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December 31, 2010

I'll Take a Pig in a Poke

Hogmanay\ hog-muh-NEY \, noun;
1. a gift given on New Year's Eve.
proper noun:
1. New Year's Eve in Scotland.


Not sure I'd want a pig for New Year's, but a rasher of bacon would be nice.

Oh wait. That'd contradict last years resolution, to give up pork.

And I Will

As usual



You Should Stay Home for New Year's Eve




By the time New Year's Eve comes around, you are usually exhausted. You just need to rest.

That doesn't mean you won't celebrate, but you'll definitely be toasting the new year in your own low key way.

You'll reflect on the year that's passed and make plans for the year to come.

And when the clock turns over at midnight, you'll be cheering along with anyone else. You'll just be in your pj's!


Southfork Longhorn


Taken w/ a cheap film camera, then transferred to digital.

From 2000, a trip to Southfork, the ranch from the hit TV show "Dallas", with my big sister Sharon and our British friend "Elle".

December 29, 2010

Beep! Beep! Beep!

That's the sound of me backing up...well, I already backed up, but the "beep beep beep" sound is still in my head.  Come to think of it, it was in my head a LONG time before I even got a computer.

Yup, I found my brand new but year old external hard drive and hooked it up.  Was really easy, just plugged it in, nothing to install.  It took a little while, but I copied almost* all the stuff I wanted to the HD; my photos, my music, my porn and nearly everything else.

*I say almost because I couldn't copy a folder;  it's my "work" folder I keep on my Desktop.  I create a folder each month, like "Dec-10" and save everything for that month in it, then after the month is done, I create another and drag the previous month's folder into the current one.  After trying several times and getting an error message, it dawned on me that I must have met some limit imposed by Windows, either the number of nested folders or perhaps maxing out the length of a file name due to that.  Doing a little research, I found there is a limit of 65,536 entries in a directory--that's what I found, whether that's the problem could be debatable.

What's not debatable is I am a cyber-pack rat, saving nearly everything and seldom throwing the stupid stuff away. (which is nearly all of what I save)

Whatever, I got my stuff saved now.  Whew.  I would've hated to have lost my photos, although the "best" have been uploaded to Picassa.  What would've made me sick would have been losing my music, especially the six different versions of "It's a Long Way to the Top (if you want to rock and roll)".

December 27, 2010

Why Didn't I Think of That?

Actually, I have, but didn't figure it would pay.

Man quits job, makes living suing e-mail spammers

I DID have cruel fantasies about chopping off their hands, though.

December 23, 2010

I Would've Thought "Bah Humbug"



You Are Merry Christmas




You are a traditionalist when it comes to the holidays, and you aren't going to be politically correct about it.

You celebrate Christmas, and you don't think there's any reason to hide it. Most other people celebrate it too.


You are content to wish everyone a "Merry Christmas." It doesn't have to be a religious thing.

"Happy Holidays" is just too generic for your taste. You aren't going to tone down your greeting for anyone.


12 Creative Christmas Ads

From Odee: 12 Creative Christmas Ads

The first one caught my eye because it reminded me of our dear, departed friend Brad. I think he would've liked it.

(click for larger image)


From the site:

Origami Christmas tree ball made out of newspaper, with a special advertisement for Christmas.


This Christmas all readers of the Almere Vandaag get an extra present. This free morning newspaper for all Almere residents gives away due to this festivity an origami Christmas tree ball made out of newspaper. You have to fold it yourself, of course. Gladly, the Almere Vandaag also provides the readers with a 2-steps folding instruction for beginners. So it's not complicated and you'll enjoy building it.

December 22, 2010

Strange Christmas Facts

From the Photobucket archives:


Saint Nicholas of Myra, the original Santa Claus, was the patron saint of children, thieves and pawnbrokers.

Based on previous surveys, 17 percent of you will embarrass yourselves in some way at your office Christmas party.

A Mongolian wild ass can run 8 mph faster than a reindeer.

It's Donder, not Donner.

Christmas pudding should be stirred from east to west.

56 percent of Americans sing holiday carols to their pets.

53 percent of Americans plan to "re-gift" this year.

1 in 3 men will wait until Christmas Eve to finish their shopping.

1 in 6 men would like to get rid of all the "gift-giving nonsense."

A traditional Christmas dinner in early England was the head of a pig prepared with mustard.

On Christmas Eve in 2001, the Bethlehem Hotel had 208 of its 210 rooms free.

It's "God rest ye merry, gentlemen," not "God rest ye, merry gentlemen."

There are 1.76 billion candy canes produced every year.

Kris Kringel, a man in his 40s, lives in North Pole, Alaska, and delivers pizzas for a living. He drives a 1984 Ford Tempo.

Based on a 1999 estimated population count of North America and Europe, on Christmas Eve of that year Santa Claus had to visit 42,466,666 homes in a 12-hour period -- that's 983 homes per second.

December 21, 2010

Spot On !



Your Attachment Style is Dismissing




You are confident and extremely independent. You honestly don't think about others' opinions.

You believe that you are worthwhile and deserve the best. Getting it is a whole other matter.

You have trouble getting close to people. You've been burned before, and you're not eager to be burned again.

You tend to spend a lot of time alone. You're much more comfortable when you're by yourself.

December 19, 2010

Might Be Gone

My hard drive is making funny noises, so I might be gone f/ a while. Sad thing is I have a brand new external drive, but never did hook it up. -sigh-

Getting worse as I type this. Yikes.

Might be time f/ new PC.

Love to all


UPDATE: Seems to have sorted itself out; was probably just a dust bunny in the bearing. Still, I need to hook up the ext. hard drive, not that it would help this computer, but I would like to backup my music and photos.

December 14, 2010

Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!

Found a cool trick at Firefox Facts:  

25 Most Popular Firefox Support Tips in 2010

For those of you playing with Firefox 3 – Beta 5, try typing about:robots into your address bar and hit enter.


Which will bring up a page with this: (click image for larger view)



December 12, 2010

gallivant

gallivant\ GAL-uh-vant \ , verb;
1. To wander about, seeking pleasure or diversion; gad.
2. To go about with members of the opposite sex


It's been so long since I've gallivanted, I think I've forgotten.

December 11, 2010

Orange You Glad?

You don't have to kiss me?

Any raspberry kissers out there?



Your Kisses Taste Like Oranges





You are cool headed in all aspects of your life, including kissing. You don't rush into things.

You make sure to put others before yourself. You're an excellent kisser, and you don't kiss and tell.

You are always smiling. You're optimistic and cheerful, even when your kisses are rebuffed.

You and a raspberry kisser will experience true romantic bliss, but a peach kisser will be too much drama for your taste!

December 1, 2010

Draw Poker, No Joker

I was playing a game of poker earlier today; I threw away a queen out of a pair, hoping to at least get a flush, but drew into a Royal Flush





















I was afraid to bet it too big, but my computer opponents insisted upon raising my fairly modest wager.  In hindsight, I wish I had bet more.












Yep, read 'em and weep.

November 28, 2010

Grate Ejucashun

I've been keeping up with my alma mater's football team via their Facebook page: Miami Warriors Football Fan Page

I noticed something when I first "liked" the page and have kept waiting for someone to fix it.



I guess I shouldn't be hard on whoever started the page and wrote the description. They probably went to school there, just as I did...and you know how bad my own writing are is.

November 27, 2010

At First

I thought this was a quiz about insects.

I agree w/ most of the results, although I'd never, ever buy a red car. They get ticketed the most.



You Are a Red Bug




You are passionate, spontaneous, and even a little bit wild.

Your emotions drive you, and you can be surprisingly aggressive at times.

You sometimes act without thinking. You tend to follow your desires.

You are big on instant gratification. You find it hard to wait for what you want.

Duelling How-Tos

Two WikiHow articles that popped up in my reader yesterday and today:



November 24, 2010

My Heart Skips a Beat - Buck Owens

Every time I see the "Friendship Heart" application on Facebook, I think of this song.

November 23, 2010

ABC Outs FN Chef!





















As far as I am concerned, Fieri should just STAY in the closet.

November 21, 2010

November 18, 2010

'95 Pampa Tornado

I hadn't seen this video;  it's of the second, more powerful tornado that came very close to the prison.

Gross Countries Visit This Blog

Uh, I mean a gross of countries.






From the latest Flag Counter stats

November 17, 2010

I'm a Night Owl



You Burn the Midnight Oil




No matter how hard you try, you just don't make a good morning person.

You probably don't feel like your brain turns on until at least noon.

You tend to get energized and inspired late into the evening - no matter how early you had to get up.

Try to schedule your time so that you can be productive after dark. There's no use fighting who you are.

idioglossia

idioglossia\ id-ee-uh-GLOS-ee-uh \ , noun;
1. A private form of speech invented by one child or by children who are in close contact, as twins.
2. A pathological condition in which a person's speech is so severely distorted that it is unintelligible.


Or, maybe how we Texans talk. For example, in Tex-speech, my sister Sharon's name is pronounced "Shurren".

If I Had a Daughter...

She'd probably look and act something like this young girl.

She'd most likely sing and curse like this, too.

WARNING! Some graphic language!

November 16, 2010

Beer Gear

I got a Coors gear catalog in the mail yesterday; I was surprised at how much all the stuff cost - tshirts for $18.50, sweatshirts for forty bucks and up, etc. There was even a Coors beer can mini-fridge for $180 (plus shipping and handling!). (online store)

I'll never buy any beer or liquor shirts; I've got loads left over from when I worked at the pkg. store...and I got those for free. I still get some free stuff now 'n then because when I see one of the vendors at the grocery store I ask 'em if they've got anything. Most of the time they don't - they tell me that part of the budget has been cut way back - but sometimes they do.

What gets me is that, if I bought something, it'd be free advertising for them. Seems like they should furnish the clothing and pay me!

November 13, 2010

P.O.'d Possum



The noise at around :28 seconds in is the Beej, annoyed that I was outside and not paying attention to him. Later in the vid I'm poking a stick near the cage.

October 15, 2010

Who'd a Thunk Punk?




You Are Punk Music



You've thought long and hard about what mainstream society has to offer...

And you've pretty much decided that most normal things aren't for you.

You're creative, expressive, and likely to do things yourself.

You are a rebel and a fighter. You'll defend your point of view to anyone.






I certainly agree with the parts in bold.

October 9, 2010

This Possum's Not Playing



One down, dunno how many more to go.

My faithful readers have probably noticed I haven't posted much; I've explained before that my connection has slowed to a crawl, but before I have the telephone people out, I wanted to run a new line to my computer,just so they wouldn't have anything to complain about on my end.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided I'd run the new line under the house so I got all the stuff together and made my way through the crawl space at the side of my hovel house. I hadn't gone very far -scootching along on my back, the floor joists just a few inches above my face -when I heard a strange noise, almost a cross between a growl and a hiss. I slowly turned my head and came face-to-face with one pissed off possum.

The details are a bit fuzzy, but I do remember trying to jerk myself upright, but there wasn't enough room for me to raise my head very much and I banged my noggin on one of the beams. Thank goodness I had a thick sock cap on to protect my head from the nasty, damp dirt (it had been raining) or I might have done some serious damage to my otherwise thick skull. I'm not for sure how long I was out - couldn't have been too long - but when I woke up there was a possum chewing on my pants leg.

I made my way out from under the house and after a couple of days recuperation from what I'm sure was a fairly good concussion, I found a trap my nephew had given me and set it up by the entrance to the crawl space. (it took me a while to figure out the simple mechanism, and I'm sure the blow to my head had something to do with my cognitive skills)

It took a few tries to get the trap working properly, but I found out what possums like to eat; wieners, chicken bones, lunch meat, etc. They don't seem to like bananas or strawberries though. As I said, I wasn't setting the trap properly and the bait was stolen several times (except for the fruit, they left that alone)

I found this little guy in the trap the next morning and he wasn't pleased at all to be cooped up. Still angry over nearly knocking myself out, I thought I might just shoot the little bugger, but decided I'd better just take him out to the country and let him go. (Still, I secretly hoped a coyote would give him a slow, painful death.)

It rained all the next day and I didn't release him as planned. Checking on him (and feeding it a couple of weiners)I saw it looked miserable and cold. I found an old towel, covered the cage and brought it on the porch. (and now need to clean the possum poop off the porch and will do so as soon as it dries up) I drove just past the city limits the next day and released it near a tree-filled gully. I'm sure it was as glad to get away from me as I was from it.

I've got a video I took just before I released it and will post it as soon as I get my connection sorted out. This photo took about five minutes+ to upload, so there's no way a video would be feasible at this time.

Not sure how many more are under my house, but I'm bringing a baseball bat the next time I venture under there. I'll probably wind up knocking myself out with it if I get scared again.

(There you go, Colleen! Stay tuned for the video!)

September 27, 2010

I Think That I Shall Never See

Another quiz about a tree.




You Are an Autumn Tree



You are contemplative and deep. You enjoy observing the world around you.

You know that change is inevitable, and you try to roll with whatever life brings.

You can see the extraordinary in the ordinary. You are easily inspired.

You try to remain balanced and steady in the face of upheaval.


Lazy Sunday

I haven't been doing much in this blog - as you can tell, huh? I really haven't felt like it, plus I really need to run a new line to this computer and increase my speed back up to where it's supposed to be. In fact, the snail's pace of my DSL connection has kept me from doing much at all online. I've got some photos to upload, but I don't care to play a half-dozen games of Hearts waiting on the upload and I can forget having more than one or two tabs open at a time. I really enjoy listening to my Launchcast radio, but it takes so long to load the player I've almost given up on that.

Yesterday was really a lazy day for me and other than playing the ToTG Triva Tournament, I didn't check in here, not even to check the visitor stats from either of the "counters" I have. It must have been a lazy Sunday for everyone else because we had the least amount of visitors since I started the blog, unique OR repeat.



Still, there were a few visitors to the Cast Away threads and a couple for my post on "The Short Bus" but I was surprised there was no one checking out "My Sister's Feet" or the Gay Dwarfs.

Brought to you by the letters "T&A"

Katy Perry's Boobs Banned from "Sesame Street"

It seems the only boobs allowed on network television are the ones doing the programming.

September 21, 2010

brobdingnagian

brobdingnagian\ brob-ding-NAG-ee-uhn \ , adjective;
1. Of extraordinary size; gigantic; enormous.



One widget is worth a thousand words.

September 20, 2010

imago

imago\ ih-MAH-goh \ , noun;
1. An idealized concept of a loved one, formed in childhood and retained unaltered in adult life.
2. Entomology . An adult insect.



A few years back, an old girlfriend from high school re-entered my life; at the time, I didn't have a significant other and was thrilled to see the woman, one of my first loves. We were visiting, catching up on family and old friends and I was reminiscing about things that had happened those many years ago and she looked distressed.

"Mike, I'm not the same person I was back then."

Fair enough, I thought; I'm wasn't either, but I thought it might be flattering to her for me to remember so many things we had done together. Oh well, maybe she didn't view those times with as much fondness as did I.

It would have taken a deaf and blind person to have not noticed the signals she was sending out, though...she wanted something immediate, something "physical". - ahem-

I turned to her and said "You remember back when we were kids? We'd go parking - you would want to talk and I'd want to fool around?" She nodded, with a small smile on her face that vanished when I went on:

"Well, now it's the other way around."

Television Hell

I couldn't sleep last night, so I decided to watch some TV, find something on that wasn't TOO interesting as so to bore and lull me to sleep. Flipping through the channels, I couldn't find anything to suit the purpose; there were no replays of baseball games, the news upsets me, and, while infomercials certainly do bore me to tears, I find myself getting hungry watching people use "chop-o-matics", power juicers and especially mini-grills.

Flipping over to the TVLand channel in hopes of finding a M*A*S*H episode I've seen a hundred times before, I found an episode of The Nanny to watch. Now, normally, I would never watch that show - Fran Drescher's voice is akin to fingernails on a chalkboard - there was nothing else on, so I settled in to watch. The half hour went by excruciatingly slow and I was relieved when it was over, hoping that the next offering would be better...but no, there was another Nanny after that one.

Getting up to check the listings, I saw that it was one of many of the same series on, all in a row; it was a Nanny marathon!

It didn't take me long to figure out just how to best watch a Nanny episode; just turn off the sound and focus on Fran Drescher's legs.



Ever talk on the phone to someone you've never seen, then meet them in person and being amazed that the person's face doesn't match up to the voice? I'd like to know how those lovely legs can belong to someone with such a horrible voice.

September 18, 2010

Deep...and wide




You Are Deep



You try to observe the world rather than judge it. You feel like you are here to learn.

You see every side to people. You know that things are complicated and nuanced.

You have trouble getting along with people who are flippant or silly. You crave substance.

You connect best with philosophical, thoughtful types. Your friends care about ideas.


September 17, 2010

Axed in the Eye

I was at WalMart the other day and stopped at the men's fragrance aisle to look at a new Axe product. I like the stuff, even though the other day I saw a post in a forum where the comment was made "that stinks worse than does five-yr. olds turned loose in the Axe aisle.". I was alone except for a woman looking at the shaving supplies. (she didn't have a beard, so I figured she was buying something for her husband)

I picked up a fragrance I hadn't seen before and lowered my glasses (I need bifocals!) to read the name on the canister, then tried to get a hint of what it smelled like by bringing it up to my nose and sniffing the pinhole where the spray comes out. I couldn't smell anything, so I pushed the button to get a better idea of how it smelled...

...and sprayed it right in my eye!

I dropped the container and yelled, getting the attention of the woman.

"Stuff stinks, don't it?"

September 16, 2010

Famous Last Words

From the email archives:

Famous Last Words


"It's a dud! It's a dud! It's a du...".

"Don't touch the red button!"

"Gee, that's a cute tattoo."

It's fireproof.

"What does this button do?"

"So, you're a cannibal."

"Are you sure the power is off?"

"Pull the pin and count to what?"

"Don’t worry, it has airbags."

"Hey, what’s that buzzing noise?"

"Don’t worry, it's not that deep."

"One time at band camp...."

"No, he doesn’t bite."

"Hey, look! A light at the end of the tunnel!"

"I can pass this guy."

"My brakes are fine."

"Nice doggy."

"I think it's trying to communicate..."

"Homicidal Tendencies"?

"Nah, I don't think we need to go to the hospital."

September 14, 2010

ambrosial

ambrosial\ am-BROH-zhuhl \ , adjective;
1. Exceptionally pleasing to taste or smell; especially delicious or fragrant.
2. Worthy of the gods; divine.



I can think of several things ambrosial; my friend Barb's fudge, my grandmother's fried chicken and my momma's roast beef, but there is one memory of ambrosia that really stands out: once, after a hot, hard dusty day moving the rig, my crew and I walked over to a nearby windmill and had some of the coldest, cleanest water I've ever consumed.

Funny how a simple drink of water could bring so much pleasure.

September 13, 2010

And Sharp as a Cactus!




You Are Witty



You are a hilarious and expressive person. You love to entertain a crowd.

You see humor in everything, and you enjoy making light of situations.

Your friends depend on you for comic relief, and they usually don't even mind when it's at their expense.

You know that the key to being funny is pushing the envelope. And you are always willing to take a risk.


September 12, 2010

subaudition

subaudition\suhb-aw-DISH-uhn \ , noun;
1. An act or instance of understanding or mentally supplying something not expressed.



Wasn't familiar with this word, but sure familiar with the definition, having been married.

September 11, 2010

September 10, 2010

New Country for Old Blog

Just checked in on our Flag Counter to see who has been visiting lately and noticed a new flag:

Antigua and Barbuda



At first I thought "What a pretty flag!"

My next thought was: "Wow, that looks like a woman looking through her sunburned thighs at the Caribbean sunset!"

September 8, 2010

gerrymander

gerrymander\ JER-i-man-der \ , verb;

1. The dividing of a state, county, etc., into election districts so as to give one political party a majority in many districts while concentrating the voting strength of the other party into as few districts as possible.

Origin: Gerrymander is named after E. Gerry (governor of Massachusetts, whose party redistricted the state in 1812) + (sala)mander, from the fancied resemblance of the map of Essex County, Mass., to this animal, after the redistricting.



Gerrymandering: Invented in Massachusetts, "perfected" in Texas.

September 7, 2010

kenspeckle

kenspeckle\ KEN-spek-uhl \ , adjective;
1. Conspicuous; easily seen or recognized.



Whatever the antonym/opposite of this word is, that's me.

That is, unless it's like "the opposite of gay is depressed". In that case, I guess that could be me.

September 3, 2010

Don't Forget!


To play in the ToTG Trivia Tournament






Like I did yesterday

cachinnate

cachinnate\ KAK-uh-neyt \ , verb;

1. To laugh loudly or immoderately.



There's not much to cachinnate over these days.

August 29, 2010

Figure Skating

Kathleen Madigan: Figure Skating:

"I always wanted to be a figure skater as a kid, too, that was like my fantasy dream. But whenever I watch it, I think I would have totally done it alone. I don't know how these people have enough control over the tempers to be working with a partner. Because if I worked with some guy for 15 years, and we got to the Olympics, and out of nowhere he just fell -- oh, I'd skate around just to chop off his fingers. I would, and I would not feel bad about that -- ever. 'Now when you're nubbing your cereal spoon in the morning, you can look at that box and remember why we're not on it.'"

August 28, 2010

couchant

couchant\ KOU-chuhnt \ , adjective;
1. Lying down; crouching; reclining.
2. Heraldry (Of an animal) represented as lying on its stomach with its hind legs and forelegs pointed forward.



I didn't know this word; first thing I thought of when I saw it was the Word of the Day was Charro




I guess I was thinking of her "coochi chant" she used to do.

3 Women

Just noticed this on my Excite start page's "Born Today" module:

Musician LeAnn Rimes born 1982
Musician Shania Twain born 1965
Actress Emma Samms born 1961

What's unique about this is that these three women would all be on my "makes my heart go pitty-pat" list.