So, You Think I'm Ready For Friday ?

Friday, as you know, is my favorite day of the week. My Wednesday jaunt into socialville, although enjoyable, took a bit of a toll on me. Fear not, my little dixie cups, like self-rising flour (what?), I will rise to the occasion. I will, however, be taking a few aspirins and using a shipload (that's shipload) of duct tape. I'm actually looking forward to visiting AREA 51 this evening. I'm not 100% sure if I will be going to Lakes Cafe or a new location that has recently opened, but I'm going somewhere, because...

                                                   

We haven't had any nominations for the Cat's Ass Trophy (CAT) award as of yet. Aside from all of the ongoing hullabaloo going on with Billary and Obama-lama-ding-dong, no one has come to the forefront. Although there's always weeks when, for some reason, no one puts their foot in their mouth, sooner or later some dufus will come out of the woodwork and make us proud.  Nominations remain open until Monday at noon, so if it strikes your fancy, by all means, make a nomination.

Nostalgia: For some reason, today I remembered my junior high school days and the clothes and shoes we wore. Needless to say, there were no Nike or Converse tennis shoes. The tennis shoes, or "sneakers" as we called them, were black and white "high tops" and usually worn by kids that were less fortunate than others.

I distinctly recall that we wore taps on our shoes. Taps, designed to prevent heel wear, were hot. They evolved into horseshoe taps and when the horseshoe taps hit a freshly polished floor, they became skids and vehicles for bodily harm.

We also had our shoes resoled and half-soled, mainly because the quality of the shoes in those days were excellent. My shoes were half-soled many a time because of the cost of new shoes. The only consoling value to me was at least I didn't have to wear sneakers.

We had a dress code and shorts were not allowed. Even if they had been allowed, no one would be caught dead wearing shorts (except the girls). Haircuts were a requirement and many a kid was sent home because his hair was too long. Ialways stayed right on the edge, wetting my hair in the bathroom and combing it back if I needed to pass an area where some teachers enforce the haircut rule.

Although kids will always be kids, the guidance and regime of "the old days" has slipped away and the unrestricted, "do as you please" attitude of some of today's youth needs to be adjusted, preferably via the use of a pipewrench.

A Little Humor: My pal, Anne, author of Saturday's Child (see sidebar link), sent me some great remarks made by employers about their employees. I will share the majority of them with you next week, but I wanted to put in a few today to give you and idea of what's on tap next week. If you have time, please visit Anne's journal and say hello. Anne recently lost her dog and best friend, Luke the Wonder Dog and I'm sure she'll appreciate you stopping by. In the interim, we 'll just call this item:

Employee Evaluations: Since my last report, this employee has reached rock bottom and started to dig. His men would follow him anywhere, but only out of morbid curiosity. I would not allow this employee to breed. This employee is really not so much of a has been, but more of a definite won't be. Works well when under constant supervision and cornered like a rat in a trap. When she opens her mouth, it seems that it is only to change feet. He would be out of his depth in a mud puddle. This young lady has delusions of adequacy.

The Pictures: I received some pictures of a rare flower called the "Parrot Flower". I was so taken aback by the beauty of the flower that I went to the Internet to see if they were real or done in Photoshop. As it turns out, they are real and they only grow in a region of northern Thailand. Because it is so rare, the sale of the flower and its seeds is banned by the Thai government.

The pictures are the only ones I could on the net. I hope they show well and, as always, I encourage you to view them larger using the slide show option. I've also posted some great photograph's that My Perfect Martini sent me. She always comes up with some great shots.

This Date In History: 1778; Captain James Cook first sights the Oregon Coast at Yaquina Bay, near the current site of Newport, Oregon. 1876; Alexander Graham Bell receives a patent for the telephone. 1901; The bluebonnet is adopted as the state flower of Texas. 1965; On what becomes known as Bloody Sunday, a march through Selma, Alabama, is broken up by police.

Birthdays: John Herschel, German-born British astronomer (1792), Luther Burbank, horticulturist, botanist and pioneer plant breeder (1849), Maurice Ravel, French composer (1875), Anna Magnani, Italian theater and motion-picture star (1908), Janet Collins, ballet dancer (1917).

The Hits Just Keep On Coming:

Boat Number 99

At a boat-rental concession, the manager went to the lake's edge and yelled through his megaphone, "Number 99, come in, please. Your time is up." Several minutes passed, but the boat didn't return. "Boat number 99," he again hollered, "return to the dock immediately or I'll have to charge you overtime."

"Something is wrong here, boss," his assistant said. "We only have 75 boats. There is no number 99." The manager thought for a moment and then raised his megaphone: "Boat number 66," he yelled, "are youhaving trouble out there?"

Bull-agra

A rancher needs a bull to service his cows but needs to borrow the money from the bank. The banker who lent the money comes by a week later to see how his investment is doing.

The farmer complains that the bull just eats grass and won't even look at the cows. The banker suggests that a veterinarian have a look at the bull.

The next week the banker returns to see if the vet helped. The farmer looks very pleased: "The bull has serviced all my cows, broke through the fence, and has serviced all of my neighbor's cows."

"Wow," says the banker. "What did the vet do to that bull?"

"Just gave him some pills," replied the farmer.

"What kind of pills?" asked the banker.

"I don't know," said the farmer. "But they sort of taste like chocolate."

That's it for today my little pea shooters. Have a safe and great weekend and more on Monday.

Stay Tuned !

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