Biskit's Big Day

"I got my toys here behind me, a little shade from the plant that I like to chew on to get attention, a nice soft oversized pillow AND I sold my stocks yesterday. What else could a girl ask for on her 10th birthday?"

Stocks to go Haywire

The Stock Market on Monday will probably cause some window jumping. It may also cause some unwarranted business mergers:

FedEx is expected to join up with its major competitor UPS and become FedUP

Knott's Berry Farm and the National Organization for Women will become Knott NOW

3M will merge with Goodyear and issue forth as MMMGood

and finally

Zippo Manufacturing, Audi Motors, Mountain Dew and Dakota Minnng will merge and become ZipAudiDewDa

Or at least that's what my Old Farmer's 2008 Almanac says.

Seriously though, after tomorrow I'll probably be working for Pizza Hut (NPC) part of Bank of America.

Update from NPC CEO: Since May 2006, we have been owned by Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity - a very small arm of Merrill Lynch & Co. Our business is not ran by ML&Co, nor is dependent upon its success. We are separately capitalized and not in any way directly affected by the happenings of ML&Co, including this pending sale to Bank of America.

Ebola Virus vs. Ike

This is a microscopic Ebola virus. If infected, it has a 90% fatality rate. Many books on the subject (the Hot Zone) and movies (Outbreak) came out about Ebola virus 10 years ago. The CDC studies viruses like these in Level 4 laboratories that I call bio-containment rooms. Anthrax is a lethal bacteria studied in Level 4 labs.

Now lets say that you have a Level 4 lab (I'm having trouble with colors) right in the path of a cat 3 hurricane--what do you do?

1. inform the general public (were you aware of this?)

2. destroy all viruses and run for your life? or

3. take some samples (because they are so rare) with you, evacuate, tell the general public they have been destroyed and then later sell them on the black market to radical militant groups.

This is what is finally being reported by CNN pertaining to the Level 4 lab in Galveston, Texas:

"The pathogens, which include the deadly Ebola virus, were purposely destroyed before the staff left the facility in advance of the hurricane, said Gov. Rick Perry's spokesman, Andrew Barlow.

However, a former student who worked at the Level-III laboratory while the Level-IV facility was being constructed and who knows the manager, said she would be surprised if all of the pathogens had been destroyed, since some of them are rare and extremely valuable."

I was hoping CNN would expand on this but they have kind of left us in the dark. Your guess is as good as mine...

Yikes, it's Ike

The destruction of Galveston in 1900 after a cat 4 (unnamed) came through town. A 17 foot sea wall was erected afterwards to protect it from another storm. I just heard, however, that they are expecting up to a 22 foot surge. Houston is in Ike's path but did not have it's modern shipping channel in 1900 nor was it the 4th largest city in the US...this will get interesting before morning...

Memories of 911

A day no one will ever forget.
A doppler image from Sept 11, 2001 and the memorial lights from the site of the Twin Towers that will shine tonight.
Mom and I visited the site about a month after the collapse as Bubba was born. It was a day of emotions and deep thought. I am still trying to comprehend the polices and practices of our country that produced the anger and hate it took to bring these structures down and take so many innocent lives. I have only been out of the country twice since 911: the Netherlands, Spain, and a few Caribbean countries. Things weren't the same...I wasn't welcomed like before...didn't know if I wanted to advertise my citizenship. This, all before we invaded Iraq so I can imagine what it's like now. Kind of makes you think twice... Regardless, I renewed my passport when Obama was ahead in the polls. Now, I fear I won't need it for a few more years...as if they want my dollar anyway...

Omar's Transformation

Deb sent me a bunch of pictures today. This one is my favorite. Don't really know what's going on here...but it made me chuckle.

Happy Birthday Nola

Here's the birthday gal. Happy Birthday Nola.

Human Buzz Lightyear

Swiss professional pilot Yves Rossy is the world's first man to fly with fitted jet-fuel powered wings strapped to his back
If all goes well, he will be the first man in history to cross the Channel as a human jet. If it does not go according to plan, he could find himself floating in the busiest shipping lane in the world. Or worse.
But having jumped out of more planes with more strange contraptions attached to him than almost anyone alive (or dead), Yves is full of confidence.
Not only will he have three parachutes on his back but, just the other day, he managed to fly the same distance as the Channel using his latest prototype and land safely.
However, on that occasion, he was flying over his native Switzerland, where he did not have to worry about oil tankers and tides.
'If I calculate everything right, I will land in Dover - but if I get it wrong, I take a bath,' he says cheerfully when we meet at his suburban home outside Geneva. 'So I must ask the Big Bird up above in Heaven to help me.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1052889/The-human-Buzz-Lightyear--The-man-cross-Channel-wing-prayer.html

When will these things be on the market? Might make the trip to Tama faster...wonder if they come equipped with satellite radio?

Caribou Barbie

Comes with everything you see here:

- Dead Caribou
- M-16
- Snowmobile
- Sexy Librarian Glasses

She even talks with such fun phrases like:
- "I'm a pitbull with lipstick!"
- "My family is off-limits!"
- "What is it the Vice President actually does?"

Coming soon: Bristol Palin with inflatable baby bump and John McCain with portable green screen background!

Neat Christmas Gift...from www.collegeotr.com. CollegeOTR is the country's premiere college blog, capturing the best of everything that happens at college.

Hurricane Trivia

I'm looking at this map of the routes of the major hurricanes to hit Florida since 1851 and it appears to me that a vast number of paths intersect right over Magic Kingdom. If this map is any indication of future paths, Disney may want to fortify that big EPCOT ball-thing with some 'crete'. Below is a list of Atlantic storm names. They are in French, English or Spanish for the areas that Atlantic storms hit these are the languages spoken. (someday the names will probably only be Spanish/French as there will be no English speaking peoples in the Atlantic areas)

2008 Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gustav, Hanna, Ike, Josephine, Kyle, Laura, Marco, Nana, Omar, Paloma, Rene, Sally, Teddy, Vicky, Wilfred

And to think I thought Paloma was a cancerous foot disease.

Lori and Friends

Lori and two of her Air Force girlfriends meet for breakfast at Cracker Barrel in late August!

Second Lady Occupations

I found an interesting tidbit of information tonight. This website listed some of the occupations of Vice Presidents' wives before becoming Second Ladies. The writer of this column is an alumni of Iowa State.

9. I have to mention Ilo Brown Wallace, the 33rd Second Lady of the U.S., because she was from Iowa – Indianola, to be exact. Before she was living large in Washington, she was the co-founder of Hi-Bred Corn Company in 1926. She and her husband used money she had inherited from her parents to start it. It’s now Pioneer Hi-Bred International, the world’s second-largest seed company.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/

I believe my first paycheck came from Pioneer.

Nothing like detasseling mile long corn rows...

My Polar Bear Friends

Since 2002, many polar bear populations in Alaska have shown increasing signs of stress, including drownings, malnutrition, and cannibalism. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that all polar bears in Alaska may be extinct as early as 2050.

http://www.polarbearsos.org/

I'm usually not an animal activist but as I was doing my homework on McCain's VP pick, I got on this polar bear site (searching Alaska Gov. Palin lead me to Alaska websites). I haven't been on the northern slope lately but from a personal standpoint, the best thing about Alaska isn't the oil, the ice roads or snowmachine races...it's the native culture and natural resources not to mention the Iditarod...the great outdoors and the lack of civilization!!! There seems to be some debate on whether or not to protect this animal. I believe that our current administration has put the polar bear on the endangered species list but is full of loopholes for the oil companies (go figure). I propose that the Alaskan Government start putting up casinos to get away from it's attachment to the oil industry...I hear the revenues are better and the natural resources will not be threatened...