of Prince's brother, Peekaboo, who had died a couple years before that.  Gypsy is Smokey's half sister and Patches' aunt.

Prince- A ten year old, black tomcat with white toes and white on his chest and belly.  Prince is the surviving member of his litter.  One brother died when they were four, another fell ill and died a couple years ago, and his sister disappeared during the summer of 2006 and is presumed dead.  Prince is like a watch cat.  He constantly wanders around the house and my parents' property to check things out.  When he is inside, and when Patches is taking a break, Prince will help my mom with schoolwork and needlework.  He also tends to dictate when it is bedtime.  He will go down the hall at a certain time and if no one follows him, he come back out and meow, then go back down the hall.  This will repeat until everyone goes to bed.  He has other mannerisms that have earned him the nickname, "Gentleman Cat".  He lives up to his name.  Prince is Smokey's nephew, Patches' cousin, and Gypsy's kitten.  He is the youngest of my parents' cats, and the last in Puff, his grandmother's line.

My parents have had many cats over the years, and I am sure I will mention a few of them in future posts.  For now, though, I will stop.  Writing all of this did show me just how much some cats live up to their names.  My parents' cats certainly have.

We seem to have gotten through the brunt of the storm, at least for now.  This is not the worst ice storm I have seen.  The roads stayed fairly clear of ice.  The worst part of it was the damage to the power lines and trees.  I have never seen so many damaged trees.  I have seen quite a few that will likely die because of all the branches that have fallen off.  It is a sad sight.  I think Oklahoma needs more trees, and this storm has caused a lot of damage to the ones already here.

My boyfriend, Rob, and my friend, Khandi, have been without power since 1030 yesterday morning.  I believe Rob spent the night at a friend's house.  I am not sure if Khandi was able to do anything.  I tried to call her, but her phone went dead just a few seconds into the conversation.  I hope she is doing okay.  A lot of people I work with were without power, too.  I hope their power comes back on soon.  I know what it is like to go a long time without power.

It was an adventure driving to work.  The road I went down was narrowed to two lanes instead of the usual four because of tree debris.  I called my troops and made sure they knew they still needed to show up.  This was after one troop actually asked me if work was canceled.  Not our career field.  Our job is never done.

It has warmed up a little and the ice is melting.  It is raining, too, so hopefully that will speed the melting process along.  The sooner, the better.  I think it will be good to see the trees relieved of the ice that weights their branches down.  I can only hope that the damage I saw was not as bad as it looked.

Oklahoma is in the midst of its first winter ice storm.  We have had two thunderstorms in the past 24 hours, which I do not ever recall ever witnessing in the midst of December.  Rain, sleet, snow, lightning, and thunder.  Not a friendly combination.

The roads are not too bad yet, but then again, I have not been driving on them for almost two hours now, so things might have changed since I was last out and about.  I stepped out briefly to get some food.  I spent at least half an hour warming up my car and scraping the ice off the windshield, the front windows, and the rear view window.  It is not something I look forward to doing before going to work tomorrow evening, but I do not have a choice.

My job is mission essential, so I will be working, despite the nasty weather.  I just hope I do not have to tell a young troop they are not allowed to drive in this type of weather.  I did last year after one young troop got my patrol car stuck in the snow for three and a half hours.  Needless to say, I no longer let people borrow my patrol vehicle for posting purposes during certain weather conditions.

Which are your favorite sites for shopping online?

I do a considerable amount of shopping at Amazon.com.  People know that I will use gift certificates there.  I also like to look at Ebay every now and again.  I used to shop quite a bit at The Franklin Mint for jewelry and other collectibles.  I will probably be ordering a new computer using newegg.com.  My boyfriend and another friend use that site quite frequently, and they have good stuff and good deals for it.

What are your irrational fears? 
Submitted by Dan Culhane.  

I cannot really say if I have irrational fears.  I have a general fear of heights.  This fear generally kicks in when I am climbing tall ladders or considering going on a roller coaster.  I also have a fear of failure.  This particular fear is the one I have the most difficulty getting over.  It kicks in rather randomly, usually when I am in the middle of something new, or something that requires me to be in a leadership position.  Usually, I get over this fear rather quickly, but there are times where I am nervous about it for a while after.  I also am rather anxious about what people might think of me.  Yes, I know it does not really matter what people think about me, but it plagues my thoughts at times.

Do I really consider any of these irrational? No.  But then again, define irrational.  I think my definition may differ from other people.

I went to my unit's Christmas party earlier this evening, or, if one considers the time, yesterday evening.  The main reason I went is because the leadership said that whoever did not want to go might have to work on the other mid shift so those that wanted to go to the party could.

There were also some decent door prizes: portable DVD players, PSPs, gift certificates, and more.  I did not get any of the prizes, though I will be nagging a few of the younger troops that did not show, even though they paid to go.  If some of them had shown up, they would have walked away with the prizes.  One of them would have gotten a 26" HD flat panel TV.  Yeah, I will be nagging them pretty good, as will the other supervisors and airmen that actually showed.

One of my flight's supervisors ended up having to wear an elf costume.  There was a voting contest.  A quarter per vote, one dollar for five votes.  The main reason he got selected was because of his reaction when one of the desk sergeants joked about it a few nights ago.  The whole flight chipped in and voted for him to wear the outfit.  It was hilarious! I can only imagine what that supervisor will say when he comes to work Monday night.  ^_^

The food was decent.  It was not great, but the only part of it I really did not care for was the stuffing.  It was too salty.  I am not the only one that complained about that, though.  I did not partake in any alcohol.  There were enough people getting drunk that I figured it might be a better idea to stay sober in case some of them needed rides home.

The entertainment was somewhat annoying at times, but tolerable.  I think one troop might get a talking to for a poem that he read to the group.  It did not really fit the mood for the evening, and was not appropriate at all, especially since there were kids in the room.  The company was good, though.  Most of my flight sat near each other, so we were able to hold conversations as we felt the need to.  My supervisor wandered over a couple of times to see how people were doing.  I really wish he had not been put on a desk job.  I think he would prefer to be patrolling around, too.  Politics.

All in all, it was a decent time.  I do not feel it was a waste of an evening.  ^_^

Indeed, there has been quite a few things in the news lately that I have considered commenting on.

Last week, I thought of talking about the teacher who was arrested in Sudan after allowing her class to name a teddy bear Muhammad.  Another incident that caught my attention was in Saudi Arabia where a woman was given a punishment after she was abducted and raped.  It stuns me at times the differences between the society of America and those of other countries.  I do not speak ill of Islam or those that follow it.  I have known several people who follow Islam through the years, and I respect their beliefs.  I just find it hard to fit my mind around some of the strict laws that some countries impose on their people, particularly their women.

This week, there is the shooting that took place in Omaha.  As I read more and more about the background of the teen responsible, I see some disturbing similarities with some people I know.  Thankfully, they are past that stage in their lives, and they know if they need help, their loved ones will drop everything to ensure they get the help they need.  It is hard to believe a person would do something this horrifying around the holidays.  People plan to spend the holidays with peace and joy.

Another thing I keep hearing about is the debate surrounding the movie, "The Golden Compass".  I compare it to a lesser version of the debate around "The Da Vinci Code".  They are both popular books that have been made into movies.  Supposedly, "The Golden Compass" has anti-religion and anti-Christian themes in it.  Some people are insisting that Christians boycott the movie.  This goes to show how much TV I watch.  I had no idea the book was being made into a movie until a couple weeks ago.  I have the trilogy, but I have not yet read it.  I bought it quite some time ago with the intent of reading it, but got sidetracked by everything that has been going on.  Now, I am intrigued.  I want to see what all the fuss is about.  I did the same after "The Da Vinci Code" became such a controversy.  I read the book and almost laughed at the whole mess.  I can understand why some of my fellow Christians might consider the book upsetting, but there was one thing I thought was made rather clear throughout the book.  It was fiction.  There was no truth to it, however many myths and rumors might have contributed to its making.  It was fiction.  So is "The Golden Compass".  I will enjoy this book.  Maybe I will find the chance to see the movie and compare the two, too.  I like doing that.