I believe...

A birth certificate shows that we were born; a death certificate shows that we died; pictures show that we lived! Have a seat . . . Relax. And read this slowly.

I believe - That just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.

I believe - That we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I believe - That no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I believe - That true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I believe - That you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I believe - That it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I believe - That you should always leave loved ones with lov ing words. It may be the last time you see them.

I believe - That you can keep going long after you think you can't.

I believe - That we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I believe - That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I believe - That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I believe - That money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I believe - That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down will be the ones to help you get back up.

I believe - That sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I believe - That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I believe - That it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I believe - That no matter how bad your heart is broken, the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I believe - That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I believe - Two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I believe - That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.

I believe - That even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.

I believe - That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I believe - That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

Blonde Humor

Two blondes living in Oklahoma were sitting on a bench talking, and one blonde says to the other, 'Which do you think is farther away... Florida or the moon?' The other blonde turns and says 'Helloooooooooo, can you see Florida ?????'

CAR TROUBLE
A blonde pushes her BMW into a gas station. She tells the mechanic it died. After he works on it for a few minutes, it is idling smoothly. She says, 'What's the story?'
He replies, 'Just crap in the carburetor' She asks, 'How often do I have to do that?'

SPEEDING TICKET
A police officer stops a blonde for speeding and asks her very nicely if he could see her license.
She replied in a huff, 'I wish you guys would get your act together. Just yesterday you take away my license and then today you expect me to show it to you!'

RIVER WALK
There's this blonde out for a walk. She comes to a river and sees another blonde on the opposite bank.
'Yoo-hoo!' she shouts, 'How can I get to the other side?' The second blonde looks up the river then down the river and shouts back,
'You ARE on the other side.'

AT THE DOCTOR'S OFFICE
A gorgeous young redhead goes into the doctor's office and said that her body hurt wherever she touched it.
'Impossible!' says the doctor. 'Show me.'
The redhead took her finger, pushed on her left shoulder and screamed, then she pushed her elbow and screamed even more. She pushed her knee and screamed; likewise she pushed her ankle and screamed. Everywhere she touched made her scream.
The doctor said, 'You're not really a redhead, are you?'
'Well, no' she said, 'I'm actually a blonde.'
'I thought so,' the doctor said. 'Your finger is broken'

KNITTING
A highway patrolman pulled alongside a speeding car on the freeway. Glancing at the car, he was astounded to see that the blonde behind the wheel was knitting! Realizing that she was oblivious to his flashing lights and siren, the trooper cranked down his window, turned on his bullhorn and yelled, 'PULL OVER!'
'NO!' the blonde yelled back, 'IT'S A SCARF!'

BLONDE ON THE SUN
A Russian, an American, and a Blonde were talking one day.
The Russian said, 'We were the first in space!'
The American said, 'We were the first on the moon!'
The Blonde said, 'So what? We're going to be the first on the sun!'
The Russian and the American looked at each other and shook their heads.
'You can't land on the sun, you idiot! You'll burn up!' said the Russian.
To which the Blonde replied, 'We're not stupid, you know. We're going at night!'

IN A VACUUM
A blonde was playing Trivial Pursuit one night.. It was her turn. She rolled the dice and she landed on Science & Nature. Her question was,
'If you are in a vacuum and someone calls your name, can you hear it?'
She thought for a time and then asked, 'Is the vacuum on or off?'

FINALLY, THE BLONDE JOKE TO END ALL BLONDE JOKES!
A girl was visiting her blonde friend, who had a acquired two new dogs, and asked her what their names were.
The blonde responded by saying that one was named Rolex and one was named Timex.
Her friend said, 'Whoever heard of someone naming dogs like that?'
'HELLLOOOOOOO......,' answered the blonde. 'They're watch dogs!'

Happy Birthday Nicole!!!

Today my best friend Nicole turns 33. Since she's talked for years about going back to school to become a teacher, we figured that this was a perfect time for her to seriously look at fulfilling that dream. We started off with a book cake (all chocolate of course) with crayon candles. Her gift was a lunch bag, water bottle (they don't make a thermos anymore), tent cards for the desk, hall pass for a girl and boy, stickers, planning book, post it pad that looks like a chalk board and even an incentive graph for the kids!! She loved EVERYTHING and we really hope she uses them.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA MOO!!!

A story to take your breath away...

This is something to think about before you open your mouth when you don't know the circumstances!!!
'Some people!' snorted a man standing behind me in the long line at the grocery store.
'You would think the manager would pay attention and open another line, 'said a woman.
I looked to the front of the line to see what the hold up was and saw a well dressed, young woman, trying to get the machine to accept her credit card. No matter how many times she swiped it, the machine kept rejecting it.
'It's one of them welfare card things. Damn people need to get a job like everyone else,' said the man standing behind me.
The young woman turned around to see who had made the comment.
'It was me,' he said, pointing to himself.
The young lady's face began to change expression. Almost in tears, she dropped the welfare card onto the counter and quickly walked out of the store. Everyone in the checkout line watched as she began running to her car. Never looking back, she got in and drove away.
After developing cancer in 1977 and having had to use food stamps; I had learned never to judge anyone, without knowing the circumstances of their life. This turned out to be the case today. Several minutes later a young man walked into the store. He went up to the cashier and asked if she had seen the woman. After describing her, the cashier told him that she had run out of the store, got into her car, and drove away.
'Why would she do that?' asked the man. Everyone in the line looked around at the fellow who had made the statement.
'I made a stupid comment about the welfare card she was using. Something I shouldn't have said. I'm sorry,' said the man.
'Well, that's bad, real bad, in fact. Her brother was killed in Afghanistan two years ago. He had three young children and she has taken on that responsibility. She's twenty years old, single, and now has three children to support,' he said in a very firm voice.
'I'm really truly sorry. I didn't know,' he replied, shaking both his hands about.
The young man asked, 'Are these paid for?' pointing to the shopping cart full of groceries.
'It wouldn't take her card,' the clerk told him.
'Do you know where she lives?' asked the man who had made the comment.
'Yes, she goes to our church.'
'Excuse me,' he said as he made his way to the front of the line. He pulled out his wallet, took out his credit card and told the cashier,
'Please use my card. PLEASE!' The clerk took his credit card and began to ring up the young woman's groceries.
Hold on,' said the gentleman. He walked back to his shopping cart and began loading his own groceries onto the belt to be included.
'Come on people. We got three kids to help raise!' he to ld everyone in line. Everyone began to place their groceries onto the fast moving belt. A few customers began bagging the food and placing it into separate carts.
'Go back and get two big turkeys,' yelled a heavyset woman, as she looked at the man.
'NO,' yelled the man. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks. The entire store became quiet for several seconds.
'Four turkeys,' yelled the man. Everyone began laughing and went back to work. When all was said and done, the man paid a total of $1,646.57 for the groceries. He then walked over to the side, pulled out his check book, and began writing a check using the bags of dog food piled near the front of the store for a writing surface. He turned around and handed the check to the young man.
'She will need a freezer and a few other things as well,' he told the man.
The young man looked at the check and said, 'This is really very generous of you.'
'No,' said the man. 'Her brother was the generous one.'
Everyone in the store had been observing the odd commotion and began to clap. And I drove home that day feeling very American.
We live in the Land of the free, because of the Brave!!! Remember our Troops of Yesterday and Today!!! A great example of why we should be kind and patient. Kindness is the language the blind can see and the deaf can hear. May God's many blessings continue to be with you - ALWAYS!!! MAY THIS KEEP GOING.... IT WILL OPEN A LOT OF EYES, HOPEFULLY HEARTS, AND KEEP SOME MOUTHS SHUT.

July 4th 2008

Hi everyone!! Happy 4th of July! Here's a picture of Donald from this afternoon's parade. It's a bit blurry but I think I had the picture on the wrong setting. Oops!

Watermelon vs Viagara

So it's not a "dry spell", it's lack of watermelon??

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -- A slice of cool, fresh watermelon is a juicy way to top off a Fourth of July cookout, and one that researchers say has effects similar to Viagra. But don't necessarily expect it to keep the fireworks all night long.

Watermelons and Viagra can both help relax the body's blood vessels, scientists say.

Watermelons contain an ingredient called citrulline that can trigger production of a compound that helps relax the body's blood vessels, similar to what happens when a man takes Viagra, said scientists in Texas, one of the nation's top producers of the seedless variety.
Found in the flesh and rind of watermelons, citrulline reacts with the body's enzymes when consumed in large quantities and is changed into arginine, an amino acid that benefits the heart and the circulatory and immune systems.
"Arginine boosts nitric oxide, which relaxes blood vessels, the same basic effect that Viagra has, to treat erectile dysfunction and maybe even prevent it," said Bhimu Patil, a researcher and director of Texas A&M's Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Center. "Watermelon may not be as organ-specific as Viagra, but it's a great way to relax blood vessels without any drug side effects."
Viagra, also known as sildenafil, is manufactured by Pfizer Inc.
Todd Wehner, who studies watermelon breeding at North Carolina State University, said anyone taking Viagra shouldn't expect the same result from watermelon.
"It sounds like it would be an effect that would be interesting but not a substitute for any medical treatment," Wehner said. KENS: Attendees of Luling, Texas', annual Watermelon Thump react to the study »
The nitric oxide can also help with angina, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular problems, according to the study, which was paid for by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
More citrulline -- about 60 percent -- is found in watermelon rind than in the flesh, Patil said, but that can vary. But scientists may be able to find ways to boost the concentrations in the flesh, he said.
Citrulline is found in all colors of watermelon and is highest in the yellow-fleshed types, said Penelope Perkins-Veazie, a USDA researcher in Lane, Oklahoma.
She said Patil's research is valid, but with a caveat: One would need to eat about six cups of watermelon to get enough citrulline to boost the body's arginine level.
"The problem you have when you eat a lot of watermelon is you tend to run to the bathroom more," Perkins-Veazie said.
Watermelon is a diuretic and was a homeopathic treatment for kidney patients before dialysis became widespread.
Another issue is the amount of sugar that much watermelon would spill into the bloodstream -- a jolt that could cause cramping, Perkins-Veazie said.
Patil said he would like to do future studies on how to reduce the sugar content in watermelon.
The relationship between citrulline and arginine might also prove helpful to those who are obese or suffer from type-2 diabetes. The beneficial effects -- among them the ability to relax blood vessels, much like Viagra does -- are beginning to be revealed in research.
Citrulline is present in other curcubits, like cucumbers and cantaloupe, at very low levels, and in the milk protein casein. The highest concentrations of citrulline are found in walnut seedlings, Perkins-Veazie said.
"But they're bitter and most people don't want to eat them," she said.

RIP BOZO

At 27 I'm still freaked out by clowns. A surprising number of people in my age range are. Personally, I think this is why. ~J

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Larry Harmon, who turned the character Bozo the Clown into a show business staple that delighted children for more than a half-century, died Thursday of congestive heart failure. He was 83.

Although not the original Bozo, Larry Harmon portrayed the popular frizzy-haired clown in countless appearances.

His publicist, Jerry Digney, told The Associated Press he died at his home.
Although not the original Bozo, Harmon portrayed the popular clown in countless appearances and, as an entrepreneur, he licensed the character to others, particularly dozens of television stations around the country. The stations in turn hired actors to be their local Bozos.
"You might say, in a way, I was cloning BTC (Bozo the Clown) before anybody else out there got around to cloning DNA," Harmon told the AP in a 1996 interview.
"Bozo is a combination of the wonderful wisdom of the adult and the childlike ways in all of us," Harmon said.
Pinto Colvig, who also provided the voice for Walt Disney's Goofy, originated Bozo the Clown when Capitol Records introduced a series of children's records in 1946. Harmon would later meet his alter ego while answering a casting call to make personal appearances as a clown to promote the records.
He got that job and eventually bought the rights to Bozo. Along the way, he embellished Bozo's distinctive look: the orange-tufted hair, the bulbous nose, the outlandish red, white and blue costume.
"I felt if I could plant my size 83AAA shoes on this planet, (people) would never be able to forget those footprints," he said.
Susan Harmon, his wife of 29 years, indicated Harmon was the perfect fit for Bozo.
"He was the most optimistic man I ever met. He always saw a bright side; he always had something good to say about everybody. He was the love of my life," she said Thursday.
The business -- combining animation, licensing of the character, and personal appearances -- made millions, as Harmon trained more than 200 Bozos over the years to represent him in local markets. iReport.com: Share your 'Bozo' memories
"I'm looking for that sparkle in the eyes, that emotion, feeling, directness, warmth. That is so important," he said of his criteria for becoming a Bozo.
The Chicago version of Bozo ran on WGN-TV in Chicago for 40 years and was seen in many other cities after cable television transformed WGN into a superstation.
Bozo -- portrayed in Chicago for many years by Bob Bell -- was so popular that the waiting list for tickets to a TV show eventually stretched to a decade, prompting the station to stop taking reservations for 10 years. On the day in 1990 when WGN started taking reservations again, it took just five hours to book the show for five more years. The phone company reported more than 27 million phone call attempts had been made.
By the time the show bowed out in Chicago, in 2001, it was the last locally produced version. Harmon said at the time that he hoped to develop a new cable or network show, as well as a Bozo feature film.
He became caught up in a minor controversy in 2004 when the International Clown Hall of Fame in Milwaukee took down a plaque honoring him as Bozo and formally endorsed Colvig for creating the role. Harmon denied ever misrepresenting Bozo's history.
He said he was claiming credit only for what he added to the character -- "What I sound like, what I look like, what I walk like" -- and what he did to popularize Bozo.
"Isn't it a shame the credit that was given to me for the work I have done, they arbitrarily take it down, like I didn't do anything for the last 52 years," he told the AP at the time.
Harmon protected Bozo's reputation with a vengeance, while embracing those who poked good-natured fun at the clown.
As Bozo's influence spread through popular culture, his very name became a synonym for clownish behavior.
"It takes a lot of effort and energy to keep a character that old fresh so kids today still know about him and want to buy the products," Karen Raugust, executive editor of The Licensing Letter, a New York-based trade publication, said in 1996.
A normal character runs its course in three to five years, Raugust said. "Harmon's is a classic character. It's been around 50 years."
On New Year's Day 1996, Harmon dressed up as Bozo for the first time in 10 years, appearing in the Rose Parade in Pasadena.
The crowd reaction, he recalled, "was deafening."
"They kept yelling, `Bozo, Bozo, love you, love you.' I shed more crocodile tears for five miles in four hours than I realized I had," he said. "I still get goose bumps."
Born in Toledo, Ohio, Harmon became interested in theater while studying at the University of Southern California.
"Bozo is a star, an entertainer, bigger than life," Harmon once said. "People see him as Mr. Bozo, somebody you can relate to, touch and laugh with."
Besides his wife, Harmon is survived by his son, Jeff Harmon, and daughters Lori Harmon, Marci Breth-Carabet and Leslie Breth.

Niagara's Newest Attraction

NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario (AP) -- The biggest challenge in creating a new tourist attraction at Niagara Falls is trying to live up to the main event.

A June report warned the Canadian tourism industry "is on the precipice of an unprecedented decline."

Beyond being breathtaking, the waterfalls are free to look at. That means parks officials must respond to the "we've seen the Falls, now what?" question with answers that not only wow, but pay the bills.
A newly opened virtual reality show delivers a time-lapse lesson about the 10,000-year formation of the natural wonder complete with glacial snow, pelting rain and rumbling erosion, all building to 360-degree helicopter views unavailable from shore.
The $7 million "Niagara's Fury" is the star attraction of a $38 million renovation of Niagara Falls' Table Rock complex of restaurants and shops that ushers visitors to the water's edge.
"In Fury, we wanted the wind to blow, the rain to fall, the sky to open and the earth itself to move inside this building," said Mike Konzen of PGAV Destination Consulting, hired by the parks commission in 2002 to find ways to more fully reap the benefits of the 6 million yearly visitors to the Canadian Falls.
The large-scale upgrade at Table Rock, the first in 20 years, was considered a must by parks officials struggling to draw visitors against a bad-news backdrop of high gas prices, travel-dampening border regulations and a strong Canadian dollar that deflates U.S. wallets upon arrival.
A June report by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada warned the Canadian tourism industry "is on the precipice of an unprecedented decline." It cited a need for improved access to the country as well as compelling reasons to come.
If you go ...
Niagara's Fury: Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, http://www.niagarasfury.com/. High-tech attraction telling the story of the creation of the famous falls. Centerpiece of renovated Table Rock observation site. Adults, $15; children 6 and up, $9. Children under 5 are free. Open daily 9 a.m.-9 p.m.
The PGAV consultants recommended the parks commission "interpret the Falls in a much more interactive way, by providing highly marketable, state-of-the-art experiences," Niagara Parks Commission Chairman Jim Williams said.
The two-part Fury experience starts off with an eight-minute animated film in which a cartoon beaver named Chip learns the geological history of Niagara Falls. It begins with a trip to the Ice Age that includes a hockey game between teams of wooly mammoths (this is the Canadian side of the Falls, remember).
Visitors then move into the main theater, taking their place at individual safety rails mounted on the grated metal platform. There, the same history lesson unfolds but without the animation or narration. The six-minute show begins with a sudden 30-degree drop in temperature and a windblown snowfall. (The "snowflakes" look and melt like the real thing but they're actually soap.)
Then come rain and strobes of lightning, low rumbling and shifting underfoot, which elicited much screaming from an audience of youngsters at one recent viewing, all while a seamless projection screen encircling the room fills with high-definition images of whitewater and other nature views. Some 30,000 gallons of water cascade from the bottom of the screen into a pool under the platform as fog and mist fill the room.
"Exciting, fun but scary at the same time," is how 10-year-old Ciara Pember, droplets of water still clinging to her nose, summed it up.
The family-friendly Fury, unlike anything offered on the American side of the international Falls, "will create a lot of buzz and will provide a real economic boost to the Niagara Region," predicted Ontario Tourism Minister Peter Fonseca.
Creators visited dozens of theme parks around the world researching technologies and experiences available to discerning tourists. The dizzying research took them to Japan, China, Korea, the Philippines, Europe, the Middle East and all over North America.
"Everything from small family amusement facilities in Bavaria to the latest rides in Orlando," said Joel Noden, the parks commission's marketing and business development chief. "Just to find out what was out there, what we could do, what we could do different because we didn't want to do something the same. We didn't want somebody to say, well that's like going to Spider-Man (at Universal in Orlando) or the zip line ride in Munich."
Two California studios, Blur and Technifex, were hired to create and engineer the special effects. The project took about a year to complete.
"NPC is a client that was not afraid of new technology," Rock Hall of Technifex said. "They were willing to stick their necks out and try new things."

Hostages Freed after 5 Years

Proof that GOD does exist and that good things happen when you have faith.

~J

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (CNN) -- The three Americans rescued Wednesday after more than five years in captivity in the jungles of Colombia appear to be in good health, doctors said Thursday.

Keith Stansell, left, Marc Gonsalves, center, and Thomas Howes sit in an aircraft after being rescued Wednesday.

"They're very resilient, they're very stress-hardy and they're doing very well, and so I think that certainly is a good-news story," said Col. Carl Dickens, a psychologist at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell arrived there late Wednesday on an Air Force C-17 to undergo a battery of medical tests and debriefings.
All three are U.S. government contractors who were captured by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in February 2003 when their plane crashed in a remote region of the country.
They will begin reuniting with their families Thursday.
"They are very grateful, very excited to be home," said Air Force staff Sgt. Daryl Bradley, who accompanied the three men on the flight Wednesday from Colombia to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. Watch CNN's Brian Todd report on the hostages' return »
"They can't wait to see their families, can't wait to see the differences in the United States, and they're just absolutely pleased to be home." Learn about the freed hostages »
A plane the men were on crashed in February 2003 in a remote region of Colombia.
They were among 15 hostages, including ex-Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, rescued Wednesday in a Colombian military operation. Read how the military faked out the rebels
The FARC still holds more than 700 hostages in camps scattered throughout the jungle.
Don't Miss
Bradley, who is a paramedic, earlier said all three Americans appeared to be in good medical condition.
Marc Gonsalves' father said he would see his son Thursday.
"We have a lot to talk about," George Gonsalves told CNN's "American Morning."
"There's been a lot of things that have happened, and I'm sure there's a lot of things that have happened with him that we'd certainly like to exchange a little conversation for about two or three hours anyway."
Keith Stansell said he was on the beach when his stepfather called with the news of his father's release.
"I didn't even know what to do," he said. "I just started freaking out -- screaming, yelling. I ran as fast as I could off the beach." Watch the Stansell family eagerly await the former captive's return »
His sister, Lauren, said she was at home when the phone rang with the news.
"I knew when I heard the other voice that she had good news. I knew it was good news about Dad," she said.
Amanda Howes said she learned about her uncle Thomas Howes' release from a bulletin on her computer at a TV station, where she works in Boston, Massachusetts.
"A news alert crossed on the bottom of the screen, I click on it and it's this wonderful news," she said. "I literally screamed with enjoyment. I started shaking. Of course, everyone was like ... 'What's the hot news tip?' "
Adm. James Stavridis, head of the U.S. military's Southern Command, has kept a picture of the hostages on his desk since taking his post in 2006 and said their release has been one of his top priorities.
"You could hear the cheers throughout the building when we announced the success of the rescue," he said. Watch the hostages land on U.S. soil »
The U.S. government considers the FARC a terrorist group and has refused to negotiate with it while publicly urging the rebels to release the Americans.
The FARC, which has fought a long-standing and complicated conflict with Colombia's government and right-wing paramilitary groups, defends the taking of captives as a legitimate act of war. Background on FARC »
Before news of the rescue broke Wednesday, U.S. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, said he had mentioned the three Americans in talks with government officials during his visit to Colombia -- part of a three-day trip to Latin America -- and that Colombian President Alvaro Uribe had briefed him on the planned raid Tuesday night.
"It is great news," McCain said. "Now we must renew our efforts to free all of the other innocent people held hostage."
Months after the men's capture, a Colombian journalist filmed the three at a rebel camp, where FARC commanders branded them CIA spies and prisoners of war. A few months ago, family members saw footage of their loved ones from a captured rebel video.
"It's been a long haul here," George Gonsalves said at the time. "It has been a very trying experience, to say the least, not knowing how he is doing, what he is doing." The video showed Marc Gonsalves brushing bugs away from his face and Stansell staring silently into the camera.
Only Howes spoke, giving details about his will and telling his wife that he was proud of her.
"You think every year is going to be the year," George Gonsalves said. "That is what I thought last year and certainly I'll hope for that this year."

Utah Goes to 4 days a week..

Utah goes to 4-day workweek to save energy
Starting next month, thousands of government employees will only work 4 days per week, in an effort aimed at reducing energy costs and commuters' gasoline expenses.

In a yearlong experiment aimed at reducing the state's energy costs and commuters' gasoline expenses, Utah is about to become the first state to switch to a four-day workweek for thousands of government employees.
They will put in 10-hour days, Monday through Thursday, and have Fridays off, freeing them to golf, shop, spend time with the kids or do anything else that strikes their fancy. They will get paid the same as before.
"One of the jokes is that one of the biggest benefits will be for golf courses," said Ryan Walker, 49, an information technology director. He said he is looking forward to tackling items on his long-neglected "honey-do" list (As in: "Honey, do this" and "Honey, do that"); camping; and traveling more around the state.
The order issued by Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman will affect about 17,000 out of 24,000 executive-branch employees. It will not cover state police officers, prison guards or employees of the courts or Utah's public universities. Also, state-run liquor stores will stay open on Fridays.
The compressed workweek in Utah - whose motto is "Industry" and whose official symbol is the beehive, representing thrift and perseverance - could prove inconvenient to those who need to use state services and find certain offices closed on Fridays.
Also, some parents may have to rearrange their child care to accommodate their longer hours, and bus and commuter train schedules might have to be adjusted.
But many are excited about the idea.
"I'm thrilled," said Rose Kenworthy, 58, an executive secretary at the Utah Department of Environmental Quality. "Now I can do anything I want. I can have lunch with my friends, spend time with my grandchildren or just chill out."
Sheldon Wood, 48, who writes property tax software, plans on using his three-day weekends to go into the mountains to hike and bike with his wife, also a state employee.
Turning off the lights, the heat and the air conditioning on Fridays in 1,000 of 3,000 government buildings will save about $3 million a year out of a state budget of $11 billion, according to the governor's spokeswoman, Lisa Roskelley. The state will also save on gasoline used by official vehicles, but authorities have not figured out how much.
The Department of Environmental Quality estimated employees in six buildings alone will save themselves more than $300,000 spent on gas to commute to work.
The four-day workweek could also be good for the environment.
"We feel like we can reduce the CO2 or the ozone by around over 3,000 metric tons, as well as have an impact on our air pollution," said Kim Hood, executive director of the Department of Administrative Services.
In addition, the governor said the new schedule could help recruit younger workers who prefer a three-day weekend.
State officials will evaluate the program after a year and decide whether to extend it.
Because of the downturn in the economy and $4-a-gallon gasoline, many states are looking at cost-saving measures, including expanded telecommuting, compressed workweeks and more flexible schedules.
"Everyone's going to keep a close eye on it and see what happens in Utah and whether they can demonstrate employee effectiveness and the energy savings, too," said Leslie Scott, executive director of the National Association of State Personnel Executives, based in Lexington, Ky.
Many Utah state offices will extend their hours and stay open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. so people can use government services before or after work. And residents are being encouraged to use the Internet for hundreds of ordinary services, such as automobile registration renewals.
As for such things as hazardous spills and calls from Medicaid recipients who need approval for medical procedures, "certainly there are people who are on call 24-7 now, and those people will continue to be on call 24-7," the governor's spokeswoman said.
Natalie Smith, 38, who works on a state arthritis program, supports the governor's push to make government more environmentally friendly, but said the change will mean juggling schedules with her husband to take care of their two young children.
"We're not exactly sure how we're going to do it," she said. But she added that it will be nice to have Fridays to visit the library or the zoo or run errands.
Debra McBride, a Medicaid specialist who has been working four 10-hour shifts a week for about 20 years, said it is harder to make doctor's appointments and do other errands Monday through Thursday, and working longer hours can be rough.
"After working 10 hours in a day," she said, "I don't do anything after I get home."

Going Green

This weekend I took going green one step further. We recycle at home and do our best not to be wasteful. A couple months ago I bought Seventh Generation dish soap when shopping at Wegmans. It's an all natural dish soap that somes in a yummy Lavendar Floral & Mint scent or in a Dye Free Perfume Free version as well. This weekend we went one step further. I installed (yup, me) a low-flow showerhead in my parents bathroom. It was made by Waterpik an comes with 6 great settings. I got to try it out last night and OH BOY was it nice! My water seemed to come out with the same force but felt softer somehow. And even better it's gonna save on water and electricity. Now I just need to remember to go in the basement and be sure the water tank is set to 120 degrees F.

See folks, it's small changes that make a big impact. What are you doing?

Body Worlds - I'd do this...

(CNN) -- Toney Dixon's fascination with dead bodies goes back to her childhood, when she would sneak around her uncle's funeral home and watch him prepare bodies.

"I found my heart racing," said Dixon, 67. "But instead of being taken aback and terrified, I wanted to know more."
Years later, Dixon's curiosity drew her and her twin sister, Erlyene Toney-Alvarez, to Body Worlds, an exhibit that shows preserved human specimens bisected and stripped of skin.
"It's like standing in the mirror and seeing yourself in a totally new way," said Dixon, the younger twin.
The twins were so impressed that they signed up on the spot to donate their earthly remains to the exhibit, which is currently showing in the United States, Canada, England and Germany.
With their signatures, the women joined a group of people who believe that having their bodies dissected, preserved and displayed will serve a greater purpose than burial or cremation. Body Worlds' donor program boasts about 800 people in North America and 8,600 worldwide.
"I thought, since I like to think outside the box, this would be a really good way to preserve our bodies instead of the typical funeral," Toney-Alvarez said. "It's also something I can go to my death feeling good about, like I made a contribution to humankind."
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Body Worlds: More about the Institute for Plastination
Individual Americans have had the right to bequeath their bodies to science since 1965, when the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act established the human body as property. With that law, a donor's wishes superseded those of the next of kin.
But academics in the field of gross anatomy attribute recent increases in body donations to relaxed social mores, according to an article published by the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Traditionally, medical schools have been the most common recipients of willed specimens in America. Then, in 1993, controversial German anatomist Gunther von Hagens emerged with an alternative.
Von Hagens, a self-styled iconoclast who earned the moniker Dr. Frankenstein in Europe for performing a public dissection, invented plastination in the 1970s. See photos of the Body Worlds exhibit »
He spent the next few years popularizing and refining the process, which replaces bodily fluids and fat with plastic, earning equal shares of admiration and infamy.
In 1993, von Hagens founded the Institute for Plastination in Heidelberg, Germany, a research center that performs plastination and manages the Body Worlds exhibits.
The Institute produces specimens for Body Worlds exhibits and academic institutions that pay anywhere from $200 to $60,000 for them.
Von Hagens says he relies on donors not only as a source of specimens, but also as representations of Body Worlds' philosophy.
"I feel it is in line with democratic principles that you can decide in your lifetime whether to go to the cemetery or put yourself on display in an exhibition to teach the next generation," von Hagens said in a recent telephone interview.
Von Hagens says the Body Worlds donor program distinguishes it from similar exhibitions that have used bodies of questionable origin.
In a settlement with the New York State Attorney General's Office, Premier Exhibitions admitted that the specimens used in "Bodies ... The Exhibit" might be victims of torture or execution from Chinese prisons.
The settlement requires that Premier Exhibitions obtain proof of donor consent for specimens used in its shows. The company has also set up a fund to compensate visitors to its New York show.
Legislation is pending in several states that would require shows like Body Worlds to prove donor consent before they open.
Though von Hagens has weathered similar allegations over the years, he insists that the specimens in Body Worlds exhibits come from donors.
The Institute says that it obtains unclaimed bodies from Chinese medical schools, but they are not used in shows. It also acknowledged using unclaimed bodies from Russia until a body-trafficking scandal emerged in the Kyrgyz Republic.
Since then, the Institute has worked to emphasize its donor program, which is steadily growing.
"It is very, very important for the donors to know the purpose of the exhibit, that it is not entertainment, it is education and enlightenment," von Hagens said. "I have to be in peace with those on display."
The donors meet periodically at conferences, where they catch up with each other and with von Hagens. Recently, the sisters attended a donor conference in Los Angeles, California, with their mother, Irma Henry, who signed on in 1997.
Marc Rohner donated his leg to Body Worlds because he wanted others to learn from it.
"What you see in a picture or on "CSI" does not do justice to what the real human body looks like or how it functions," said Rohner, whose leg was amputated in 2006 to remove a malignant giant cell tumor. "By having a three-dimensional leg or black lung in front of you, you have areas of focus and details you can't see in a photo."
With his donation, Rohner, a pathologist's assistant in Columbus, Ohio, became the first living person to give a body part to the Institute.
Rohner acknowledges that the exhibits are not for everyone. Church groups in Europe have repeatedly denounced the shows as disrespectful, and skeptics around the world continue to question whether the Body Worlds specimens really are from legitimate sources.
But Toney-Alvarez says she will visit Body Worlds, even if her mother and sister are on display.
"Once you have passed on, it's just a shell. The memories are in the heart and in the mind," she said.

The Bucket List

I just finished watching the movie The Bucket List and can't tell you enough how much I loved this movie. I don't want to get too into detail because you need to go out and rent this movie. Brief overview: 2 strangers end up with cancer and in the same room; they decide there's too many things left in life that they want to do so they make a list and go for it.

I have one of these lists. I keep it in my purse and have a few things crossed off but hardly anything. I think I'm going to add a few things after watching this movie and am young enough that I want to start going after them with a gusto. Rent the movie, make your list and GO FOR IT!!!!!

Proud of my Baby Brother

Since my brother Donald granduated from McKinley, we've been paying pretty close attention to the whole debacle surrounding Jayvonna Kincannon and the principal - lovingly known as "Bitchy Barton." I didn't come up with the nickname but you have to admit it fits.

For 75 years, a graduate from McKinley has won the "I Dare You" award for youth leadership presented by the Alumni Association. For the past 29 of those 75 years, a great man named Otto has been giving this award out personally. Well, in a move that can only be classified as "Classic Crystal", she banned Otto from the building yesterday and had the cops there to make sure he didn't show up. Rumor was that she was going to try and skip the award all together. NOT!!!!!!!! Donald was asked to present instead. With his quick wit and easy smile, he calmed the nervous crowd, poked fun at his alumni counterparts from 1949 & beyond "I still have my original hair color" and then proceeded with a speech written by Otto. In front of news cameras, a reporter from the Buffalo news, and to thunderous applause, he announced Jayvonna's name. We got to see him on Channel 4 (www.wivb.com) at 5:00, 5:30, 6:00 and 11:00 pm. Not to mention he has a video on Channel 4's site. Aside from naming him "Ronald" in the original broadcast, we're all damn proud of him.

CouchSurfing.com

I recently heard about this link on the radio and - being me - had to check it out. I'm on the site now and am totally blown away by how great it all looks. You just sign up (free) and post a message as to where you're gonna be and when. Then people will contact you back and let you know that you can stay with them (free). You don't have to pay your host but apparently most folks bring a small gift or things to make dinner for the host. Check out some of the comments, I'm already thinking of all the great places I can't wait to visit!!
~J

www.couchsurfing.com

Brighton Days 2008

Saturday June 21st was Brighton's Field Days out in Tonawanda. River Road was there in all their glory and looking great. They were joined by Brighton (of course), Wendelville, Shawnee and tons of others. The Caladonian's marched with their bagpipes to bring a true parade feel.

Sun Loving Ladies

This past Monday we headed out to one of our favorite places to celebrate April's birthday as a group. Here's Nicole, Yates, Caron & April at Dug's Dive. Good food, good drinks and great friends made it the perfect night out.

R.I.P. George Carlin

I woke up this morning to the sad news that George Carlin has passed away. I'd rank this with Tim Russert's passing. While Tim was a positive advocate for his hometown and life in general. George didn't hesistate to tell us all to "F*&% Off!" and "Stop being an idiot!" It was the demise of common sense and his no-fear attitude that made him famous and tops in our hearts. God bless you George Carlin, your memory will live with us forever.

Happy Birthday April

Today's my best friend April's 31st birthday. Since she's done so well on her weight loss (over 40 lbs so far, GO APRIL!!) she wanted something healthy. She also doesn't like frosting. Hmm...... what is a baker to do with a cake that can't have frosting????? Simple! Angel Food cake with fresh, sweet strawberries. If I do say so myself, the cake tasted GREAT! My co-workers agreed. They all wanted a 2nd slice before we'd finished handing out the first! LOL

HAPPY BIRTHDAY APRIL!!!!

Go Gay Marriage!

I'm straight as an arrow but when it comes to gay marriage I say, why not? Gay people are the same as everyone else, so why not let them get married? I'm so happy that they have the opportunity to experience the joys we all have the access to. I hope the rest of the country follows suit.

RIP Tim Russert

I never had the honor to meet Mr. Russert in person but I was lucky enough to talk to him on the phone a couple of times. You see, I was an intern for his brother-in-law. He had called my boss but switched to the front desk to see if he was in. I was lucky enough to field that call and it's a moment I will never forget. God Bless you Mr. Russert, you were truly an angel on earth.

~J

Western New Yorkers remember Buffalo native Tim Russert

(WIVB) - Many people will gather in Washington later Tuesday afternoon to begin saying goodbye to beloved newsman Tim Russert.
A wake will take place Tuesday afternoon from 2:00 to 9:00 at St. Albans School in our nation's capital.
A private Funeral Mass is set for Wednesday, also in Washington, followed by a memorial service at the Kennedy Center.
News 4's Don Postles is in Washington and will have reports from there throughout the day.
The tributes continue to pile up at Tim Russert Park in West Seneca.
The moderator of NBC's Meet the Press died of a heart attack Friday at NBC's Washington Bureau.
New York Senator Charles Schumer was in town Monday. He announced plans to re-name part of Route 20 outside Ralph Wilson Stadium in honor of one of the Buffalo Bills' biggest fans.
(WIVB) - Western New Yorkers continue to mourn the sudden loss of broadcaster and South Buffalo native Tim Russert.
His wake is Tuesday in Washington, D.C.
In Buffalo hundreds continue to pay homage to the Buffalo bred journalist.
Sunday's candlelight vigil gave friends a place to celebrate the extraordinary life of South Buffalo native Tim Russert.
Alice Duke said, "He wanted people to be morally right, not only with themselves but with God. Tim expressed this clearly on Meet the Press, on the street, or at home."
The 17-year host of Meet the Press made his mark in Washington, but Buffalo was always home.
Duke said, "...a man that proved to all of us, you can be heard outside of Buffalo."
As a young man, Russert worked at the Western New York Democratic Headquarters.
Erie County Clerk Kathy Hochul remembers those days well.
Hochul (D) said, "Tim taught me that politics is a noble profession, that politics gives us the ability to better peoples lives."
Representative Brian Higgins (D-Buffalo) said, "He will be missed in the nation, throughout the world, but right here in this great community western New York."
As Russert looks down on a nation that recognizes his contribution to society; he'll forever be considered one of the greatest ambassadors for the City of Good Neighbors.
Russert: "Wherever I go throughout this country or around the world and I say with pride Buffalo, New York."
Russert's wake will be Tuesday at St. Albans School in Washington, D.C. from 2:00 until 9:00. We will have crew there to bring you live coverage of the event.
Some Federal Lawmakers say they would like to rename a portion of U.S. Route 20 near Ralph Wilson Stadium after Russert. He was a huge Buffalo Bills fan.

Explorers find 1780 British warship in Lake Ontario

Explorers find 1780 British warship in Lake Ontario
By WILLIAM KATES
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - A 22-gun British warship that sank during the American Revolution and has long been regarded as one of the ``Holy Grail'' shipwrecks in the Great Lakes has been discovered at the bottom of Lake Ontario, astonishingly well-preserved in the cold, deep water, explorers announced Friday.
Shipwreck enthusiasts Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville used side-scanning sonar and an unmanned submersible to locate the HMS Ontario, which was lost with barely a trace and as many as 130 people aboard during a gale in 1780.
The 80-foot sloop of war is the oldest shipwreck and the only fully intact British warship ever found in the Great Lakes, Scoville and Kennard said.
``To have a Revolutionary War vessel that's practically intact is unbelievable. It's an archaeological miracle,'' said Canadian author Arthur Britton Smith, who chronicled the history of the HMS Ontario in a 1997 book, ``The Legend of the Lake.''
The finders of the wreck said they regard it as a war grave and have no plans to raise it or remove any of its artifacts. They said the ship is still considered the property of the British Admiralty.
Although the vessel sits in an area where the water is up to 500 feet deep and cannot be reached by anyone but the most experienced divers, Kennard and Scoville declined to give its exact location, saying only that it was found off the southern shore.
The sloop was discovered resting partially on its side, with two masts extending more than 70 feet above the lake bottom.
``Usually when ships go down in big storms, they get beat up quite a bit. They don't sink nice and square. This went down in a huge storm, and it still managed to stay intact,'' Scoville said. ``There are even two windows that aren't broken. Just going down, the pressure difference, can break the windows. It's a beautiful ship.''
Smith, who was shown underwater video of the find, said: ``If it wasn't for the zebra mussels, she looks like she only sunk last week.''
The dark, cold freshwater acts as a perfect preservative, Smith said. At that depth, there is no light and no oxygen to hasten decomposition, and little marine life to feed on the wood.
The Ontario went down on Oct. 31, 1780, with a garrison of 60 British soldiers, a crew of about 40, mostly Canadians, and possibly about 30 American war prisoners.
The warship had been launched only five months earlier and was used to ferry troops and supplies along upstate New York's frontier. Although it was the biggest British ship on the Great Lakes at the time, it never saw battle, Smith said.
After the ship disappeared, the British conducted a sweeping search but tried to keep the sinking secret from Gen. George Washington's troops because of the blow to the British defenses.
Hatchway gratings, the binnacle, compasses and several hats and blankets drifted ashore the next day. A few days later the ship's sails were found adrift in the lake. In 1781, six bodies from the Ontario were found near Wilson, N.Y. For the next two centuries, there were no other traces of the ship.
Explorers have been searching for the Ontario for decades, and there have been numerous false finds over the years, said Eric Bloomquist, interpretative programs manager at Old Fort Niagara.
Kennard, an electrical engineer who has been diving for nearly 40 years and has found more than 200 wrecks in the Great Lakes, Lake Champlain, the Finger Lakes and in the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, began searching for the Ontario 35 years ago but quit after several frustrating and fruitless years.
Six years ago, he teamed up with Scoville, a diver who developed the remote-controlled submersible with students from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Since then, the pair have found seven ships in the lake.
Over the years, Kennard obtained documents from British and Canadian archives on the Ontario, including the ship's design plans. Even then, it took the pair three years of searching more than 200 square miles before they found the vessel earlier this month.
After locating the wreck with the sonar, the explorers used the submersible to confirm their find, documenting their discovery with more than 80 minutes of underwater video.
``Certainly it is one of the earliest discovered shipwrecks, if not the earliest,'' said Carrie Sowden, archaeological director of the Peachman Lake Erie Shipwreck Research Center of the Great Lakes Historical Society in Vermillion, Ohio. ``And if it's in the condition they say, it's quite significant.''
A rare feature that helped identify the ship: the two crow's nests on each mast. Another was the decoratively carved scroll bow stem. The explorers also found two cannons, two anchors and the ship's bell.
The clincher was the quarter galleries on either side of the stern - a kind of balcony with windows typically placed on the sides of the stern-castle, a high, tower-like structure at the back of a ship that housed the officers' quarters.
Kennard said he and his partner have gathered enough video that it will not be necessary to return to the site. He added that they hope to make a documentary about the discovery.
There are an estimated 4,700 shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, including about 500 on Lake Ontario.

A Cake for Princess Cecelia's 4th Birthday

My friend Heidi asked me to make a cake for her neice's 4th birthday. Her only requirements were that it had to feed 40 people, be princess themed and girlie. Well, here's the end result. It only took 7 cans of frosting and 6 cakes to make it happen. Did I mention the large jar of strawberry preserves for a filling? Yup, long hours, lots of sweat but the look on her face was worth it. :-)

Isle View, Isle Wow!

I took today & tomorrow off to be with my uncle at Roswell while he has his cancer scan. Being there can be a pretty humbling experience. You see all sorts of people coming and going with all stages of cancer. Men, women, tall, short, fat, thin, priest, nun. We were finished by noon so I had a quick bite of lunch with mom and some friends over at the school. Then, not wanting to be back in the house, I went to Dairy Queen for a peanut buster parfait and took it down to Isle View park to enjoy the wonderful weather. I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Frosted

I've been reading more and more about the gas crunch and while I don't own a car, I do drive my mother's van as often as I need to. In return I fill up her tank each payday and it's getting tougher.

But what frosts me is the people who complain they can't travel more than 2 or 3 times this year. I've taken 2 vacations in 5 years. The economy's so bad I can't get a car loan. You want me to feel sorry for you because you'll only get in 3 trips this year? Because you can't drive your motor home to the shore or that your fishing boat is now a lawn ornamet. Bite me.

It also frosts me that my sister has to say the pledge in spanish. Granted she says it in english first but guess what folks, we have 1 government, 1 official language and just because you're moving here from a spanish speaking country doesn't mean I have to adapt to your lifestyle, you need to adapt to ours. Welcome to America, leave your other language at the door.

Ed McMahon

You know it's bad when Ed McMahon is in foreclosure!

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The foreclosure problems sweeping the United States apparently have ensnared Ed McMahon, who is best known as Johnny Carson's sidekick on "The Tonight Show."

ReconTrust reportedly filed a notice of default related to a loan for Ed McMahon's house.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that McMahon was $644,000 in arrears on a $4.8 million loan for a home in Beverly Hills, California.
McMahon's spokesman, Howard Bragman, confirmed to CNN late Tuesday that McMahon is in discussions with his lender and hopes to find a resolution.
The newspaper reported that ReconTrust, a division of Countrywide Financial, filed a notice of default related to a loan for McMahon's house in Los Angeles County Recorder's Court on Feb. 28. It said his house has been on the market for about two years.
Nationally, one of every 194 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing in the first three months of 2008, according to recent figures from RealtyTrac.
There were nearly 650,000 foreclosure filings -- which include notices of default, auction sales and bank repossessions -- issued during the first quarter of 2008. That's up 23 percent from the last quarter of 2007, and up a staggering 112 percent from the same period a year ago.
Foreclosures increased in 46 states and in 90 of the nation's 100 largest metro areas.
More than 156,000 families have lost their homes to bank repossessions this year.

Japense Junk

TOKYO (AFP) - Doctors who carried out surgery on a Japanese man to remove a "tumour" had good news and bad news for him. He did not have cancer -- but the "growth" that had been causing him pain was in fact a 25-year-old surgical towel.
The patient had been carrying the cloth since 1983, when surgeons at the Asahi General Hospital in Chiba prefecture near Tokyo left it in him after an operation to treat an ulcer, a spokesman for the hospital said.
The man, now 49, went in to another hospital in late May after suffering abdominal pain.
When examinations found what was believed to be an eight-centimetre (3.2-inch) tumour, he underwent the operation to remove it. It was only then that surgeons realised it was a towel.
"The towel was greenish blue although we are not sure about its original colour," the Asahi General Hospital spokesman said, adding it had been crumpled to the size of a softball.
Asahi hospital officials visited the man and apologised, he said.
The former patient has no plans to sue the hospital, which is in talks with him over compensation or other measures, the official said.
Japanese media reports said the man, who was not identified, still had his spleen removed

Grand Prairie, Grand Gross

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Elaine Fulps is thrilled about the prize she won at a minor league baseball game. But she's hoping she doesn't have to collect on it anytime soon. Fulps, 60, won a $10,000 paid funeral at Tuesday night's Grand Prairie AirHogs game.
The prize won't expire until after Fulps does, said Ron Alexander, the sales manager at Oak Grove Memorial Gardens, which partnered with the team and Irving's Chapel of Roses Funeral Home to sponsor the event.
"I almost croaked many times," said Fulps, who was wearing a neck brace — the most recent effect of about 20 surgeries she's undergone for various medical problems. "God still has me around for a reason. To win a funeral."
Fans in this Dallas suburb were eager to join in the grim fun.
Some finalists for the prize arrived dressed in black or looking like death. The finalists participated in a pallbearer's race, a mummy wrap and a eulogy delivery.
Fulps, randomly chosen as the winner at night's end, said she'll choose a casket and plot as soon as she recovers.
"I'm going to pick a spot under a tree out of the Texas heat," she told The Dallas Morning News. "And let's hope it's a pet-free cemetery. I don't want to get watered on."

Too fanny....oops, I mean funny!

UTRECHT, Netherlands - Utrecht police say a 21-year-old Dutch man is recovering after a "mooning" that went horribly wrong.
A police statement says the man and two others had run down a street in Utrecht with their pants pulled down in the back "for a joke."
It says that at one point the 21-year-old "pushed his behind against the window of a restaurant" that broke and resulted in "deep wounds to his derriere."
The statement released Tuesday says police detained the three men after the incident Sunday morning. But the cafe owner decided not to press charges after the men agreed to pay for the broken window.
The injured man was treated for his injuries at a nearby hospital.

Pre-filled pools........ dirt cheap!

Again, just seconds from my house! Thank God Donald didn't get called to this, I'd still be a wreck.
~J

Massive warehouse fire in Buffalo prompts emergency demolitions
Posted:
Aerial view of fire from camera on HSBC Center building.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - - Buffalo's Fire Commissioner has now ordered emergency demolitions at the site of yesterday's raging warehouse fire on the West Side.
It took Buffalo's Bravest nearly 24 hours to bring the fire at Leisure Living Pool Supply Warehouse under control. The flames re-kindled yesterday afternoon and spread to the chemical storage area.
A dozen Buffalo Firefighters suffered smoke inhalation battling the blaze. Portions of the Niagara Thruway, Niagara Street and nearby railroad tracks were closed for hours. The search for a cause is just getting started.

Happy Birthday to the Shopping Cart

The first shopping cart was introduced on June 4, 1937, the invention of Sylvan Goldman, owner of the Humpty Dumpty supermarket chain in Oklahoma City. With the assistance of Fred Young, a mechanic, Goldman constructed the first shopping cart, basing his design on that of a wooden folding chair. They built it with a metal frame and added wheels and wire baskets. Another mechanic, Arthur Kosted, developed a method to mass produce the carts by inventing an assembly line capable of forming and welding the wire. The cart was awarded patent number 2,196,914 on April 9, 1940 (Filing date: March 14, 1938), titled, "Folding Basket Carriage for Self-Service Stores". They advertised the invention as part of a new “No Basket Carrying Plan.”
The invention did not catch on immediately. Men found them effeminate; women found them suggestive of a baby carriage. "I've pushed my last baby buggy," an offended woman informed him. After hiring several male and female models to push his new invention around his store and demonstrate their utility, as well as greeters to explain their use, shopping carts became extremely popular and Goldman became a multimillionaire. Goldman continued to make modifications to his original design, and the basket size of the shopping cart increased as stores realized that their customers purchased more as its size increased. Today, most big-box stores and supermarkets have shopping carts for the convenience of the shoppers.

RIP YSL

PARIS, France (CNN) -- International fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent died Sunday night at his home in Paris, longtime friend and business associate Pierre Berge said. He was 71.

Saint Laurent was the last of an era of fashion designers that included Coco Chanel and Christian Dior, for whom Saint Laurent worked until Dior's death in 1957. Berge, chief executive of the fashion house, told France Info Radio that Saint Laurent died at 11 p.m. (5 p.m. ET).
"There are not that many people in the pantheon of fashion," Berge told the station. "There will be two who will undeniably remain -- one who symbolized the first part of the 20th century, and that's Chanel, and the other one who will symbolize the second part of the 20th century, and that's Yves Saint Laurent."
Saint Laurent's became synonymous with the glamour of the Paris catwalk and the elegance of haute couture.
He took Paris by storm in the 1960s and 1970s with his masculine, yet elegant, trouser suits for women. He also popularized tight pants, the trapeze dress, smocks, thigh-high boots and tuxedo jackets. Saint Laurent often used ethnic themes in his designs, as well as bright colors contrasted with black.
His jackets, "le Smoking" in French, featured for the first time on the catwalk see-through shirts that shocked and delighted the public. Watch how St. Laurent was considered a French national hero »
In a 2002 interview with CNN, London-based fashion designer Ben de Lisi called Saint Laurent an inspiration for a whole new generation of designers.
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"Way back in the '60s, he was doing, for couture, crocodile biker jackets based on Marlon Brando. He was doing alligator trousers. And that was just unheard of," De Lisi said.
Saint Laurent introduced his "Ligne Trapeze" after Dior's death, when he became chief designer at Dior. He left Dior in 1961 and opened his own couture house, financed by Berge, in 1962.
In 1969, Saint Laurent pioneered designer men's wear, with media stars such as Mick Jagger, David Bowie and Andy Warhol in mind. Out went the pinstripes -- in came fashion modern men wanted to wear. See some of Yves Saint Laurent's work »
Vogue magazine editor Diana Vreeland mounted a retrospective of Saint Laurent's work in 1983 at the Museum of Metropolitan Art in New York, the first time a living fashion designer had been so honored.
But after 40 years in the business, Saint Laurent, increasingly dogged by ill health, was slowing down. He retired in 2002. Some critics said his work was becoming repetitious.
In 1999, he sold the rights to the YSL brand to Gucci for $70 million, retaining control of Sanofi Beaute.
Saint Laurent was born August 1, 1936, in Oran, Algeria. After winning first prize in the International Wool Secretariat contest for his asymetrical cocktail dress in 1954, he went to work for Dior.
Berge said the designer was intensely shy.
"Like all creators, he had two faces -- a public face and a private face. The public face, everyone knows about it. And the private face, people know it less," Berge told the radio station.
"He was shy, introverted ... had very few friends. He was hiding from the world, and was seeing very few people."

Manolo's, Cosmo's, Girlfriends and Shoes

Today is the day, the day a great number of women have been waiting for, a day I wasn't sure would come.... but it did. The Sex & The City movie premiered tonight and I couldn't pass up the chance to see it opening night. In fact, I rushed home to fix my hair, put on some make up, grab my favorite Prada purse (yes it's real) and of course some friends. Renita & Tish went with me to laugh and cry as the girls we've loved for years went through the familiar motions and landmarks. PS - there's a tour that'll take you to all the hot spots from the show. Roadtrip anyone?

I've been watching the show in re-runs almost every night so I've missed the ladies a bit less than I could have. That didn't lessen my desire and excitment for the movie. I like to think of myself as Carrie: creative type seeking love. But who wouldn't want to be Charlotte? Rich, beautiful and happy. She seems to have it all. Then there's Samantha, if I had a sex life like her's I wouldn't be able to hold a full time job! LOL Miranda might be the least liked character I can relate to her more often than not. I like things to be cut & dry. Do what you need to do and lets get a move on. She also has trust issues... again, who doesn't?

While I can't actually be one of the girls from the show, I'm happy that I have girls of my own who are actually better because they're real. I've got my April, my Caron, my Nicole & my Chris. Each one of us different and each one of us a bit better when we're together. Maybe they can't run right over when I'm in trouble or heartbroken, but I know there's going to be a text message and phone calls. The real life way we let people know they're not alone.

So, did Carrie & Big get married? What dress did she wear? What happened to the rest of the girls and are the old characters there? I'll only tell you this. Carrie gets photograped in a number of designer name dresses I'd sell a kidney for and a wedding gets planned..... but how it happens or if it even does... you'll just have to go see for yourself. Personally, I plan to be first in line the day it comes out on DVD and that night I'm having the party dozens of women are having tonight. Cosmo's, champagne and fabulous shoes, what more do you need?

Dunkin' Donuts and Rachel Ray

No one has more respect or love for her country than I do and I agree a better choice should have been made but it makes me wonder which way we're going. I work with a woman of middle easter heritage and aside from needing to switch to decaf (ps - she doesn't even drink coffee) I think she's GREAT!!

Dunkin' Donuts pulls Rachel Ray ad over 'terror' controversy
The coffee and baked goods chain removes an online spot where Ray wears a fringed black-and-white scarf that critics complain looked like a kaffiyeh, the traditional Arab headdress.

BOSTON (AP) -- Dunkin' Donuts has pulled an online advertisement featuring Rachael Ray after complaints that a fringed black-and-white scarf that the celebrity chef wore in the ad offers symbolic support for Muslim extremism and terrorism.
The coffee and baked goods chain said the ad that began appearing online May 7 was pulled over the past weekend because "the possibility of misperception detracted from its original intention to promote our iced coffee."
In the spot, Ray holds an iced coffee while standing in front of trees with pink blossoms.
Critics, including conservative commentator Michelle Malkin, complained that the scarf wrapped around her looked like a kaffiyeh, the traditional Arab headdress. Critics who fueled online complaints about the ad in blogs say such scarves have come to symbolize Muslim extremism and terrorism.
The kaffiyeh, Malkin wrote in a column posted online last Friday, "has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad. Popularized by Yasser Arafat and a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos, the apparel has been mainstreamed by both ignorant (and not-so-ignorant) fashion designers, celebrities, and left-wing icons."
A statement issued by Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin' Brands Inc., however, said the scarf had a paisley design, and was selected by a stylist for the advertising shoot.
"Absolutely no symbolism was intended," the company said.
Dunkin' spokeswoman Michelle King said the ad appeared on the chain's Web site, as well as other commercial sites.
Malkin, in a posting following up on last week's column, said of Dunkin's decision to pull the ad, "It's refreshing to see an American company show sensitivity to the concerns of Americans opposed to Islamic jihad and its apologists."
Ray, host of the Food Network television program "30 Minute Meals" as well as a syndicated daytime talk show, began appearing in ads for Dunkin' Donuts in March 2007. When Dunkin' announced the partnership, it said Ray would be featured in TV, print, radio and online spots in a campaign running through 2010.

Woman Dies in Iron Lung after Power Outage

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP) -- For almost 60 years, Dianne Odell lived inside a 7-foot-long metal tube, unable to breathe outside it but determined not to let it destroy her spirit.

From her 750-pound iron lung, she got a high school diploma, took college courses and wrote a children's book about a "wishing star" named Blinky.
"I've had a very good life, filled with love and family and faith," she said in 1994. "You can make life good, or you can make it bad."
Odell, 61, died Wednesday when a power failure shut off electricity to the tube and stopped the pump drawing air into her lungs.
Family members were unable to get an emergency generator working after a power failure knocked out electricity to the Odell family's residence near Jackson, about 80 miles northeast of Memphis, brother-in-law Will Beyer said.
"We did everything we could do, but we couldn't keep her breathing," Beyer said. "Dianne had gotten a lot weaker over the past several months, and she just didn't have the strength to keep going."
Odell, who contracted polio when she was 3 years old, lived with her parents, Freeman and Geneva Odell, and their house was equipped with an emergency generator designed to fire up immediately in a power failure.
"But for some reason, it didn't come on," Beyer said.
Family members even tried an emergency hand pump attached to the iron lung. "Everyone knew what we were supposed to be doing," Beyer said. "It just wasn't working."
Capt. Jerry Elston of the Madison County Sheriff's Department said emergency crews could do little to help. The local power company reported spotty power outages in the area because of storms.
Odell was afflicted with "bulbo-spinal" polio three years before a polio vaccine was discovered and largely stopped the spread of the crippling childhood disease.
Her care was provided by her parents, other family members and aides provided by a nonprofit foundation.
"Dianne was one of the kindest and most considerate people you could meet. She was always concerned about others and their well-being," said Frank McMeen, president of the West Tennessee Health Care Foundation, which helped raise money for equipment and nursing assistance for Odell.
Odell accepted her life with grace, McMeen said.
"Everyone she encountered came to her because they cared about her," he said, "so she grew up in her 61 years thinking every person is good."
Odell's iron lung, similar to those used during the U.S. polio epidemics that peaked in the 1950s, was a cylindrical chamber with a seal at the neck. She lay on her back with only her head exposed and made eye contact with visitors through an angled mirror. She operated a television set with a small blow tube and wrote on a voice-activated computer.
The positive and negative pressures produced by the machine forced air into her lungs and then expelled it.
Iron lungs were largely replaced by positive-pressure airway ventilators in the late 1950s that give users much more freedom of movement. But a spinal deformity from the polio kept Odell from wearing a more modern portable breathing device.
Joan Headley of Post-Polio Health International in St. Louis said that about 30 people in the United States still rely on iron lungs but that few users are confined to them all the time. No one keeps records, she said, on the longest confinement.
Caregivers could slide Odell's bedding out of her iron lung for basic nursing care but only briefly, McMeen said.
Though Odell could not leave the iron lung, she was able to be moved in the machine. For her 60th birthday, in February 2007, friends and family held a party for her, with about 200 guests, at a downtown hotel in Jackson, a town of about 50,000 residents.
"She had a 9-foot birthday cake, and she had letters ... from people all over the country," McMeen said

Memorial Day Parade

Hey guys, uploaded a ton of pix to my MySpace page of the Kenmore Memorial Day parade. An hour and 45 minutes and 60 pictures later I was happy to sit! LOL

Indiana Jones and Me

So, all but one of my staff is off today for a jumpstart on the long weekend. Since I'm just about at my max for carry-over on my days off, I talked to my manager last night who gave me today off as well. Since I'm the only one here and the only one who's dying to see the new Indiana Jones movie, I'm off to see it later on. I'll let you know how it is!

Sex & The City in Just 7 DAYS!!!!

I am so excited I can hardly stand myself. Next Friday, My 30th..... yes, a mere 7 days away, the movie of the year will open. The closer the release date gets, the more previews play and the more I want to see it. I'm wondering if I should pre-order my tickets now. I know April won't go see it with me and Chris will be happily settling into her new job (miss you Skinny!) but I wonder if I can't get Nicole to trek into the city to go with me. Hmm... maybe Caron can come to. Either way I'll happily go alone but this is a total girlfriends movie. Does Carrie really move out to Cali? Has Miranda really settled into Brooklyn? Charlotte has a baby and what did they name the baby girl they adopted?! They never did say at the end of the series. And Samantha is up to her old trick from what I can see in the preview. Where's Smith? Mysteries to be revealed in an agonizing 7 days!!