Thread Drift

[Zen]

I'm riding tomorrow...and this weekend then I have dental surgery Monday

Last night I dreamed Arnold Schwarznegger was going to buy me whatever I wanted. I didn't want to seem greedy so I asked for a Rivendell Glorius

[Selkie]

I really miss riding my bikes.

I'm with you. Luckily, it's warming up this weekend, so I'm going to try to make it outside. I'll be riding my beater bike---don't want to subject the nice rides to all that salt.

Everyone be vigilant for the new crop of pot holes!

The one benefit of this brutal cold and the recent snow/ice---Coach Troy has had me working hard, which has shaken things up. Some crosstraining with Powerstrike has helped w/my core and upper body strength.

[OakLeaf]

Ow Zen, good luck with the surgery. If you're having dreams like that without anesthesia you should do pretty good!

I had the world's most awesome massage yesterday. The therapist is a Reiki practitioner in addition to doing neuromuscular work with amazing attention to detail. As she described it, she opened up my body to release endorphins and receive her attention before she started getting into the trigger points, so the muscles and fascia would let go more readily and without pain. I kept thinking, "I know this should really be hurting," but it didn't. I'm not sore today either, and the difference in my shoulder in pain and range of motion is enormous. I've had massages this effective before, but not without going through searing pain and a couple of days of soreness. She identified several other long-standing imbalances in my body that I hadn't even mentioned... you bet we'll be getting into those soon.

[Aggie_Ama]

One of my closest friends dropped the "I am knocked up" bomb on me yesterday. She has been with the guy for 5 years but not married and this wasn't planned. I think she called me because I would not squeel and would tell her it is okay that at just 6 weeks along she isn't excited yet. We ended up laughing hysterically for the phone call, I wish she didn't live in Ohio.

[sgtiger]

Phew!
When I opened the bag from the grocery store ( that was in the refrigerator) finally found the wallet I've been missing for two days.

I did that with my keys once.

******

When I worked in retail, there were a handful of instances where my co-workers found kids waiting in cars. The kids were brought in and waited in the employees lounge until the frantic parents came to the service desk to inquire if anyone had seen their child. We all hoped that the fright was enough for the parents never to do it again considering that the kids were usually pretty quick to unlock the door and follow a stranger much less the dangers of being left in a hot car.

'Course there were the parents who would open a toy for a child in the toy department and leave them there to play while they shopped. One of the children we found was as young as 3 who was sleeping on a pile of stuffed animals. A co-worker and I tried to get him to follow us to the front desk to where we normally paged the parents of lost children. He told us that he couldn't because his mommy had told him needed to wait for her there. Our store manager, who is a dedicated family man, sternly lectured the parent that if it ever happened again in his store that he would call the proper authorities when she finally showed up.

[Biciclista]

'Course there were the parents who would open a toy for a child in the toy department and leave them there to play while they shopped. One of the children we found was as young as 3 who was sleeping on a pile of stuffed animals. A co-worker and I tried to get him to follow us to the front desk to where we normally paged the parents of lost children. He told us that he couldn't because his mommy had told him needed to wait for her there. Our store manager, who is a dedicated family man, sternly lectured the parent that if it ever happened again in his store that he would call the proper authorities when she finally showed up.

wow, that's a story!!!
TGIF that's all i'm going to say.

[Crankin]

One time, on a Friday, I had my nanny drop my older son off at the Tempe Community Center for his art enrichment class. He was 6, in kindergarten. I don't remember where my younger son was, but I went to the community center after work to get him, and when I walked in, there was a big sign saying that the class had been cancelled. Now this was before cell phones and I was in a momentary panic. I went to the office, and there he was, playing with one of the secretary's typewriter. They had been trying to call our house and my work, since he knew the numbers, but no one was at either place. My nanny had just dropped him off, saw him go in, and left, since they had not called to say the class was cancelled and it was near the end of the school year, so she trusted him to walk the few feet into the building.
I was in a fright. I wasn't mad at her, because I would have done the same thing. But, I learned my lesson.

[Duck on Wheels]

This being the drifting thread, I'm going to toss in a new theme out of the blue. Or out of the white, as the case may be. I just got home from Oslo. Usually this is a 50-minute flight, with planes running in parallel from two different companies more or less hourly. I was booked on a flight at 8pm. At about 7:30 they announced a delay (I knew it was coming, since there was no plane at the jetway): 8:15. Then another to 8:25. Then to 8:35, but the guy at the gate said he had his doubts about that one too. Problem was that our plane was circling while the snowplows cleared the runway (back and forth and back and forth -- it was coming down pretty thick just then), but even when it landed, the crew on board was headed off duty. The crew that was supposed to take over was supposed to be arriving on a flight from Haugesund, but they were stuck there in a full gail blizzard. He suggested that those of us without luggage try a couple gates over. The 7:20 pm flight was also delayed, but they had a machine and crew and were now hoping to leave at about 8:10. When I got there, that too had been changed to 8:25, but the plane was there in de-boarding phase (just arrived). So ok. I re-checked in. Got a great seat assignment (2nd row, aisle). Waited. Waited. Finally we boarded. Full flight, so it took some time. Not that the drunk Swede who stopped in the doorway to chew out the crew for the delay helped at all by blocking all the rest of us from getting to our seats. But the crew cheerfully answered him and got him to move on. We got throught the safety floor show and were ready to push back. Then we sat there. And sat there. Somebody in a mechanic's suit rushed in. And left. Then the captain announced bad news. The driver of the push-back tractor has made one of those mistakes you only get to make once in your career. He forgot to unplug the plane's electrical connection from the ground supply. He'd ripped the cable and pulled off a chunk of the body of the plane. We were to remain seated while they off-loaded all luggage and drove some buses over, then we'd be de- boarded and re-boarded to another plane. That bit went suprisingly smoothly, with a whole team of girl gymnasts singing a welcome-to-summer song ("All the birdies, small they are, soon they'll be returning ..." - my translation). On the bus ride to the other side of the terminal we passed our "8:00 pm" flight, also still at its gate. But apparently they finally took off about the same time we did. When we'd landed and I got into my share-cab, the next passenger was from that other flight. He'd missed the adventure, and we'd landed just minutes apart.

[TsPoet]

I did that with my keys once.
'Course there were the parents who would open a toy for a child in the toy department and leave them there to play while they shopped. One of the children we found was as young as 3 who was sleeping on a pile of stuffed animals. A co-worker and I tried to get him to follow us to the front desk to where we normally paged the parents of lost children. He told us that he couldn't because his mommy had told him needed to wait for her there. Our store manager, who is a dedicated family man, sternly lectured the parent that if it ever happened again in his store that he would call the proper authorities when she finally showed up.

Signs I've seen:
In a Toyota dealership: Kids left unattended will be Towed.
In my favorite Espresso place: Kids left unattended will be given a latte and a puppy

[Tuckervill]

Whew, Duck, what an ordeal!

Karen

[uk elephant]

So winter is causing trouble in Norway too, eh? Here the country has been shut down for a week and panic is about to break out (or at least it appears that way from watching the news). Of course we don't have nearly as much snow or low temperatures but local councils are now running out of road salt, Wales has at times been shut off from the rest of the country due to closed roads and bridges, and schools have been shut for most of the week. When will spring arrive??!!! I'm fed up of being cold!

[Duck on Wheels]

It's a good thing I flew home yesterday. Tonight they've shut both runways at the Oslo airport. They've got an armada of snowplows that drive in a long chain, bumper to bumper if need be, to clear the snow, but tonight they couldn't keep up with it and have declared the runways too slick for safe landings. Highly unusual! We're accustomed to snow here and can usually deal with it.

[Aggie_Ama]

I'm sure your bikes understand and will be more than happy to wait until it's warmer outside for them. If you ride outside now, your poor bike will freeze

Next week, my legs will melt..I'm sure my poor bike doesn't enjoy the sunburn..

Here are two more photos of wildlife dealing with the recent heatwave..poor sheepies..

We are having a terrible drought, cattle are falling over dead from malnourishment or having to be shot after farmers cannot get them out of the mud that once was their ponds for water and cooling off. These photos break my heart. I hope the end is near for your heatwave and our drought.

[crazycanuck]

UKe-Ian & I had to laugh(in a nice way..) when we heard the UK had come to a standstill after some snow...

It reminded us of how Vancouverites act when they recieve snow. The whole country hears about it & wonder what the fuss is about...Those of us who are from a snowy city in Canada roll our eyes when Vancouverites panic about snow . They've not endured -35C & massive snowdrifts...

Amanda-Most of Eastern Australia is under severe drought as well but has not recieved much rain in moons. When we drove to Sydney, we drove through the top of NSW & saw how dry it is. I don't know how farmers do it

[Selkie]

UKe-Ian & I had to laugh(in a nice way..) when we heard the UK had come to a standstill after some snow...

It reminded us of how Vancouverites act when they recieve snow. The whole country hears about it & wonder what the fuss is about...Those of us who are from a snowy city in Canada roll our eyes when Vancouverites panic about snow . They've not endured -35C & massive snowdrifts...

Of course, most of you probably heard about the President calling us in DC winter weather wimps. I'm from winter-hardy Pittsburgh, and when I moved to DC in 1987, I thought the same thing. It didn't take long for me to change my mind.

The bottom line is that DC and probably Vancouver, the UK, etc. don't get enough snow to warrant the expense of municipalities investing in proper snow removal equipment, sufficient salt/sand/melter, road maintenance personnel, etc. So when we get hit w/a snow/ice event, we lack the resources and practice to deal handle it to "Chicago" standards!

Sigh. Another four years of burning AL during/after ice storms!!