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Our Daily Thread 5-21-14

Good Morning!

Today’s header photo is from Donna.

On this day in 1536 The Reformation was officially adopted in Geneva, Switzerland. 

In 1832 the Democratic Party held its first national convention. 

In 1891 Peter Jackson and Jim Corbett fought for 61 rounds only to end in a draw.

In 1956 the U.S. exploded the first airborne hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean over Bikini Atoll. I recently learned the truth and it wasn’t a test at all. They were trying to kill Godzilla. 😯

And in 1968 the nuclear-powered U.S. submarine Scorpion, with 99 men aboard, was last heard from. The remains of the sub were later found on the ocean floor 400 miles southwest of the Azores. 

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Quote of the Day

“Try and live your life the way you wish other people would live theirs.”

Raymond Burr

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Today is Phil Baquie’s birthday.

Today is also Bill Champlin’s.

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Anyone have a QoD?

44 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 5-21-14”

  3. Hi, y’all.

    I posted a prayer at the end of yesterday’s thread for BG and at the end included all the children and grandchildren of the blog. Lots of hazards the young must navigate through life these days.

    Are you a team player or do you prefer to do projects alone? There are advantages to either way. I know as Christians we all like to feel like we are on God’s team, but our general American way involves the individual doing great things on their own, so that song can be sang, “Idid it my way…”

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  4. I’ve finally recovered from my lack of sleep over the weekend. We stayed up way too late talking at my reunion–and I awaken at 6:00 no matter what time I go to bed. I feel so much better today after two nights of good sleep!

    Yesterday was a long day because Becca was in a foul mood; she seemed to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed. I’m hoping things go more smoothly today. I think I know why she was so difficult Monday and Tuesday. Connie’s car broke down Monday (she’s spent a lot of money on it in last six months), and she asked me to help her find a live-in Nanny position so she won’t need a car. This will mean she’ll no longer have time to work with us (she currently works for us two days a week and cleans houses the other three days). Becca is devastated as Connie has been a huge part of her life since she was six months old. I’m also very sad about losing her–I look forward to seeing her–and love her like family–but understand her situation in a way Becca cannot. Connie is only 11 years older than me, but is wise beyond her years. And even though she’s not really old enough to be my mom, she became a mother figure to me–and a grandma to my children–nurturing us, loving us unconditionally, and I will miss her terribly. She has been with us for nine years–working for us full time until Becca started school and then a couple days a week the last three years.

    I wish so much that Scott would agree to buy her a newer car. I approached him about it and he acted like I was crazy. We can afford it and I feel it is the right thing to do.

    Anyway, Becca took the news that Connie would be leaving us really hard. She bawled and begged her not to work for another family. Connie promised she’d come see Becca on the weekends, but it did little to assuage her.

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  5. Annms, that is tragic news, especially from Becca’s point of view. Could there be a compromise solution where y’all buy the car and let her use it until your older daughter needs a car? Or let her pay you back over time. My father bought my first csr and I paid him, interest free, until I had paid it off. I was fresh out of college and as a young lady back then would have found it difficult to get a car loan.

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  6. I find it interesting that I consider all of you people in my life. Last night at Bible study I asked for prayers for Lee and Karen–just like I would for family or “real life” friends. I think sometimes when I mention all of you people look at me like they would if I started talking about having an imaginary friend. It really is kind of funny.
    Do you ever get that feeling when you mention people from the blog to others? I have been with some of you since 2005 and that has been a better record than some of the other people who have come and gone in my life over that time/

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  7. Here’s a QOD: What advertising slogan really seems stupid to you? My example: the dog food I buy for Misten now, Blue or Blue Buffalo, has on its bags: “Love them like family. Feed them like family.” Well, hello, but how is giving my dog hard pieces of food feeding her “like family”? If I fed her like family, I wouldn’t be buying dog food. And I’m sure not going to feed my family hard bits of food off the floor.

    Janice, I generally prefer to work on projects alone, although I like the presence of other people. For example, when I have company, I try to get the meal “almost ready” before they come, to the point where there may be one last-minute thing to finish and it will also be finishing cooking, but otherwise it’s ready. For example, one of my company dishes has a lot of ingredients that need to be cut up, and I cut up everything but the bananas, and have the meat and rice cooking. Since bananas shouldn’t be cut too early, I wait till the company is present and we’re almost ready to eat. If the woman who’s a guest asks what she can do, I’ll say something like, “It’s just about ready, I just have to cut up the banana.” She may offer to do it, and I’ll let her, but she doesn’t “have to.” (If it’s a good friend and I know she wants to help, I’ll say, “You can cut up the banana if you want.”) After dinner, I stack the dishes and leave them. At that point company often almost insists on helping, but I tell them, “I prefer to leave them and do them tomorrow morning. We can go in the other room and talk.” I had one sister-in-law (now deceased) who would insist on us doing the dishes, but usually people accept that. And I really would rather do it that way. Likewise, when I’m a guest, I’m willing to help if needed (esp. if I’ve been in her house a lot and know her kitchen and her “ways”), but I really do feel awkward in another woman’s kitchen, and I’ve been criticized too often for not doing the assigned task “right” (she asks me to cut up cheese for a snack tray, and I cut it into blocks and then she tells me she wanted slices). So I’m OK with putting food on the table, or dishing something from this dish into that one, or getting drink orders, but overall I really hate the fact that women company are expected to work alongside the hostess. I know I “should” enjoy it, and with some low-key friends I actually do, but usually it just feels a bit stressful.

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  8. Cheryl, I so agree about working in the kitchen. I offered to help my stepmom once and she had me whip the cream – apparently I did it wrong. We both laughed and now I set and decorate the table while she cooks. I am so okay with that. I will even come at Christmas with stuff to decorate the table – since I now know that’s my job 🙂

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  9. Cheryl, you have it right about the kitchen and how it should be done. Once in my early twenties I was asked to peel the potatoes and was handed a peeler instrument. My mom always just used a knife so I had no idea how to use the peeler which has to be angled just so to work properly. I felt like a fool for having to ask how to use it. But it became a new skill and I was never again a fool for a potato peeler. 🙂

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  11. Good morning everyone.

    I’m a team player when necessary, but I would rather do projects alone. I like doing things for which I am responsible.
    It’s hard to say what commercials bother me. Lots do. Like TV commercials where cars slide sideways. A heating company in Brevard had a commercial that had two women talking, one telling about her dumb husband thought he could fix the problem himself. You hear a crash and she says not to worry she has the number of the company. Silly commercial.
    On TV, there is a guy who says call 1-800-555-5588. The same guy with a deep voice on every commercial. He must make a living saying phone numbers.
    Lots of them. Things like that don’t bother Elvera. I notice everything. I probably shouldn’t.
    People at the Y say, “Are you done?” I say, “I’m finished”. Preachers and otherwise educated people will say, “it was for my wife and I.”

    Enough of this.

    😉

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  12. As most of you have learned by now, you can generally catch the tone of my post by the grammar I use. When I say something like, “Ain’t none of this gonna work.” You know I have a light or “tongue I cheek” take, and you shouldn’t take it too seriously.

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  13. My embarrassing moment today brought on by Bosley (Nosy Rosy):

    People are outside talking at the neighbors. I usually keep those blinds closed at the side window. Bosley had to go do her snooping, holding the blinds open with her paws, and peering out and then getting behind the blinds. She made a lot of racket in the process. Distracting her only works for a moment. Her elephant size memory always takes her back to what she is told to leave alone. I hope the neighbors saw it was the cat at the window and not me being nosy.

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  14. Cheryl, all the medical ads that tell the side affects to meds are too funny because they make it obvious that you are better off suffering with your disease than suffering the side effects. My brother is a pharma sales person so it is more funny considering that my brother has to overcome all the negatives to sell his products.

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  16. The Scorpion, every submariner’s nightmare. Busy day today, depths of despair on my rewrite and I think I return to work–maybe even to Zumba in an hour.

    If I get some time, I’ll write about that one, which hit a little too close to home . . . (Hmm, another blog post?)

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  17. Janice: I’ve been trying to post on my computer off and on for over an hour. It keeps telling me there’s been an error. Ugh! Anyway…I wanted to say thanks for your good idea. Perhaps that would be a more palatable solution to Scott. Please keep this situation in your prayers.

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  18. Annoying ad slogans? Any one of those that use terrible grammar. I like the ones with a pun, but not bad grammar. I hear enough of that in the classroom.

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  19. I usually automatically mute all ads on TV now so I’m not familiar enough with any that get on my nerves. 🙂 Don’t give ’em the chance. But I still hear commercials on the radio and sometimes I’m not fast enough with the TV remote to avoid them altogether.

    That’s funny about Bosley at the window watching the neighbors. And you’re right that cats have an amazing memory when it comes to their obsession with something they’re not supposed to be doing or messing with.

    Annie’s discovered how much fun it is to knock my earrings off the bathroom counter when I leave them there sometimes. I’ll distract her, but back she goes — same thing with books and other items on my nightstand, I cannot dissuade her from going back there, over and over again, to bat everything around and knock it all onto the floor if she can. (I think she also realizes it’s a good way to get me up in the morning).

    Her favorite things are the elastic hair ties I use, so I’ve learned to hide them inside books at night when I take them out.

    Glad you had a good time at the reunion Annms — hopefully a solution can be found regarding the car. I liked the ideas offered.

    The geese at my neighborhood park (pic above) are otherwise known as “The Terrorists.”

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  20. Bosley is on a roll this morning. I was trying to wash dishes and she jumped up hanging onto the edge of the counter with one paw and had her other paw wrapped around the coated wire on the side of the dish drainer. I grabbed thinking she would immediately let go but NO! She laid claum to the dish drainer and all that was in it. I managed to unclench her greedy little paw and toss her to the floor and threw a splash of water her way. She ran fast away, but in a few moments she ran as fast as she could and leapt back up at the sink. Determination defines her. I threw her back down and gave up and decided to break from dishwashing. No need in letting the battle of the wills escalate. I think she missed her cuddle time this morning because she was busy with the neighbor’s business.

    I am trying to write some small things to submit for possible publication so I can work on that. Dishes can wait. Now that I am upstairs Bosley is not around me. Do you think I need to check the kitchen sink?

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  23. Those disclaimers on the medication ads make for hilarious fun.

    I prefer to do things alone, for the most part. However, that does not make me not a team player. I am not sure those are exclusive. There are times that teams make more sense and times they don’t.

    We all know the committees (these are really teams) can be places to get necessary work done. They can also be places where there is a lot of hot air exchanged, nothing much done, and lots of time wasted.

    When teams are forced (such as in school projects) it has been my experience and that of many others, that there are always those who do nothing. They are not afraid to take the credit or grade, however, for it all or to cast blame on others. A few students learn something and several learn nothing, except how to take advantage of those others.

    Just like some things are best left up to individuals, other things are best done by committee or teamwork. It is not an either or, IMO.

    I have been part of committees, a leader in some committees and done many things for committees, essentially, on my own. For example, when it was best to do things in my own time and place I have done that. I once sewed together many panels of material for the quilt committee to use for tops. I could do it at home with my little one. At the same time, it was one less thing for the committee members to do when they met. I could give other examples, but you get the idea.

    I am a self-motivated person so I do not need others to push me to accomplish what I really want to accomplish. I do not enjoy going to do crafts with others, for example. I know some do prefer to do that and some need to do it to get motivated. Such groups can be great learning sources, though, and I have benefited from classes for various crafts.

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  24. Writing is pretty solitary and I guess I’m used to working on my own for the most part.

    On the other hand, newsrooms are also very “talky” — lots of camaraderie, it’s a pretty wide-open atmosphere with criss-cross conversations, wisecracks and murmurings, all interspersed with the occasional melodramatic meltdown.

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  25. Donna, how do you get writin done with all the noise in the room. During tax season the office gets very lively with preparers and clients talking, people in the waiting room and the multitude of phone calls, along with radio noise. Do you just consider it to be backgound buzz? I tend to zoom in to hear interesting conversations rather than just listening to what’s going on in my head.

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  27. As others have said, I tend to be a loner when it comes to getting things done, but can cooperate well with others when needed.

    It’s interesting that so many of us on this blog are similar in that way, as well as in others. Most of us are avid readers, & many of us like to write. (I don’t mention that about myself because of the actual professionals here. 🙂 )

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  28. Chas – My dad was like that, & I am, too (noticing things like bad grammar & such). However, I admit that I often use “done” when I should use “finished”, even though I know better. (Right after typing that, I asked if Emily & Forrest were “done” with their lunch. Shame on me!)

    Janice – A few years ago, I read that the idea of America being built by “rugged individualists” was, at least partially, mistaken. It would have taken a lot of cooperation to build up & establish new towns. I think there were many “rugged individualists” who, like many here, knew how to “play nice” with others.
    🙂

    Kim – Thanks for remembering us in prayer!

    Yeah, my family thinks it’s kind of weird that I feel so attached to you folks. They “know” many of you by name.

    Cheryl – I’m very glad to know that you are not feeding your family hard bits of food off the floor. 🙂

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  29. Survived Zumba and now am headed to work, so no time to write about the Scorpion, but I’ll get to it.

    In the meantime, I’ve written yesterday’s blog about Oswald Chambers’ Thoughts on War. Some of you might find it interesting, particularly the comment from Andrew, an injured vet. http://bit.ly/1m0ygpz

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  31. When I hear all those disclaimers, I decide not to buy the product.
    There is a thing that confuses me. That is I why some advertisers think I would buy their product.
    e.g. When a pop up occurs on my computer, the product goes on my “don’t buy” list.
    However, I am linked so some, like Google, AT&T, etc. There is no satisfactory alternative.

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  32. Grammar, word choice, vocabulary, and spelling are obviously not my strong point. In school I always scored more highly in math than on verbal skills. I was late in learning to talk, too. So thanks to you all for bearing with my flaws and the incongruity (did I get that right?) Of my desire to be a writer. I think it just relates to my desire to want to help people and that requires communication skills. If I waited until I had it all down just so then I would never speak or write a word. I would just be sad. Thanks for putting up with me and deciphering what I mean from what I write.

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  35. “I’m done” was one of my mom’s pet peeves, so I think I’m pretty careful about avoiding it. We don’t always hear ourselves, though, so I can’t guarantee that.

    As you can see, we have a new bird feeder. 🙂 After I got this photo (and some of it eating), I was slightly disappointed that it’s a female and that all the shots are of her sitting there, not hovering or flying. Then I realized, wait a minute, I took a clear photo of a three-inch bird from fifteen feet away. What’s not to like? 🙂 But I do hope the male comes too, and lets me get his picture. Hopefully he comes this week, since I have my bird book just about ready to order, and it would be nice to include a photo of a male hummingbird. (I did finally get a photo of our bluebirds together, though. Both have been hunting in our yard for weeks, but the few times I’ve seen them side by side, I haven’t had my camera right there or it has refused to get a clear shot in the few seconds I’ve had the opportunity.)

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  36. Rush is wrong!

    It doesn’t happen often, but he’s wrong this time. His thesis, bottom line, is “the, Dept of Veteran’s Affairs can print money anyhow, why can’t they print enough to hire more doctors?” He is saying that government departments can print their own money. Since everything the government spends is fake money, make some more for doctors.
    What’s wrong is the thesis that Departments don’t have to adhere to budgets. It is Congress and Federal Reserve that create money.
    The agency is constrained by the budget Congress gives them. The doctor who called Rush is correct. The agency has the money, they can, and do, spend it on themselves, on occasion, but not always. They have to perform. That’s the reason for the destroyed records. That’s the real scandal.
    The doctor suggested the perfect solution. Give the veterans a voucher and let them spend it on their own medical care. A veteran doesn’t automatically get medical care. It is for service connected injuries or disability, nothing else.
    I’m sure Kim, Michelle, and others of you are familiar with this.

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  37. Alone. Especially in the kitchen. But that’s because other people don’t do it the way I do. I’m too picky. Plus, too many cooks spoiling the pot and all that. 2 is too many. 🙂

    Cheryl,

    Love the bird. 🙂

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  38. Cheryl, we removed the perches from our hummingbird feeder. It’s probably nicer for them to perch, but I like to watch them hover 🙂 and it makes for great pictures.

    My first guess at the picture was Donna’s and then I second guessed myself that it should have more green (grass or leaves) and was someone else’s.

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  39. The first story I heard about the Scorpion came when I was a new Navy wife and I heard about the wives and children lined up at the dock waiting for the boat to return on its planned day and it never came.

    That was haunting.

    I later realized the story was ridiculous–subs may have maintained radio silence, but they always checked in before they came into port. Still, the Navy lost the Scorpion for awhile and didn’t find it’s resting location until a couple weeks after–owing to “increased marinelife activity.”

    Chilling.

    They didn’t know what happened to it, unlike the Thresher which they heard breaking up. Theories abound, and may still be out there, but some 20 years later, the Navy commissioned Dr. Robert Ballard to take a small submersible from Woods Hole Oceanographic Society in MA out to find it. It went down off the Azores.

    The deep sea submersible found the boat, took photos, investigated it as best they could and came back. On the way, Ballard asked permission to do a side trip–just two days–to see if he could find the Titanic.

    As you all know, he found it.

    A week or so later, he drove down to Groton, CT and asked to tour the USS Skipjack, sister ship to the Scorpion. He came aboard, where he saw several old friends and he met my husband–the Chief Engineer.

    R said it was very eerie to walk the ship with Ballard–who kept stopping to point at things: “This was missing on the Scorpion.” He had the photos and was trying to get a sense of what happened based on her sister ship against the pictures.

    Many on the crew were uncomfortable with him there.

    I believe, the Navy finally determined it was a battery explosion that took down the ship. Submarine batteries in that class of boat are three decks down from the top. If you get sea water into the battery, it will explode.

    This became even more pertinent to me when my husband’s boat was on maneuvers in the Irish Sea (which is very shallow and difficult for boats owing to the strong winds and steep waves). His boat took green water over the sail, and a lot of it fell down an open hatch. He was asleep and awoke to lapping water in his stateroom.

    He was two decks down. There shouldn’t be an inch of water lolling about his stateroom. He jumped out of the rack and ran down one flight–where the chiefs were hauling mattresses off enlisted bunks and surrounding the battery–just in case that water got down there.

    They gave my husband, and several others, medals on the dock when the boat returned– for saving the boat, and the lives of 100+ men.

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  44. AJ, is your new gravatar a giant period? One of us writers should have thought of that one!

    BTW, I got a couple photos today of hovering hummingbirds, so apparently they aren’t always so lazy that they sit to eat. 🙂 But I do like the detail I got in this one, and wish I could get a photo this detailed of a male.

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