Tale of a Shooting Star…

Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are getting weak?

Why do banks charge a fee on “insufficient funds” when they know there is not enough?

Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?

Why doesn’t glue stick to the bottle?

Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?

Why doesn’t Tarzan have a beard?

Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?

Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

Whose idea was it to put an “S” in the word “lisp”?

If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?

Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use, the bubbles are always white?

Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?

Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?

Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?

Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end you first try?

How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?

When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we say, “It’s all right?” Well, it isn’t all right so why don’t we say, “That hurt, you stupid idiot?”

Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that’s falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?

In winter, why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?

How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?

If at first you don’t succeed, shouldn’t you try doing it like your wife told you to do it?

And obviously if at first you don’t succeed, then don’t take up sky diving!

And last but not least……

The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends, and if they’re okay, do you understand that it’s you?

I know I said that I wasn’t going to post anything intelligent today, but it’s a significant date which depresses me and I just can’t ignore it.

Today is my brother’s birthday. One year ago today, I posted about finding an article that he helped to write in a scientific (computer) journal. Unfortunately, that post was lost last year in the great database debaucle; however, I still remember it. And I remember wishing him well, wherever he is and whatever he is doing.

That wish still holds true today. But even more, I wish him happiness. In everything.

So, my dear brother, no matter what has happened or will happen, you are my brother and I love you. Always.

I’ve just spent the last 3 hours stitching the scotch stitch border on my rendition of Victoria Sampler’s Spring Banner for my intern. It looks lovely, but once again I find myself wondering if I’m truly that slow of a stitcher or if it’s just my perception?

At any rate, that part is done and all that is left is the blanket stitch edging and the nun’s stitch flap at the top to fold over the bellpull hanger. LOL. Yeah, that’s *all* like it’s no big deal. It’s such a big deal because I have a feeling the blanket stitch edging will take many, many hours and I don’t have much time left. I even brought it with me to work today to see if I can sneak in a little stitching time over lunch or at the end of the day. I never bringing active stitching with me to work normally, but what can I say? I’m DESPERATE! I need enough time to wash and block this piece before I present it to my intern at lunch on Friday, so the remainder has to be done tonight. Period.

Needless to say, I won’t be blogging very actively until this week is over. I’ll try to put up some of my usual quizzes, jokes, etc. in the meantime, but there will be no detailed recap of this past weekend’s visit to Connecticut or of my shopping experience at the Sudberry House sale until this weekend. I’ll be glad when I can actually stop and breathe! There’s nothing like being completely, frantically busy at work and then at home too. Whew!

I was going to blog today about our trip to Connecticut this weekend, but in light of today’s startling news of the passing of ABC News anchor/icon Peter Jennings, I felt it inappropriate to banter about my own small triumphs.

I have to admit my total shock at finding this news tidbit today, as it came only 4 months from Peter’s revealing of his lung cancer diagnosis. I would never have thought that he had such a short period of time left. It brings home the reality of mortality and the short length of our time here on Earth.

Peter Jennings was my favorite news anchor of all of the major networks in the U.S. He reported the events of the world with a measure of quiet competence, compassion and great professionalism unmatched by that of any other news anchor or reporter in the world, in my opinion. In the wake of such fallen media darlings as Dan Rather, the integrity of Peter Jennings will be hard to be replaced. It will take many, many years in the profession for anyone else to develop the kind of reputation that Peter spent decades growing.

I encourage anyone who is interested to take a little bit of time this week to read through some of the many articles on the Internet that chronicle the amazing career of Peter Jennings. He was an incredible man who will be sorely, sorely missed. God speed, Peter Jennings.

We arrived a little after 3PM and were ravenous, so we immediately went to the hotel, checked in and went in search of some early dinner.

When we came back from dinner, we read through some tourist information to see what to do next and I decided to make a stink about the room (no pun intended). You see, we were given what is marked as a non-smoking room, but the moment we walked in the door, I smelled stale smoke. We didn’t stay long in the room initially, but when we got back, it started to affect me and my chest started to get tight. So, enough of that. We went down to the front desk and the woman said she had no rooms open. I don’t think she was very interested in helping us. At ths point, I was in near tears on the way back upstairs. So, I hopped online (free wireless high speed internet access – woohoo!) and started looking for another hotel. I sent Terry back down to twist some arms about dropping the cancellation fee if we checked out right now. (Boy, would I have thrown a fit about that!)

Fortunately, in the elevator on the way down, Terry ran into the manager of housekeeping who asked him how our room was. Well, actually… ! So, he went up to the front desk, talked to someone different from who had just blown us off minutes earlier, who promptly turned to the woman he had just met in the elevator and asked what they could do to make the situation right. So, we’re now in a different room on a completely different floor (the entire floor we were on reeked of smoke) in a lovely, clean-smelling room.

My tears are gone. 🙂

And now I am pleasantly tired, ready for a good night of sleep and then off 20 mins down the road in the morning to meet Robbin and Marietta at Sudberry House!

We’re in south Jersey for the night to drop off the dog and get a little closer to CT to start. We’ll be leaving (hopefully) around 9 AM tomorrow and driving up to Mystic. Saturday morning we’re aiming to be at Sudberry House for 9 AM to be there when they open for the first morning of their first August Saturday garage sales.

I probably won’t post until we come back. There is supposed to be free high speed internet access at the Amerisuites in Mystic and Terry is bringing his laptop along, but I don’t know if I’ll take the time to blog or not. We’ll see! 🙂

I am currently out at a job interview and will reply to you if I fail to get the position. Be prepared for my mood.

You are receiving this automatic notification because I am out of the office. If I was in, chances are you wouldn’t
have received anything at all.

I will be unable to delete all the unread, worthless emails you send me until I return from holiday on 4 April. Please be patient and your mail will be deleted in the order in which it was received.

Thank you for your email. Your credit card has been charged $5.99 for the first ten words and $1.99 for each additional
word in your message.

The e-mail server is unable to verify your server connection and is unable to deliver this message. Please restart your computer and try sending again. (The beauty of this is that when you return, you can see how many in-duh! -viduals did this over and over).

Thank you for your message, which has been added to a queuing system. You are currently in 352nd place, and can expect to receive a reply in approximately 19 weeks.

I’ve run away to join a different circus.

AND, FINALLY, THIS ONE TAKES THE CAKE:

I will be out of the office for the next 2 weeks for medical reasons. When I return, please refer to me as ‘Margaret’ instead of ‘Steve’.