things and stuff

on march 29 there will be a total solar eclipse, but you won't see it unless you're in the middle east or northern central africa -- you can see the map of the particulars at http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEmono/TSE2006/TSE2006.html

have you ever wondered what 2 billion degrees kelvin looks like (see below)? not only can we see what it looks like (in plasma form), it has existed right here on little ole' earth -- right in our very own new mexico, just outside (s.e.) of albuquerque, and it has existed many times over the last 14 months! for the article, go to http://www.sandia.gov/news-center/news-releases/2006/physics-astron/hottest-z-output.html or for a briefer blurb and bigger picture go to http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060313.html .



naturally, i had to figure out how much 2 billion degrees kelvin was in farenheit. none of the three conversion bookmarks i have in my favorites would convert it for me, although one of them at least tried -- it said "degree Fahrenheit (F), kelvin (K): tk = (tF+459.7)/1.8"
( http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/reference/metrics/factors.htm ) since i needed the reverse of that formula, i sat and tried to figure out how to do it, like, did i invert and multiply, then add or subtract, but i got confused so my brain threw up.

then i googled it and came up with this -- "To convert a temperature in Kelvin to Farenheit, use this formula: Temperature in Farenheit = 9x(Temperature in Kelvin - 273)/5 +32." ( http://ganymede.nmsu.edu/tharriso/ast110/class11.html ) oh, okay ... so take 2 billion and subtract 273 ... hmmm, well, we can probably forget the 273 ... then take 2 billion and divide by 5 and take that times 9 and add 32, or do i divide by 5, add 32, then take it times 9. probably divide by 5, forget the 32, and multiply by 9. at any rate, the answer is around 3.6 billion degrees farenheit. pretty hot, huh. and they're not even sure how it happens. hmmm ..... i wonder if that means they should quit doing it?!

my allergies -- are driving me crazy!!!11!1111!
Jeff Woodall -- Sand World

i kid you not...

like i said, reading through other people's blogs can be interesting. and sometimes one of your favorite blogs will reference someone else's blog who will reference someone else's and there you are, hours later, trying to remember what you were doing when you started.

the following list (spelled accurately) is taken from http://www.rahoi.com/2006/03/may-i-take-your-order.php -- i have included some of the entries listed on the menu of a chinese place he went to recently (but didn't include his comments which were great) -- i wonder who had translated the menu for the owners?

Color hot pepper fries the chicken
domestic life beef immerses the cabbage
Fragrant spring onion sauce explodescow son
Fragrant bone in garlic in strange flavor
Big bowl gold mushroom cowboy meat
Big bowl flower immerses pork kidney
Big bowl bow of immerses from fish head
1 article pot : home town
Fried Beef rice W/Scorn and egg
Salty egg king steams the vegetable sponge
Add a peaceful
Saute Small Cattlefish with Ginger GarcicBlack Pepper
French Crips
Man fruit braise the north almond
Cashew Not
Brazil The Carbon Burn A Meat (send the 1 cup red wine)
Carbon burns black bowel (A)
Cowboy leg
Gold silver lotus root silk fries shrimp fucks

the end of the world

every-once-in-a-while i remember the end of the world. it's at http://simonc.f2o.org/south/ or at least it has been.



this adventurous fellow has been keeping a blog of his time and activities spent (784+ days) at Halley Station on the Brunt Ice Shelf near Coats Land and Dronning Maud Land in Antarctica.



but now his tour is done and he is in the process of heading back home to great britain. it's been fun to read about his life down there and i don't know how long his blog will be available. it's worth checking out, if for no other reason than to see what the end of the world looks like.

top o' the mornin' to ye

the state of Iowa has a good fitness program going: monday through friday you can receive a little blurb from Tim Lane containing a bit of interesting information and a reminder to do some walking. it's a pleasant way to start the day and the reminder to get active is helpful, too.

if you'd like to receive these notices, send a blank email to join-fitnet@lists.ia.gov. today's message includes the following delights:

May the sun shine all day long,
Everything go right and nothing go wrong.
May those you love bring love back to you
And may all the wishes you wish come true!
-Irish blessing

May your day be filled with blessings
Like the sun that lights the sky,
And may you always have the courage
To spread your wings and fly!
-Irish blessing

May you live as long as you want,
And never want as long as you live.
-Irish blessing

May your troubles be less
And your blessings be more.
And nothing but happiness
Come through your door.
-Irish blessing

tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day! wear green or you might get pinched!

amsterdam: accept it or leave it

i just found out that if you want to go live in the Netherlands, you must buy a $75 prep package that includes a controversial film, a cd, and a picture album of famous dutch people, then you pay $420 to take an entrance test. the film is controversial because it includes gay men kissing, and a topless woman on a beach. if you can't handle this stuff, you can't stay in the country. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11842116/)

a lot of people think the test is stupid or radical, but others support the test saying this is reality and people need to accept it or go elsewhere. the test is part of a movement, that has been building since 2001, to limit immigration. it must be working -- immigration has dropped by 1/3.

maybe we could control our border problem by requiring a film. now let's see, what would the film be about .... hardened criminals going free with paltry fines? white collar criminals, oops, i mean good ole' boys behind closed doors? drugs, real estate gouging, phishing/pharming, maternity belly fashions, piercings fashions, butt crack showings, reader's digest scams, homeless people, fundamentalist lifestyles, republicans, i.d. theft, religious wackoes, welfare fraud, jerry springer, rap music? there's a lot of reality in this country we could put into a film.

think it would scare anybody? hahaha .... naw -- who'd believe it?

my bad...

reading through other people's blogs can be interesting, illuminating, humorous, shocking, validating, etc. etc. etc. i know that when you quote another blogger you are supposed to give credit, trackback, or otherwise acknowledge the owner, but the person i got this from is someone i do not know, feel absolutely no connection with, have no desire to alert to my presence, and would never read except this person is an inadvertent friend of a friend and the posts are unavoidable inasmuch as they are displayed in the friend's area.

with all that qualifying out of the way, here is the post that i thought was funny simply because i've been in situations where things heard are not what was said:

"Sam walks by my desk on the way to the bathroom. He pauses and whispers to me, "My butt itches very much." I look up from my work and say, "WHAT did you say??? My butt itches????" I start to giggle and Sam replies, "No I said, my budget just went way up." Oh. I keep laughing about it for a while."

name changed to protect the guilty.

i'm feeling -- there but for the grace of god...
Global Dance Project -- Krishnamurti Groove

kind of like the Apaches

you may have heard of Pop-Up Stopper, a utility for keeping annoying ads from appearing on your screen. i have it and i understand it's from a reputable company. (Panicware -- http://www.panicware.com/ ) i also have microsoft's anti-spyware. i mean, there are a lot of bad guys out there, right?

anyhow, i discovered this nifty little program from Panicware called KeepIt and i installed the Full version. it's free, like Pop-Up Stopper, and is intended to be a suitcase for all your user names and passwords.

like a suitcase, you fill it with stuff and then lock it up -- you can only get in with the correct key. hubby has his passwords written on notes, and i have mine typed into docs. this program keeps them all in one place so you can access them without having to hunt. it is very simple and user-friendly, quick to set up, and a snap to work.

several times during the day i clean out my internet files (on IE go to 'Tools' 'Internet Options...' 'Temporary Internet files' 'Delete Files...' 'Delete all offline content' 'OK' ) , and while i was surfing around this afternoon, i read something that said the Cookies information was not only available to the people who put them there, but to others passing by. sure, i have been going into the system and deleting all cookies except the ones i needed to get on sites without having to redo my name/password. but -- if those precious cookies are providing information to a lot of snoopers ..... well, the hell with that. voila! KeepIt!

so now i am going to routinely delete my files and my cookies! take that, snoopers! er, rather .... you can't have that, snoopers!

computer fix

the laptop's been non-functional for the past two weeks -- its hard drive was making funny sounds. so our computer guru, greg, came up to see what he could do about restoring everything to its former glory.

greg, and his new driving-down-the-highway-with-the-top-down car, came early afternoon and didn't leave until late evening. whoa -- talk about commitment!!!



it was so much fun to hear about his trip to rome and amsterdam. he's a master story-teller on top of mystical guru and he brought the absolutely best bottle of wine which we had with dinner. he says whenever he sees this brand on the market, he buys up all he can get -- it's a small vintner with an excellent product. so the next time you see a bottle of Steele wine from Lolonis Vineyard, grab it. ours was a 1999 Mendocino Chardonnay which was butter yellow and outstandingly 'yummy'. not a connoisseur's word, but mmmmmmm, it was delicious anyhow!

thanks, greg, on all accounts!

bad things happen

over the weekend, there were bad, bad storms in the midwest. at least i call it the midwest 'cause that's the way it was taught when i was growing up.

anyhow, south dakota, minnesota, wisconsin, kansas, indiana, illinois, missouri -- they all had some really crappy weather going on, causing monstrous damage and taking lives. one young man saw his neighbor die -- “The trailer came down right on top of her” -- and i had this confused vision: did a huge 18-wheeler fly down out of the sky? did a travel trailer come shooting down? did a little put-two-chairs-and-a-dresser-on-it trailer come blowing along into her? did a mobile home overturn onto her?

and then another image popped into my mind .... way back in the 60's or early 70's, there was a 'tea dance' at a new building in kansas city. it was a very upscale affair, with big honchos and their wives attending, everyone in beautiful clothes and best manners. there were airy walkways and balustrades two or three stories high, and a big open area if i remember right. anyhow, there were serious shortcomings in the underpinings and all of a sudden, everything started caving in. a lot of people died, but the image i retained is that when the emergency personnel came in and started trying to find people, a concrete column was raised and the woman who had the misfortune to have been under it was raised, too, because her face was embedded in the concrete. what a macabre memory.

well, now...

whew! all done!

that was frustrating but informative. i am now able to put pictures on (except not with my user name).

i am happy about 'adding pictures to posts' although i still don't have all the permutations figured out. and the 'not being able to put my picture with the blog' thing is because this is a family (multiple bloggers) blog. each of us can have our pix with our profile (you can add it, guys, if you want) but we can't have it on the main screen.

and i can't figure out a way to fix the code so that my picture will show up with any comments i make. oh well ... you learn a little bit of this and a little bit of that, then go shooting off in a new direction.

right-o ... wheeeeeee-heeeeeee -- here we gooooooo.........

oh yeah -- i downloaded Picasa 2 (Google's picture-handling software) along with Hello which is 'an instant messaging and sharing pictures at the same time' thing. both are free and in the beta stage. well, no wait ... i don't think Picasa http://picasa.google.com/ is beta, but Hello http://www.hello.com/ is version 1. Both seem to be pretty easy to use (unless you are 58) and will undoubtedly be used a lot by me. be nice.

Testing... 

Testing... 

Testing... 

Testing... 

Testing... 

Testing... 

Testing... 

Testing... 

Testing... 

Testing... 

Testing... 

Free Range Human: Welcome!

the husband has finally told 'spaces' to get lost -- too much fumbling and bumbling and waaaaiting. so join with me in welcoming him to Google's blog arena.

check out his future posts at Free Range Human.

Welcome, honey ... and yay!!!

yoo hoo, kansas ...

i just ran across this item dated 3/4/06 ...









*snerk, snerk* is Wiley great or what?

movin' to the groove

oh man -- Slusnik Luna is on and i just can't keep still when they're playing. Sun (Kossin Mix) makes my heart happy!!! (from The Chillout Session Ibiza 2002)

followed by William Orbit with Surfin' (Hello Waveforms)

way to go FrostByte Groove Lounge -- you're right on the money!!!!! http://overxposure.fm/

did you know this?

last tuesday i noted certain political entities think that having middle easterners in charge of six u.s. ports is a fine idea.

today i ran across this bit of information: great britain provides the security for a number of u.s. 'sensitive' areas. wh... what? here's what i read:

"In a residential area of Washington, D.C., the headquarters of the Department of Homeland Security is fenced, gated and patrolled by armed guards.

The guards are employed by Wackenhut Services, a British company that provides security for many sensitive American sites, including many of the nation's nuclear power plants.

But the Homeland Security headquarters is anything but secure, according to more than a dozen former and current Wackenhut employees who signed statements citing everything from unmanned guard stations to inadequate training." quote from: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11748408/

hmmm ... if we are the land of the bravest, the best, and the brightest, why do we keep doing dumb things? wouldn't you think we would be able to handle our own security? i can only imagine it's a money thing. and yes, i agree it is valid to consider costs vs benefits vs danger vs whatever. but security? of nuclear power plants? and yes, i agree that britain is our friend. but nothing is forever. let's just handle it ourselves, shall we?!

my feeling -- who's in charge here?!
16B -- Inbetween Your Choice

stone-age habits: no pins

we're one of those odd couples who have not opted to do the debit card thing. it's not that we don't trust new-fangled ways, it's that we tried to do a debit card twice and both times something got very screwed up so we said, "hey -- this isn't what the universe wants us to do!"

now i've run across an article which says Debit card thieves get around PIN obstacle -- all you hep cats who do the debit thing are prime for getting your bread ripped off, daddy-o. so put on your peepers, cool it, and read, then you'll be in orbit.

"...In recent weeks, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Washington Mutual and Citibank have all reissued debit cards after detecting fraudulent activity...many merchants incorrectly store PIN information they should be destroying...Consumers might be surprised to learn that their PIN numbers are stored by merchants they shop at, and can be stolen from merchants by hackers. While storing PINs is against network rules, many retailers inadvertently store the information..."

"...consumers concerned about the scam should avoid PIN-based retail transactions, and chose instead to make signature-based, credit-card-style transactions..."

"Debit card theft can be far more severe than credit card...different consumer protections apply. Account holders are liable for only up to $50 of credit card fraud — but consumers can be liable for the entire balance of their bank account after debit card fraud...money is instantly missing...can lead to bounced checks..." (information from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11731365/)

this gig's bad news -- maybe you should think about splitsville!

i'm feeling -- cool, man, real cool ...
Beatlab:Digital -- Turning Point (featuring Piri)

the laugh's on us

a couple of great old-people jokes came across my desk today ... enjoy!

There were two elderly people living in Trailer Estates, a Florida mobile home park. He was a widower and she a widow. They had known one another for a number of years. One evening there was a community supper in the big activity center. The two were at the same table, across from one another. As the meal went on, he made a few admiring glances at her and finally gathered his courage to ask her, "Will you marry me?" After about six seconds of careful consideration she answered, "Yes. Yes, I will." The meal ended and, with a few more pleasant exchanges, they went to their respective places.

Next morning, he was troubled. "Did she say 'yes' or did she say 'no'?" He couldn't remember. Try as he would, he just could not recall. Not even a faint memory. With trepidation, he went to the telephone and called her. First, he explained that he didn't remember as well as he used to. Then he reviewed the lovely evening past. As he gained a little more courage, he inquired, "When I asked if you would marry me, did you say 'Yes' or did you say 'No'?" He was delighted to hear her say, "Why, I said, 'Yes, yes I will' and I meant it with all my heart." Then she continued, "I am so glad that you called, because I couldn't remember who had asked me."

Three old guys are out walking along Canal Way Drive. First one says, "Windy, isn't it?" Second one says, "No, its Thursday!" Third one says, "So am I. Let's go get a beer."

A man was telling his neighbor at bingo last Wednesday, "I just bought a new hearing aid. It cost me four thousand dollars, but it's state of the art. It's perfect." "Really," answered the neighbor. "What kind is it?" "Twelve thirty."

Morris, an 82 year-old, went to his doctor for his yearly physical. A few days later the doctor saw Morris walking down the street with a gorgeous young woman on his arm. A couple of days after that the doctor saw Morris again and commented, "You're really doing great, aren't you?" Morris piped up, "Just doing what you said, Doc: 'Get a hot mamma and be cheerful.'" The doctor replied, "I didn't say that -- I said, 'You've got a heart murmur. Be careful.'"

what? what do you mean, who should you hire? i said, enjoy ...

sheesh!

south dakota's new logo ...

oh good grief ...

i could swear that i learned in high school (early-60's) that foreign entities could not own property in the united states. obviously i either remember incorrectly or the rise of mba's (read mega-greed) created a change which allows others outside the u.s. to own property here. i have no kind feelings about foreigners owning property anywhere in this country.

now i read that a Dubai (part of the United Arab Emirates) -owned company (Dubai Ports World) is slated to take over operations at six u.s. ports with bush's full approval, unless congress steps up and halts the process. not only does bush approve, but if congress tries to pass a law to keep this takeover from happening, bush has said he'll veto the law.

"Bush has said security concerns were unwarranted. He said security at the ports would remain in U.S. control, and that Dubai, a member of the United Arab Emirates, has been a strong ally in his war against terrorism." (quote taken from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11715006/from/RL.1/ ) When it comes to the mercurial nature of many nations, especially the Middle East, our allies of today can be our enemies of tomorrow. how incredibly stupid can president bush be?! wait, i already know the answer to that.

pardon me while i display my getto i.q. and panic-crazed mob mentality by stating that if they allow this to happen, this country will be one step closer to 'creeping foreign take-over' or 'massive and fatal dependence on others'.

*sigh* i just can't stand it.

my feeling -- depressed

very black

we saw an extremely strange flick today -- Sin City. i guess i could say i loved it. not the gross violence, but the weirdness of the concept. the way it was part animation and part real actors. part black-and-white and part brilliant splashes of color. the way it was dark ... like, film noir is to white as Sin City is to black. hey man, it's just waaaaay darker than black.

i enjoyed mickey rourke the best -- i don't think i've ever seen him in anything that i liked, so this was a great surprise. bruce was great as always and clive owen's american english was another surprise. del toro has a fabulous voice, and jaime king was beautifully excellent.

the first Star Wars was different, Memento was different, Hellboy was different, and Sin City is different. if you aren't into different, don't bother.

i'm feeling -- different
-- Honeyroot -- Summer Sky

moral issues

i noticed an article yesterday about advances in diagnosing alzheimer's. the dilemma that doctors are finding themselves struggling with is this: should we tell the patients they are going to get alzheimer's or not? tell them or not?! it seems to me the real dilemma is figuring out a way to help people with alzheimer's gently end their lives.

if someone tells me i have an early diagnosis of alzheimer's, i am going to want to understand, as accurately as i can, how much longer i will still have a good grasp of reality. and then i want to throw a party and say good-bye to people. then i want my family to gather around and say good-bye while i take the 'transition' pill. no pain, no suffering, no huge expenses, no autopsy. i DO NOT want to go through everything my dad has gone through. and that includes the part before he was moved to the assisted living facility.

i don't know if a person who knows they have alzheimer's can tell that their reality has changed. if i have that diagnosis, will i realize i can't remember stuff? will i realize i'm confused and making poor choices? will i remember i want to end my life rather than muddle on 'til i succumb naturally?

just so we all have the same understanding here, loved ones of mine, i do not want to live with alzheimer's in an assisted living unit. i want to say good-bye when i still know who everyone is. if there isn't a legal way to do that, we have to figure out how to do it the easiest, most painless way possible, and without getting anyone in trouble.

sure, oregon has a legal way for people to end their lives, but that is only if they have been certified to have 6 months left to live and have been examined by two different doctors.

the netherlands, belgium, and switzerland all allow ending of one's life, legally (without regard to condition or expectancy, as i understand), and they are not evil nations. we ought to be able to have that right as well.

i wonder if the baby boomers still have the same stuff they were made of back in the 60's -- they were changing the u.s. back then, are they going to be able to effect changes about a person's right-to-die now?

i'm feeling -- concerned
-- Deep Dive Corp -- Walker

make this a habit

i really like listening to OverXposure.FM whenever i'm on the computer -- there are NO commercials and the listening is slow jazz, sexy, easy-on-the-nerves vibes. i don't know how in the world this guy can afford to do this dedicated work -- buying all the cd's, putting everything online -- but he pays for everything and only asks for contributions with a dignified note on his web site. (Worf would definitely like this guy -- he has honor therefore is definitely a Klingon!)

i've contributed a couple of times (being retired slaps limits on things) and if i won the lottery, i would give tim quigley a lot of it. his music makes my day, soothes my soul, and helps me have 'happy feet' whenever i'm on the computer or nearby. i encourage you to check him out and enjoy yourself! http://overxposure.fm/ or, as it's affectionately known to us regulars, FrostByte Groove Lounge.

i'm feeling -- in love with FrostByte Groove Lounge
-- Max Melvin -- Sometimes

To Dream

She was 74. Her mind was still pretty much together and her body was hanging in there, but she could tell when she’d had a full day -- right now she was tired, felt an ache in her left leg, and kept sighing. So she put her book away, turned off the front-porch light, brushed her teeth, changed into her flannel pajamas, and went to bed. She fell asleep right away.

She had always dreamed. Some of her dreams were fun, like the ones where she was flying. Some of her dreams were intriguing, like the ones where she was in a tall building and the elevators didn’t work right so she had to take the stairs but sometimes the stairs led nowhere, or turned back onto themselves. And there had been a period of time when her dreams were frightening, like the ones where she was running away or trying to hide from someone -- but the scary dreams hadn’t happened in a long time. These days she looked forward to her dreams and trying to figure out what they meant.

This night, after she fell asleep, she became aware she was lying in a time-capsule on a narrow, metal table. The capsule lid was transparent and suddenly came open. A man and a woman reached forward to help her sit up, then softly asked how she felt. “How I feel?” she said, still groggy. “I don’t know how I feel.”

“It won’t take long for you to recover your memory,” said the man. “The next class will start pretty soon and we’d like you to fill out the paperwork before you go to the class.”

“There’s a class?” said the little old lady. “A class? What kind of class? Why do I have to go to a class?”

“She’s going to need some time in a transition room before she resumes her classes,” the man said quietly to the woman. “Transport her and stay with her to help her regain clarity.”

“Certainly,” replied the woman as she gathered the little old lady close to her side. They slowly walked out of the strange room and down the hall, and in no time had arrived at a small, dusky blue, softly-lit room, which contained a twin bed and a chair. Above the bed, there was a window covered by narrow venetian blinds.

“Just lie down now,” said the woman gently, “and if you have any questions, I’ll be right here to talk with you.” So the little old lady lay down and relaxed, closed her eyes and let her mind wander. Sometime later, she looked over at the woman and said, “I remember. I’m ready for the next class.”

i'm feeling -- relaxed
-- Reflection -- The Wall With Paintings

do computers have ghosts?

husband's computer when kaput yesterday. actually it made a weird noise and then he shut it down. it's done that twice before, so it's staying off this time until our computer guru can look at it. our computer guru, greg, happens to be enjoying himself in rome right now -- yay, greg!!! -- so it will be a couple of weeks before we can talk with him about the trouble.

a couple of weeks of sharing MY computer. oh yuck. i don't share my computer easily. doesn't matter that husband is the love of my life, or that he paid for it. i just get wonky about sharing. probably because i had such a traumatic time on our first computer (a 'gateway' brand machine that convinced me to never buy from them again!), or probably because (growing up) i was always told i had to share, when, dammit, i didn't want to! so once i get that out of my system, i'm good about sharing for a couple of days.

okay, honey, it's your turn.

i feel -- like sharing
especially when i'm listening to Language Lab play Burning Disaster (frbygrlo)

Granny+Vibrator+Motorcycle=Doing Her Thing

the blogosphere is always an interesting place -- some days more so than others. i found this blog today which pretty much sums up what i and other 'older' women are saying or at least thinking -- Granny Gets A Vibrator: Last One In Is A Rotten Egg -- it's not that we don't want to have husbands/boyfriends/significant others/families, it's that we want to be free from the fairy tales, advertising messages, religious proscriptions, and locker-room schlock that my friends and i have grown up with.

this could get to be a very long blog so i'll close now and maybe revisit another day. remember: it takes courage to get older!

i'm feeling -- uh ... courageous
and enjoying listening to Kinobe play Slip Into Something More Comfortable from FrostByte Groove Lounge