Saturday musings

It has been such a wonderful day here at home.  Mild blue skies and temperatures near 70 allowed us to throw open the windows to air out the house.  It's almost as if I can actually hear the hostas stretching up through the dirtbeds - eager to shake off the crumbs of earth and bathe their greenery with morning dews and beams of golden sunlight.   I've been much like the cats today - lazy around the house but attuned to the sights and sounds of nature, stretching and nibbling from time to time...

My little bride-to-be stopped by earlier this afternoon to show me the pattern she'd chosen for the bridesmaid dresses along with some fabric samples.  She's found a seamstress who has offered to make the dresses for $35 each which seems to be a reasonable price.  Hard to believe the wedding is only five months away.  It's a good thing she's such a planner - left to me, we'd do everything on a whim at the last possible minute.  I'm very proud of my little girl. She's such a remarkably poised young lady and just on the verge of a brand new life.  Her excitement and anxiety are intertwined into one huge, nearly visible emotion and I'd give the world if I could promise her that  life will always be as wonderful for her as it is right now.  I have a feeling my mother's mother felt the same way once upon a time.

Have a lovely night, world :)

6:28:14 PM     comment []

Innuendo: Where your cats sit to look outside at the birds

3:48:33 PM     comment []

What would Orson say?

They say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, but the eldest son of veteran humorist Dick Smothers of the Smothers Brothers says his life's ambition is to become "the Orson Welles of porn."

I'm sure Orson would be proud...

Of course, his father, renowned as the bass-playing, straight-laced half of the Smothers Brothers comedy duo, was stunned at first. "I think he told me after the fact," Dick Smothers Sr., 64, recalled in a separate interview. "My first reaction was, 'What name are you going to use?' ... He says he's going to use his name, and I said, 'Wait a minute. That's my name. I had it first.' " FULL STORY

3:00:43 PM     comment []

Is nothing sacred in this country?

"Vandals struck the General Patton Memorial Museum, spray painting ``No War'' near a statue of the World War II hero and scrawling on as many as 19 military tanks."
FULL STORY

I heard about this earlier in the week but just now found a news article.  There are too many people who have absolutely no respect for public property or the law.   I don't care if you are anti-war, pro-war or plain ol' neutral - but stop acting like idiots for heaven's sake!  Grrrrrrr

11:03:34 AM     comment []

Feds To Test Bioterror Alerts On PDAs

"The Department of Heath and Human Services will test a system that uses handhelds to transmit urgent messages to medical personnel in the event of a biological attack."

Great idea! 

"The test message will contain a memo about the highest-level threat of biological agents, including anthrax, botulism, plague, smallpox, tularemia, and viral fevers such as Ebola. It will include Web links for additional information on diagnosis and treatment of people exposed to biological agents; the information can be saved on a PDA for future reference."   (LINK)

Well, that's sure not your run-of-the-mill "bring home a gallon of milk" message...

10:38:18 AM     comment []

Live from the sandbox

L.T. Smash is a reserve officer in the United States Military who has been recalled to active duty and his weblog is one I've been checking in on for the past few days.
Yesterday he wrote:

"We've had several missile alerts in the past twenty-four hours. Eight or nine, I think. Even so, I managed to get an almost reasonable amount of sleep last night. It's not hard to sleep when you're exhausted.

I'm nowhere near the front lines, but I can hear the occasional BOOM.

No, hear isn't the right word. I FEEL them.

Wouldn't want to be on the other side right now."

I've added his link to my blogroll to watch for updates.

10:14:07 AM     comment []

Hotel refuses to return soldier's wedding deposit

Found this story posted at Free Republic....

Back in January, Lake Carmel native Bonnie Luft thought she had plenty of time to fine-tune the details of her May 24 wedding and reception.

But that changed Jan. 11 when her fiance, Robert Kissmann, a 24-year-old U.S. Marine Corps reservist, was called to active duty. His orders were for one year and his destination, Kuwait.

Two days later, Luft, Kissmann and about 60 friends and relatives attended Patterson Town Hall for a last-minute wedding ceremony. Luft wore her wedding dress and Kissmann his dress blues. A friend of Luft's held an informal reception at her house. Kissmann, a New Fairfield, Conn., resident, shipped out the next day.

Bonnie Kissmann, 23, then sought to get the $5,000 deposit the couple put down last year, assuming that the owner and management of the Grand Hotel and Conference Center in Poughkeepsie would understand that the cancellation was beyond the newlyweds' control. That hasn't happened.   FULL STORY

Oh surely the hotel can make an allowance for this particular circumstance.  After all, rules are made to be bent.  And just think of the favorable publicity the hotel would get if it does chose to reimburse the couple.  I say give it back and get over it.

6:43:37 AM     comment []