9 years ago
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Tobacco discrimination at work
The speculation and rumors have been circulating for months now, but still no release of the 'official' new policy. The latest twist going around today is that not only are they going to ban smoking on company property (including in your own personal vehicle), but that no legal tobacco products will be allowed on the premises! At first I thought my coworker was just kidding around, trying to get me riled up - but 'twas not the case. How the feck will they be able to enforce this - mandatory oral cavity inspections to make sure someone isn't chewing, car searches to look for butts in the ashtray?!?
Although I've tried to not let it (as nothing is 'official' yet), this has upset me to the point where I can't get my mind to stop reeling - and it's beginning to effect my health in ways that smoking cigarettes never has. Anxiety attacks, trouble sleeping, mad at the world... although I know it sounds crazy, this may very well be the straw that breaks this camel's back.
Before posting a pro anti-tobacco comment, think long and hard about why someone could and should be upset about a policy like this.
Stay tuned for updates...
Although I've tried to not let it (as nothing is 'official' yet), this has upset me to the point where I can't get my mind to stop reeling - and it's beginning to effect my health in ways that smoking cigarettes never has. Anxiety attacks, trouble sleeping, mad at the world... although I know it sounds crazy, this may very well be the straw that breaks this camel's back.
Before posting a pro anti-tobacco comment, think long and hard about why someone could and should be upset about a policy like this.
Stay tuned for updates...
Friday, August 22, 2008
NYS Fair Pics
Mmmm, there's nothing like the smell of beef, pork and chicken cooking low and slow. Hubby bought his first smoker this past spring and has been hooked ever since, so of course, we had to stop and check out all the various setups, not to mention conduct a few taste tests. ;o)
The fair always brings out the kid in me, and I can't leave without visiting all the various livestock - sheep, cows, goats, pigs, horses, alpacas, rabbits, etc... I'm sure hubby wouldn't complain a bit if I said I wanted to skip them - but he was a good sport and came along with me. 
I in turn, reciprocated by joining him to check out the old/antique tractors.
New for 2008 was a second memorial in dedication to our service men and women. You can't see it well in the pictures, but there are several brick paths representing each branch of the military that extend from the sculpture. The individual bricks list the name of the soldier, rank and years of service. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my nephew had a brick in the Air Force path.
Pictured below is the Navy leg of the original veteran's memorial where my dad has a brick.
All in all, hubby and I had a great day despite my being a little queasy for a few hours after taking a ride on the Top Spin. This wasn't the first time I had ridden this ride, but I'm pretty sure it'll be the last! I eventually recovered and was able to enjoy several other rides, plus we stayed late enough to catch a great fireworks display and I won my first ever game of 'I Got It'!
Not sure what the Top Spin does - click the play button!
Video courtesy of: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a14_1190564973
The fair always brings out the kid in me, and I can't leave without visiting all the various livestock - sheep, cows, goats, pigs, horses, alpacas, rabbits, etc... I'm sure hubby wouldn't complain a bit if I said I wanted to skip them - but he was a good sport and came along with me. 
I in turn, reciprocated by joining him to check out the old/antique tractors.
New for 2008 was a second memorial in dedication to our service men and women. You can't see it well in the pictures, but there are several brick paths representing each branch of the military that extend from the sculpture. The individual bricks list the name of the soldier, rank and years of service. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my nephew had a brick in the Air Force path. 
Pictured below is the Navy leg of the original veteran's memorial where my dad has a brick.
All in all, hubby and I had a great day despite my being a little queasy for a few hours after taking a ride on the Top Spin. This wasn't the first time I had ridden this ride, but I'm pretty sure it'll be the last! I eventually recovered and was able to enjoy several other rides, plus we stayed late enough to catch a great fireworks display and I won my first ever game of 'I Got It'!
Not sure what the Top Spin does - click the play button!
Video courtesy of: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a14_1190564973
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Biodiesel from NYS Fair butter sculpture
Nine hundred pounds of butter will end up fueling the vehicle fleet at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF). "Thirty-seven percent of the college's fleet runs on some form of renewable energy, including biodiesel," said ESF President Cornelius B. Murphy, Jr. "Using the butter sculpture is a unique way to fuel the ESF fleet."
After the fair’s 12-day run ends on Labor Day, the butter will be brought to the ESF biodiesel production facility. The first step is to clarify the butter to remove the water and milk proteins. He said it takes about nine pounds of butter to make a gallon of biodiesel, so this year’s 900-pound sculpture should yield around 96 gallons of biodiesel.
Source (and video footage):
http://www.esf.edu/communications/news/2008/08.20.butter.htm
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
You must 'think of the children'....
First off, I'll be the first to admit that I am way behind where I probably should be in my knowledge of politics and history. I personally hated them back in school, and have only recently, due to the current political environment in the USA, developed an interest in them. Better late than never I suppose.
So here's the deal - something snapped in me about a month ago and just hearing the phrases 'For the children' or 'Think of the children' now makes my blood boil. It doesn't seem like a day goes by anymore without some politician proposing another piece of legislation that will 'save/protect our children'. I wonder if this is a relatively new movement or have I just been oblivious to it all these years? Anywho, I decided to do a little research on Google tonight and came across the following quote -
"The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation."
In my opinion, this pretty much sums up what has been going on. Now, being a newcomer to this whole history thing - I had never seen this quote before tonight and wouldn't have been able to tell you who said it.
Do you know? Here's a clue...
Source: Mein Kampf; the Ralph Manheim translation published by Houghton-Mifflin, 1943. pg 403.
Still not sure - click on the link to discover the author...
http://www.crusader.net/texts/mk/
For more perspective on this issue, please check out this well written post at the blog - What is Going On?: http://swfreedomlover.wordpress.com/2008/05/01/for-the-children-overused-and-abused-manipulation/
So here's the deal - something snapped in me about a month ago and just hearing the phrases 'For the children' or 'Think of the children' now makes my blood boil. It doesn't seem like a day goes by anymore without some politician proposing another piece of legislation that will 'save/protect our children'. I wonder if this is a relatively new movement or have I just been oblivious to it all these years? Anywho, I decided to do a little research on Google tonight and came across the following quote -
"The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation."
In my opinion, this pretty much sums up what has been going on. Now, being a newcomer to this whole history thing - I had never seen this quote before tonight and wouldn't have been able to tell you who said it.
Do you know? Here's a clue...
Source: Mein Kampf; the Ralph Manheim translation published by Houghton-Mifflin, 1943. pg 403.
Still not sure - click on the link to discover the author...
http://www.crusader.net/texts/mk/
For more perspective on this issue, please check out this well written post at the blog - What is Going On?: http://swfreedomlover.wordpress.com/2008/05/01/for-the-children-overused-and-abused-manipulation/
Saturday, August 9, 2008
CNY Scottish Games / Celtic Festival
Hubby and I goofing around...
Brooke had fun meeting lots of new friends, including this Scottish Deerhound...
Highland dancer competing...
Neither of us could muster up the courage to try some haggis. ;o)
Stone Throw
Sheaf Toss
Caber
Brooke had fun meeting lots of new friends, including this Scottish Deerhound...
Highland dancer competing...
Neither of us could muster up the courage to try some haggis. ;o)
Stone Throw
Sheaf Toss
Caber
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Rooting the Runners
8/24 Update - separated 'baby' plants from 'mom'
To my surprise, the hanging strawberry basket I purchased at the Regional Market this spring has produced some of the sweetest strawberries I've ever tasted. Since my plan is to build a raised strawberry bed next spring anyways (just have to figure out where to put it), thought I'd try to root some of the runners. Not being quite sure about the best way to do this, I checked out various articles online and decided to use the advice from this site as a guide: http://www.gardenhive.com/fruit/strawberries/grow/runners/
I potted 20 of the best looking runners this morning and the picnic table (aka: Linda's Garden Bench) now looks like a mini strawberry patch.
In a few weeks, the roots should be pretty well established and I'll be able to snip their lifeline to the mother plant.
To my surprise, the hanging strawberry basket I purchased at the Regional Market this spring has produced some of the sweetest strawberries I've ever tasted. Since my plan is to build a raised strawberry bed next spring anyways (just have to figure out where to put it), thought I'd try to root some of the runners. Not being quite sure about the best way to do this, I checked out various articles online and decided to use the advice from this site as a guide: http://www.gardenhive.com/fruit/strawberries/grow/runners/
I potted 20 of the best looking runners this morning and the picnic table (aka: Linda's Garden Bench) now looks like a mini strawberry patch.
In a few weeks, the roots should be pretty well established and I'll be able to snip their lifeline to the mother plant.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Coverup for the ugly freezer
What to do with a freezer that works perfectly but looks like hell...and buying a new one is not an option.
A convenient solution for a lot of folks would be to put it in the basement, great idea but ours isn't accessible from inside the house. Next best solution for us, has been to hide it in the garage out of sight! This would've worked better if our garage were attached to the house, but it isn't. With another CNY winter right around the corner, it was time to move it indoors. And really, who wants to run out to the garage or down to the basement to pull out a couple dinner rolls anyways?
The top of the door was in the best condition with just a few little rust spots. So step 1 was to have hubby give it a fresh coat of appliance epoxy spray paint. We would have just painted the rest of it and called it a day if it weren't for the dings, dents and floppy motor housing door that doesn't latch properly. As it was, a coverup was the only viable solution.
Haven't seen these tools in at least a year... I think I remember what I'm doing. Can't screw up this cut so I measure and re-measure multiple times. ;o)
It's all coming back to me now... I sewed 2 rows of basting stiches and then pulled to gather.
Next step was to add the band. It took a little more time than expected to get the gathered piece to be the same length as the band and to make sure the gathers were evenly spread out over the entire piece.
Last step was to attach the skirt with sticky Velcro squares. It's basically done at this point but I'm going to go back tomorrow and sew the squares to the fabric for extra support as I'm not sure they will actually stay stuck. This was a fun rainy day project - and for a total cost of about $20, we now have the convenience of having a freezer in the kitchen.
Before pic:
A convenient solution for a lot of folks would be to put it in the basement, great idea but ours isn't accessible from inside the house. Next best solution for us, has been to hide it in the garage out of sight! This would've worked better if our garage were attached to the house, but it isn't. With another CNY winter right around the corner, it was time to move it indoors. And really, who wants to run out to the garage or down to the basement to pull out a couple dinner rolls anyways?
The top of the door was in the best condition with just a few little rust spots. So step 1 was to have hubby give it a fresh coat of appliance epoxy spray paint. We would have just painted the rest of it and called it a day if it weren't for the dings, dents and floppy motor housing door that doesn't latch properly. As it was, a coverup was the only viable solution.
Haven't seen these tools in at least a year... I think I remember what I'm doing. Can't screw up this cut so I measure and re-measure multiple times. ;o)
It's all coming back to me now... I sewed 2 rows of basting stiches and then pulled to gather.
Next step was to add the band. It took a little more time than expected to get the gathered piece to be the same length as the band and to make sure the gathers were evenly spread out over the entire piece.
Last step was to attach the skirt with sticky Velcro squares. It's basically done at this point but I'm going to go back tomorrow and sew the squares to the fabric for extra support as I'm not sure they will actually stay stuck. This was a fun rainy day project - and for a total cost of about $20, we now have the convenience of having a freezer in the kitchen.Before pic:
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