A Skydazzler's Life Unwrapped...

What do YOU do with a 4 hour lay-over at the Airport?

 So how do you entertain yourself waiting out a 4 plus hour lay-over at the Airport?  The computer battery died (charger checked in the suitcase), husband playing with his cell phone/tv/pda and reading a magazine, wasn't hungry, can't concentrate on my book with people talking about the early demise of the Wendy's in Rockland, CA because customers were only buying off the dollar menu (seriously a half hour conversation...haha)..so I took pictures of the birds...hehe  These little guys were really hard to see against the brown carpet.  Wonder if they ever leave the Airport? Or it might just be the coolest place in town...

 

What's in your CD changer? Have you checked lately?

On the way to work this morning ( a two mile trip) I decided to listen to a CD.  At least see what was in there.  After pressing the button to change from FM to CD I hear the MP3 files Bryant put together for the grandkids.  Ah ...you know...great songs like "Puff the Magic Dragon", "House on Pooh Corner" and the all-time favorite song, known affectionately as "The Beep, Beep Song". (Little Nash Rambler).  Well I left that one in the changer.  One always needs a good entertainment CD for the grandkiddles. wink,wink.  I decided to check the other 5 slots, just to see what was in there.  By now I am already at work, sitting in the parking lot.  Told you it was a quick ride.  Anyway...the results of my investigation: 

• Two Grandkiddle CD's, one I put back in, one I put inside the console. That would be the soundtrack to Hairspray, as one can only listen to "Good Morning Baltimore" 4 times in a row before wanting to rip your hair out! LOL
• Two Bryant CD's, all his one hit wonder favs and old country western...I mean real old. (console)
• Two Christmas CD's. Yep we almost had Christmas in July!  And if that Lucky Brand purse had been on sale at Macy's 50% off sale, it would have been Christmas in June and the music would have played. (console)

So there you have it. My SUV, my 6 CD Changer and not one of my own CD's.  Go figure! I think a trip to CD buying land is in order...

Sorta Random Question Wednesday!

Here is a question that relates to my Monday post.  Do you Google or use other search engines on the Internet ?  If so, how often do you use them and what kind of information do you look up?  I know that can be a loaded question; clean answers only please.  Here are a couple of my searches today while at work: The gestation of a squirrel and the information I found out: 40 to 45 days and they usually have 3 in their litters.  Yes, this means we continue to have squirrels in the ceilings of my office.  They are again having babies.  Actually this site answered a lot of questions I had about squirrels.  Everything but how to get rid of them!  LOL.  I will tell you later about more measures to remove the pests.  Here is another question I had:  What do you call a group of crows? and the information I found out: they are called a murder or a horde.

Anyway, you get the gist.  I know this is a quirk, but maybe not as much as you might think.  I do use Google almost every single day.  I answer those proverbial questions we all have, but would have had to wander to a library to answer.  Now we are fortunate to have that library of knowledge at our fingertips. So, just like the commercials say...have you had your Google today?  Or was that something else they use to say; have you had your_______ today? hmmm, I should look that up.

HAPPY 35TH ANNIVERSARY TO US!

Today is our wedding anniversary.  Thirty-five years together.  Yep, I said 35 years.  haha...We were just babes when we married.  I was 18 and he had just turned 19 years old, 4 days before.  For those that don't know, Bryant and I had met at the end of May.  On July 4th he asked me to marry him.  We were married that same year in November.  What you say?  How could you marry someone you had only known for less than 6 months?  Guess I was right now wasn't I??

Norpac (Santiam Veggies) Donation

I received a letter in the mail.  Norpac was letting me know in writing how sorry they are that I was "inconvenienced" by purchasing, opening and having to throw out their rotten canned corn.  Nice.  As I had said in the previous post, I accepted their offer of canned veggies, but asked that they deliver the vegetables to the First Baptist Church as my grandchildren will be collecting canned goods for a food drive soon through the Awana Program.  I found out Norpac donated six flats of 12 cans each to the drive.  Good for them.  Thank you Norpac, that helps make up for my inconvenience. It also helps you too. Thanks for doing your part in feeding the hungry in Salem. 

Norpac Foods - The Resolve

Norpac Foods, the makers of Santiam brand canned vegetables, responded to my emails about the rotten corn.  Here is the explanation given.  First...the numbers you see are a date.  070905.  September 5, 07. That's the date the product was packed.  2320 and 2321 are military time the product was packed on that date.  Seems they were just starting to start the corn production and the machinery went down. Broke..kaput.  They had to fix it and there was already corn in the brine and cooker.  When the machines got fixed, the production started back up.  The stuff sitting inside the machines and cookers was packed as is.  It should have been removed and the machines cleaned before they started them back up. They told me several times it wasn't harmful, just sentiment etc.  I asked about the GREEN slimy stuff?  I never got an explanation on that, once they even told me their QA team didn't see any green stuff.  Anyway...  Kudos to them for admitting they had a problem with the canning sequence.  Kudos for apologizing.  I still won't eat their product.  But that's just me.  I sensed this wasn't going as well as I had hoped...LOL...Duh!!

Beware...Bad Canned Vegetables!! Don't Buy Santiam Corn.

Beware and be very careful.  I went to open a can of Santiam brand corn for dinner last night and found something I didn't bargain for.  Green slimy stuff in my corn.  I threw it out and opened another can.  I found the same thing in the 2nd can except even more green slime then before. This time the corn actually looked like it was rotting.  I tried a 3rd can and yes...the same results.  I did have one more can in my cupboard, but I am saving that one to share with the company.  I bought these canned veggies a little over a week ago at Winco Foods on S. Commercial Street here in Salem, Oregon.  There are no dates on the cans only lot numbers.  I immediately thought to call Winco Foods.  Guess what?  They have no phone number listed either in the phonebook or online for Winco, only fax numbers to the Woodburn Warehouse.  On the can itself it says that Santiam brand is made and packed by Norpac foods.  So I went to the Norpac.com website and tried emailing them.  The email came back. I did find a phone number, so I will call tomorrow during my lunch time. This is serious stuff though. I bought maybe 20 cans of assorted vegetables on that shopping trip...most Santiam brand. (I am throwing them out) If I had opened say peas or green beans the green ick wouldn't have been as noticeable and we could have eaten some of this.  I don't know if the icky green stuff is serious or not, but would not discount the possibility of botulism.  That is the number one danger in any canned food.  So as I try to get in touch with Winco and Norpac to let them know they are supplying and/or selling rotten food, the unsuspecting public is purchasing and possibly eating something that could be making them very very sick!  Although there are no guarantees in any products we buy, I think I will stick to frozen veggies and big name products like Del Monte or Green Giant.  Sorry local boys...just don't trust your stuff right now. Here on the numbers on top of the cans.  EC041-(first line) 070905, 2320 or 2321 (2nd line).

Flung Forward!

Whose idea was this anyway?  There are a couple reasons I'm not really thrilled with the "new daylight saving time" starting so early.  First and probably the most important it causes havoc with my inner clock.  I do like the part about having more light longer during the day, but the part about getting to spring forward and lose a perfectly good hour of sleep?  Not so much!  My inner clock takes forever to adjust to the time change.  I try and go to bed earlier, but can't fall asleep until my regular time.  Therefore my brain is smart!  It doesn't take long for the brain to figure out that I am just getting up an hour earlier every morning! One morning of lost sleep wouldn't be so bad, but this goes on for a while.  How long does this last?  Uh..can be a month or two.  Pathetic right?  How do you adjust to DST?  What is the secret?  I just don't see where we happily spring forward...I feel like I've been flung against my will! haha  See sounds a little whiny, complainy or grumpy doesn't it?  I need some rest...haha

Who Took My February?

Okay, is anyone else feeling like February was on a fast track from beginning to end?  Where did it go?  Did we really have the month day by day or did the days somehow run all together and some get skipped or lost?  I get a lot of  "you know that February is a short month so it goes by faster".  Duh, it isn't faster...still day by day, hour by hour...somehow I just missed a bunch of it.  And by the way, it's only shorter by two days...oh please! Part I'm sure is because Hudson was in the Hospital for a week, we had two Birthdays, busy basketball Fridays/Saturdays with the grandkids.  And maybe because I was waiting for some of the shows to come back...American Idol, Survivor-Fiji, Amazing Race and of course the racing season started with Nascar's Nextel Cup at Daytona.  A lot of busy busy days with tests and doctor appointments.  The other one I hear is "the older you get the faster time goes by".  I'm not ancient or even what I consider old.  I'm barely past 50.  That's a baby in some countries! haha

Okay I get it now.  The more I write, the more I see where my month went.  Doesn't mean I have to like it though! LOL, pout pout!  March...watch out!  I've got my eye on you!

Lazy Blogger Syndrome

Yes, I believe there is something strange, odd or maybe just indifferent going on out there in cyberspace.  Lazy Blogger Syndrome.  I'm not the only one who has a major case of Lazy Blogger going on.  Several blogs I read seem to be experiencing the same thing lately.  No new posts in days and days.  I have to admit, I cheated the other day and just posted a new  picture of baby Hudson.  Of course I want to share pictures of him, but that's all I did.  Posted a picture and called it a day.  I went straight for the "ahhhhh, isn't he cute" moment and tried to leave the post at that, no words,  just to satisfy my need of getting a new DATE on the header so it didn't look like I haven't blogged in a while.  Haha, pathetic I know.  It's not like there hasn't been a lot going on.  Of course there has.  It is just that right now the goings on just might not be that interesting to anyone out there reading.  You know, the no news is good news?  Well it's kind of like that.  The problem with that theory is when people stop reading or checking your blog, they sometimes go away forever or at the least get out of the habit of checking on you every day.  So I thought I would post today and give you a quick update on the short of it and if you have questions...make a comment or email me.  Here goes:  I'm okay, don't go for a Cancer checkup until mid March.  Bryant's okay, getting his knee looked after and may have a solution to his pain without surgery.  New little Hudson is fitting right in with his family.  They hardly notice the difference besides more laundry and diapers in the trash..haha.  Okay I'm sure it's a bit more than that. He is a little bundle of joy that we all love very much who really has just slipped right into his family place .  I have a grandson who came down with the flu, he's feeling better now.  Had a daughter and two granddaughters that have had colds but are also on the mend.  Have a Dad that had medical procedure done, then scared us all and ended up back in the hospital for a couple days. (He is also doing better now)  Love and prayers to him to get well fast.   I have a lovely niece that just found out she is pregnant! Whoo hoo and congratulations!Work has been "work" and I'm not caught up.  Or maybe more like a zoo and the monkeys are restless! Which ever it is, it caused me to miss a lunch date with a treasured friend who forgave me for breaking our date and setting up a new one with me next week.  I have a friend who is finally coming back to work tomorrow after a 3 month leave.  She had a terrible auto accident before Thanksgiving that resulted in the need for neck surgery.  After her surgery she had several complications, some life threatening but is doing better and coming back to work.  See?  Are you tired yet?  I told you a bunch was going on....don't fall asleep on me now!!  I am serving on two screening/hiring committees at work for two new positions.  One a secretary and one our new Associate Dean in my office.  I've been watching American Idol and can't wait for the next sessions to get to Hollywood so we can see the real talent.  I'm also waiting for my favorite show to start again...SURVIVOR-Fiji to come back on February 8th!  I am hosting Bunko at my house next Tuesday night and I still need to shop for prizes.  I need to clean my house and go to the grocery store.  All of that and I haven't bought a pair of shoes in over a month!  What is the world coming to I tell you! Guess that wasn't the short of it after all....but I do love you all...welcome back! wink wink!