Good Morning!
Today’s photo is courtesy of Chas.
On this day in 1564 the artist Michelanglelo died in Rome.
In 1685 Robert Cavelier, Sieur de LaSalle established Fort St. Louis at Matagorda Bay, and thus formed the basis for France’s claim to Texas.
In 1861, in Montgomery, AL, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the President of the Confederate States.
In 1885 Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was published in the U.S. for the first time.
In 1932 Sonja Henie won her 6th world women’s figure skating title in Montreal, Canada.
And in 2001 NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Sr., was killed in a crash during the Daytona 500 race.
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Quote of the Day
“I have yet to find the man, however exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than under a spirit of criticism.”
I have yet to find the man, however exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than under a spirit of criticism.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/c/charles_schwab.html#CQLv6sHrKxUkLLA2.99
I have yet to find the man, however exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than under a spirit of criticism.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/c/charles_schwab.html#CQLv6sHrKxUkLLA2.99
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Today is Juice Newton’s birthday.
And it’s Dennis DeYoung’s as well.
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Wandering Views 
I had been thinking about Sonja Henie. Old Hollywood made several movies featuring her skating. She was covered except for her legs, but her skirts were longer.
Richmond gets all the fame/shame of being the captiol of the Confederacy but you can visit Montgomery and see the First White House of the Confederacy. Before Hurricane Katrina you could visit the Mississippi Gulf Coast and see Beauviour where Jefferson lived out his latter years.
Much to do today. I have to figure out just what a real estate agent needs to do the first 90 days with a new company and then I have to write the manual. Careful, careful…I have always wanted to teach real estate but I didn’t know I would have to write the curriculem. What do any of you wish you had known the first 90 days on your job?
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OH, totally missed who today’s photo was from. 😉 I would prefer that swing in the Spring when I could get some nice pillows piled around me, lie back with one foot on the ground to swing, and read a good book.
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Strange question Kim. First nine months on my job I wanted to know what I would be doing.
My job was classified Top Secret Special Access at the time and I had to wait around over six months for a security clearance. I never knew why it took so long because I was cleared for Secret in the Air Force. It was all highly classified at the time, but in the AF, we flew our B-29’s over Pakistan on long rang weather reconnaissance.
Did the Soviets think we were looking for rain over the desert We were testing the air to detect radiation from a nuclear explosion because we wanted to know what the Soviets were doing.
At the Army Map Service, we were using ovehead (read satellite) photography to map denied areas. There were lots fo those. That was only declassified about two years ago.
I have no idea what they[‘re doing at NGS (National Geospatial Service) now, but talking with people recently from there, the technology has changed so much that it would be all foreign to me now.
But I can speculate.
But I won’t.
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The picture is of my swing just east of my front door. It the summertime, I often go there for a respite from my labors. (to rest, that is.)I took that to show what happened to my summertime resting place.
I find I use it more now that I did a while back.
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The swing is under an apple tree. It produces real apples. But not commercial grade. They are small, green and about two inches in diameter. Two bites, but they are tasty. You can see two flower boxes just to the right. I put flowers there every year. (Elvera picks them, I don’t know what they are. The kind that tolerate shade.)
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The tree that’s leaning is the apple tree..
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Is anyone else having issues with Internet Explorer since their upgrade yesterday? I’ve had to switch to FoxFire, but it’s annoying because all my buttons and links aren’t visible. I had more to add to the news post but didn’t have time to search for everything I had added to my IE toolbar. It’s frustrating.
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When I saw the photo I thought that looks like Georgia or nearby. I thought either IBNO or Chas, but not MIM because his would probably not be so level. I was partly ruling Chas out because I thought the snow would be deeper. This is a fun game!
That is such a peaceful looking place to have for the rrrrs: resting, reading, relaxing and reflecting (at least until the zzzzs take over).
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Chas, does your pet rock sit in the swing with you? I was thinking that Bosley would enjoy the swing, especially walking across the top bar for a better look at the birds. 🙂
We have a similar swing in our back yard only smaller. I need to paint it. It was given to us by my cousin who has the tongue cancer.
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Lovely picture, Chas. Now we need to see it in the spring when the apple tree is blooming and the ground is green! I think I need a swing somewhere on my property – maybe at the bottom of the yard (with a big mosquito net around it)
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Kim, most jobs seem overwhelming at first because there is so much to learn. A good overview of all the duties, with any tecnical jargon applying to each duty would be nice. Then maybe a page for each day of the first month or first complete work cycle would be nice to know what to expect, deadlines, etc. With my accounting background I tend to think like this. Also, this might be helpful with knowing whether to dress up or down for certain scheduled events if they are recurring. It is nice to give a new employee a layout of the offices and people they will be dealing with and maybe include a business card w/pic of each person. It would probably be good to have a section of the manual on legal issues and another on personal safety in the RE industry. Another section on places to get a quick coffee, etc., with clients who make requests for refreshment while doing home viewing.
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I confess this picture had me stumped. I couldn’t think who else would be living in the woods, and the snow misdirected me. I never expected it to be Chas. Then, I’ve never been to the Carolinas.
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Kim QoD: More of the language 🙂 I did get a month of language study to begin with, but really, most of what I can speak now was learned on the job. In fact, except for my foundational nursing knowledge, I learned most things as I worked, like malaria testing and treatment, the real-time delivering of babies… It is definitely more exciting that way, but it is a bit nerve wracking at the same time.
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I just started into the Heaven workbook by Randy Alcorn. I can tell it will be a joyful activity just from doing day 1. I believe I got the workbook off of Amazon Marketplace where you can find books for a few bucks. Although listed as used, this one had no markings in it.
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This was in the midst of the snowstorm. Snow is falling. We got 9.5 inches officially.
The land is not level. I am taking this from the road almost in front of my house. The swing is about 50 feet from my front door. There is grass just to my right. As I’ve said before, It’s so steep that I have a small deck about four feet off the ground coming out of my basement. I have to mow all that.
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Link to the workbook. If you look at the part where they offer new and used for $3.00 and up that is how you get to Marketplace.
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Safely Home is the only book I’ve read by Randy Alcorn. I will have to look into the others. I have just finished reading Command Authority by Tom Clancy. His last book.
I don’t know if that’s the end of Jack Ryan. His latest books are co-written and I notice the language in this is more crass and profane than in his previous books.
But it’s typical Clancy, with four stories going concurrently. 739 pages.
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Isn’t there a song that goes “Don’t sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me. With anyone else but me. With anyone else but me-e”? I remember my mom singing that when I was little.
So the sunny south appears turned into the snowy south this year. Very nice swing, though. And your pet rock would enjoy an afternoon outing there, i’m sure, once spring arrives. 😉
Chas, were there any “top secrets” you’ve never told about your work? A co-worker’s grandfather did some top-secret stuff in WWII and she said he told them he never would be at liberty to say what it was, ever. They had some guesses but never knew for sure what it was he worked on.
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Oh, and I posted this on our blogs yesterday, it’s a short trailer giving us the first glimpses of scenes from the upcoming Zamperini film “Unbroken.” It debuted during the Olympics on Sunday. The film (being filmed in Australia) is set to be released Christmas Day this year. Louie just turned 96 in January.
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I read Heaven quite awhile ago. Lots of ideas in it. I am not an expert on it, by any means. I did find the book interesting with lots to think about.
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Donna: I remember my dad singing that song.
Janice, I was the one who mentioned the idea that Cain and Abel would have known what was required for the sacrifice. Chas is right that that is not explicitly stated in the account. However, the assumption of knowing and not doing is implicit in the words of God. There was no eating of animals in the garden and leaves (or similar materials) would seem fine as clothes. Yet, God killed an animal to cover Adam and Eve. That must have been a big shock for them both, after living with the animals in peace. I just think that all makes sense.
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As I wrote on Rants and Raves recently, my daughter was in the play, “Steel Magnolias.” Her husband attended the last evening performance. He was seated at a table with all women and one other couple. My daughter recently got an email forward from someone seated at the table with him. The email thanks the cast and producers for the play and then says it helped them get through their own tragedy. It seems they returned home and found their son had committed suicide. That followed a period of years of his suffering depression. Remembering the humor and grace presented in the play, gave them hope they could also weather the storm in their lives. The also believe their son is finally at peace with God. My daughter thought this was such a picture of the power of art and entertainment. It is one reason we need God’s people doing good art and entertainment.
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I don’t know anything that we did then that is still classified.
The interesting thing is: In 1968 I went to the “Other Side” where we had the task of mapping the moon for the Apollo programs. We were obviously using satellite photography. You know that the Soviets knew about this. But our Lunar Orbiter photography was not as good as the KH-4 & later KH-9 photography that was returned from orbit.
It was interesting work and we presented papers at the conventions.
You could Google me a few years ago, but not now.
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Note to self….
Avoid Internet Explorer 11 like the plague that it is. 😦
I’m getting acquainted with Firefox and Chrome better now at least. I just need a bigger tool bar. 🙂
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=PPJZTRqQ1Xw
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And yes, that’s Shemp. 🙂
So of course he get’s slapped. 🙂
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i did not recognize Chas, and I have been to NC. No excuse. Though I remember Tennessee more and it seemed more hilly so I erased that whole section of the country. Sorry, Chas. Glad to have you back.
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Those are the best apples. Small but tasty.
We had a swing next to our fish pond, so I could drive my racing boats around the goldfish, but it kept blowing into the pond so we moved it over by the grapes.
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Nice photo, Chas. Looks homey.
Hey, we’re above 40 degrees for the first time in more than a month! Let it melt, let it melt, let it melt! (It’s gonna take a while, though, and won’t happen this week. Meanwhile, we’re only two or three inches from breaking a 30-year-old record of the snowiest winter.)
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I also didn’t picture Chas in the woods. Especially when he talks about mowing. Can’t imagine mowing in those woods. I would go out in my backyard and cut down a hundred little trees at a time. Mostly cedars and they would just take over and leave no yard.
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Aj, I had trouble with Internet Explorer in that I couldn’t open links past the second tier. That is, if you had a link and the link had another attachment, I couldn’t open the attachment.
I took it to my guru and he gave me Chrome. Chrome works OK, but I get lots of pop-up ads.
I don’t know why they do that because I very selfom read one. I click it off before reading. But if I did read it, it would go on my list to avoid.
Like those “stupid guy” ads on radio and TV.
Don’t judge NC mountains by that picture. I told you about the deck off my basement. Now, the view from my (office) window is my neighbor’s rooftops.
Only I planted some cedar trees to block the view.
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I remember the Andrews sisters and the song well.
Their big song was “Rum and Coca Cola”. The preachers didn’t like that. But it was tame by today’s standards.
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I keep wondering if Chas has to mow around ALL those trees?
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He told us he had a hillside to mow. And some blackberries.
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😦 I haven’t had any blackberries in a couple of years. I don’t know why, except I also don’t have any bees.
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Kim, I have good news for you. Beauvoir was badly damaged by Katrina, but not destroyed. It has been repaired and restored. I plan on visiting it on one of my future Aggie football trips.
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Emily was out shoveling & snow-blowing after we got another few inches of snow today. Neighbor with the snow plow on his truck drove down the lane, & when he hit his own property at the end of the lane, then he dropped the plow, & plowed his own driveway (which is a circle). Then he parked his truck & got out. I just don’t understand that kind of attitude.
We have been nice, pleasant, & polite to them. I don’t know what their problem is, but they both strike us as very negative people. Sad, really.
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Karen, that is odd. And it seems like they too might want more plowed than their own driveway.
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Yeah, Cheryl. They’ve just been relying on Emily to do the lane with the snow-thrower, even though they can do it quicker & easier with their plow.
I think that in some way they’ve decided that they’ve been put upon by “having to” plow the lane. (We were told when we moved in that they did it because of the daycare the wife runs.) But over the last few years, there have been several times when Lee, & now Emily, have put in the effort to snow-throw the lane, so one would think they’d relent & plow a bit.
One time a couple years ago, my friend upstairs, M, stopped to thank him for plowing. Instead of accepting the thanks, he went into a tirade about all he has to do, & then threatened that the next time one of their cars was sticking out too much, he would run into it rather than try to go around it. She said it was scary the way he went on like that.
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Karen, what you describe reminds me of a friend whose husband has territorial issues based on things that happened in his younger years when he felt out of control. He has actually bent wipers on cars that parked in front of their house. My friend has tried to make amends by paying for damages and it has been really difficult for her. Yet she understands what triggers her husband. So it may be something of that nature. Maybe by just not helping out that is the neighbor’s form of aggression rather than doing something worse. It would be good to stay out of his way. I hope the wife is okay.
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Janice – His wife seems like a tough, out-spoken lady. I haven’t seen anything in her that points to any abuse.
I pray for them almost every day. (I qualify that with “almost” because sometimes I do forget.)
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I’m feeling sorry for you southern folk right now. The Northern Lights are incredibly beautiful tonight. I just came in from watching them. 🙂 The coyotes were howling, but not the wolves this time.
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Kare does have that. The Northern Lights can put ona display.t
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