What I Learned from "24" Part VIII

SNOOOOOOOOOOOZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Oh, sorry, fell asleep on the keyboard there. We watched half of it on mute, but it's not like I missed anything. I think what I learned this week is that the best part of the show is the 20 seconds showing you what's going to happen the following week. Hah!

That, and that Sarah H. could have TOTALLY pulled off the "fake" legal counsel for Jonas. Except, I think that if she were trying to be serious, she'd end up just laughing the whole time.

And finally - Jack does some pretty good paralysis, seizure acting. AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!

Two Articles

1) What you don't read in the MSM about the torture memos. "Far from 'green lighting' torture -- or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees -- the memos detail the actual techniques used and the many measures taken to ensure that interrogations did not cause severe pain or degradation." Link here.

2) Granting Haitian illegal immigrants legal status because of the economy. "Clinton told reporters Thursday that because of Haiti's dire economic situation, the Obama administration is considering granting temporary legal status to Haitians who have come to the United States illegally, so they could still keep sending money home. And she promised to continue helping Haiti rebuild its shattered economy, after the United States and other countries and organizations at a conference in Washington this week made pledges of $324 million in aid, far less than the $900 million sought by the Haitian government." (Link)

Seriously? Really? This is your immigration policy plan? "Oooops, we're in a bad situation; the economy is bad. But instead of finding ways to KEEP OUR MONEY IN THE UNITED STATES, we're going to keep letting people here illegally ship it out of country."

Hopefully you know I'm not cold hearted. I applaud those who work hard to help their families. And there is a place for personal/social (primary) and some governmental (much more secondary, IMHO) assistance for countries/people in need. But where do we get off excusing breaking our laws, depleting our economy, and then we just wave a magic wand and let them off the hook even more!!??

The argument for a long time has been, "Well, they're doing jobs that Americans aren't going to want to do." But let's look at our job situation; Michigan is at a 12.6% unemployment rate (I heard anecdotally that Detroit had a 21% unemployment rate). Forty-six states saw an uptick in unemployment this month. Shouldn't we want to employ our citizens over those here illegally? Don't we want to find ways to keep our children off the streets, our parents off of unemployment, and our families sticking together? Granted, it's not an exact trade-off, but there are people without work all across the country.

And if it starts with Haiti, where does it end? Why not all illegals? What's the goal? What's the plan? Where's the strategy? Oh, that's right, we'll just go chum it up with Chavez, apologize for being tyrannical and imperial in Latin America, and go reading books about plotting the downfall of America. Sounds like a great foreign (and domestic) policy to me....

Just for you

These came up on iTunes under the "Just For You" section. Seriously, in this order. See if it doesn't make you laugh. These are song titles:

1. Better Life
2. I Remember You
3. You Don't Know Me
4. To the Only God
5. Evolution
6. Dream a Little Dream of Me
7. The Potion
8. Desperately Wanting
9. The Finer Things
10. Nothin' to Lose

A washingtonpost.com article

You have been sent this message as a courtesy of washingtonpost.com

Personal Message:
It could be worse.

LA school board votes to lay off 5,400 employees

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Board of Education has voted to lay off as many as 5,400 teachers and support personnel for the upcoming school year.

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/14/AR2009041402414.html?referrer=emailarticle

Bandwagon

I'm jumping on it. Guessing a team's record based on the schedule. Washington for the 2009 season? 9-7. 8-8 would be possible, as would 10-6. But I'm hedging at 9-7. Playoffs? Probably not, but who knows.

On a similar note - LET'S GO CAPS!! It's time to rock it in the Playoffs.

Initials as Names

Some recent acquaintances left me thinking about the folks I know or knew whose names are initials. Here they are:

DR
DL
KC
JD
JR
All the _J's (AJ, BJ, DJ, etc)

What have I missed - or who do you know with initials as a first name??

Things I've Learned from 24 - Part VII

JUST SHOOT THE DAG-GUM TRAITOR!! WHY DO YOU GET CLOSE TO HIM?? OF COURSE HE'S GOING TO KICK YOU AND SHOOT YOU!!

Okay. That's off my chest.

Lesson learned tonight - if you're going to set off a 5,000 degree explosion, and you don't have time to get away. Just jump. That'll keep you from getting hurt by: 1) fire, 2) shrapnel, and 3) Big Bird (okay, maybe not Big Bird; he's a scary guy). But seriously - jumping? That helps?

I'll keep it in mind next time I'm around a bio-chemical compound.

Hairdo

Why you don't leave the girls home with dad! =)

The Credit of Municipalities

Municipal work is an interesting business. One factor most likely overlooked is the importance of creditworthiness. A municipality must float bonds to pay for schools, parks, libraries, whatever public facility you can think of. And in these economic times, it is more important than ever to have good credit.

The NY Times reported on Tuesday that, across the board, Moody's is putting a negative outlook on the creditworthiness of ALL local governments. All. Every one.

The good news to this is that just a few weeks ago, Loudoun was reaffirmed as a positive AAA rating from not only Moody's, but the other two credit rating agencies as well. And not only AAA, but with stable outlooks and no downgrade.

Only 23 counties in the country (in the WORLD!) have a "triple AAA" rating (AAA from all three agencies). Amazingly, 15 of them are on the east coast. I'm sure there are some really good counties out there that may have just decided to not get rated by all three agencies - but for purposes of discussion, only 23 have this distinction of triple AAA. It's great to be in elite company. Loudoun just floated $168 million in bonds at an avg rate of 3.67%. That's great news for lending.

Sorry for all the boring stuff - but it's interesting, and we live in interesting times.

Two girls - Two firsts

1. Addy was found standing up in her crib after one of her naps today. Actually, clinging on to the rail, hanging on for dear life, or simply just plain ole freaked out would be more accurate descriptions. She was facing the door and Ang walked in to a rather surprised and frightened child. Needless to say, we moved the crib down tonight.

2. Amelia started talking to imaginary friends. She's been watching Franklin on tv (a nice, wholesome show) and apparently has an affinity with bear, beaver, and rabbit. Because she was talking with them after her nap. And she brought them along with us to church tonight. I think she's role playing as Franklin, or at least taking the same perspective, because he wasn't part of the crew. On the way home from church, she asked for her blankie, to which I responded that Franklin was at home with her blankie. Ang furthered the pretense by saying, "Beaver is soft, maybe he can sit in your lap. Or, maybe bear." Thanks, dear. There's no turning back now that we've joined the party....

Diets and Crazy Me

~Posted by Ang

In preparation for my radioactive iodine treatment in a few weeks, I have to go on a low-iodine diet, beginning tomorrow. This is trickier than it sounds. It's not a "no-iodine" diet or a "no sodium" diet. It's a low iodine diet. Which is...?!? Basically, I have to limit dairy (no more than a cup a day, this including yogurt, ice cream, and chocolate--ouch!), abstain from anything with iodized salt (which means no canned, pre-marinated, or packaged foods); and eat only fresh, non-pre-packaged breads (actually, I'm excited about this one!) and fresh deli meats (except for ham). I could go on, but you get the idea.

In addition to purging my diet of iodine, I'll also be going off my thyroid medication until after the treatment, medication which for the past week and a half has made me feel SO GOOD and almost NORMAL again!! Ah well. Feeling normal really isn't all it's cracked up to be anyway. In order for the treatment to be effective, my thyroid hormone has to be pretty much nil. Some have labeled this brief period of time as entering "hypo-h[eck]" because that's pretty much the way it makes you feel: terrible! So a heads-up for those of you who may be around me over the next few weeks: if I act/look/talk like I'm chemically unbalanced...well, it's because I AM!! ;-) In all seriousness, though, Danny and I have resolved that we can do this for at least 2 weeks --I WILL be happy! I'm praying and trusting that God's Spirit will overcome my frail flesh for His glory and for the sake of my husband and children!

So to prepare for the low-iodine, low-thyroid-hormone scenario that begins tomorrow, I'm doing two things: making a lovely Wegmans trip and gathering as many laughter-inducing materials as I can find. Some might say having young children during this time is a disadvantage, but I disagree: they provide that very necessary laughter-inducing material every day!

As do their books...there is, in fact, a humorous little poem in one of our anthologies that ties in perfectly to my dieting over the next few weeks. If I can just think this way, maybe I won't mind so much not being able to eat all the high-iodine, salty goodness that is really, when you think about it, the mainstay of my diet. And here for your reading enjoyment (I hope ;-) ), is...

What You Don't Know About Food
by Florence Parry Heide
[from The 20th Century Children's Poetry Treasury]

Jelly's made from jellyfish.
Spaghetti's really worms.
Ice cream's just some dirty snow
mixed up with grimy germs.
Bread is made of glue and paste.
So are cakes and pies.
Peanut butter's filled with stuff
like squashed-up lizard eyes.
And as you eat potato chips,
remember all the while--
they're slices of the dried-up brain
of some old crocodile.

For the first time...

...I bought a video of an American Idol performance. Yup - Adam. "Mad
World." Was it $1.49 well spent? Dunno, but I couldn't help myself.

FRINGE!!!!

AHHHHH!!! What a CRAZY show!!?? I never watched the X-Files as a teen, but I can imagine this is like what that show was like. Scary, freaky, crazy - the kind of show where you stop breathing for 30 seconds while something wild happens. Also, the kind of show where you sometimes have to look away (you know, enough is enough when it comes to brain matter).

"24" could go down the tubes, for all I care - this show is so much better.

Oh - and did you see Adam on Idol tonight - wooooah, nelly. Here's the original - sounded nothing like it, but what an amazing performance - vocal control, original version, haunting arrangement. Pretty wild (not saying I'd buy his album, but entertaining nonetheless).

Commercial Truck of the Day

Literally, no joke, I saw a truck today --looked similar to a propane gas hauler --that had the following words emblazoned on its rear end:

Got poop?
Franz Septic Pumping



~Posted by Ang

Forget the Cavalry—Send in the Mommy

~Posted by Ang

There are days –like today—when I have to remind myself that although Amelia often reasons and acts like an 8-year old, she’s still only 3!

This morning I walked into her room to get her some play clothes, and I discovered a casualty on the floor beside her bed: one of her favorite bedtime books with torn pages and pieces scattered across the floor like so much confetti. A huge mental “AAAAARRRGGGGGH” crossed my brain and a disgruntled groan escaped my lips. A few weeks ago she had committed a similar offense, albeit a much MUCH less destructive one, having torn only a page or two (whole pages, mind you, not just random torn pieces) out of another book. I was surprised because normally she is so careful which is why I allowed to her to use such books unsupervised in the first place. Regardless, since it happened, we scolded her about it and took the book away, expecting that the natural consequence of having disfigured her book and lost the privilege of reading it for a time would be enough to teach her not to repeat the behavior. Apparently I was wrong.

Later in the morning while Addysen was asleep, I had an opportunity to confront Amelia with the matter. I hadn’t even touched the book or the pages since finding them, and instead I had her come with me upstairs to her room to observe and clean up the mess herself. Not only had she ripped up a book, she had also made a royal mess of her play space. (I’m assuming all of this took place after we put her to bed last night when she normally reads and talks to herself until she goes to sleep.) Again, I talked to her about how we don’t tear up our books, we need to take care of them, yadayadayada. I also removed all such books from her room (those with actual pages, not the board books), and she will no longer be allowed to look at them without permission or supervision, at least for a season.

After she had picked up each piece of paper and placed them in a pile and I was satisfying myself with her making amends (to an extent) by cleaning it all up, I heard these words, “Mommy, you need to tape it back together.” SIGH. Yeah, she knows me too well! I just can’t leave a book in pieces, not when I have the power to put it back together. I hope her knowledge of this re-enforces the principle of personal responsibility we're trying to teach, that when we break something we fix it and when we make a mess we clean it up. I certainly don't want her to look at it as an escape route by which she can mess things up knowing Mommy or Daddy will fix them! If she were old enough, I'd be having HER tape the thing back together! Anyway...moving on...

During Amelia’s nap this afternoon, I spent half an hour figuring out how all the pieces fit together and where they go in the book (nearly every page of the 20-page book had been torn in some way). Thirty minutes and a couple yards of Scotch tape later, VOILA it was repaired. It’s not pretty, and it’s not as good as Golden (the publisher, although the turn of phrase is also appropriate); but at least it’s readable.

All of this got me to thinking…when Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall, all the kings horses and all the king’s men could not put Humpty Dumpty together again. I’m just speculating here, but perhaps this tragedy could have been avoided if only the king had sent in Humpty Dumpty’s mother instead.

Community Chest

I feel like I'm in a game of monopoly. First, the Government (yes, it deserves a big "G" ) paid me big time to live in the USA this year. Second, my real estate tax bill is going to drop $475 this year - more than 10%. Third (back to big "G" ), I'm getting $30 more each paycheck thanks to the in-name-only stimulus bill. Woot! (which, as a friend once said to me, is supposedly some new, kewl way of saying "woohoo" or "yippee" - but it just sounds weird)

Things I've Learned from 24 - Parts VI-??

Wow - tonight's episode offers us a plethora of great lessons:

1) They don't wear visible ID in terrorist weapons facilities. Or, put another way, the phrase "I was just called in for reinforcement" is another way of saying, "I don't belong here. I'm a spy. But I'm trying to pull a fast one on you. And because no one wears visible ID around here, I may just get away with it."

2) If you think you're going to blackmail the President's daughter Chief of Staff, don't commit an indiscretion with her. Seriously - that's the basic story of any blackmail reversal. It's so obvious. And by the way, the actress playing the President's daughter Chief of Staff is just wretched. Can't act at all.

3) Don't ever trust anyone who's calling on the "proprietary line" in your Ops room. In fact, don't even take the dang call. Seriously - if someone has installed a phone line/computer connection in your Ops server room (ie, in the basement of the White House), then you've got some problems with someone messing in your business. That person is not someone you want to deal with. Go ahead and just blow them up to kingdom come.

4) Palm Pilots (do they still call them that?) work at 125 ft MSL, or 40 ft below ground. In a bunker that has been IR shielded so you can't see the heat inside. Yes. Really. They do. (AT&T - are you watching? My phone KEEPS DROPPING CALLS!!!)

5) And finally - "24" is just slightly more entertaining than a National Championship game in which the Tar Heels took a huge early lead.

[You're lucky I didn't try to come up with something for Jack's illness, or his resilience (ie, stupidity), or Renee's daddy-daughter moment.]

13 Hours

There are a lot of things you can accomplish in 13 hours, give or take an hour or so:
1) Drive to Memphis from Ashburn (done, multiple times)
2) Fly from LAX to Melbourne, Australia - (done)
3) Go to church, go to Sunday School, get lunch, buy Claritin, meet friends, drive into DC, have a picnic on Hains Point watching airplanes take off and land (and switch directions doing so, as the wind changed), WALK to the Jefferson Memorial and FDR Memorial, WALK all the way back, head out of town, eat a great meal at Carrabba's, and get home all wiped out.

We walked at least 5 miles, but we had a blast with our friends. Pictures to come soon, but the camera is currently in the car with Angela. At Carrabba's, after dinner, Mia quietly said to me, "I'm ready to go home." I politely responded, "Let's eat dessert first," to which her little face livened up. Then halfway through dessert, I heard, "I'm ready to go home, Daddy."

We couldn't have asked for better weather or better friends to spend the day with. And in fact, they kept the girls (primarily Mia) entertained almost the whole time, which was like a break for us!

Oh, and who could forget that we got to see Auntie Sabella for a few minutes!

Space limitation

My question is: Where does the kid go???