Three little pigs and a goat

What do these have in common? Well, while they are all animals, and are featured in fairy tales, they are also the Christmas presents my mom gave me this year and last. No, I don't have animals in my back yard, the city would have a huge battle against that. They are gifts my mom generously gave to a charity that provides these, and other resources, to poor third world countries that need these for whatever reasons, to feed their population, maybe get goat's milk, or other reasons. One can also donate items such as computers and probably help fund aqua purification systems. I think it's a terrific idea and I'm very grateful to be able to help others truly in need this time of the year. If everybody did that, either locally or someplace in the world, just making a small donation would truly benefit everybody and certainly make the spirit of the holidays much more appreciable to every donor and donee. Merry Christmas.

Worrying about the weather

I managed to dodge most of the damage from Irene. I remember well what Isabelle did in my area eight years ago. It formed off of the coast of Africa and headed to the Virginia coast. Now, I heard that there's another one that formed off the coast of Africa. Will that one ring our bell, too, or will we be luckier this time? I'm not big into meterology; I can't tell you the difference between El Nina, El Nino, although I do know what an El nincompoop is although that has nothing to do with hurricaines. It's been a really bad year for weather, tornados in the South, hot air and fires in Texas. Makes you wonder if this isn't some of the signs of the Apocolypse. After all, the Aztecs predicted that the world will end on a December day next year, but if they were so astute, whatever happened to them? The only Aztecs we have now are the ones affiliated with San Diego State University and I don't think that the majority of the faculty and student body walks around dressed as them.

Cell phones and driving

I don't understand why there is a single US state that allows people to talk on the cell phone and drive. You are maneuvering usually at least a 2000 pound machine down the road surrounded by other machines, some of which are a lot larger, and the laws of physics mandate that you can't occupy the same space with any of them at the same time. If you inadvertanly try, then the result is an accident. You need both hands on the wheel and your attention centered in a 360 degree direction. All distractions need to be minimized. Even talking with another person in the same vehicle can be a distraction; how much more so can that be talking with somebody you can't see? It's a recipe for disaster. I've even seem some of the dumbest cell phone behaviors, more so by woman, i.e. backing up and talking on a cell. If you need to make a phone call call the person then hang up and back up, drive, and be safe. This applies even more so to texting and driving. If you're not willing to practice good driving habits, you shouldn't be on the road.

No gas day

No this isn't being mindful of flatulence. There's a posting running around the Internet to not buy gas on April 15. That might be a good idea at face value, but skipping buying gas on that day won't keep your car running if the gauge gets down to zero. I guess if you need gas for your car you should be appreciative because you probably have a job or income. If you need the gas to go and find a job, fill up on April 15. Nobody will hold it against you and good luck in the job market.

Election Nov. 2

The first Tuesday in November should be an interesting day. The Republicans are trying to wrest control of Congress from the Democrats, and they're trying to hang on to their majority. "They" say that one of the most interesting races is the local one here between Scott Rigell and Glen Nye. Earlier this month, I wrote a letter to the editor rapping Rigell for his current and former campaign ads. The one that I thought was the silliest was an ad he ran many months ago. He said that he was going to go to Congress and fire Nancy Pelosi. The closing jab in my letter was that if he did get elected (I said if Hades froze over but they edited that part) that he would be a freshman Representative and wouldn't have the power to fire the men's room attendant. That's pretty acerbic but I thought he was pretty arrogant for his statements. I noticed that nobody commented on my letter. In truth, I didn't think they would publish it. I do get published about twice a year, and that's probably about the most they would do so that one person doesn't hog the op-ed page. I really enjoy writing letters to the editor. I relish the opportunity to see my name in print and most of the letters I write are about matters close to my heart, such as one about the Governor's desire to close Southeastern Virginia Training Center, which houses adults who are developmentally delayed. The governor nixed his idea later, but I'm not that arrogant to think he did so after reading my letter. Anyway, getting back to the campaign, I also found it interesting that Rigell ran a commercial talking about his humble roots when he came to Virginia, his dealership, and his first business which was a janitorial one. Maybe I was clairvoyant; the ad didn't run until after my letter. Maybe Rigell would want to fire the men's room attendant so that he could apply for his job? Who knows. I say aye for Nye. One more comment: seems like a lot of people want to get rid of the Democrats because of the current economic situation, and have the Republicans fix this mess. However, wasn't it the Republicans and that retired guy from Texas that got us into this situation? Obama is right; it takes time to turn all this around. I don't want a bunch of elephant worshipers trying to fix all the ills that ail us. Let's see what happens in three days. Stay tuned....

Mouse in the house, part two

I found more mice in my house. It was either one or a few more, I don't know. It (or they) ran from closet to closet and I could hear a lot of scratching at night. The problem is field mice, little brown ones that are fast as "hello". I saw the mice in the kitchen, in my bedroom, and one escaped from the closet it was in and ran under a couch. I finally called an exterminator. The tech who came out first got me to sign a long term contract for a year; he gave me a hundred dollars off the initial visit with the proviso that they would come out every every month and keep the bugs away. The latter is a minor problem. The tech that set the traps came out about five days later and said he saw droppings in the attic; the first guy also saw them under the house. The second guy then explained (wonder why the first guy didn't say that) that the mice were probably hibernating under my house. When the weather got warm, they all took off except for the ones that were left behind. Those were the ones that were running around my house looking for an exit. If I had known that, I could have left the front door open for awhile and maybe the stragglers would have hit the road and saved me $150 plus the every other month thing. At least I know in the future what to expect. The mice also don't fall prey easily to mousetraps. One ran right by two as he was darting from closet to closet. At least the house sounds a lot quieter for the past night. Maybe the one (or ones) that were left behind finally figured out how to get the hello out of Dodge and join their family members outside. Good riddance.

Death of a mouse?

I have a mouse in my house, I think it's a louse, but whatever it is it's a lousy intruder. It's small and brown and I've seen it running around. I spied it three times, the last one running into a closet in the living room last night. I put out a mouse trap but it didn't take the bait. Then, I came up with an idea. I got two boards and a picture I wasn't using and blocked the outside of the closet. About half an hour later, I heard this scratching sound. Whatever it is was stuck inside the closet. I went online and found out that a mouse in a calm environment can live about 12 days; it it's under stress than it will last 2-3 days. Good! Maybe I'll smell the fumes from a rat (or a mouse, a good deceased one) by Tuesday or Wednesday, then it will be gone forever, that is after I unceremoniously sweep it into a dust pan and toss it's habeus corpse out the door.