amen. amen, and amen....

ok, so arlin spector of pennsylvania has taken up the legacy of ronald reagan by switching parties.....hard to imagine how the right can spin what their mentor has already done.....

high tech infection control measures...

ok, so this scanner is being used in a south korea airport to detect folks with fevers and keep them off of planes......as a way to control the spread of flu.....wow....

maine republican still touts her singlehanded removal of panflu funding from stimulus bill....

ok, so this from the nation....Famously, Maine Senator Collins, the supposedly moderate Republican who demanded cuts in health care spending in exchange for her support of a watered-down version of the stimulus, fumed about the pandemic funding: "Does it belong in this bill? Should we have $870 million in this bill No, we should not."


Even now, Collins continues to use her official website to highlight the fact that she led the fight to strip the pandemic preparedness money out of the Senate's version of the stimulus measure.

swine flu

ok, so.....the potential pandemic has me a bit worried.....mostly because i have not yet written my county's pandemic flu plan.....there are no vaccines for this flu, so i should not worry about organizing vaccination clinics....on the other hand i had best be procuring an ample supply of face masks.....and encouraging the public to stockpile food and water in their homes in case we all must hunker down for a time......i was greatly amused to read this morning that the governor of texas has requested antivirals from the SNS (strategic national stockpile)....this is the guy who hates big government and who has suggested that texas secede.....big government is for times like this when the pooling of tax funds has allowed for there to be a national stockpile of emergency medication.....for the record, the best ways to avoid contagious diseases is to stay away from large gatherings (school, church, gaming events, etc), wash hands frequently, cover all coughs, and avoid body-to-body contact.......and most of all...if you do not feel well...stay home, even if it means missing work, plane trips, weddings, graduations, and other celebrations.....

e. a. poe.....

ok, so.....i settled in on the back deck with a glass of wine and the unread new yorker after a mind-dulling week of meetings and trainings....sunshine, stimulating prose and reporting on a friday after-noon.....wow...what more can one ask for in this life.....and so i tucked into the piece on edgar allen poe.....and enjoyed a 35+ year flashback.....about how i was assigned to write a report on mr poe....maybe junior high?..... and having only the world book encyclopedia to use as background material, i taped several quarters to an index card and mailed it to the poe house in baltimore asking for whatever that sum would cover.......i recall getting a brochure about the property, and a few postcards.......and a nice letter from the staff thanking me for my interest...the article reminded me of the edgy terror that poe managed to evoke in so few words.....and then the phone rang....and i darted into the house to answer because my spouse usually calls about this time to avail me of his heading home plans.... and when i came back out to the deck the new yorker was gone.....omg......i shuddered as i peaked over the deck railing......winds tend to sweep printed paper products into the ivy-covered edge of the abyss just beyond the boxwood hedge......a place i do not go cheerfully because there might be snakes....i have not actually seen a snake in this area of our property.....so this could be translated, gentle readers, as akin to fearing that there are monsters under the bed.....but i digress from my new yorker that is inches away from the cliff......and so i mustered my courage and eased out between the boxwood and the shailler's pink provence rose onto the ivy-covered edge of the abyss....and i grabbed the conundrum magazine as well as a seat cushion that blew off the back deck sometime last year....and then crawled back into the safety of the brick path.......perceived danger is ever so powerful...as mr.poe well knew......if he had lived a bit longer into his 40's he just might have come up with another tale of terror called the magazine...... you never know.....

parking lot moment

ok, so.....i rarely read mainstream thriller authors.....but....BUT....i will confess that i have gifted a series of government intrigue spy books-on-cd to my brother over the years....but i had never actually listened to any of these works until this week.....i borrowed a 10-cd book from the library on saturday on the flimsy excuse of s meeting in frankfort and a training in lexington this week......and i got so caught up in the plot that i brought the box inside when i got home last night...and i succumbed to temptation and brought the box into work after lunch and listened to all but the last bit while i typed in budget data......must not make a habit of this.....but i so wanted to know how the plot would play out.....and so i sat in eku's backlot until the final chapter was read......with some disappointment.....too many plot lines left to the 'listener' imagination.....when i invest 10 cd's of my time in a book, i want to hear every detail of the resolution.....yeah...we are not talking about a bookclub-worthy work of fiction......all the more reason to expect that every thread is neatly tied off...speaking of bookclub.....we discussed kafka on the shore this evening.....which most folks liked enough to be pleasant during the debate about the fine line between dreams/fantasy and reality..............i appreciate that level of tolerance.....it is my dream/fantasy paris apartment that gets me through most work days.....and while one could argue that i do not actually own, nor am i likely to ever own an apartment in paris...the dream of one is sturdy enough to sustain the worst of the real world....

ok, so this lovely photo was emailed yesterday as an earth day tribute........pictures of flowers make me almost as happy as actually seeing flowers.....ahh......note to self- identify these bulbs and place an order for fall planting......

so very cold....

ok, so...so this must be the coldest spring on record.....i am chilled to the bone and i have on a long-sleeved fleece and flannel jammies.....maybe i should go back to bed rather than to work....

traficking in wild plants

ok, so...i have wild larkspur blooming........6 luscious blue-blooming plants that i received in trade for some shooting star and solomon seal plants last year.....the plants i traded came from our woodlot, or from overgrown clumps where woodlot plants have been transferred to planting beds.....i am pretty sure that the larkspur were taken from a public area......i thought of these plants today as i drove to a morning meeting in frankfort...my shortcut route takes me down by the ky river...and there were thousands of larkspur in bloom...i regret that i did not have gloves or digging implements with me.....i could have added to my collection.....there are those who find such a notion unethical...wild things need to stay where they are.....on the other hand.....the wild plants i have moved inside my own property lines from un-seen to easily enjoyed appear to suffer no harm.......i see little difference in removing plants from a public right-of-way where the mowers will level them any day now.....i see such an act as a plant rescue rather than an act of ecoterrorism.....just my own thoughts on this rainy tuesday

missed anniversary.....

ok, so......april 9 was my 7th anniversary as a blogger......i can only remember this date because it is kept on a sticky note beside the screen......i recall being a better blogger.....must resolve to be more faithful......

perfect weather....

ok, so this was a perfect day....the rain lasted well into the afternoon....when one cannot go outside and do yardwork, one might as well take a nap.....and a nap with the pitter-patter of raindrops on the roof and windows is as close to heaven as i deserve.....oh yeah...and the cat snuggled in......ahhh....purring and pitter-patter.....life is good.....

moscow's stray dogs travel by subway....

ok, so....i am amused by a story i read on the other mean mama's blog about the moscow stray dogs that travel by subway from the suburbs to the central city in search of scraps of food ....seems they are smart enough to know when they have reached their 'stop'....wow!

midnight confessions.....

ok, so as we were driving home later than expected from the Lipizzaner stallion show at rupp arena we were listening to an oldies radio station.....and i was 100% in guessing the artist and the name of the song in the first 30 seconds except for one song......i mistakenly noted that the song midnight confessions was originally sung by paul revere and the raiders......and it was sung by the grass roots....i stand corrected.....in some respects it is embarrassing to be able to identify a peter framptom tune in the first few bars......it is clearly a sign of a wasted youth.....

a cold spring....

ok, so we are having another semi-chilly day in the bluegrass....the kind that cries out for another cup of coffee as one crawls back into bed to warm back up after dashing out to the road to get the newspaper.....the good news is that my 'iffy' plants all show signs of life ...not because of the ice storm back in january, but because the puppy prefers to chew the tender shoots off of budding bushes......

susan boyle sings spendidly....

ok, so this clip from britain's got talent....clearly the best 'reality' performance ever.....still brings tears to my eyes when i watch it.....

more rain.....

ok, so.....we are on to a second day of rain...which is just as well because i have to work and cannot start laying mulch til the weekend....

back to work....

ok, so the spring break is over and i must go back to work.....i really resisted the temptation to fret over work during the interlude.....though i could not help but to dream about work-related issues...lats night i dreamed that an auditorium in our building (we have no such room) was flooded and filling up with pebbles...kind of like a beach....and the state folks were threatening to condemn our building unless we pulled the plug and let the water out.....i also sat in on an exit interview from a mental health treatment audit...we do no such work in our building, but i had to sit in anyway.....one element of the dream sequence was accurate- i have a bit of news to pass on to someone to let her know that a choice she made was the smarter of the two options she had at hand.......she showed up in my dream and i was about to tell her but the alarm went off.....go figure.....better take care of that issue today so she doesn't return to my dreams tonight....

ok, so this public place erupts into dance theme has been done before, but i do so enjoy the concept.....

ok, so this flying pig was part of an easter celebration in australia.....no clue what pigs have to do with easter......but i do enjoy the swine photo.....

those who live in glass houses....

ok, so the fox news folks have had a heyday over the realization that the obamas have not attended church regularly since moving to washington in january....as if church attendance were a residential requisite.....church selection takes time, and given that there are any number of churches who would jump at the chance to have the first family sit regularly in their pews......it is as political a decision as many others made in the first 100 days......but that decision is not the point of my rant...it is with the fox news folks......they who have made such a big deal about church attendance can only do so ethically if they themselves attend church on a regular basis......jesus himself had no patience with sinners who threw stones......i'd say that the fox folks better watch their backs lest a higher power wield a bit of payback.....

dreams...

ok, so.....i dreamed vividly last night of visiting the 'opening' of a convention center......the famous architect was on hand and giving press interviews....and my middle child could not fail to notice that the newly erected convention center looked exactly like the old convention center next door......and my middle child 'shamed' the architect much like he shames the cat from time to time....for having no original thoughts, i suppose.......speaking of the cat, she is clinging to me as i type.....must be the horrific storm outside that has her spooked.....which is worse, a copying architect or a clawing cat?

flower photos

ok, so i got a wild hair yesterday to scan and post flower and garden photos, being spring and all.....and the first photos i searched for were the chelsea flower show pictures.....from the late 80's.....and i went through numerous family photo albums to no avail...i went through shelves in all bedrooms just in case somebody had wandered off with them and forgotten to put them back.....and finally the location came into my brain like a light bulb turning on....there never were actual photos....that particular trip, like our honeymoon, had been captured on slides.....we managed to have the honeymoon transferred to prints, but never got around to doing so with the trip that included the flower show, castle howard's rose garden, hidcote garden, and sissinghurst.....my photos of jardin bagatelle must also be on slides....oy!......now i must figure out where i can take the slides to get digital files created.....at least i have not lost these fabulous photos...

the beer bike

ok, so this is a beer bike, which seats 10.....sponsored by amstel light in the netherlands...gives new meaning to designated driver....

the embrace and the ipod....

ok, so......i am fed up to here (imagine my hand at my neck) with the media circus around the notion that michele obama broke protocol by being photographed with her arm around the queen....from the view i saw on the huffington post, the queen's arm was around her back as well...so if it were a faux pas, this particular one went both ways.....god bless the queen for being flexible when it comes to media frenzy.....and as for the ipod.....my most treasured gifts over the years have been mix cd's from my children or from their friends....magical mystery cd's that go places i never go with sound, lyrics or rhythm.....the notion that this was an inappropriate gift to a monarch is laughable......of what possible use would an American-made crystal ashtray be to a woman who does not smoke....yeah...or maybe he should have brought her a collection of spoons from every state....yeah!...... or he could have brought her a case of bourbon (the queen does love her scotch so why not a ky-made bit of corn squeezings?), but that does not make a a good photo-op......so i say leave the obamas and their g-20 tour alone....they seem to be doing fine for a first trip out of the country.....

circling overhead....

ok, so....last season's oddly inflated flock of vultures is back.......so numerous that it is not unusual to see 8-10 in a single tree as we drive out the road toward the highway.....i read the papers out on the deck after work yesterday.....an activity that would have been much more enjoyable had 3 vultures not been circling....i always check on the whereabouts of my cat when the vultures are out- just in case.....it appears that they are hanging out here rather than feasting on the fallen.....go figure....

new b-ball coach at u of k....

ok, so televised broadcasts in these parts were interrupted last evening for a special news update.....not the economy....not the 2 wars.....just the news that the new b-ball coach had officially agreed to an 8 year 35 mil contract.......the college contends that boy's b-ball is self-supporting, and these inflated coaching salaries in no way impacted the tuition that this or any other family coughed up for a child's education......but i do not believe that for a ky minute....

a late addition.....the facebook babble about the coaching acquisition has been amusing......a friend asked the question 'now what?' to which another friend replied that the recruits will follow j.c. to uk, they will win multiple championships, and the lame will walk and the blind will see'......such are the fan/alumni/administration expectations for coaches in these parts....