I May Just "Sleep Forever"......

Well my friend Doris and I just had our xmas.

We went out to dinner at one of our favorite local haunts-"The Driftwood"-and had a nice dinner and then we decided to go hunt for "after xmas" sales at WallGreens.

I picked up a few things that were 75% off....mostly xmas trinkets and some lights for next year.

We then bopped over to my "cave" and exchanged our little gifts.



I got her a bunch of baking cookbooks and a gift certificate to one of her other favorite restaurants and a few other stocking stuffers.



My "take" this year was something I have wanted for ages and hinted about to a few different people in hopes of Santa being good to me this year....and she came through with.....a "queen size feather bed mattress topper". It is filled with "Down and feathers" and looks (and will hopefully feel) just heavenly.



The bed linens are being washed right now in anticipation of "Sugar Plums" dancing in my head tonight.



I also got a "Scooby Chia Pet plant"....I sppse now I have another thing to water and feed besides Scrappy and the two fish. Hopefully Scrappy will not eat the "hair" once it is grown on the Chia's head. Does anyone know if "Chia grass" is ok for cats to much on??



I am contemplating getting a "NetFlix" subcription for renting movies online. It is sppsed to be a pretty sweet deal if a person watches more than a few movies a month. For 17.99, a person can rent as many movies a month that they want (having 3 out at a time). They send the movies via mail and then when done watching, you put the movies back in a prepaid envelope and send them back and they send you your next selections....in usually one business day. I am going to try it on a trial basis and if it works as good as it is spppsed to...I may just drop my "enhanced cable". We will see.



Off to check on the news and see how those poor people are fairing with the after effects of the Tsunami in the Indian Ocean and then maybe watch one of the 1000 movies I have in my collection that I should probably start getting to.



Happy Wed.

I Think this could be the Worst Natural Disaster in my Lifetime....

The death toll as of tonight in the earthquake and ensuing massive wall of ocean water has surpassed 58,000....and I wouldn't doubt it if the final count comes close to 100,000 if not more. And THAT would make this calamity the worst natural disaster in recent history.



More on this unfolding tragedy:http://www.jsonline.com/news/intl/dec04/288066.asp



I have thought often in the last few days of the "biblical flood" that wiped out most of mankind back in ancient history.

I have (as I am sure others may have) wondered how such massive amounts of water could be unleashed on the earth at one time, to virtually wipe out mankind, back then. Now I understand a little better how easily this could happen. Imagine the population of the world back then (in Noah's time) if you will. It was probably no more than a million people. And if a massive earthquake in the middle of any of the two big oceans or possibly one in each-or a multiple meteorite strike on any or all of the earth's oceans....and you can see how quick such an event would kill many many people.



It is kind of funny that I just happen to be reading a book right now which deals with the subject of that ancient disaster (The Biblical Flood). Though the book puts fourth some far reaching theories on how "God" could have made this flood happen....seeing and hearing about this massive tragedy in Indonesia brings that ancient event into a more clear focus.....at least for me.



The loss of life keeps climbing and climbing and now the aftermath of rotting bodies, disease because of unsafe water supplies and inadequate sanitation is making things all that much worse. I feel so bad for all the people that died and all the survivors that are affected. The pictures and videos brought fourth on TV are just too awful. My god.....how lucky those of us who weren't in that part of the world are right now.



Like I have often thought in the past, and I will leave it at that for now, Nature's force is so majestic and awesome and all powerful and we are just but "ants" as far as those forces are considered.



I hope everyone says a prayer( I have and will continue to do so) for those that have perished and those that were left behind to deal with the unimaginable grief they must now undertake and then after that....all the healing and rebuilding of their shattered lives.

My New Years Travel Plans??

This is where I would like to spend the New Year.....using my "Marriott Trade Out Program Offering" for a "two free nights" stay.......



http://marriott.com/property/factsheet/HKTJW



Click on the link....and then come back to my blog. Hopefully at that point you will understand what some people call my "warped sense of humor". Or look at my previous post....



The site does say that there are rooms available. No doubt some of the prior guests are taking a long "swim" in the ocean.



Some of the scenes I have seen on tv are just amazing. It is like a movie come to life.....those poor people. Imagine sunbathing one second and then seeing a gigantic wall of water coming at you at 500 MPH......ikkes!

The Crazy World at the end of 2004-An Earthquake so Poweful that it changed the "Earth's Rotation"

Headlines in the News:

-Asia Quakes' Tsunamis Kill Nearly 10,000

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/INDONESIA_EARTHQUAKE?SITE=WIMIL&SECTION=HOME



-Reggie White dies of Massive Heart Attack

http://www.jsonline.com/packer/news/dec04/287433.asp



The first story really makes one think....almost an entire section of the world devestated by a natural disaster that no one knew was coming-or could control. Makes one think of how lucky we are to even be alive. And it makes me feel that it is all that more important to "live each day to the fullest", as one never knows when their number will be called........



An excerpt from the first story:

-The rush of tsunami waves brought sudden disaster to people carrying out their daily activities on the ocean's edge. Sunbathers on the beaches of the Thai resort of Phuket were washed away. A group of 32 Indians - including 15 children - were killed while taking a ritual Hindu bath to mark the full moon day. Fishing boats, with their owners clinging to their sides, were picked up by the waves and discarded.

"All the planet is vibrating" from the quake, said Enzo Boschi, the head of Italy's National Geophysics Institute. Speaking on SKY TG24 TV, Boschi said the quake even disturbed the Earth's rotation.



Can you imagine what all those people were thinking as they were going about their "daily business" and their lives were litterally and suddenly "washed away" without any notice except a giant tidal wave. Makes me think of the movie "Sudden Impact" where Tia Laone is standing at the seashore off Martha's Vinyard and that big wave comes across the shore. How terrible and how sad.......



On another note....hope everyone had a great christmas. Mine was very nice and I got my wish for a white christmas. There was snow flurries all the way up to my folk's house and the snow was the light and flaky kind-coming down and sitting gently on trees and objects. It was a "picture perfect day". I even made my first "snow angel" in years while I was out there. There must have been close to 4 inches of snow on the ground up there at their place.



The weather channel is calling for more snow today and that is fine....flurries. Its perfect..You dont have to shovel flurries (most of the time) and it is easy to brush off of your vehicle.



A week till New Years. I will blog my New Years Resolutions sometime in the near future.

Happy Sunday.......

Happy Xmas Eve

Well everyone...one more day to go till the big "Santa Day".



I have all my shopping done and gifts are wrapped and it is almost time for bed.

I will be heading to my parent's home in Oxford on Christmas day for dinner and a few hours with them and a few family members.....nothing like the christmas' of my youth but things change....and one can not help that.



I do actually feel sorry for all those people who got "stuck" in the snow down south yesterday. I was just a bit crabby when I got up on thurs. and needed to vent so I picked the first thing that I saw. As I was out and about getting my shopping done, I thought....what if there was tons of snow coming down right now...yukkk.....it is cold to begin with and while I was at a few different places, I actually left my truck running so it would stay warm in the cab. WallMart was crazy....lines so long that people were waiting for hours just to check out. I decided to circumvent the long lines and I snuck over to the Electronics dept. and checked out there in 3 minutes....hee hee.



Time to sleep and be bright eyed and bushy tailed for our 3 hour xmas eve dinner hour at the restaurant. I wish we could close over the holidays but with our restaurant being in a full service hotel, that is kind of hard to do. Hopefully I will be out of there by 10pm so I can either catch up with some friends for a few hours or just get home and watch a christmas movie or something. I need to be on the road to head up north by 10am at the latest on saturday.



Happy Xmas Eve.......



Oh and just a thought before parting....people must be thankful for their jobs at this time of year also...I sure would not want to be in these people's shoes.....



http://www.jsonline.com/news/racine/dec04/286100.asp

WA Wa Wa-If they only had 4 Wheel Drive!!

I am sitting here watching the news and there is a story about a snow emergency somewhere in the midwest (Indianna I think...) that says 300 some cars are stuck in the snow on the interstates and other roads.....If these people would have 4Wheel Drive vehicles, they wouldnt be stuck...........I often think when I am driving in the snow, passing those 2wheel drive jobbies...how these people wouldnt have any of these problems if they would just invest in a proper vehcicle for this climate (like me......my Ford Ranger "Off Road 4by4" never lets me down).



And I only wish we had as much snow that some south of us do. There is maybe a sprinkling on the ground and though it is cold outside....it is "winter" in Wisconsin. People need to be prepared for that kind of weather. Full tank of gas, blankets and pillow, coffee can with candle, some high energy food, a pair of jumper cables and a bag or two of sand and or salt....just in case.



So.....wa wa wa. I have some xmas shopping to do, it is getting late...I slept until close to 530pm...but dont have to be to work till 2pm on xmas eve...so off to shop I go.



Happy thursday to all and to all a good night.

A Winter Wonderland Just in Time for Christmas Memories

I started this post out as a remembering of childhood christmas's of my past and then after writing for close to two hours, as I was formatting it for the blog...I lost the entire thing.



So maybe I will try next year. There was a lot of good stuff there, at least for me. Oh well.



So it snowed today and there is sppsed to be a bit more on tuesday......if it stays cold enough maybe we here in Wisconsin will have a "white christmas". I sure hope so. I was talking to some guests at the hotel that I work at the other day and we were remembering how much snow there USED to be back in the 70s.....when I was just a wee lad. There was so much snow that if I stood in the driveway between the sidewalk and the street, I couldnt see anything except those two big mounds of snow on either side of me....plus the house across the street. Snow caves and tunnels were common as well as playing king of the hill. There were more than enough hills for everyone to be a king....that is for sure. I remember one really big hill in the old IGA parking lot where the snow trucks would dump all the snow after plowing the lots. Man that thing had to be 30 feet high. We even tried sledding down it with these little round plastic thingys...kind of like an upside down plate.....and they seemed to always be either blue or red. That was always so much fun.



Well only a few more days till christmas and I have just only begun my shopping. I am always last minute.....I always say I am going to start early and always have good intentions but then all of a sudden Dec. 25th just sneeks up on me....I think its a "trick of time or something"!!



One more day of work untill I have a few days off where I can finally get my shopping done.



And then the New Year is just around the corner...where does the time go???