Scary, huh?

Karl Rove (@KarlRove) is now following your tweets (@JoyDurhamTN) on Twitter.

Karl Rove @KarlRove Washington, D.C.

2,569	143,651	165,045
tweets	following	followers

OK, what happened is that I decided to follow him to see what crap he tweeted, so I suppose he returns the following. Yikes!

Space Trivia

When astronauts first shaved in space, their weightless whiskers floated up to the ceiling. A special razor had to be developed that drew the whiskers in like a vacuum cleaner.

Top Chef

Thank goodness Alex finally went home! Not soon enough because Kenny should still be there and he and Amanda should be gone. Strange combination of food on that quick fire. The elimination challenge was sort of hokey. They're getting desperate.

Sucking Trivia

Mosquitoes do not bite; they stab. A mosquito has no jaws; when attacking a victim, it pierces it with its long proboscis and sucks the blood up through a nasal tube.

For many years, that's how I thought vampires did it. I thought their vampire teeth were hollow like straws and that the pointy ends punctured and allowed them to suck the blood into somewhere. That part didn't quite get worked out, but since they are vampires, there should be a way the blood was taken in wherever it needed to go. It seemed better than having to get blood in their mouths, but that's the part vampires probably liked unless there were squeamish ones or the blood tastes strange. You have anything you believed when you were younger like this? Actually I believed it a long time.


See? Her pointy vampire tooth is leaking.

Breck Trivia

Shampoo was first marketed in the United States in 1930 by John Breck, who was the captain of a volunteer fire department.

Golf Meteors

A golfer who found a 203-gram meteorite on the Doon Valley Golf Course near Kitchener, Ontario, on July 12, 1998, was rewarded with a year’s worth of free greens fees. The stone had narrowly missed a golfer who was standing near the sixth tee.

Where the Weather Suits My Clothes

I prefer winter to summer. What I really like is fall and spring and wish we could have those all the time with maybe two weeks each devoted to summer and winter. That would be great! This summer is HOT - very hot and humid, but it's been this miserable before and will be again. That said, I want to go on record saying if I bitch this much about the cold this winter, you can say something to me about it because I don't plan to. Most of my complaining about weather has been during summer. Yes, I'll get cold this winter if it ever happens but will be able to stand being outside more than I do now. My son used to get tired of hearing me go on and on about summer every year and still would if he were around me more like he was growing up.

If I didn't have family and friends here, I'd move. I'd go somewhere with lower humidity and moderate temperatures all year. But alas!

Techno Trivia

The first technology corporation to move into California’s Silicon Valley was Hewlett-Packard, in 1938. Stanford University engineers Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard started their company in a Palo Alto garage with $1,538. Their first product was an audio oscillator bought by Walt Disney Studios for use in the making of Fantasia.

It's True! It's True!

IT'S SO HOT THAT

....the birds have to use potholders to pull the worms out of the ground.

....the trees are whistling for the dogs.

....the best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.

....hot water comes from both taps.

....you can make sun tea instantly.

....you learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.

....the temperature drops below 95 F (35 C) and you feel a little chilly.

....you discover that in July it only takes two fingers to steer your car.

....you discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.

....you actually burn your hand opening the car door.

....you break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 A.M.

....your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and

end up lying on the pavement and cook to death"?

....you realize that asphalt has a liquid stage.

....the potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter.

....the cows are giving evaporated milk.

....farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs

Moved Here Early

Is it ever going to cool off? Are we in Hell?


But we all know what that could mean.

Einstein Quote

A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.

Rachel

Rachel was great last night and very effective with her report of the outstanding soldiers and cadet who were forced out of the military because of DADT. Did you see it? More HERE.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Top Chef Spoiler

Oh no! They killed Kenny!

Gilligan Trivia

Bob Denver wasn’t even in the running for the lead part on TV’s Gilligan ’s Island. Jerry Van Dyke was the original choice, but he turned it down. Ultimately Denver became Gilligan, and the show ran for three seasons. Twenty-five years after its last episode was filmed, it is still one of the most widely syndicated TV shows in television history.

Most Beautiful College Campuses

The University of the South (Sewanee) where Brian and Melissa went was selected the #1 most beautiful college campus in the country. Article HERE. It really is beautiful and was built as a replica of the middle campus of Oxford University in England because of the funding they received from there when the university was founded. It's an Episcopal school and has a theology school there. Sewanee is executor of the Tennessee Williams estate because his grandfather went to seminary there. He mentioned it in Night of the Iguana by having the defrocked priest be a graduate. Any time one of his plays is produced, they receive royalties.


Not only is it a beautiful campus but an excellent liberal arts university. Traditional dress code is traditionally jackets and ties for males and skirts and dresses for women, but I think that's been relaxed a bit. Check HERE for Sewanee traditions. Interesting! For example:

The Sewanee Angel - In a folk story it is said that the domain of the University of the South is a place so beautiful angels dwell within its the gates. These angels protect all inhabitants and visitors on the Domain. Sewanee Angels are more than happy to become your guarding angel and protect you off Domain as well. In order to pick up your angel you must tap the roof of your car as you drive through the gates when departing campus. Upon your return, you tap the roof of your car to release your angel.

Once they get students there, they intend to keep them. There were 10 students in Brian's freshman English class. Jon Meacham, you have seen on MSNBC, graduated from Sewanee the same year Brian did. He's editor of Newsweek and wrote the Pulitzer-winning American Lion about Andrew Jackson.

From their website HERE.

The result of such individualized education is clear in the academic success of Sewanee students and alumni. The University has had 25 Rhodes Scholars--a number that puts Sewanee in the top four nationally among American liberal arts colleges--as well as 26 NCAA Postgraduate Fellows, 36 Watson Fellows, and dozens of Fulbright Scholars, and has an acceptance rate to graduate and professional schools that far outpaces its peers. The School of Theology has added to its alumni ranks countless bishops, including three of the last four presiding bishops of the Episcopal Church.

Quote from Brian: At least once a month while I was at Sewanee, I'd look around and think, "Wow. I go to school here."

All Saints Chapel

One year when I took Brian back to school, I noticed some changes in his dorm and said, "Oh, they've renovated up to the 50's."


Quite a bit of drinking goes on there, and they used to have drinking societies. That's typical of the Episcopal Church since there's a saying that "where three or four are gathered, you shall surely find a fifth." On Shrove Tuesday, the men of the church had a beer in one hand and were flipping pancakes with the other.

Candidates and Officials

You can check out candidates and office holders at Project Vote Smart HERE.

Friday Smiles

Crossover

I voted today in the Republican primary because there were candidates I wanted to vote against. In the general election, I'll vote for all Democrats except for the state senator I've told you about who proposed the bill to allow guns in bars. That's just one of the reasons I want him out of office. He's a piece of work. I'm voting for the Republican candidate running against him. Yes, I am, and you would, too.

Several candidates won on the local level that I hoped would. Yay to them!! Now we'll have even more negative ads leading up to the general election.

I Live in Hell

Well, I live in Hell in many ways here, but lately it's the weather. We got in the triple digits today. Did you get that it was TRIPLE DIGITS? Yes, over 100 with a heat index of 108 with excessive humidity. It's almost 90 degrees right now at 9:30 AT NIGHT! It doesn't cool off. Our lows are Flagstaff's highs. And they have low humidity. Well, it's high for them right now since it's over 30% but heavenly to me. It will be in the low 70's tonight. That's what I like to have in the day.

Mother and I had eye appointments this morning and then went to lunch. We usually do other things and shop or something but not today. Getting back in the car is miserable without a lot of time to cool off, so we didn't do that today.

Can you imagine football practice in this? Some schools canceled afternoon practice, thank goodness, but football season starts soon. It's way too hot for football and dangerous. Students have died from it. How heartbreaking also are hearing about children and pets left in hot cars. What's wrong with people?

And this is one of my regularly scheduled whining/bitching sessions about summer in TN.

Vote tomorrow!

Still Waiting for the Republican Agenda

The Republican Party sure has had a lot to say about the Democrat agenda since President Obama took office, but they have not set forth a new plan yet if they were to take control of Congress. The ideas they are focused on are:

1. Creating incentives for new jobs
2. Cutting federal spending
3. Cleaning up Congress

These are all good ideas, but there is one problem: They have not released ANY specifics on how they are going to do this. The Democratic party has been targeting this large hole in the campaign of Republicans, and so far, there has been no answer. The plan seems to be that the GOP is accumulating ideas from the America Speaking Out program into their platform for the upcoming Congressional elections. This has been projected to be ready in September.

Kevin McCarthy, who is heading the motion to prepare the new agenda, says that Democrats are simply giving up on their own agenda and, "They are trying to change the topic ... (because) they can't succeed with what they have to offer."

What do you think? The Republicans seem to have fueling support off picking at the Obama administration and promising results without any kind of tactics. Do the America people really not care about having a certain path, as long as its not the current path? This seems like it will not hold its weight come time to vote.

People need answers to problems.

SOURCE

Politics

From Addicting Info / Politics HERE. Good site. Check it out.

President Barack Obama will be traveling to Detroit to show off exactly what his policies have done for the auto industry and our economy consequently. He will talk about his reports that the auto industry is seeing record profits once again, the largest since 1999. Not only that, but President Obama will be talking about his new plan to invest 4 billion dollars in natural gas vehicles, along with 400 million in electric vehicles.

So how has the auto industry grown?

• Ford announced a 2.6 billion dollar profit for second quarter, GM with 865 million in its first, and Chrysler with 143 million.
• Exports have increased by 57%, including a significant rise to sales in China.
• Investing has grown as optimism of the future remains in tact.

So how exactly has the auto industry helped our economy?

• 9 of 11 GM assembly plants are working through the summer shutdown to meet demands
• GM, Ford and Chrysler's growth is resulting in 5300 new jobs for Americans

But what about paying back the taxpayers?

• GM repaid their 6.7 billion dollar loan back in April.
• Chrysler paid 1.9 billion back to the treasury that they received from TARP and 1.5 that they received for support.
• The supplier support system was cut, giving back 5 billion dollars to the public.

So, what does this say about the decision this administration made for bailouts?

Da Blooze!

Look at THIS. I want to go. The Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival is always near my birthday, so I think of it as a celebration for me, too. B. B. King, Taj Mahal, Dr. John, Marcia Ball, and Paul Thorn will all be performing! Finding accommodations is turning out to be a challenge. We'll probably have to stay at Tunica where all those casinos are. Before, I stayed in Clarksdale, MS, which is about the same distance from Helena, AR, but Tunica is north and closer to Memphis and on our way home. Might just work. The rooms are cheaper, too, because of the gambling which I won't do because we know how that works out for me.

Oddness

Been an "interesting" couple of days this weekend. Some ups and downs but not on a see-saw. Melissa and I are meeting tomorrow for Brendan to visit me from tomorrow afternoon until Tuesday afternoon. Brian and Melissa are going to a Crowded House concert. I do not remember them. Brian said they are an 80's band which explains it. I don't remember much about the 80's except for being tired from all the extra jobs I had and graduate school. I do, however, remember the 60's!

House Blend Dinner

The House Blend Farmer's Market Dinner is tomorrow night, and my group is going again. We enjoy it. Here's the House Blend blog with the menu posted, but I'll copy and paste anyway. I think I've made my decisions (*) even though all of it looks delicious. I might change my mind.

What would you have?

Starters:

Heirloom Tomato Tart

Garlic Shrimp with Tomato Leek Relish *

Salads:

BLT Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes and housemade Ranch *

Watermelon, Red Onion, and Feta on Fresh Spinach with a honey Lime Vinaigrette

Entrees:

Herb Seared Filet of local pasture raised beef with sea salt roasted new potatoes and grilled green beans

Garlic Crusted Pork Loin with Peach Habenero Glaze served over Okra Pancakes with roasted Baby Squash *

Jalapeno White Cheddar Grit Cakes over Summer Gazpacho with Grilled Japanese Eggplant

Desserts:

Plum Upsidedown Cake with Fresh Whipped Cream

Chocolate Honey Almond Tart *

OK

While Rome ruled the world, Jesus Christ, son of Mary, was born in a cave, not in a wooden stable. Caves were used to house animals because they retained heat. A large church is now built over the cave, and people can go inside. The carpenters of Jesus’ day were really stonecutters as wood was not used as widely as it is today. So whenever you see a Christmas nativity scene with a wooden stable, that’s the "American" version, not the Biblical one.

A cave, I think.

Wonder Why?

The average person who stops smoking requires 1 hour less sleep a night.

Friday?

Where did this week go? All of a sudden it's Friday again!

Biting the Hand but Funny!

In March 1996, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell cancelled their $5.4 million sponsorship of ABC’s new The Dana Carvey Show after some of Carvey’s humor "went too far." One sketch that offended the sponsors featured a dancing taco that kept telling Carvey that he was a "whore" for pushing the sale of Pepsi products.

What Day Is It?

I'm still discombobulated from the trip to Texas and still not over the 17 hours in the car going down and 12 coming back along with the heat and off-schedule eating and sleeping. During the week since I've been back, I haven't done much better. I'm on a strange sleep/nap pattern that I need to get out of, and I'm not eating right and/or regularly. I need to get back on track and won't make it in time to get a good report from my labs for my appointment with my internist Thursday. Oh well. I'll tell him I know what caused it and what to do about it and will have a good report next time. Besides, I have a lot of questions I need to ask him about other things.

So I have my work cut out for me. It's a Catch-22 and will happen. It's just hard to get motivated and quit being tired. Sigh! I also can't get caught up on TV shows, email, blogs, FB, and Twitter!

Then there is this.

Sound Trivia

Permanent hearing loss can result from prolonged exposure to sounds at 85 decibels (0 decibels is the threshold for hearing). For comparison, a busy street corner is about 80 decibels, a subway train heard from 20 feet is 100 decibels, a jet plane heard from 500 feet is 110 decibels, and loud thunder is 120 decibels.

Wasp Trivia

Never squash a wasp that has stung you. Upon being crushed, it will release a chemical that becomes airborne; this signals guard wasps to come and sting whatever gets in their way.

AND/OR?

Mistress Maddie Entertains

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Saturday Night Out

After an afternoon of knitting, a friend and I went to dinner and then to the Fiddle & Pick for an evening of bluegrass by the Roland White Band. I'd never heard of him before, but he's been performing for decades and is well-known by aficionados of traditional music. I enjoyed their performance and the venue which is in a small town between here and Nashville. I'm constantly in awe of Nashville musicians. Although I realize this isn't confined to just those, they are the ones I see perform live most often. The fiddle player was incredible! I didn't catch her name, and it's not on this poster.


David Talbot, the banjo player, was sooooo good and good-looking! He has quite a resume that you can read about HERE in an article of the Bluegrass Gazette. He was a founding member of The Grascals and recorded and toured with Dolly Parton. He's third from the left in this photo.

Trivia for Sure

And in case anyone asks, a zarzuela is an operetta of a traditional type, with spoken dialogue and lyrical music. The word is derived from the Spanish after La Zarzuela, the royal palace near Madrid where the operetta was first performed in 1629. Zarzuela is also the name of a seafood stew.

Sculpture Trivia

Sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi of France originally named his most famous work Liberty Enlightening the World. Bartholdi used his mother as the model for the statue’s face, and his girlfriend as the model for her body. Smart!

TV Trivia

Michelle Pfeiffer, Susan Dey, Louis Gossett, Jr., Claude Akins, and David Hasselhoff have one lamentable thing in common: they were the lead cast members for ill-fated TV shows that were cancelled within a scant month’s time. Pfeiffer was in B.A.D. Cats in 1980; Dey was in Loves Me, Loves Me Not in 1977; Gossett starred in The Lazarus Syndrome in 1980; Akins was in Nashville 99 in 1977; and Hasselhoff, long before Baywatch, was in Semi-Tough in 1980.

A Different Kind of Vacation

Our trip to Austin was primarily for Tina to see where her son Matt would be staying, to say good-bye, and to get a feel for the city. I went because it was a trip. I shot all these photos, so they are typical of my photography.

We got off to a late start Wednesday morning, and then there was road construction, heavy traffic, and Matt to keep up with along the way. We went by the apartment where he's crashing with friends for him to take in his things Tina had in her car. Then Tina and I followed Jane's instructions to the hotel. A friend let us borrow her GPS. After a while, we started thinking of her as a real person and referred to her as "she" and named her Jane after giving her an English accent. It was 2:00 AM when we got in the room at the hotel. We were so exhausted that I barely played with the Sleep Number bed. Tina didn't even think about it she said.

Downtown Austin from the hotel window.

Friends from the Navy I haven't seen in 20 years live in Liberty Hill where he is a chiropractor and she works with him as office manager. It was so good to see them and catch up on Thursday. It's not that far from Austin and is about like Dickson is from Nashville, but it's much smaller. They gave us a tour of the office, and then we went to their house for a longer visit. They took us to dinner there in town, and we made it back to Austin around 10:00 just fine with Jane's help.

This is the building across the street from their office.

Jerry and Pam

Friday we went to see where Matt will be staying, and all of us went to lunch and did a bit of sightseeing and shopping. It was too hot to do much of that, though. Matt had things to do that evening, and we ate at Fridays there at the hotel and had an early night.

Matt outside his apartment.

Matt and Tina at lunch at Chuy's.

We usually go to Yarn Frenzy at home and knit on Saturdays, so Tina googled and found some knit shops to check out in Austin. The owner of the Knitting Nest Stacy was so helpful and a lot of fun. The layout of her shop is organized and creative with lots of places to knit. Her website is HERE.

The Knitting Nest

Next we went to Hill Country Weavers which is full to the brim of products and nowhere to sit and knit at all.

Hill Country Weavers

We walked around and went into some shops and had lunch in that area. There is a good vibe to Austin. It's called a Blue Dot in a sea of Red and feels like it. Matt should be right at home there and love it.

Capital Building in the distance.

Austin has the largest urban bat colony in North America. Each night from mid-March to November, the bats emerge from under the bridge at dusk to blanket the sky as they head out to forage for food. This event has become one of the most unusual tourist attractions in Texas. The most spectacular bat flights are during hot, dry August nights, when multiple columns of bats emerge. Because of this, bats are a symbol of Austin.

The bats are mothers in July and don't go out to feed until later, so we didn't get to see them even though many people tried, as you can see. We watched from the 5th Floor of the hotel parking garage and had a good breeze. I set the camera for night, put on the stabilizer, but still got a shaky photo.

People lined up on the Congress Street Bridge, boats and on boats to see the bats.

We made better time coming back and had help from Sam who told us about speed traps and where we could haul ass. He and I texted quite a bit on this trip. Sam knows about everywhere in the whole country!

It was a good trip and my first time to go to Texas. Austin is the Live Music Capital of the World, but we do pretty well in Nashville in that area and not just country music. I've wanted to go to the Austin City Limits Festival and South by Southwest (SXSW) for a long time. Maybe I'll make it there. They're in October and March respectively, so the weather shouldn't be too hot.

Oddly, they call this Hill Country.

This is where I'm from. This is hill country.

Gone Shopping!

They're having a $20 on the 20th day in Dickson today, which means they want us to spend $20 here in town. I have a few places to visit and spend some money there in support of local businesses. See you later!!

While I'm gone, check out these house plans. I'd like to build one of them and would add a bonus room over the garage. C'mon lottery! (See? I'm not greedy) I prefer the first one because the kitchen is closer to take groceries into from the garage but both have features I'd like.

Caption This

I went all Texas and got a Molly Ivins hat. (or is it?)

I'm Back!

Had a good time and made good time driving back today - about 12 hours. It was soooooo hot and humid but was at home, too. Details later!

Trip

Our room has Sleep Number beds, and I can't wait to try out all the numbers. I told Tina she'd better join in the reindeer games and compare the numbers on her bed, too. Otherwise, I'll drive her crazy. Amazing I haven't managed to do that already, isn't it? Some of you know how I run things in the ground. They'd better have what is on our confirmation or I might have an internal fit.

I want to try those sleep numbers. It's part of my quest for the perfect mattress. Have you seen what they cost? The retail price of the Sleep Number 9000 mattress is $3,199.99 for a Queen and $3,599.99 for a King. I have a queen-size bed and can't imagine spending that much for a mattress but wonder what a good night's sleep would be worth.


The room also has a 32" LCD TV we're also looking forward to. Yes, we've been known to watch some TV after an active day of sightseeing and shopping when we travel. I still won't let myself get my HDTV until I get the den cleared out and organized. There will be some redecorating, but just having it back in order will be wonderful since I'll be able to see everything again. It will be like shopping to find out what all I have in this house. No, I'm not officially a hoarder because I want it gone, but it's bad here. Once I get things the way I want them, I've thought about posting before and after pictures, but Maddie and Miss Ginger would have to take to the fainting couch with the vapors and need smelling salts to revive! We can't have that now, can we?

Weekend

I'm busy and like Tina am looking forward to the drive to Austin. We have some things planned that will be fun while we're there and look forward to that, too, but we said how the drive will be helpful. Tina and her son's cat died yesterday. He was a gray fluffy cat like Cody and Columbo that I had. He had an intestinal parasite the vet said he'd probably had before they got him. Like mine, he was a rescued cat. I wonder if those cats are fragile because Cody and Columbo died young, too. I don't know what happened to Cody (short for Codependent), but Columbo had that feline urinary disorder. All three of these cats who looked just alike died from different problems, but it's just odd.

That's a sad way to begin the trip and for her son Matthew to move to another state. Tina had a stressful year at school and worked all summer teaching summer school and an online class which will continue all through next year, so she really needs to get away and have a vacation. I'll post pictures when I get back.

Sunday my brother Butch, sister-in-law Janelle, cousin Sally, her husband Bob, and I took Mother to eat at Montgomery Bell State Park Inn. We had a table with privacy and got to visit there really well. In true first-born fashion, I usually introduce them as "my sister-in-law Janelle and her husband Butch" and have been known to say I'm an only child with a brother.

Luck

How is it some people have so much luck and others don't? For example, Tina's mother wins scratch-off lottery tickets really often. Earl's daughter wins those and online poker and various casino gambling she does. Those scratch-offs don't require any skill at all - just luck. I don't have it when it comes to winning anything. Others always do. What's with that anyway?

Auntie Social

Well, I've been out and about all over the place for at least a week. I've been going to the yarn shop to get to a point on the cardigan I'm knitting for Mother for her birthday where I can move forward myself without help. Since her birthday is Monday, she'll be getting 1/3 of a sweater but is OK with it. Pictures will be posted when I finish it and later with her modeling it. I told her if it didn't turn out well enough to wear that I don't want her to feel obligated. She's a good shopper and very aware of how things fit and what's in style, so I wanted to give her an escape route.

Mother was adamant that she doesn't want a party even though this birthday is a biggie. She'll be 90, but you'd never know it. Her mind is sharp, and she takes good care of herself. Actually she does everything right, and it shows. So my sister-in-law and I have been on the phone a few times about it and are taking her out for lunch after church Sunday. That's what she wants, so that's what we're doing. It will be fun.

I took Mother to lunch at Lugo's Wednesday for an early birthday celebration. I've told you about that restaurant that's a welcome addition to Dickson. Here's the site where you can see the menu. Check them out on Facebook, too. The owner/chef Victor Lugo is the one holding the scissors on the "Our Dream" page, and his wife (co-owner) and baby are beside him on the right. He's originally from Puerto Rico and she from California. Mother liked the cloth napkins, decor, food, and ambiance. Some of us are planning to go to the second monthly Tapas event there the 23rd. We missed the first one because we didn't know about it. The couple who own it are sweet and make everyone feel welcome. The food is delicious!

A friend is moving to Texas to be with her first boyfriend. They reunited on FB and have been in a Lifetime movie relationship. It's really sweet, romantic, and hopeful! I'm happy for her. She's been through a bad marriage and relationships and deserves something good. So has he. I took her out to brunch Sunday and went over to her house, so we could visit and catch up. She came by a while Monday morning. She's leaving Sunday for a new life in Texas.

Tina, Hope, and I went shopping Saturday since there were sales. Big sales! Yay!! Then we knitted.

In between going out and trying to catch up on blogs, FB games, Twitter, email, and the DVR, I've been doing some housework and laundry. So you aren't going to hear from me much more often for a while because I'm going to Austin, TX, next week with Tina since her son is moving there. He has a job lined up at Starbucks in case the one at the gaming company doesn't come through right away. Later on he's going to school there in software design. She needed to go down to see where he'll be and all that mother stuff we understand. I'm along for moral support and as her vacation buddy. We have some plans for fun while we're there which you'll hear about with photos later on. We're staying at the Radisson downtown. Anyone have any suggestions for good places to eat nearby? (Uh, Miss Ginger? Tug?)

In the meantime, Brigit the bitey cat has been trying to get attention as much as possible. She gets under my feet and will eventually kill us both or me anyway. So I'm doing my best and will be in touch as I can.

How are all of you? I've been reading your blogs and commenting as much as possible but am still behind on some of it.

Internet Trivia

There are hefty price tags on some Internet domain names. The highest-selling domain name to date, business.com, went for $7.5 million in 1999. The buyer was eCompanies.

Who do they pay it to?

Sigh

What I'd give for a couple of weeks with the energy and lack of aches and pains I had 20 years ago! I'd get so much done!

Happy 4th of July!

Presidential Ranking

The top five Presidents have stayed consistent since a group of history scholars have been ranking them. FDR is #1 and the others shuffle around within that range. Rounding out the top five in the survey of 238 presidential scholars are Lincoln, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. This is from an article in Politics Daily. Rest of the article HERE.

The presidents are ranked according to personal attributes (background, imagination, integrity, intelligence, luck and willingness to take risks), five forms of ability (compromising, executive, leadership, communication and overall) and accomplishments (in economics, domestic and foreign affairs, choosing a staff, working with Congress and appointing Supreme Court justices).

As for the five lowest-ranked presidents, that list is fairly consistent as well, with one new addition. George W. Bush came in at 39th out 44 presidents. He's ranked just ahead of Andrew Johnson (pictured), James Buchanan, Warren G. Harding, and Franklin Pierce, all perennial bottom-dwellers.

The second Bush was rated "especially poorly in handling the economy, communication, ability to compromise, foreign policy accomplishments and intelligence."

The current president, Barack Obama, enters the survey in the 15th position.

Read the survey report here and see the complete rankings here.

What a Day!

Those of you who have read my blog for a while know how intensely I HATE low-flow toilets. The one I have as given me trouble off and on ever since I've had it. Maybe something is wrong with it or how it was installed, but I've never hated anything as much in my life as I do that thing. I've finally had it with it and am shelling out for a power or pressure-assisted one. I'm doing research now online and reading reviews. I want the next one to be good and give me no problems just as others I've had in the past before this one from hell.

Yesterday I went to Lowe's, thinking I could handle this myself, and bought an augur. Nope. Called the plumber again who knows the way to my bathroom and just walks back there. We're on a first-name basis now. It took him about 3 minutes. So I spent money unnecessarily. I told him I was getting the new toilet and would probably never see him again. Let's hope so! The money I've spent on the plumber over the years could have paid for one of those power-assisted ones a couple of times, I'll bet.

Anyway, that's my life lately along with knitting, going out to eat with friends, and my usual slothful ways.