Fw: HAPPY NEW YEAR

Have a snappy new year... Click on the link below. �http://www.icq.com/img/friendship/static/card_16961_rs.swf

Bouabidis' Christmas Cruise

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I wouldn't count on being able to find this in the local convenient store and if you don't have time to send for this product, I would suggest large amounts of water, eating fatty foods before drinking, and lots of sleep or just stay home and watch movies tonight.

www.alcoholkillerstore.com

The Butt Warmer

It is suppose to be a little chilly in the northern states on New Year's Eve. I have found the perfect warmer-upper for the party goers:

The Butt Warmer - A whole concoction of liqueurs make this rich and smooth.
A coffee cocktail with a mixture of various types of alcohol. A cup of this will warm more than your butt as it warms your soul.


Ingredients:
1/4 oz Tia Maria
1/4 oz Frangelica
1/4 oz Baileys
1/4 oz Grand Marnier
1 cup hot coffee


Preparation:
Combine ingredients in a mug and serve. Serves 1

If not a coffee drinker, I'm sure you can omit it and the warming affects will still occur...

Almanac

For the past 20 years, I have worked mostly a 'second shift' job...enjoying my mornings and early afternoons at home. Since September, however, I have been working mostly 9-5. Most people say, "Ah, I bet that is nice." Nice maybe, but I miss the sunlight hours...especially this time of year...it's just getting light when I get up and it's dark when I get home. Can't quite figure out WHY people work during the day...seems kind of backwards to me. As soon as possible, I will go back to working evenings but until that time, I have added my Sun Shine calculator to the top of this site just so I know that tomorrow the sun will shine longer than today and that the risk that I become a raving maniac is diminishing. As a matter of fact, when I searched "lack of sunlight", this is the image that was produced: Looks strikingly similar, however, to the 'salt sucking' alien from a 60s Star Trek episode...

A New Year's Resolution

To drive closer to the speed limit.

Christmas at Kathy's

Liz, the Dalmatian, with Christmas spirit wrapped around her neck.

Sam opening presents (snowmobile garb) with Biskit and Steve looking on. 2 foot snow drifts on deck behind.

I'm running around the parameter, picking up.

2008 company Christmas Party photo

Merry Christmas Kathy!

 

Just wanted to share a photo taken of mark and I at my recent company Christmas Party at the Dayton Marriott.

 

LORI

Now that's COLD

I'll do about anything to avoid wrapping Christmas presents. Building this huge ice/snow castle in the backyard this morning, however, is NOT something I'd do to avoid the ritual. Yes, those are humans in the bottom right. The Great Wall builders are at it again:

The Harbin Ice Festival was officially proclaimed in 1985 following the Cultural Revolution in China, which runs through to the New Year holiday. It now attracts hundreds of thousands of locals and visitors world-wide who brave the sub-zero temperatures.
It’s held each year on the Sun Island in Harbin, northeast China, about 400 miles east of the Russian border. The frigid city’s arctic climate provides an abundant amount of ice and snow with average winter temperatures of minus 16.8 degrees.

Hometown guy wins $1,000,000

Shane Schroeder, left, of Fort Collins, Colo., poses with NFL career receiving leader Jerry Rice after winning the $1 million first prize in the Fantasy Football Open Championship on Monday at Bellagio. (Las Vegas)

Shane grew up in GC. His parents live here and he is home for the holidays. His sister came in tonight (the Hut) and she said the phone has been ringing off the hook. Nice family. Steve (my boyfriend) claims fame to having introduced his parents back in the 70s. I think that qualifies for $2000.

Yesterday's Sun Dog

This is a recreation of yesterday's sun dog that I witnessed at about 4p.m. on the Iowa Tundra. It was actually very pretty as it looked like a rainbow on the blah, blizzardy, horizon. There were many reasons why I, myself, did not get a snapshot:

1. I was bucking snow drifts on the highway and was scared to slow down and get stuck.

2. Frostbite occurs quickly at -25.

3. Every time I looked straight at it, my corneas started burning and

4. It would have taken my entire memory card to get enough pictures that I could paste together to get the entire scene.

All I want for Christmas

Just in time for Christmas,
you can get your darling daughter or niece a special collectors edition Barbie commemorating a classic film. This particular one portrays a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’, when wealthy socialite Melanie Daniels is brutally attacked by bloodthirsty crows who are hell-bent on killing the human race, kids will love it. She even has the classy green suit from the movie.

From the official Mattel site, Barbie Collector:
In 1963, Alfred Hitchcock, the Master of Suspense, gave us a tale of terror not soon forgotten in his film “The Birds.” Dressed in a re-creation of the stylish green skirt-suit worn by the film’s ill-fated heroine in an iconic scene, Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds” Barbie® Doll celebrates the 45th anniversary of the acclaimed film. From the doll’s classic ensemble to the perfectly painted expression to the accompanying black birds, every aspect captures the film’s infamous appeal.

SNOW DAY!

For those of you who have forgotten how much fun a snowstorm can be:

We got a good foot of snow overnight...schools closed, businesses shut down, doubt if any airports are open yet.

Top: the little path I scooped so I could get the front door open...then I had to scoop a path to get the backdoor open...then I handed the gas can to the boys and gave Steve back his boots...their turn to snowblow.

Middle: Sam blowing out the driveway. Snowmobile trailer by tree-Steve's daughter came and got one and Sam drove one over to his mom's house. If they don't bring them back...I'm fine with that...I think I'll get in the Jeep and head south...until I can walk around without shoes.

Bottom: Steve blowing a bathroom area in backyard for the dogs. I knew it was time to get up and shovel them a path when one was licking my face and the other jumping on my head...

Tracking the Baby Jesus

It's a seasonal crime perpetrated by the ultimate grinch -- snatching sweet baby Jesus, so tender and mild, from an al fresco nativity scene.
Now, churches are fighting back with GPS trackers that could lead police, as if guided by a bright star above, directly to the Son of God.
The GPS devices are being offered by BrickHouse Security, a New York-based company lending the hardware and tracking service free of charge to churches and synagogues for the holiday season.

Fantastic idea...they can also be used on the roaming spouse on New Year's Eve. That in itself will keep a few more party-goers home.

Nativity scene above is from the Little Brown Church in the Vale, Nashua, Iowa

Bad times ahead for the Enquirer

What, my favorite mag going bankrupt? Layoffs have been announced by the CEO, David Pecker, of AMI, the publisher of the National Enquirer. With a circulation of over a million (weekly), you would think it could stay afloat. But then again, I haven't bought one in years and why...cause I read them while I wait in line at the grocery store...haven't they ever thought about plastic wrap? And why pay such outlandish sums of cash for stories...MAKE THEM UP!!! The people that read this crap (me) will believe anything, anyway. Maybe Pecker needs to start using his head...

Happy 8th Birthday, Travis.

12 Days of Christmas Prices

The cost of the 12 days of Christmas is up some 10.9% from $78,100 in 2007 to $86,609 in 2008. The above candy cane graph shows costs from 1984. Details below:

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. checks jewelry stores, dance companies, pet stores and other sources to compile the list. While it is done humorously, PNC said its index mirrors actual economic trends.
For instance, gasoline costs topped $4 this summer, driving up shipping costs for many goods. So a pear tree that cost $150 last year will cost $200 this year. (The partridge is up $5 to $20.)
Luxury items are also up, as reflected by the price of the seven swans-a-swimming, which are up 33 percent to $5,600.
But the faltering economy has also brought down the cost of some items.
The three French hens (down $15 to $30) and six geese-a-laying (down $120 to $240) reflect declines in food prices.
The eight maids-a-milking will cost 12 percent more, $52.40 from about $47 last year, thanks to their second annual minimum wage increase.
The 10 lords-a-leaping, 11 pipers piping and 12 drummers drumming are all up about 3 percent, reflecting the general average wage increase.

Another grandkid for Nancy

Here is my new Grandson!!! My step-daughter, Jenny and Luke had Jonah Wednesday evening. They live in Chicago so I probably won't get to see him as often as I would like! After 3 beautiful Granddaughters, it is great to have a Grandson!!> Jonah DuWayne Hirschy.>> Thanks!> Nancy

Way to make me feel like an underachiever...Kathy

That's not just a case of dry skin

Don't expect to spot an Apollo lunar lander. But tonight, weather permitting, sky-watchers around the world will see the biggest and brightest full moon of 2008.
Although a full moon happens every month, the one that rises tonight will appear about 30 percent brighter and 14 percent larger than the other full moons seen so far this year.
That's because our cosmic neighbor will be much closer than usual. The moon will be at its closest perigee—the nearest it gets to Earth during its egg-shaped orbit around our planet.

Actually, this is the nearest a full moon has been since 1993 so expect all kinds of weirdness on Friday night. If you haven't already, chain yourself up...just in case.

Car Czar thoughts

So much talk about a Car Czar. There's a movement afloat...I tend to agree with it. See what you think:

We need someone with the balls to strong-arm Detroit into shape. We need someone with zero tolerance for corruption. We need someone with a keen eye for errors and cover-ups. We need someone with imperturbable tenacity.

We need Ross Perot.

Who better to be Detroit’s Car Czar than a ruthless, effective control freak like Perot? He knows how to run a business, he knows how to whistle-blow, and he has a keen eye for whipping people into shape. Not to mention that he is the “Father of Fiscal Charts.” If the government is serious about not giving the Big Three more than the $15 billion it has already promised, it’s time to call the Perot hotline.

New Corporate Logos

Have you seen these new corporate logos? The recessionized versions. More at this site: http://www.businesspundit.com/after-the-crisis-a-parody-of-15-corporate-logos/

Another week, Another Virgin Mary sighting

FORT PIERCE — A 42-year-old woman without insurance and mounting medical bills plans to sell an MRI scan of her brain in which the image of the Virgin Mary seems to appear.
Pamela Latrimore has been sick for years with cancer, arthritis and a series of serious ailments she blames on a childhood in Jacksonville, Ark., a place that has been investigated by the U.S. government for possible dioxin exposure. Dioxin is a toxic chemical linked to a variety illnesses including cancer and liver problems.
In 2002, Latrimore had an MRI of her brain done and the results were stashed in her thick pile of medical records. Her sister-in-law looked at the sheet recently and pointed out what appeared to be the image of the Virgin Mary.
Having seen where other supposed images of Mary or other religious icons were sold for thousands of dollars, Latrimore plans to post the MRI scan on eBay, the online auction site. She hopes to earn enough money to pay off some of the medical bills she and her contractor husband cannot afford.

Looks like the lower intestine to me.

Happy 13th Anniversary, Sam and Beth

Happy 13th Anniversary, Sam and Beth

Happy Belated Birthday, Dylan

Happy Birthday Dylan, 10 yrs old on the 8th

Bite my tougue

It was just a couple of days ago that I was wondering if relaxing the US drug laws would ease violence and crime (gang wars, drug violence) following the 75th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition. As I was pondering, Amsterdam (one of the most relaxed drug law cities) was planning. Planning on cleaning up crime and social destruction by ridding themselves of many brothels and pot selling coffee houses. Read the following for more information or just take my word for it...organized crime, drug violence and social decay apparently are rampant no matter how relaxed or tough laws, whether drug or other vices are...

Dutch authorities have revealed details of their plans to clean up Amsterdam's famous red light district.
They say they will close half the city's brothels, sex shops and marijuana cafes in a bid to drive organised crime from the city centre.
Council officials gave the sex industry a warning a year ago that they were going to close some brothels.
The deputy mayor of Amsterdam says the plans will stop the city being a "free zone" for criminals.
Last year the city said it wanted to close one-third of the red light district's brothels, where scantily-clad prostitutes display themselves in shop windows.
But the new measures aim to reduce the number of sex "windows" from 482 to 243, a council spokesman said.
Amsterdam also wants to close half of the 76 marijuana shops in the city centre.

Lodewijk Asscher Deputy Mayor of Amsterdam says there are indications that some red light businesses serve as a cover for organised crime, including drugs and the trafficking of women.
"Money laundering, extortion and human trafficking are things you do not see on the surface but they are hurting people and the city. We want to fight this," said Deputy Mayor Lodewijk Asscher.
"We can still have sex and drugs but in a way that shows the city is in control."
Officials have set aside some 39m euros (£33m) to bring back hotels, boutiques, galleries and restaurants to the area.

But Mr Asscher said that the changes would be more in line with Amsterdam's image as a "tolerant and crazy place, rather than a free zone for criminals".
"It will be a place with 200 windows (for prostitutes) and 30 coffee shops, which you can't find anywhere else in the world - very exciting, but also with cultural attractions," he said, adding: "And you won't have to be embarrassed to say you came."
Prostitution will be allowed only in two areas in the district - notably De Wallen, a web of streets and alleys around the city's medieval retaining dam walls.
The area has been a centre of prostitution for hundreds of years.
Prostitution was legalised in the Netherlands in 2000, formalising a long-standing tolerance.
Marijuana is technically illegal in the Netherlands, but prosecutors will not press charges for possession of small amounts. Coffee shops are able to sell it openly.

Obama rally or Haj?

MUZDALIFA, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - More than two million Muslim pilgrims headed to Muzdalifa on Sunday to cast stones at the devil in the most dangerous part of the haj pilgrimage.
A sea of pilgrims, some on foot, some in vehicles, moved from the plain of Arafat down a desert boulevard lit by towering floodlights. At Muzdalifa, just outside Mecca, they gathered small pebbles to throw at large walls at the Jamarat Bridge, symbolizing the rejection of temptation.
Monday is also Eid al-Adha, commemorating the willingness of biblical patriarch Abraham to sacrifice his son for God.
The bridge has been the scene of a number of deadly stampedes -- 362 people were crushed to death there in 2006 in the worst haj tragedy since 1990.
(361 more than the Long Island Walmart stampede of 2008)
Saudi authorities have made renovations to ease the flow of pilgrims at the Bridge, adding an extra level so that pilgrims have four platforms from which to throw stones each day.
They are also making clear appeals to pilgrims this year to throw their stones at any time of day rather than only in the afternoon, as Saudi clerics have often insisted in the past.
Saudi Arabia has not so far reported any glitches in the haj, a logistical feat of organization that has been marred in previous years by deadly fires, hotel collapses, police clashes with protesters and stampedes caused by overcrowding.

History Lesson

Today is the 75th anniversary of the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment, in 1933.
The Twenty-first Amendment explicitly gives states the right to restrict or ban the purchase or sale of alcohol thus the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment otherwise know as "Prohibition." After the repeal of the national constitutional amendment, some states continued to enforce prohibition laws. Mississippi, which had made alcohol illegal in 1907, was the last state to repeal Prohibition, in 1966. Kansas did not allow sale of liquor "by the drink" (on-premises) until 1987. There are numerous "dry" counties or towns where no liquor is sold, even though liquor can often be brought in for private consumption.

I know parts of Missouri and Alaska are "dry" still. Where Deb lives in New Jersey-I think you can buy in in grocery/liquor stores but can't buy at restaurants-you have to bring it in with you. In Minnesota, I see "On/Off" signs and don't know really what that means but is different than here in ole Iowa where I'm surprised alcohol isn't in vending machines yet. I do remember the day, however, when you couldn't buy alcohol on Sundays.

Many social problems have been attributed to the Prohibition era. A profitable, often violent, black market for alcohol flourished. Racketeering happened when powerful gangs corrupted law enforcement agencies. Stronger liquor surged in popularity because its potency made it more profitable to smuggle. The cost of enforcing Prohibition was high, and the lack of tax revenues on alcohol (some $500 million annually nationwide) affected government coffers. When repeal of Prohibition occurred in 1933, organized crime lost nearly all of its black market alcohol profits in most states (states still had the right to enforce their own laws concerning alcohol consumption), because of competition with low-priced alcohol sales at legal liquor stores.

I'm not an advocate for or against but it really makes you wonder what would happen if the drug laws were different...

Christmas lighting idea

Guess this is the newest craze in Christmas lighting...

The Family Pet!

I know my dogs would seriously tear up the house if I even thought about this. Biskit runs just when I pick up the reindeer antler headband.

Didn't the Grinch do this to his dog?

Multi Use Lawn Ornaments

Another reason to have lots of Christmas lawn ornaments:

WEST SACRAMENTO — A man using a candy cane lawn ornament fended off a knife-wielding neighbor who had been attacking holiday guests at a Sacramento home. Police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong said the man used the two-foot-tall plastic ornament to subdue the attacker until officers arrived.
He said the 49-year-old suspect became intoxicated, went over to a neighbor's home on Thanksgiving and began waving a kitchen knife at people gathered on the lawn.
He cut several peoples' clothing before one of them decided to fight back.
Police said the man with the knife was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. The guest who took up the candy cane was not arrested because police determined he acted in self-defense.

I can see how the candy cane could be used in a choke hold maneuver. I'll have to remember that.

Golf Crew in Florida - November 2009

Stan, his two Betmar neighbor/golf buddies and Mark Nakanishi get the sticks out and prepare to smack em’ on one of several courses they played at during Thanksgiving week.