It's So True...

I am NOT a morning person.

Which explains why it's nearly 1:30 a.m....and I'm still up.
    (I guess.)

Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: Spring Storms and Warms

A great blowy storm blew in this morning, full of huge snowflakes. It was soon over, and the snow melted, but left us with needed moisture. Hopefully, we'll get more.

Pretty quiet around here...which lets me not only get work done, but plant some early greens and radishes in the stone planting bed shaded by the house. The dirt's warmer in there...and the swiss chard should do just fine. I grew it in the back last year, and the Bright Lights brand has all sorts of vivid shades. (It turns green when cooked, however.)
    I'll mix it with white petunias, when the temps warm up. It should look lovely.





Wayne Simmons has been the FOX News 'expert' for years as former CIA man -- only he's been outed as a fraud. (And now arrested.)

The year's Oscar winners. The Martian got skunked badly. Too bad; it's one of the best movies I've seen in a long time.  Speaking of that --

Astronauts are back from the space station...and one of them grew two inches in height! (But it's only temporary.)

Former First Lady Nancy Reagan died.

Peyton Manning retired from the Denver Broncos. An amazing career... we're grateful for him.

How to get off the hamster wheel of crazy. (From Moneysaving Mom)

Snow has to be trucked into downtown Anchorage, so the annual Iditarod can begin. Weird.

Twenty-something brother and sister swipe a little girl's $300 money for Girl Scout cookies. How crass can you get...
     But there's a happy ending: they were caught, thanks to a Walmart surveillance camera -- and people anted up more than $1000 to help the Girl Scout. Speaking of --

Ten famous con women...some of them newly caught! (Hopefully you weren't one of those fooled by their scams.)

Cheryl Tiegs announces that anyone with a waist larger than 35 inches is 'unhealthy.' But after her open letter criticizing a size-14 Sports Illustrated model, Tiegs happened to omit the fact that her own waistline is 37". Naughty, naughty. (She's backtracking and apologizing now.)

Four Parisian apartments with more charm than space. (From Apartment Therapy) Including this beauty:



I thought this hallway storage compendium was great, too.

How to use $10 to save $5000. (From I Pick Up Pennies)


Have a great week.

Random Ponderings

Some stuff I've run across lately:

Would you have picked Bob Marley for this? But he said it...

 This was on the jacket of an older gentleman sitting at my precinct table.  Fascinating. And true.

And this...yep, I'll bet that was foremost on his mind.

Go forth and enjoy...

Home Bodies

We're staying home this weekend.   P.S. It feels wonderful.

The Mama's gone home. (She misses Charley, she says...but I'd guess she's loving sleeping in her own bed again.)

We slept in, had a leisurely breakfast of pancakes...then just messed around the rest of the afternoon.

Roses glowing in the afternoon sun

I'll have to do some work tonight...but it was worth it.

We've had sunny skies and barefoot temperatures for the past few days. One chicken apparently was inspired, and made a break for it. She didn't get far.

The Brick trimmed one wing; that way, she can't hop to the top of the coop and fly out. (Her usual modus operandi)

Boy, was she ticked.

We've been taking care of our neighbors' bunnies, cleaning up this, fixing that...and having a fire in the woodstove every evening, along with watching a movie. All this welcome rest has had an interesting effect: I suddenly have all sorts of writing ideas in different directions. Some ideas for the business, too. And lots of energy to do them with. Whoa. 

Either I've got some great stuff that's coming in 2016...or coming down with a cold. Could be either. Could be both. I'll think about it while we're watching the newest series we've found: Man in A Suitcase. Well, new to us -- this quirky spy/cop special aired in Britain from 1967-8. Reminds me some of The Avengers. Or maybe The Prisoner. (Turns out that was on purpose.)


courtesy: Wikipedia

When one door closes...better just stay put. It might open other doors.

Sensible Signs

Would these make sense to our dogs Charley and Abby...or us? Probably not.




(from 2wired2tired.com)


How about this one...


(from weinachtenlustig.com)

Makes me hungry, just thinking about it. 


And to finish:



We just saw this one posted at the entrance to a gravel quarry. Guess they didn't want us to visit.

(from funnycollectionworld.blogspot.com)


And if you're not thinking of this song, well...what can I say.

Unethical -- Just Plain Cheap -- Or Both?

Quora.com is a source of all sorts of unusual questions and responses. I've been reading them the past few weeks, and so far, they've covered everything from near-death experiences to travel tips. But their latest caught me more than a little offguard:

What are some unethical life hacks?

Wait a minute. Is Quora encouraging us to cheat, swipe and lie...as long as we don't get caught?

Responses to the question include everything from stealing extra packets of sauce at fast food restaurants, to wangling your way inside airlines' first-class clubs, so you can drink as much liquor as possible.
     Or do it even easier, say the 'experts,' by showing up in workman's clothes at a fancy party -- the people will assume you're there to Fix Something, and would never bar the door. (Hmmm. What would they think to see their 'plumber' throwing down a glass of champagne? I keep thinking of the Trading Places New Year's Eve costume party on the train, crashed by two of the baggage handlers. "Uh, I came as a baggage handler," one says, as he grabs some chips.  "Imagine my surprise when I found out someone else had the same costume," says the other, as he helps himself to  liquor.)

It's all too easy to take home the pen from work, or slide off with something you're not supposed to have. But 'easy' does not equal 'right.'

I don't believe in the 'if no one says anything' rule, either. One much-loved uncle thought nothing of clearing off extra sugar, salt & pepper packets off his restaurant table, on the theory that he'd paid for everything there by just ordering something. No waitperson ever stopped him...though I'd bet they discussed his actions back in the kitchen.

Some guidelines help me to control the urge to be TOO cheap about all this:

*Has it already been discarded? Dumpster diving items just means you're rescuing them from clogging up the landfill. If not --

*Have you asked permission to take it? A polite question is often politely answered. Imagine how much more embarrassing it would be to assume that item is free and walk out the door with it, only to be stopped. I learned this the hard way once, with a backpack leaned up against a garbage can. It contained such goodies as an expensive camera -- owned by the college student who rushed out of the house to intercept me when I picked his backpack up. I still think he was foolish to leave it out there -- but that didn't stop my face from turning red.
     If not --

*Has it been offered to you? Ask, if you're not sure. (Be polite.) But also consider --

*Offer some kind of payment. It doesn't have to be money: a swap of your time, a ride or errand offered, or a useful item can be all the payment needed. Besides, you're better off if you --

*Take what's needed -- not all there is. A few salsa verde packets at Taco Bell, versus a handful. A couple strips of bacon at the buffet, instead of the entire plate. (Don't laugh. I've seen this happen.) One refill at the pop machine -- but not three or four. (Even worse -- surreptitiously grabbing soda, when you got a cup for free water, instead.) And --

*Don't take it, if you can't put it to good use. By grabbing items that don't fit, are too bulky or don't coordinate, you are depriving them from someone who really needs them. (This is especially difficult for me...the Hollander blood really kicks in. The only exception I can validate: if that item is needed by a family member or friend -- and can be quickly passed on to someone else.)

Can you look in the mirror that night, with no regrets about your actions? Not be embarrassed if someone questions you? Feel proud that you were able to reuse, revamp or repurpose something others would have thrown out? Have you paid your own way, both literally and figuratively?

Then you did the right thing.

Take a look at the Quora question that inspired all this--

Prepare to gag.

Democratic Caucus, Colorado-Style

I went to a Democratic Caucus tonight. 

Boy, was it a strange experience. 

Colorado doesn't have primaries anymore. And from what the Brick says (more on this later), the Republicans didn't vote on presidential candidates, anyways.

But the Democrats did. 

(Thanks, Wikipedia.)

Picture the scene at one of Douglas County's Democrat caucuses: a cafeteria in one of the local high schools. It was absolutely jammed, crammed and stuffed with people. Just the line to register (I got there late) was at least 75-100, all ages (though most were older than 40, I'd guess), colors and economic status, based on the clothes they wore. Practically everyone had a cellphone, though -- and they weren't hesitating to use it.

Party members who obviously had been there before were buzzing around the crowded aisles, talking others up. Many were, like me, clueless as what this milling batch of humanity were doing -- and where we were supposed to be. After one false assignment, I finally shoved my way through the crowd to my precinct table, to sign the attendance list. One of the guys seated at the table was griping: 'Only four showed up at the last caucus...how come 24 people came this time?!?'
     Gee, Buddy -- did you want us to leave?

Very few election posters or fancy signs -- only precinct reps waving their numbered white notebooks at each table. Any seats were jammed with sweating people -- the rest of us stood around, straining to hear what was being said.

The row-deo (think "ow-dee-oh") continued after the meeting officially started. The guy running things was an older, bearded man energetically chewing gum -- whenever anything weird happened, he'd just chew harder. (At least he used a microphone, so we could hear what he was saying in between.)

A younger guy in a dark pink polo shirt spoke on behalf of Bernie Sanders: 'We want a change in Congress, a change in the Capitol...vote your passion.'  (Plenty of cheers, both before and after. Moderator chews away steadily.)

An older man in fancy striped dress shirt, tie and nice trousers spoke on behalf of Hillary Clinton: 'I'm a doctor, my wife was Bill Clinton's personal nurse.' (Polite clapping.) Some comments about healthcare. (A few hecklers started yelling in the back...nervous chewing speeds up.) 'Hillary has all this experience...'  (More shouting. Chewing intensifies. People tell the hecklers to shut up -- 'not now!')
    'And that's why we support her.' (Lots of cheering and applause...chewing relaxes back to normal speed.)

Then we voted. No discussion, but no one could have heard much anyways, with all the talking going on. My precinct went 9 for Hillary, 15 for Bernie...but based on some fractional calculations, both got a delegate. (I still don't get this, but it's typical of Colorado politics. The Denver Post calls it 'complicated.') How did the other precincts at my caucus vote? Who knows -- it sure wasn't mentioned at the meeting.

Then it was time to appoint delegates, ask for precinct officers, volunteer for election judges. More chaos ensued. Lots of talking, people trying to figure out what their precinct captain was saying. (I'm not even sure how our captain became one...and I was standing there!) Then in little more than an hour, it was over. We were thanked for our service, and everyone left -- fast.

Weird.

Ironically, the Brick was at the Republican Caucus for Douglas County. (One of the other Democratic Caucuses was held at his high school -- and some Republicans accidentally got in the Democratic registration line. Go figure.)
     He said his meeting was just as chaotic...but no voting. In fact, they were told that delegates could vote for anyone they wanted to. (Ours were definitely separated as Bernie and Hillary people.) Plenty of protests about that, but it didn't change anything.
     Here's the kicker: the Brick was elected as a delegate for our precinct. Good for him!
     (Yes, I am sleeping with a Republican.)

Daughter #1 went to the Denver Democratic Caucus. She got appointed as a Bernie delegate for her precinct. Good for her!

And I just found out -- Daughter #2 went to Nederland's Democratic Caucus! (No, we didn't plan this.) I wonder if we're one of the few families in Colorado that all went to Super Tuesday.


Colorado is one of the few states that have gone both ways in elections -- its 'purple' status means that it's voted both Republican and Democratic.   (Denver and Boulder tend to be much more liberal, skewing the rest of the state, which is heavily conservative.)



Summary of results of the 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012 presidential elections:   States carried by the Republican in all four elections   States carried by the Republican in three of the four elections   States carried by each party twice in the four elections   States carried by the Democrat in three of the four elections   States carried by the Democrat in all four elections    (Courtesy of Wikipedia)


Bernie Sanders officially won in Colorado tonight. I never saw a Clinton button at the caucus...but there were a bunch of 'Bernie 2016' buttons and t-shirts on the people attending.
     In case you're wondering... I voted for Bernie Sanders. (I have a lot of difficulty with Mrs. Clinton's repeated dishonesty. I'm not the only one struggling with this, either.)

Having both Daughter #1 AND the Brick as delegates is going to make for plenty of interesting discussion around the dinner table these coming months. Frankly, I stay out of most of it. In spite of my affiliation, I tend to vote for the person, not the party.

But if the squirrelly, unfocused atmosphere we experienced tonight was typical around the country...
     We're in deep trouble. And it's only going to intensify.

Maybe Marge Simpson was right, after all.