Monthly Archives:November 2006

This n That

November 7th, 2006 / Categories: Moose Nuggets / Comments Closed

So, hubby moose’s first day went well. They wouldn’t let him wear his hat in school, though. So, his student was given the task to make sure he didn’t run over anyone. (He has a visual disability due to diabetic retinopathy) The Principal offered to let him wear sunglasses while there, but no hat. That discombulated him so much that he didn’t go get the sunglasses out of the van.

8)

His first remark when asked about his day: Now I remember what I disliked about school! The bandroom. hahaha. It seems his student is in beginning band – playing the saxaphone. Can we all say “SQUEAK!”?

I knew we could.

Today is a test for the grands, too. Yesterday Paw-Paw had to be to school early to meet the Principal (he had to go to the Principal’s office the first day! Does anyone else feel the need to snicker?) so they all had to eat at home. Awwwww.

Today, they are all supposed to come early – even the Pup! – for breakfast. Then he will take the Pup back to mama to wait for the bus while he takes the older two to school as usual. Meanwhile I get to go pick up TAT to take him to early school! Yay! He and I have a long-term love affair and are both looking forward to some alone time together.

Hope your day is a good one, too.

:moose:

Deadlines

November 6th, 2006 / Categories: Moose Nuggets / Comments Closed

Nothing like a deadline to get yourself seated before the monitor on an early frosty morning, eh? This is number 6 in NaBloPoMo(nth).

I hear a lot (more than I used to) of people these days who are wondering the same thing I have done for several years now . . . “November?! Where in the world has this year gone?” Yeah, apparently it is catching up with some of my younger coworkers and people who come my way.

In the age old words of Grandma Abbott “Never mind . . . some day YOU’LL be old . . . and THEN you’ll see!” :moose: Gosh! Sometimes I miss her – and her shopping bags (which were the gauge to us of how long she’d be staying –

“Mom! Grandma Abbott’s coming down the street!”

“How many bags is she carrying?”

But, seriously now . . . wasn’t it just summer? Oh, yeah. I missed it this year with all the conferences and such.

So – off to work shortly for both the moose AND the hubby moose. He’s so excited (sarcasm) – I asked him last night if he was going to get his shower then or this morning. His answer? “Oh, I’ll wait until I come HOME from school.” 😆 Apparently he thought better of THAT and is now using up the dregs of the hot water I left behind my shower.

Oh – and in addition to starting this new job – he also has jury duty this month! How’s that for throwing a wrench into the deal?

So – off we go into our day – what’s on YOUR calendar?

:moose: 

Rest in Peace . . .

November 5th, 2006 / Categories: Alaska, Family / Comments Closed

Lance Corporal Michael H. Laskey of Soldotna died while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar provice. No additional details . . .

Today’s issue of the local newspaper is not online yet, but I will give you the link if you care to check later – Peninsula Clarion.

Mike was a member of the local unit of Young Marines. He and his unit, with his mother being the CO, volunteer each year at my agency’s largest awareness activity. Their help has been invaluable to us.

Two summers ago his then very pregnant wife, also a member of the unit, came along to help. My first sight of her that day was her bending down, then lying down on the ground, to look under her car. I was, gramma that I am, worried that she was either in labor or going to go into labor due to this exertion. She, just like I would have 30+ years ago, laughed off my worries.

Their little girl, Liberty Lynn, was born two months later. Daddy didn’t get to come home for her birth, but did get to come shortly afterwards for a short leave to meet her. His tour was over the following summer.

He signed up for another hitch in March. He called his Mom Wednesday to tell her he loved her. He was killed Thursday.

This is happening all over the United States. And, now it has happened in tiny Soldotna, Alaska. We all grieve with the family.

but let me quote what his mother Carol said to the reporter:

“He knew his chance of being killed over there was very possible, but he felt because he was doing something for his country, he would die for his country.”

“My son wanted to be a Marine. The day 9-11 hit he went and signed on the dotted line.”

Mike will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery at his request. He has asked not to be taken there in a hearse, but in his favorite conveyence – a beach-truck covered in mud. I trust he will get his wish.

And, in 2008 when my granddaughter and I visit Washington D.C. with her eighth grade class, we will look for his gravesite to leave a memorial there.

Rest in peace, Mike. I’m glad to have known you.

Good morning, everyone!

November 4th, 2006 / Categories: Family, Moose Nuggets / 1 Comment »

The sun is shining brightly through my window . . . and, no, that does NOT mean that it is warm outside. Not on November 4th! Nope – it’s only about 10 degrees! Of course, I am not wearing a coat yet – at least not a WINTER coat. Sheesh, people, what do you think this is – penguin land or somesuch? 😉

I have consented to wearing a sweater under my jean jacket. How’s that for ya? And, believe it or not, someone from another agency came in yesterday (I was womanning the desk for the receptionist who went home ill – a cold – heh) in his shirtsleeves! I teased him gently about it and he assured me that it was probably because of his “eskimo” blood (he IS part native and can say such that might seem non-pc, thank you). And, then – THEN – he told me that he is running the AC in his vehicle. Now, I am almost sure that he was kidding. But he said it with such a straight face on him. 😉

Okay – so this post has gone all over the place and I haven’t even touched on what I was planning to talk about on this here fourth day of NaBloPoMo.

For one thing – I just finished a gripping book by Geraldine Brooks – Year of Wonders: a Novel of the Plague. My boss buys such great books and when she can no longer see over the stack, she boxes them up and brings them in for all of us to enjoy. Sure saves on MY book budget, I’ll tell ya. This is a novelized version of the happenings in the English Village of Eyam (pronounced Eem – although it is not named so in the book – only the writer’s final words) during the outbreak of the Black Plague in the 17th century.

I promise you will enjoy the book – and it looks like they have hardback copies at the place linked for about $5.

okay – for another thing I was going to talk about . . . hubby moose got a job! He starts Monday. He will work during the school hours and on the school calendar – as a shadow for a middle school student whose biggest problem seems to be “inattention”.

After essentially being out of work for a year (we sold our business October 2005) this is welcome – to me, at least. It will help with the groceries and such – and free up a bit of money in the long run. So – all fingers crossed that he keeps his nose clean (hahaha) and finds he can handle the work – which is much different than anything he has done.

I asked about on the job training and he shrugged and told me that they, in essence, told him that he had 7 grandchildren, surely he could handle one more.

In other news . . . tomorrow is little Potty Mouth’s first shopping day with us since this episode . .  Ladybug, Paw-Paw is working on another project tomorrow, so we will see if we can arrange to take the little guy shopping this evening, okay?

Well, there you have it – dribblings from the nuggety mind of the moose. Hope you all have a wonderful Saturday. Stay warm and dry out there.

:moose:

Techie question

November 3rd, 2006 / Categories: Moose Nuggets / 3 Comments »

okay – all of you techies out there . . .

When I first started working at my fulltime job I developed a website for the agency. Over the years it has grown and gets lots of nice comments.

Then this summer I attended those two conferences – the last one being assistive technology with a lot of time being spent on how to make websites accessible to people with disabilities, such as low vision or blindness.

I went back to work and redid the entire site – taking out frames, changing color schemes, taking out background images, etc.

It was beta tested by an acquaintance who is fully blind and who is a web designer himself. He uses a voice reader to access pages. I received an A- from him. His ONLY suggestion (and the reason for the minus) was to find a text based visitor counter.

I did the “g” search thing and found a few – but the first couple I checked on had buried in their Terms of Service the little caveat that popups “MAY” come with the counters. And, they mentioned, “oh, btw, those popups might not be g rated.”

ACK!!! I can’t have that sort of thing on my work website.

So, techies, all . . . .  what say you? Got any good text based site counters lying around that you know about? I await your suggestions. (more…)

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