Kratzen vom Rathaus

The Storm Before The Calm

Well, Thanksgiving is over. The weekend was fairly quiet, barring a bout
of rattieflu that is going through the big cage. One vet trip, a
boatload of vibromycin, technofleece nests a hygrometer and thermometer
for the cage later and things or more or less back to normal. (There is
the usual medication corrolary that sick rat is easy to medicate, but as
they get progressively better, doping them gets progressively
harder...) Now Christmas is on its way. Being 2475 miles from my family (I looked
it up on mapquest) means that Christmas shopping is due NOW. As is
everything for my classes- two papers, a project and a presentation this
week. The first week of December is often crazy.

Hayward DOT

This afternoon, I noticed that someone had been by to repair the no parking sign the guy used as a ramp for his dukes of hazzard audition last week. The thing is, they only replaced the sign. What I mean is, they put the sign back on the pole and afixed it properly, but  the sign post still remains at 45 degrees from the norm (or 45 degrees from the ground- I guess this is like the half full/half empty thing)
So they replaced the sign at an angle that no one could possibly see without viewing from overhead. Well, there goes all the parking for those visitors from SFO we were expecting...

How To Dress A Turkey

In *another* recipe designed never to get into Cook's Illustrated, I prove that it is possible to play with your food even if you're going to give it to someone else.  Eeeewwww.
What is actually going on is that members of Women in The Wind (a local women's MC club) ride down to foodbank with turkeys every year. They extend an invitation to the women in WoW because, hey, more is better when you're donating. I decided I would join them this year, even though I had a manic phase about a month agao and have already cleared my cabinets. (THREE bags to the food barrels this year, woohoo!)
I hope the outfit makes it at least to the rendezvous location. I have a reputation as a crackpot to uphold.

This Made Me Very Happy

I started seeing these signs all over campus this week. This one has a tab taken, which makes me even happier. Perhaps someone non-PA related has considered taking up the cause.
Way to go, Anonogamer! Wouldn't this be cool if it became a viral marketing phenomenon?

Reverse Homesickness

Holly's name has come up a lot lately. I really miss my
friend/sister/daughter and I think her absence is felt more when the
weather is grey because she has such a sunny personality. Anyway, its
down to about six weeks now. She gets home Christmas Eve, then I get to
fight with her biological family for her time. (It's kind of like Kramer
vs Kramer without the Oscar winning performances.) Ahem. Anyway, that's what I woke up thinking this morning, so that's what you
get to read.

It's The Cheese

Did I mention that I have now been granted honorary ex-Wisconsan status. After the latest embarassment my former home-state has caused me, I finally opted for expatriation. Carolyn said I could claim Wisconsin with her, and I liked the idea because, heck, Holly's there and that's family.
Anyway, any tips on how to behave like an ex-Wisconsinite/ex-Wisconsan? I guess it should start with the identifier. There's Ohioans, and Michiganders, Californians and Minnisotans.  But I'm not sure of the proper name for people from Wisconsin and it does seem like something that would be on the naturalization test. Also, is it ok for me to continue to buy California cheese? Do I have to like the Packers?

Mechanical Weathering

Wow. Everybody but everybody seems depressed about the early darkening hours, the rain, and the cold. Buck up people- we've all got comfy houses completely bedecked with Mr. Edison's wonderful Elekricity to help us through the cold, dark nights.
And...
And, get this! We can also even gather at each other's comfy houses and enjoy all that Majickal light and warmth together. I"m pretty sure that's how Thanksgiving *really* got started. Well, minus the central heating and colllege football anyway.

Season's Greetings

Well, Halloween's over.
It's officially that autumny season again. Thanksgiving is on its way.
As if to remind me of this, on my way up the hill, I saw five of our resident mutant wild turkeys. Well, they're either mutants or they were crossbred with oxen because these things were HUGE. I'm opting for the mutagen given the presence of my own dear ROUSes.   Seriously, I was on the bike and the turkeys looked up from their grazing and stared down at me. They were that tall.  Eep.
As if that wasn't enough holiday horror for one afternoon, I came across this advertizment for Jones soda. Green Bean Cassarole? Ick. It's enough to drive a girl to drink. But not that stuff.
Although let's face it, the fruitcake soda is probably better than the original.

I'm still serving the traditional- chewable- forms at Thanksgiving this year. Let me know if you want an to join me in celebration of mastication.
We won't be having one of the local turkeys, though. They scare me.

 

ADDENDUM: The Jones cola was inspiring enough to make it to Reuters Oddly Enough section. I am *very* mad I didn't think of this pun first.

Offstreet Parking

One of my neighbors learned a valuable lesson in Physics this afternoon. Quite valuable, I'd guess, taking a look at the front of the SUV.  Remember kiddies, speed and rain don't mix. Particularly if you live in an area where the road is so bad THEY ARE HAVING NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGS ABOUT IT. Is the logic here really that tricky? From the damages, it looks like he might have actually been slightly airborne from the initial impact of the sign post (pic 1) when he hit the cement pilon that protects the fire hydrant (pic 2). This must have been a fascinating piece of menevering...
Ironically, the sign he tore off its post (pic 1) states that there is no parking at any time.

Why There Should Be Speedbumps on My Street

This was the original picture I took of the wreck. At the time I had just gotten off my bike- in front of my garage. This spot, directly in front of my house, is where all the contractor trucks like to land. They come flying down our street and launch themselves slightly on a rough patch of road up the street. Then they land right in front of my house with a Kerblam that can be heard at the back of my house and enough vibration to set off a seismograph.
Obviously, this guy wasn't a contractor.
The professionals land in the middle of the street.