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Our Daily Thread 4-1-14

Good Morning!

And Happy April Fools Day.

On this day in 1748 the ruins of Pompeii were found. 

In 1789 the U.S. House of Representatives held its first full meeting in New York City. Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania was elected the first House Speaker. 

In 1793, in Japan, the volcano Unsen erupted killing about 53,000. 

In 1826 Samuel Mory patented the internal combustion engine.  

In 1889 the first dishwashing machine was marketed.

And in 1938 the Baseball Hall of Fame opened in Cooperstown, NY. 

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Quote of the Day

“A judge can’t have any preferred outcome in any particular case. The judge’s only obligation- and it’s a solemn obligation- is to the rule of law.”

Samuel Alito

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Today is Sergei Rachmaninoff’s birthday. From the very talented ValentinaLisitsa

🙂

And it’s the birthday of Montserrat Caballe too. And since I like out of the ordinary and unusual performances, with Freddie Mercury.

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Anyone have a QoD?

77 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 4-1-14”

  1. lots of rain here today, water tanks are full.
    I need to learn how to make cottage cheese tonight. A friend’s birthday is tomorrow and she requested lasagna. I asked someone else to make the cottage cheese, but have heard they are on a trip so it is up to me. I looked in the cookbooks, but not enough information, so will try online.
    Next hurdle is that they are fixing our generators and the power will be off from 8:30 til 5 tomorrow. Gas stove should still work, right??

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  4. I have a QoD: Is there anything that you have always eaten (and liked) that you wouldn’t even consider trying if you were first introduced to it as an adult and knew what was in it? I have two: Velvetta and scrapple.

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  5. I see where Putin has decided to withdraw from Crimea. China threatened him.
    The Navy Seals found flight 370. Seals rescued all the passengers and killed the abductors in Pakistan. It was a ransom plot.
    Obama has decided to rescind the mandates on Obamacare. However, just as they announced it, they found that 12 million enrolled at the last minute.
    Hillary has decided not to run in 2016, she backs Sarah for the first female president.
    Lois Lerner decided to come clean about IRS.
    The earth is imperiled by immediate global warming. Everybody will die. Women and children in peril.

    What day did you say this is? 😉
    Now, pretend it’s April 2: Dana Perino says “Conscious uncoupling” is really “pretentious unraveling”.
    O’Rilley says everyone would be better off if clean cheap energy became the norm.
    I agree. But there aint no clean, cheap energy. If it were, somebody would already be selling it. And the government would be taxing and regulating it.
    I have seen lots of dumb commercials, but the Nissan Rogue commercial where the woman runs on top of a train and hops off the get the guy somewhere on time, tops them all.
    Makes me want to buy a Ford.

    In other breaking news, Valerie Jarrett signed up for Obamacare. This from Drudge. She said, it was “so easy, peasy”.

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  7. Scrapple?

    I wouldn’t eat it when I was a kid, but I ate it as an adult. And yes, it was after I knew what was in it. 😯

    But I don’t eat it anymore because it’s not on my approved menu. 😦

    Liver is one. But I only ate it as a kid because they made me.

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  12. Chas, my husband tells of the time that a business acquaintance (forget whether it was a new boss or a customer with money) took him out for a special treat to a restaurant known for its oysters. Now, my husband is a picky eater, but he swallowed a few of those things down, since he figured he “had to.”

    The other day on vacation the menu at one restaurant included liver and onions, and the description said something like “if you never get it at home.” It’s definitely not high on my list of favorites, but I like it OK and haven’t eaten it in more than 20 years (and my menu “first choice,” a turkey sandwich, I’d had the day before) and so I ordered it. I’m OK with going another 20 years without it, though.

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  13. My parents both grew up in farming areas of the south and they were both plain foods kind of people. So we did not have any unusual foods. I do remember that when one of my parent’s friends got cancer that my father commented it was because they ate all that spicy food. We had been to their home for dinner and had some delicious spicy spaghetti sauce. I think it was not plain enough for my father.

    As for steak, my father called our hamburgers steak because they were made from ground chuck. Finally one day we went to a gathering where steaks were cooked on the grill. It sure didn’t have the flavor or consistency of the steaks we had at home. And not knowing any better, I ate the grilled fat from the edge of the steak. I was not going to waste a bit of that most wonderful real steak!

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  14. Seems like I recall that once at my inlaws they had a jar of pickled pig’s feet that was something my husband’s dad liked. I think the dad’s family were from up north but moved south. That explains it!

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  16. I can’t really think of anything to answer Linda’s question except maybe sausage. There are some sausages I still won’t eat–boudan, vienna, etc. Oh I know! Canned corn beef.

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  17. Actually, I can’t answer Linda’s question specifically. My dad and his brothers used to butcher a hog and use every part. Other than liver (notice I spelled it correctly?), I have eaten pigs feet nor hogs head cheese. Dad said it was delicious.

    April Fool’s photo? If so, I still don’t get it. I went back and looked.
    It looks real to me. A church with three crosses and, presumably, a statue of Mary.

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  19. Good morning, all.
    I’ve never eaten liver–the smell is noxious to me–and I have no idea what scrapple is! When I was a teen, I used to love frozen bean burritos…now, I think they’re awful! Same with sardines. My mom used to make me eat Brussels sprouts and green peas, two things I never cook!

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  20. I hated canned English peas as a child, and spinach, too. Now they are fine. All food now rates as fine. Except pig’s feet still belong on the ground and not in the mouth!

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  21. Good Morning…it’s still very windy here…not liking this one bit!
    What is scrapple? I won’t eat sardines…or liver…or sauerkraut…or lamb…nope.
    What is it with the header photo…the only thing I noticed was the left tower with the clock…why would a church have a clock on it’s tower…am I slow or something? 🙂 I still don’t get it….

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  24. All the old churches in Charleston have clocks. And they chime. In downtown Charleston, everyone should know the time within 15 minutes.

    Mumsee, listening to Chas will generally keep you out of trouble.
    But what was that about?

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  25. Mumsee 😀

    Chas 😀

    I was always a picky eater. I am much better now. It is easier to try a new food when you are very, very hungry. It is also easier to try it when you know you can refuse to eat anymore of it.

    I am not a liver and onions fan, but my husband is, if it is fresh liver. I haven’t made it for years, however. I wondered why any restaurants would have some of the family foods they have. I never would order them. Now I realize that those who live alone, older folks or those who just eat out often sometimes want those home cooked type of meals. It is comfort food for some.

    My husband will sometimes order these type of things and then complain that it just isn’t like mine. I guess that is good, but it makes me laugh. I will sometimes warn him, but he is always so hopeful. Of course, there are all the times food is better than anything I cook. 😉

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  26. I grew up with plain food, too (Midwestern/Iowa parents). Basic meat and potatoes, beef stew, mac & cheese (baked). Occasionally liver and onions which I always hated. Velveta was a cupboard staple.

    I’ve become a very picky eater, I’m not prone to eating things that don’t look or smell or sound right to me. Sausage is on that list and so are oysters. (For some reason I don’t remember eating much sausage as a kid, although I’m sure we had some — always preferred bacon, though).

    I had a dream I was at mumsee’s! I was walking along with friends and we just came upon her property. There were the cutest little soft reindeer you could pet — and an alligator in a pond that bit my sleeve.

    We went inside (it was very late at night) and there was a nice musical ensemble playing classical music in a dining area that had very long tables (to seat a lot of people, of course). Mumsee seemed to be in bed, I never did see her. But we decided to stay up and listen to the music. At some point we went into the kitchen to make tuna sandwiches (one of her kids seemed to be there, awakened by the noise). I kept trying to take a picture of the musicians to send to AJ but could not get either the camera or the email on my phone to work right.

    And that was the end of the dream.

    We got a bit of rain last night, but it all seems to be over with this morning, the sun is shining brightly.

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  28. Cool church, I figured that it was a michelle photo.

    And for a second I saw the woman pictured in the first video and thought 6 Arrows? 🙂

    I hate all those foods nancyjill listed, too. Some of it (sauerkraut) they actually served in our elementary school cafeteria. So horrible, I had a very hard childhood. 😉

    My dad liked liver and onions. Maybe it’s a guy thing.

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  29. Chas,

    Got it. I sent you one as well because the link you included didn’t work. One other tip to pass along to SG is to click on the comment count at the bottom of the post to get to and leave a comment. Hope that helps. 🙂

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  30. The church has no significant meaning to me. I was just playing with my camera. I was standing by the falls downtown (the pic from the other day) when I decided to try out the zoom. This church sits on a hill a good mile from where I was, yet the zoom worked excellently, and the details came out nicely. I believe it’s Russian Orthodox.

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  33. Good one, Chas.

    Several years ago “All Things Considered” on NPR ran a story on 4/1 about how Canada purchased Arizona from the US to help solve our budget deficit and give Canadians a warm weather province. Many of them go to Arizona in winter anyway. The reporter even interviewed the governor and someone from the federal government. It was a serious story. Onw had to realize the date to understand the joke.

    QoD: There are few foods with “bad things” I still eat. I occasionally have a hot dog at a cookout, but I buy the “all beef” varieties like Hebrew National. I try to avoid potato chips or things with hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup.

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  35. I thought the church was maybe a Catholic cathedral or someting along those lines in a downtown area. I was thinking that no one on here lives downtown so it couldn’t be from one of our windows. Also the clock on the tower is a reminder of how it’s time to get right with God or to take every minute captive for Him. That part is not funny, of course. I just thought AJ was keeping us guessing on April Fools Day. Now I know he was practicing with his camera. Wow! What a great shot from that distance. Zoom lenes always look so heavy to me.

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  37. Donna @ 11:40 — 6 Arrows isn’t blonde, and she can’t play Rachmaninoff like that. 😉

    Hmm, it would have been kind of a fun prank for today, though, to pretend that was me… 😯

    QoD: I’m pretty good at avoiding the things I like that I know aren’t very healthy (except milk chocolate on occasion — but I am acquiring more of a taste for dark chocolate now, which does have some health benefits; I didn’t use to like dark chocolate at all). And I never would have started eating Ritz crackers with Cheez Whiz on them if I’d known what junk there is in those things!

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  38. Amazing & humbling…

    Last night, as Chrissy & a couple friends were moving her stuff out to the moving van, M (the mom of the family moving out from upstairs) stopped by to talk for a while. She assured me that she believes Chrissy will be back before long, & that she is going to encourage Chrissy to stay in touch, & come over here often. She says that, if possible, she feels worse about this than I do.

    She said she “knew” (had a very strong feeling) that her daughter A would ask if Chrissy could move with them from the time we first asked them to move. A had come to her in tears some time before that, telling her that she had never seen Chrissy feeling so low, & she was worried about her. M explained to her that we all have tensions in our families, as A well knows in her own family. (Have I mentioned before that the father is very conservative? I have mentioned how C, the older sister, seems to hate conservatives.)

    It turns out that before they found this place in Somers, they found a couple other places that would allow their pets, & were larger & cheaper. Why didn’t they take one of those? Because they were each about an hour away, & M was adamant that Chrissy not be too far from her family, for Chrissy’s sake & for ours.

    Wow. That is amazing & humbling to me – to rest that big decision & change in their lives on keeping Chrissy close to home. I am so very grateful, & am ashamed of how impatient I was getting with them, thinking they weren’t making a good enough effort.

    M also said that for the past couple years or so, while dealing with the deaths of her parents & one sister’s terminal illness, she had been even more “unorganized” than usual. She said they have gotten rid of a lot of stuff, by throwing stuff out or giving it away. I’m glad to hear that.

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  39. We’ve been talking to Forrest about the up-coming move. His little-boy understanding of things is interesting & cute.

    One concern he mentioned was wondering what would happen to his toys in the yard. We assured him that it is still his yard to play in. Today, as Emily was getting him ready to go to the grocery store for a few items, Forrest told her they needed to buy counters for the kitchen upstairs. 🙂 Emily explained that the kitchen already has counters, they don’t need to bring their own.

    One thing he asked, which was sweet but a bit sad, was if I would be with him upstairs. I told him that I would be downstairs, but he’d still be seeing a lot of me. I suspect I’m going to hear him calling my name down the stairs more than a few times.

    Now he’s wondering why Auntie moved out with the McKs. We’re assuring him he’s still going to see a lot of her, too.

    God bless that sweet little guy.

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  41. Funny dream about being at Mumsee’s, Donna. Not surprising those reindeer were outside instead of in, and it looks like that alligator knew he didn’t belong inside, either. 😉

    Was Roscuro one of those musicians there? 🙂

    Oysters and picky eaters: my dad is a picky eater, but he likes oysters. Go figure. I’ve never had them, and don’t care to ever try them.

    About the header picture: at first I thought it was the cathedral in the J.S. Bach video featured yesterday. (See around the 1-minute mark.)

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  43. Karen, that’s nice to hear.

    All the musicians at mumsee’s were males. It was a small ensemble but they were renowned.

    And the reindeer really were adorable, they had very soft fur and enjoyed being petted, they were friendly.

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  44. Karen, good to hear that. The Lord is often working in ways that we humans don’t always see in the messiness of life.

    AJ, you’ve got me curious now what your three favorite Beethoven symphonies are. If I had to guess, I’d be inclined toward #5, #6 (Pastoral), and #9 (Choral Symphony). But all nine are good — you can’t ever go wrong with Beethoven. Looking forward to the one you pick. 😉

    Well, I wish I would have heard that small ensemble at Mumsee’s. The reindeer would have been nice, too, but I could do without the alligator in the pond. 🙂

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  46. I had a dream the other night that I had sailed a boat (a thing I’ve never done) from Connecticut to California. Then, after a visit with Michelle (where was Donna?), I prepared to sail back home to Connecticut.

    But it occurred to me in the dream that it would be impossible to sail a boat across the country, because there is no one river that goes from coast to coast.

    At which point I wondered, “Then how did I get here with this boat?”

    🙂

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  48. Linda – I hope you saw my response to you the other day, about Emily not being the problem, that she is not taking advantage of my availability to babysit.

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  50. Karen, praying all the adjusting happens smoothly and quickly. Someday Emily will probably be living further away and this will have been a nice transition for Forrest.

    I remember reading several of you had your carbon monoxide detectors needing to be replaced. We just had our go, too. We haven’t replaced it yet, but intend to do so. We were surprised, too, that it was not just a battery replacement. Now we know. Just thought it was odd there seemed so many of us at once.

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  51. I don’t know Karen. Call my cynical, but I am not buying what your former tenants are trying to sell you. Interesting how SHE made YOU feel selfish for asking them to move.

    It could be that I have worked with the public so long that I no longer possess rose colored glasses.

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  52. Karen, I feel slighted you didn’t stop to see me! 😦 I figured maybe you would have sailed south and come up from Mexico to California — in which case you’d reach me first. 🙂

    The alligator in my dream really spooked me. I wonder if mumsee really does have a moat? Somehow we made it through and only my long-sleeved shirt was bit.

    I don’t know, I think in this case with Karen I’d err on giving the (former! that sounds good) tenants the benefit of the doubt. Time to move on and hopefully the relationships can go forward without the previous strain of living under one roof.

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  53. Kim – I really do believe her. She’s always been a very sweet lady. You should have seen the concern in her face.

    Donna – If I ever really were in California, you can be sure I’d look you up. 🙂

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  54. Oh, this is too funny!

    R called Emily, saying he wants to see Forrest today.

    Emily graciously agreed to meet him at the local park with Forrest. She was planning on taking Forrest there anyway, so it’s not an inconvenience.

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  55. Kathaleena – At this point, Emily is planning on staying here. She has plans for how she wants to paint & decorate the upstairs apartment over time. She also thinks it will be a good arrangement for when Lee & I are older & may need help.

    She likes the house & yard, & she likes the town we live in.

    Of course, she may get married some day. Even then, she & her husband could possibly decide to stay, knowing someday the house will be theirs.

    Speaking of getting married, I have started praying that neither Emily nor Chrissy will fall in love with anyone, until God brings a godly man into their lives.

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  56. My husband has sailed between CT and CA–through the Panama Canal on a submarine!

    LOVE Rachmaninoff–those violent Russians!

    I’m off to take a nap, it’s glorious to listen to the rain pouring down!

    Thanks, God!

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  58. We had snow here, too, again this morning, after two beautiful days of 60+ degrees. I wish winter would go away and stay away.

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  60. The last of our snow melted today, though I see it still remains multiple places around town (particularly at the edges of creeks), and there’s still some ice on some of the ponds. But our own snow is all gone, after a full three months on the ground.

    We picked Misten up today from her “sitters” and she went across the area where the snow had been, smelling, as though wondering what on earth had happened to all her snow. I told my husband she probably thought we left her with a sitter so we could remodel the back yard! But the grass in the back really looks beaten down, after sitting underneath heavy snow for three months.

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  61. After 5 full months+ of snow on the ground, we still have 1 ½ feet and it is currently snowing great big flakes. Sigh, I don’t like winning the most snow contest. It is supposed to get above freezing by Saturday.

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  62. Wow, Cheryl, after all that snow you had this winter, and the last of it is melted in your yard! I don’t think we had nearly as much snow as you did, yet we still have snow on all four sides of our house, with a snowbank in back of our house (west side) that is about a foot deep at its deepest, and one in front of our house that is close to two feet deep yet. Not enough warm days and direct sunlight to take care of those piles yet.

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  65. We still have a smattering of snow…we are a bit higher in elevation so the sun does a quick job of melting most of it 🙂
    So here I was trying to figure out the April Fool’s joke in the photo and there was none…well I guess the joke is on me! 🙂 It is a very pretty building…and I have never seen a church with a clock tower…plenty of bell towers…never a clock!

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  67. No snow here, though it was hailing today as we finished planting our one hundred strawberry plants. Lots of newspapers with them and black tarp to keep the weeds down.

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  71. A couple police officers are here, talking to Emily about Ryan, getting a picture of him & more information about him & his family. Both his mom & his step-dad have spoken with him on the phone, & they are very concerned about him.

    You may remember, his mom’s sister committed suicide in December of 2010.

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  72. Chas now that you mention it, I think I do recall hearing a striking clock when we visited Charleston….I guess I didn’t realize the clock was on a church building! I remember my Aunt’s little Presbyterian church located in a little village near Sidney Ohio played a hymn at 6 in the evening from their bell tower…and of course on Sunday mornings the church bells pealed calling parishoners to worship…what a beautiful sound 🙂
    Praying for Emily as she navigates this crisis Karen…and of course for R…

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  73. Prayers, Karen …

    I’m off to cover a night meeting, LAPD commission — thankfully it’s not far from my house but I will miss the dog class tonight. At least I was able to make a pit stop at home to get the animals fed and the lights turned on. Hope this thing doesn’t run too late.

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  75. Meeting ended early. People were on their best behavior. Probably because the auditorium was ringed with more police officers than I’ve seen in one place for a while. 🙂 All the public speakers were very polite and understated (which is rare here).

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