Perhaps its the market and economy crashing, perhaps its the turn of the weather towards cool evenings, and overcast days, and ever increasing amounts of nighttime, perhaps its it missing family and the farm back home but I have been thinking about winter and the holidays. (Note: I also have a fear that all the way too early Christmas talk is playing with my mind, forcing my mind to think holiday thoughts - like leaving bright lights on a chicken 24 hours a day, or putting a sheet over a bird cage)
Anyways airline tickets have been expensive for the holidays and there seems to be little chance they are going to lower prices for the holidays even though oil continues to nose dive. So the at least initial discussion between Becky and I is that we will be driving home for thanksgiving. I admit seeing Becky's GPS work its magic certainly makes me a bit excited about the otherwise long trip. But I have stumbled upon another thing that will make the trip even better, no, the best DC to MI road trip ever.
Apparently, checking Google maps the route home takes us to the outskirts of Cleveland. A small 15 minute detour will take us to a place that is like the Graceland of Christmas. No, not Santa's workshop, better, Ralphie's House!
The house has been restored and prepped because this year is the 25th anniversary of the movie.
Do you see the leg lamp in the window?
A lot of the props are located in the gift shop and ticket office (here's hoping they have the red rider bb gun!) but if you want to see the leg lamp or pink bunny suit your going to need to get a ticket to tour the house. Once your in you are free to tour the house and take pictures wherever you like.
Want to have your own picture of you man handling the leg lamp? go for it! That by the way is some of the cast from the movie. (A Christmas Story cast reunion around the leg lamp in A Christmas Story House living room at the Grand Opening. From left to right Zack Ward (Scut Farkus), Yano Anaya (Grover Dill), Tedde Moore (Miss Shields), Ian Petrella (Randy), Scott Schwartz (Flick), Patty Lafontaine (Elf) and Drew Hocevear (Elf).)
Or bring a bar of soap and take a picture of you biting it in the bathroom like Ralphie.
And when your done? You can go get Chinese turkey at the pearl of the orient, (where the family went after the turkey disaster) and get 10% off!
I am not one to usually get shaken while talking to people but there seems to be one person who seems to consistantly cause me to get all hot and sweaty (in bad way) and make me jumble my words and that is the Head of HR. It is like I am on a perpetual first date. I just came back from delivering two timesheets that a couple of my coworkers didnt send over friday. It should have been a quick breezy hello/good morning and gone.
How the conversation should have went: Me: Good Morning - Here are some time sheets that didn't make it in on friday HR: Thank you. Me: Have a good one! I Leave the Room
How it really happened: Me: Good morning! Here are some time sheets th- HR: Thanks. Me: -at didn't {-commence panic - Do I stop? Do I finish my sentence? say something else? Lets do all three! Brilliant!} mmmake itwa ina on freidayyy.
{Oh no ! I just totally had a jumble of words fall out! More panicking. Now what? FLEE!!!}
I Turn and leave as fast as possible While Fleeing the room As fast as I can -
Me: Have a gwood oneb. {Damn it man! Fleeing and More jumbles? Geesh now she thinks I'm at least socially awkward, perhaps have a speech impediment, and/or possibly just plain dumb}
Needless to say its the I am putting way to much pressure on my self to make a good impression and so instead falling flat on my face. I guess I just need to take a breath from now on before stepping into her office. That and play it cool and relax. Or practice by going on a bunch of first dates, though...I don't think Becky would approve of this last solution.
Well today was a beautiful day. Was 68 degrees when I left for work, perfect walking weather. It was in the 70s today with a slight breeze and some clouds. If only the office had windows that opened. Then to top things off I got paid for labor day.
There was much discussion between all of us who were around the the 1000 hours and 6 months mark between whether we qualified or not, as according to the guidelines in our handbook we were a bit short of the necessary hours in the allotted time frame to qualify for holiday pay. But apparently they lowered the requirements since our book was last revised or they made an exception for labor day as I got a separate check stub for 7 hours of holiday pay (at usual hour rate). (Not sure why they don't do the full 8 but who am I to complain?!) Nothing beats taking the day off and still getting paid!
Well I was feeling pretty good this afternoon then saw a few things in the news that kind of brought me down. Well all the September 11th remembrances and services definitely are somber way to start the day as I listened to NPR while getting ready. I didn't notice any extra security today in the metro system which is a bit surprising as some people seemed to think the city would be on edge or extra cautious. I though didn't see anything to suggest people were treating today unlike any other day.
The only local reminder we had was the warning to prepare extra time if your commute takes you near the pentagon, especially if using public transportation (which normally stops there, or in the case of the metro runs underneath it.) This wasn't necessarily because it was September 11th but because this morning the president and a number of other high ranking dignitaries spoke at the pentagon and dedicated, I believe, the first completed memorial to those who died at the pentagon. It will open to the public tonight. Sometime soon I would expect Becky and I to visit.
Here is a link to a picture of the memorial and an audio tour where the designers explains the symbolism.
What else is bringing me down? The fact that DC is about to become a laughing stock around the world....again.(and rightfully so) I am sure everyone remembers the 54 million dollar lawsuit brought by a then city judge against a local dry cleaners over a pair of lost pants.....that were found...but then the judge claimed they were not his even though they were an exact match....and refused offers by the dry cleaners to pay for an entirely new suit. He ended up having a full court case heard before being his case was judged for the defendants. At the time we all wished the DC courts would throw out the case but were thankful that at least by getting a full trial he wouldn't be able to appeal and the case would be sealed.
Well that now unemployed judge (thank goodness he was up for review when he brought the lawsuit - and how crazy must you be to to bring up this crazy lawsuit while being up for review - and he must have been one crazy judge, feel bad for the people who had him judge their cases.) Anyways the now unemployed Judge has actually continued his fight and has actually won the right to an appeal! Why DC courts, why? So looked forward to hearing more about pantsgate in your local media. Oh and on top of the 54 million (which started as 67 million before he reduced it) he is asking for half a million in legal fees even though he is representing himself.
Check out the sheer amount of paperwork that has been generated over one pair of pants in the video below. It is mind boggling, even for me, and I work in a room filled with legal work. Also you get to see the reporter break the news to the owners that they are going to have to fight this again. IE Needed to see video and more after the cut (click the title to see full post).
Finally the last thing is that Hurricane Ike is going to be a biggie. No not in sheer size but it is being described as a "freak" by meteorologists. It seems to be generating unusually high amounts waves and tidal surges for its wind speed. On top of this if its an area like Corpus Christi, people there haven't seen a hurricane hit since 1980 and may be unprepared for whats about to hit.
Look at the warning the National weather service has put out for the people on the coast of Texas.
LIFE THREATENING INUNDATION LIKELY!
ALL NEIGHBORHOODS...AND POSSIBLY ENTIRE COASTAL COMMUNITIES...WILL BE INUNDATED DURING THE PERIOD OF PEAK STORM TIDE. PERSONS NOT HEEDING EVACUATION ORDERS IN SINGLE FAMILY ONE OR TWO STORY HOMES WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH (My emphasis). MANY RESIDENCES OF AVERAGE CONSTRUCTION DIRECTLY ON THE COAST WILL BE DESTROYED. WIDESPREAD AND DEVASTATING PERSONAL PROPERTY DAMAGE IS LIKELY ELSEWHERE. VEHICLES LEFT BEHIND WILL LIKELY BE SWEPT AWAY. NUMEROUS ROADS WILL BE SWAMPED...SOME MAY BE WASHED AWAY BY THE WATER. ENTIRE FLOOD PRONE COASTAL COMMUNITIES WILL BE CUTOFF. WATER LEVELS MAY EXCEED 9 FEET FOR MORE THAN A MILE INLAND. COASTAL RESIDENTS IN MULTI-STORY FACILITIES RISK BEING CUTOFF. CONDITIONS WILL BE WORSENED BY BATTERING WAVES. SUCH WAVES WILL EXACERBATE PROPERTY DAMAGE...WITH MASSIVE DESTRUCTION OF HOMES...INCLUDING THOSE OF BLOCK CONSTRUCTION. DAMAGE FROM BEACH EROSION COULD TAKE YEARS TO REPAIR.
If that isn't enough to show how bad this mere level 2 hurricane could be take a look at this chart showing the surge wave damage potential on a rating from 0 to 6, with the highest recording of Hurricane Katrina being a "5.1" at its peak when it hit the coast. Click to make bigger.
Yep Hurricane Ike is currently rated at a 5.2. If you look at the raw numbers that generate the ranking it is currently 10% percent stronger than Hurricane Katrina's peak Surge wave damage potential.
Also while not having the stronger winds it is freakishly large for a level 2 Hurricane. From this very detailed write up with lots more information:
Ike is larger than Katrina was, both in its radius of tropical storm force winds--275 miles--and in it radius of hurricane force winds--115 miles. For comparison, Katrina's tropical storm and hurricane force winds extended out 230 and 105 miles, respectively. Ike's surge will probably rival the massive storm surge of Hurricane Carla of 1961. Carla was a Category 4 hurricane with 145 mph winds at landfall, and drove a 10 foot or higher storm surge to a 180-mile stretch of Texas coast. A maximum storm surge of 22 feet was recorded at Port Lavaca, Texas. Despite the fact that the center of Carla hit over 120 miles southwest of Houston, the hurricane drove a 15-foot storm surge into the bays along the south side of the city. Ike's maximum surge is not likely to reach the extreme values above 20 feet seen in Hurricane Carla, though.
Oh speaking of hurricanes we weathered the remnants of Hurricane Hannah just fine. We got around 4 inches of rain in the city but it seemed just like a rainy day. Didn't even seem to get that much wind. Some areas near DC did see up to 11 inches though, thankfully not us.
A great story about DC Lobbyists and the people who stand in line for them. Apparently there is a bill to ban the practice. I actually kind of hope it doesn't pass as it provides easy, decent paying stints, if you can get the job. If anyone knows where to find lobbyists or temp firms hiring line standers let me know!
Bonus video: Allen Raymond, a former Republican operative talks about how he participated in suppressing votes and the games political parties play. Interesting stuff.
We got our first snowstorm yesterday. Generally speaking, 2-4" accumulated in the immediate metro area, with 3-5" in upper Montgomery and Frederick counties. Here is some pictures from downtown. Thanks to the Capital Weather blog for the pictures.
Recently a video has leaked of a segment that was shown at the Scientology award ceremony when Tom Cruise was presented with the IAS Freedom Medal of Valor in 2006. The Scientology sue happy lawyers are working overtime to try and completely erase any trace of this leak so who knows how long these videos will last. They do though provide an interesting picture into the crazy propaganda scientologists watch about themselves and a view into some of their "programs". Also we get to see tom cruise being crazy.
Before one watches the videos though it helps to know a few abbreviations Scientologists use. ------------------------------------ 1) Sp= Suppressed Person. Whats that? Well Hubbard and Scientology teach that SPs comprise the most evil two and a half percent of the planetary wog population. "Wogs" are what Scientologists call the human race or Homo sapiens. Scientology teaches that Scientologists comprise a new race, "Homo novis" or "Homo scientologicus," a much more able, aware, intelligent and ethical race than the "humanoid" wog race. The organization markets and delivers courses training Scientologists how to spot or identify SPs among the wogs they encounter in life, and then to shatter the SPs once spotted. In reality, cult leader Miscavige and his Sea Org religious police do the identifying of Suppressive Persons for shattering, and rank and file Scientologists simply obey their police arm's SP declarations and other orders.
Scientologists are indoctrinated to proclaim that Scientology possesses the only mental or spiritual system that "works," or has ever "worked," and in fact produces "total freedom." Scientologists universally are dedicated to "keeping Scientology working," and they spend immense amounts of time and enormous sums of money to keep it working. The work Scientology claims it is performing is the "processing" of people, with its trademarked technology, from the state of "raw meat," or wog or human being, to the most astonishingly superior and stable state called "Clear." More processing, Scientology says, takes Clears to superperson states and "never before imagined" beings called "Operating Thetans," or "OTs." Tom Cruise in not only an OT but a level 7 OT the highest level ever achieved by anyone and it is rumored he is considered to be the equivalent of "Jesus" to scientologists, L. Ron Hubbard being God of course. To get the full story of SP's you can go here.
2)LRH= L Ron Hubbard, Founder of Scientology and hack scifi writer.
3)KSW= KSW stands for Keeping Scientology Working, a policy letter written in 1965 by L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology’s founder. In the letter, Hubbard, a science fiction writer, outlined 10 steps to ensure survival of the movement. He commends members for carrying out the first part of the mission, but urges them to take it further and eradicate what he called "incorrect technology."
"This point will, of course, be attacked as ‘unpopular,’ ‘egotistical’ and ‘undemocratic,’" Hubbard wrote in the letter. "It very well may be. But it is also a survival point. And I don’t see that popular measures, self-abnegation and democracy have done anything for Man but push him further into the mud." This comes from the Chicago tribune newspaper.
One of the craziest segments
Tom Cruise on Tom Cruise
To see the Full Segment of Tom Cruise getting the Medal and the various programs Scientology puts on this site has them.
Well I usually let all the good stories about whats going on with us go to Becky, as she usually is the one that takes the pictures and just plain beats me to the punch but not this time.
We already have our plans set for this weekend...we are going to go to the bathroom...together. Yep a public restroom too, specificaly the 2nd floor restroom of the National Portrait Gallery.
Yes it seems for a short 6 week window we can see a piece of work so honored, so treasured, that it had to be hung outside the hall of presidents...even if that means in the restrooms. This would be of course the legendary "Colbert Portrait". For the full story on the portrait and how it ended up there you can watch the videos below. The short version is that Stephan Colbert of Comedy Central's "Colbert Report" convinced the national portrait gallery to hang up his portrait that normally hangs above the show set's fireplace.
Becky and I are big fans of the Colbert Report and were a little bummed that they filmed a small series here in DC recently and we missed it! Oh well, the portrait will have to do. I wonder if there is a website that lists celebrity visits/Sighting in DC...
