So here's the short of it, 
Kentucky's going to the finals!

And here's the long.

I'll have to admit I'm not much of a sports fan.  I don't really follow much ball of any kind -- any time. But what Kentucky girl could miss this match up!  Mom even came up and watched the first half with us.

I know just barely enough about basketball to understand why they run up and down the court and throw the ball into the goal - which, by the way, doesn't look a thing like a basket any more!  If you are interested you can look here at this link to see how it all started!

I don't really know if the game had other Kentucky Wildcat fans on the edge of their seats, but I had 10 or 15 minutes there when I thought they were going to let it just slip out of their hands.  I suppose that if they are going to win the championship they'll really have to "get their game on".

And yes, I imagine I'll be watching that game as well.

So here's the short of it, 
Plato is missing...

And here's the long.

 Mom's cat, Plato, has been living a dual life for several years.  He divides his time between her and the small office complex down on Brainerd Road where Joan McNew Flores has her home appraisal business and her husband Attorney, Robin Flores has his office.

At Mom's he's pretty much an outdoor cat. He likes to sit on the outside window sill while Mom works in the kitchen.  He also likes to sit up on the shed roof out back.  But he also loves to go down the road and help out with home appraising and lawyering.  I've heard that he has his own chair and his very own bed.

While Mom was gone to Destin, he stayed full time down at his "other house.

Yesterday Joan called to say that he hadn't been to see them for several days - and he hadn't been at Mom's either.  So she started a big search for him - scouring the street between them and Mom.

The story continues...

Today they learned that a woman who had been fired from the office next door to Joan and Robin had decided that she needed to take him with her as she left.  So he's been in Varnell, GA since Tuesday - in a home where there are two pitt bulls on short chains in the front yard.

Robin went down and accompanied by deputies, went to reclaim Plato. (They call him Greybeard).  They got him, but as they were walking to the car, he became frightened of the dogs and got away, running into a wooded area.

Joan's daughter has been down there this afternoon - she's set a trap and gone door to door.  Tomorrow they are going to keep trying.  Mom is worried about him.  This afternoon she told me "I'll bet he's awfully scared".  I'm worried about him too!

I sure hope that this story has a happy ending for Plato, Mom, and his other family.

So here's the short of it,
I'm watching Nova - 

And here's the long.

Genetic Code at Wiki

I'm watching "Cracking Your Genetic Code" on PBS.   This is so fascinating.

It's so interesting to me because they are talking about how drugs can be tailored to the genetic make up of the diseases.  It is like my HERCEPTIN which is called a monoclonal antibody - it interferes with the HER2/neu receptor that allows it to grow aggressively.

One scientist said something very interesting - "we are going to begin to think of ourselves more in terms of genetics" - from the people we hire to the people we choose to date!  They referenced the film Gattica which I remember seeing. Wow, I hope we aren't really headed in that direction!

So it seems that everywhere you go you leave a trail of genetic debris. If someone wants to check out your DNA it's not that hard to grab a sample.  Another wow!

And then I think - we just have to trust because it's not any different than humans taming fire or electricity.  It can be used in good and just ways or in immoral and horrific ways.  We'll have remember that educating our kids has to include helping them to understand choosing the good and just ways!

So here's the short of it, 
Nice surprise tonight. 

And here's the long.

Liga worked an early shift and got off by 7 tonight so she stopped by to have some of our leftover dinner.  She got a quick dinner that she didn't have to fix and I got a chance for a nice visit.  So I think that was a win-win! And a lovely surprise.

Sophie and I spent a bit of time this evening working on her fetch the ball trick. She loves to play catch... but when she brings the ball back to me, she doesn't want to let it go to have me throw it for her again. She wants to gnaw on it while I'm holding onto it in her mouth. I want her to learn how to bring it to me and then drop it on the ground so I can pick it up!  Well, this evening, I accidently dropped a piece of the turkey bacon we had for dinner so I tore it into little pieces and took it outside to use as a training treat for dropping the ball.  Sophie could not focus on the task at hand.  She knew I had that bacon, and she did not want to do anything for it but sit and look pretty.  Well, she was really ready to go through the "sit", "shake", "high-five", "lay down", "speak", or even the "wait" tricks that she already knows, but she and I had to have a real conversation before she understood that she was going to have to fetch the ball and bring it back to me and then drop it before she would get the bacon. She was even running around behind me when I put my hand behind my back.  Oh what fun it is to have this wonderful dog!

So here's the short of it, 
Mom is home from Destin. 

And here's the long.

It seemed like the sisters (and Bob) really did enjoy their time at the condo. It's really so lovely that Steve and Pat have such a nice place and are so generous about sharing it with family.  I think Mom had a good opportunity to have a visit with Russ as well.

Here's a picture of them enjoying their last evening on the beach.

I'm glad to have Mom back home. It's always strange to wake up in the morning and know that she's not there in that house down the street and around the corner!  So tomorrow or the next day when I drive by and see her lights on and her car in the driveway it will be a comfort.

So here's the short of it, 
Tomorrow is Monday...

And here's the long. 

Then comes Tuesday and then of course then Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and then SPRING BREAK!!

I am so excited that we are only a week away from Spring Break. I haven't made any plans at this point, but I've got a whole week to take care of that!

I think everyone ought to have a Spring Break - not just educators.  There is something so wearying about the winter months.  Well, for me anyway.  Maybe I have a touch of Seasonal Affective Disorder.  I don't really get depressed or have awful struggles, but it's hard to slog through those months.  Work just seems so much harder during that time.  By the time the days are warmer and longer, I just really look forward to a few days to not do the work thing and enjoy the sunshine thing!

Maybe I'll be getting some gardening done!

So here's the short of it, 
I'm going to take a good lesson from my Friday sitting in a bad chair day. 

And here's the long.

I've still got a really achey back and I can for sure trace it to that experience on Friday.  I'll just have to be more cautious and be sure to ask for a different chair when that happens again.  I'm not too shy to do that, I just had no idea that sitting for a day on a bad chair would still be impacting me more than 24 hours later!

I also still feel like I must be trying to come down with something.  I stayed close at the house except for a couple of trips to Mom's to check on things. And this afternoon, I took a nap.  I think that's what makes me think I've got something going on -  it's so unusual for me to be able to nap during the day.  And it's just after nine and I feel like I might be able to go to sleep a little earlier than usual tonight.

I'm so glad it's the weekend.  Now that is just what I needed.

So here's the short of it, 
I really zonked this evening.

And here's the long.

I made the early time to work with no problem whatsoever!  It was a long day and there were not any chairs suitable for my old achey back, so by the end of the day my back hurt more than it has in a long, long time.  When I finally got home I just got out of my clothes and got my heating pad and crawled into the bed.  I must have slept for 2 hours!  I just wonder if I've got a bug doing battle with my immune system.  If so - we'll show it!  I'll get lots of rest and good food this weekend and beat that bug.

Now let's hope that nap this evening doesn't keep me from falling asleep tonight!

So here's the short of it, 
Early to bed, Early to rise...

And here's the long.

Tomorrow is one of those awful get up at 5 o'clock in the morning days! I'm going to bed in just a few minutes and hope that I can go to sleep!

Lola is perturbed with me because I closed the pet door early and she didn't get to take her late night stroll. Sophie on the other hand is sound asleep on the floor and will be delighted to head to the bed.

I'm really glad that tomorrow is Friday!  I'll have a good reason for sleeping in on Saturday morning!

Night all...

So here's the short of it, 
The tree pollen is hitting record highs all around us!

And here's the long.

I learned how to get the office windows open today so even though the tree pollen count was in the "very high" range, I opened them up to air out the place.  The tree pollen is really high.  Everywhere you look everything is covered in the fine yellow pollen.  It's on our cars, our sidewalks, and the outside of the windows (I'm afraid I let a little of it in today!)  Thank goodness I don't have awful allergies.  This has been a really hard early spring around here. Today we got rated as the number 7 in the Weather Channel's 2012 Top 10 Spring Allergy Cities! (Aunt Joyce, Knoxville was rated number 1!)

It feels too early to be spring. But ready or not here it comes!

So here's the short of it, 
Just some random thoughts.

And here's the long.

No kids at schools today.  Well only those taking the ACT - so I had a full day in the office and I'll have to say I had big plans for getting a bunch of stuff done.  I actually got waylaid two times - so I didn't get it all done.  We had to move our office before we were out for winter break and I still have about 5 big boxes that need to be unloaded.  I did manage to make some headway.  I have a bit of time tomorrow morning and I'm going to see how much I can get done then.  

This evening I enjoyed some time "porch sitting" after dinner.  Alan and I just relaxed on the porch and Sophie stretched out in the front yard and just kept an eye on things in the circle.  This is the first time ever that we've had a dog that would just hang out with us instead of running crazy around the neighborhood!  She's actually the first dog we've ever been able to have outside the fence without a leash.

I thought I'd lost $20 today.  Now I don't lose money - I might waste money, but I never lose it!  Today was a blue jeans day and I stuffed a twenty in my pocket on my way out the door.  When I got to work it wasn't in my pocket.  I imagined that I had just left it on my dresser and didn't think any more about it.  I have soup and a few other non-perishable groceries in the office, and since I was hammering away with my boxes of stuff I needed to work on, I just had a quick lunch in.  When I got home the $20 was NOT on my dresser.  After dinner Sophie walked me out to the car to check out the possibility it might be there.  As soon as I opened the drivers side door, I could see it sticking up in the space between the driver's seat and the part of the floorboard that's elevated where the door closes.  I'm sure lucky it didn't just fall out in the parking lot!  And I'm pretty lucky that it wasn't really lost!

So here's the short of it, 
Oh. My. Goodness!

And here's the long.

What a surprise I got tonight!

Lola usually likes to go outside for a little while after the sun goes down. I wait until I hear her come in and then put in the pet door blocker so that Sophie is "locked in" for the night and Lola's not locked out.  Otherwise, Sophie barks in the night too much for our neighbors.

So tonight I was in the kitchen, and I heard the pet door pop.  I headed in to the laundry room to get the door closed before one of the animals went back outside and there Lola was with something fairly large in her mouth.  She looked at me and set it down.  Sophie nosed at it a bit and I realized it was a Baby Rabbit! I was SO surprised.  Lola has never been a hunter.  Our cat Clio who just preceded Lola was a hunter extraordinaire - so I'm sure I've judged her against a very high standard.  But she rarely catches anything except the other night she did get the first huge mosquito that got into the house!  Of course maybe the reason it was a successful rescue was that she's not such a great hunter!

The little fella was not hurt at all, but was absolutely scared to death!  It's heart was pounding, but it was just as quiet and still as it could have possibly been. (The only other time I've rescued a baby rabbit from a cat it was screaming loudly!) I hastily grabbed it up from the floor because I was afraid one of the animals would think it was a good evening snack. I'll have to admit for a fleeting moment, I thought about how nice it would be to have a pet rabbit! I took the pictures above and then, leaving the dog and cat behind, I took this little one out to the copse across the alley from our driveway and let it go.  I sure hope it found it's Mommy.  

I'll have to say I couldn't help but think about Peter Rabbit! I wondered what stories and adventures this little one would have to tell it's Mom about the evening with the Cat and Dog and the woman who held him in the sky and pointed something at it. 

I'll be watching for this one in the evenings and early mornings to come. 

So here's the short of it, 
Emily has headed to Destin!

And here's the long.

Mom and her sisters with Uncle Bob headed off to Destin to spend a week at Steve and Pat's condo.  I know they are going to have a great time.  I'm so glad that Pat and Sarah with Mom's great grandson Jacob were still there so they got a chance for a quick visit before they head home tomorrow.  I believe that Steve is planning to be down Monday or Tuesday for at least one night of visiting with them as well.

I swiped a few pictures from Pat's Facebook album of different views of the grounds of their condo so that readers who haven't seen them can be appreciative of the wonderful week that they are going to have.

Daniel - Joyce's son - always refers to the three sisters as "the queens".  I think particularly he has favored that term since all of the brothers passed away.

Pool Looking Toward Condo Buildings

The Beach 

View of the Bay Side From the Condo 

View of the Bay From the Pool

So here's the short of it, 
My eye is OK.

And here's the long.

I had a follow up appointment with my retina specialist today.  I was a bit concerned yesterday when a couple of more floaters appeared and my vision got a little dimmer in my left eye, but the nurse said I'd be fine until my appointment today.

Late this afternoon Alan drove me over for my appointment - since I was going to be dilated I thought I might not need to drive back home!  When the tech did my first level check and asked me to read the chart, that left eye was really fuzzy on lines that I thought I should have been able to read!  I was really concerned that something was not quite right!

I sure was glad that when Dr. Funderburk took a look, he found everything OK.  He says I'm healing nicely, but warned me to let them know immediately if I see flashes of light or a shower of floaters.  I'm to go back in a month for a check up.

I'm really grateful to live in a place and time when I have access to such great medical care.  It sure makes me reflective of times past and places present.

So here's the short of it, 
OK!  One more day of this early rising!

And here's the long.

I've actually fared better than I imagined I would!  I've been able to get up. I will have to admit that I've had to have two alarms.  I actually set three alarms every morning, but was able to get up with only two - - - that sort of isn't true.  The first day Alan nudged me after the second alarm so that probably counts as three.  Only one more day and then I'll have the weekend.  I'll try to catch up on some of my sleep debt.  I think maybe by the end of next week my body will have adjusted.  I can really tell that it takes me longer now than it used to!

I like the extra daylight at the end of the day.  Sophie just loves it because that's more time for her to be outside with me!

Next year I am going to distinctly mark my calendar and try not to schedule very early meetings that are 30 or 45 minutes away from home!

I think one of my big issues is that even though I'm tired, I don't really get sleepy until pretty late.  I've read that it's because of that great inventor Thomas Edison.  I recently read that before the invention of the electric light people generally got 9 hours of sleep every night.  But that now that we have televisions, computers, and of course a light to read the books by - most people get only about 7 hours.  Wow!  that's a huge change I think.  I wonder what kinds of differences that's made for people.  I'll have to ask the sisters to talk about that!

So here's the short of it, 
I'll have to admit, I'm thinking about tomatoes. 

And here's the long.

There's a strangeness about this springtime coming along without having much of a winter.  Today was very warm and because of the time change it felt as though it was the middle of the afternoon when I got home.  I had a nice time in the circle.  Neighbors - Moms and kids and dogs were out enjoying the late light and the nice temperatures.

Dad would have already had his tomatoes started.  Of course Mom's no slacker.  She's already got the onions and peas planted and she's still getting arugula and chard from her plantings last fall!  We actually had some for dinner last night.  I'm going to have to start thinking about whether I'm going to try to do anything but tomatoes for this year.

Mia stopped by with Clyde after his youth group over at First Cumberland and we sat on the porch and had a really nice visit.  We don't really see one another much anymore so it was nice to have a visit.

Tomorrow is one of those days where I will be from north to south and from can til can't... I should get to bed soon here.

So here's the short of it, 
Sophie and I are training again!

And here's the long.

It appears our winter is gone. The weather today was really nice. This morning was a little damp, but pleasant.  I was out and about in schools today and the weather made it really nice for that.

By the time I got home, Sophie was ready for her walk - and I was sure ready to be walking her too!  We are working on the command "Sit".  She is really good about sitting for me in the house unless she's just super excited.  We are working on her sitting if she's outside, off leash, and some distance from me.  She's making progress!  I'm very excited about this.  We have a leash law here in Chattanooga, but here on the Circle, most of the dogs play with one another in a very social fashion and are not leashed.  We do have lots of people who walk with their dogs in the neighborhood and sometimes they come into the Circle and let their dogs off leash.  Or sometimes the dogs in the circle go up to the "visitor" and there's a bit of commotion.  So I want to be able to tell Sophie to sit and then go leash her up for her own safety and for the comfort of those who walk on the Circle and don't really know her.

We had an incident a week or so ago with a dog in another part of the neighborhood who burst out of his house and attacked a man and his 8 month old lab puppy who were walking (with the dog on leash).  So many of the folks in the neighborhood are on high alert about dogs, and I want to be very respectful of those feelings.  So we are going to work on sit and then getting leashed up and continuing our walk.

So here's the short of it, 
One more post about Rush Limbaugh and then I'll try to stop...

And here's the long.


There are two articles about Rush Limbaugh and the continuing issue of his over the top rant about Sandra Fluke that really interest me and are the basis for this post.  One of those articles suggests that the FCC should take steps to prevent him from being on the airwaves You can find that article here.  The other article claims that the First Amendment protects Rush Limbaugh and that we should focus on getting our own opposing views out there. And you can find that article here.

I think I have a different opinion than either of them.

I do believe that the First Amendment protects speech.  Rush Limbaugh, my Mom, my children, and you all have the right to express opinions.  However, there are some limitations on that right, and there are consequences to expressing those opinions.  

The law is clear that slander and libel are not protected by the First Amendment. I believe that Rush Limbaugh crossed the line and slandered Sandra Fluke. And I hope he is taken to court for that and suffers the legal consequences for that.

The other consequence is that people decide whether or not to associate with us because of our opinions.  There are people who don't want to be my friend because I say things that are supportive of positions they don't believe in.  And that's just fine.

I am convinced that we have the right to use our pennies, nickles, dimes, and dollars to help decide what will be on the airwaves.  I think it is fine for those of us who find Rush Limbaugh's broadcasts full of hate to let advertisers know that we will not support them if they continue to provide the funding for his public platform.  We've become almost immune to his horrible name calling and hatefulness for women, immigrants (legal), anyone of a race besides his own, not to mention the GLBT community, and any other group that doesn't share his own narrow views.

I for one am happy for him to speak out and say what he wants to say; I'm also happy to let anyone who financially supports him know that I will not be spending money with them.  I don't want us to "have him removed" from the airwaves.  I just want it to no longer be profitable for him. I think there are enough of us who find him beyond the line of reasonableness that we can do that.

So here's the short of it, 
Well yes, I'm a little obsessed by the time change. 

And here's the long.

I found the map below at Widipedia. It is interesting.

Although not used by most of the world's countries, daylight saving time is common in the Northern Hemisphere's northern latitudes.

  DST observed

  DST no longer observed

  DST never observed

It seems that according to those who keep such data, that before the electric light was invented most adults slept about 9 hours per night.  Now most adults get about 7 hours of sleep per night. So if we take away an hour of that 7 hours because we have trouble getting used to the change - we are sleep deprived.

No wonder so many of us have problems with memory and attention, complex thought processes, motor responses, controlling our emotions, and performance in school or in our jobs! I also understand that people who have seizures often have more during the time changes.

Wonder why time change is so important when it's obviously not so good for many of us???

So here's the short of it, 
Oh My!  The time changes tonight.

And here's the long.

As the years go by the spring forward part gets harder and harder for me.  Alan was telling me that there was a news article about it today that says it takes our bodies at least 7 days to get accustomed to moving the clocks forward!  More traffic accidents, more illnesses, and who knows what else!  I'll never forget one year that our school system chose the Monday after time change for administering "the test" to students.  I suppose it wasn't quite so high stakes that year!

I agree with the Old Indian.  Let's just keep it one way or the other.  Maybe we could split the difference with a half hour and just leave it alone?

So here's the short of it, 
I stayed home today

And here's the long.


I decided to stay home today - since I have so much sick time accrued and I didn't want to spend my day in the bright lights and looking at a computer screen. Most of the day I took it easy and kept myself inside in dim light.  I did have enough energy to tackle a big pile on my kitchen counter and am quite glad to have moved it out of the kitchen!

My eye seems to be OK.  I do have a bit of a headache - it's right over my left eye - feeling the same as it did right after they finished the procedure.  It's a good thing I'm having a long weekend I think.

Mom made dinner tonight.  Alan wasn't able to go so she and I had dinner together.  She made chicken and dumplings that were great.  In the last 3 or 4 years that Dad was alive he was searching for a dumpling recipe that he called slick dumplings.  Mom said that at church last week a friend was talking about making dumplings out of pastry dough.  So she gave that a try adding just a bit more flour. We both thought it might have been close to the dumpling that Dad was trying to replicate. It was really good! 

So here's the short of it, 
I had a laser eye procedure today!

And here's the long.

Today I had a follow up appointment from my episode a couple of weeks ago with the huge floater in my left eye.  I've had such improvement that I was confident that I'd get a pat on the back and maybe even an opinion that the damage had repaired itself!  Then I'd get myself on to work.  Wow was I ever wrong.  After I was dilated and Dr. Kirby had a good look see - I got a big surprise!  I had three retinal tears and needed to be seen by a retinal specialist as soon as I could get in.

By 1:30 this afternoon I was in Dr. Funderburk's office.  By 3:00 I was out and finished.  That office was amazingly efficient, pleasant, and friendly.  In no time I was in a room for intake - then I had to watch an informational movie - then I had an exam by Dr. Funderburk - then off to a room for a laser procedure to repair the tears!  The procedure was pretty quick and easy for me.  I sure took lots of concentration for the doctor!  There's a really good article here about the basics of a retinal tear and the laser procedure.  This procedure was uncomfortable!  He told me that I might feel a pinching feeling - and I did!  At one point I thought I'd have to ask for a break.  I thought it took about 5 minutes, but Alan who was in the room with me thought it was more like about 12 minutes.

I hadn't eaten any lunch because Dr. Kirby wasn't sure if they would do the laser procedure or have to do a surgical procedure.  So as soon as I got home, I grabbed a quick sandwich and then went to bed! I napped for a couple of hours and have just lazed around this evening.  I'm going to stay home again tomorrow and just take care of myself.  My eye is still feeling a bit tender I'm thinking a good night's sleep will be just what the Great Physician ordered.

So here's the short of it, 
I have a great story to share about a dog. 

And here's the long.

Yesterday at our Professional Development I met a dog.

One of our retired and wonderful teachers is going to do a bit of consulting for this year's Facing History  Project and she came to the training yesterday.  When we took our morning break, she left for a bit and came back with this beautiful dog named Angus. I want to tell you his story and a bit about hers.

Angus is a Golden Retriever and Newfoundland mix.  He is a big (80 pound) black and golden dog. I grabbed this picture online because I didn't get a picture of Angus himself. Angus doesn't have the white, but looks quite a bit like this dog.

A few years ago, at this teacher's school there were twins who were blind. One of the girls had Angus who was a specially trained left sided seeing eye dog.  When the girl suffered an injury to her left shoulder and was no longer able to use a dog who was trained for a left handed person; she had to get another dog.  Angus was eight years old at that time and he was considered too old to go as a service dog to another owner.  In the meantime, our teacher retired to her large farm to take care of her husband who had become ill with cancer. Her husband passed away.

And it came to pass, that as Angus was looking for a new home, our teacher friend was coming to terms with the loss of her husband their lives crossed paths again, and he came to live with her.  He has spent the last year out of his harness and learning a new way to live.  He still thinks that he is supposed to be near his owner all the time and doesn't really like being away from her.  So he spent most of the day stretched out at her feet.  She says that this summer she's going to introduce him to the water.  Because he was trained to serve a person with no sight, he was taught not to go near the water.  I know it will be a strange experience for him, but I imagine that it will be filled with wonder as well because of his breed mix.

It was such fun to meet Angus.  And it was such a wonderful feeling to think about these two souls coming together to spend their retirement years as companions.

So here's the short of it, 
Today I spent a wonderful day in a Professional Development on bullying 

And here's the long.

There was good attendance and as usual Facing History and Ourselves presented very powerful content! I feel so fortunate to have worked with the folks from Facing History for so many years.  I've seen this curriculum change students and change classrooms.  I think it's possible for it to really change the tone in whole schools.

I love so many things about this kind of Professional Development, but the absolute interactive quality of the day was so wonderful. I was really glad that several of the teachers that I get to work with were able to be there. We sure have our share of bullying issues from both ends!

One of the most interesting topics of conversation that kept popping up from one participant in particular was the problem of teachers who bully, allow students to bully, or have a classroom that in one way or another gives students permission to bully outside their classroom or the school!  I'm glad to have had my head put in that place.

I'm excited that we have a whole year of funding for more work with Facing History!

Rush Limbaugh

So here's the short of it, 
I'm still working to rid our airwaves of Rush Limbaugh's hate speech.


And here's the long.

From the blog Left Leaning Liberal Lady.
"For those who dispute our efforts, be reminded that there remains a substantial difference between free speech and hate speech....between exercising your first amendment right and engaging in a 72 hour slanderous tirade against a private US citizen."


Those who are following the saga of Rush Limbaugh's vicious attack on Sandra Fluke here is an update. And here is  the actual transcript of Sandra Fluke's testimony.  Perhaps you want to read this and decide for yourself if she is advocating that women have access to contraception so that they can have as much recreational sex as they'd like as Rush Limbaugh wants you to believe. 


Many of us have been contacting advertisers on the Rush Limbaugh radio program with some measure of success.  Here is a list, as of today of those who sponsor the program - and those who have pulled those ads based on the pressure of the audience. We still need to work on finding out who local sponsors are and contacting them. 


Now for those of us who believe that Rush has finally crossed the line - let's begin to work on getting him off the air.  See the quote above - there is a difference between exercising first amendment rights and speaking vile untruths against a young woman who is bravely speaking up for women like our daughters, nieces, and sisters. 


Two radio stations as of this evening have removed him from their broadcast schedule - KPUA radio in Hilo, Hawaii and WBEC in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.


Here is a list of the radio stations which broadcast the radio show. I will be contacting WGOW to express my opinion.  I hope this list will make it easy for those who wish to contact their local radio station to make a call.  

So here's the short of it, 
We are just really beginning to hear the stories of damage and horror from the tornadoes. 

And here's the long.

The names of the places that were devastated ring the bell of memory - In Kentucky where I grew up places like Laurel County, West Liberty, Mayfield, and Pulaski County.

And here at home Ooltewah and the Highway 58 area.

There's a toddler in Indiana who was found in a field.  Her parents and two siblings died in the storm; she is in critical condition in the hospital!

My thoughts and prayers are with those who lived through that day - and the families of those who didn't.

So here's the short of it, 
I always dislike Rush Limbaugh - his latest shenanigan is over the top. 

And here's the long.

Today Rush Limbaugh issued an apology of sorts for his outrageous insult to Sandra Fluke.  I'm afraid it wasn't enough.

I have found the list of advertisers who support his radio show, or clear channel which airs his show.  I have always found him to be more interested in being divisive and causing an uproar than in accurately trying to represent the conservative view of things.

I believe that he has become so removed from the real world that he couldn't understand that normal people, even normal conservatives would not stand for their daughters being called sluts or prostitutes because they take oral contraception.  It showed such a lack of understanding about women, their reproductive health, and their rights.


http://leftleaningliberallady.blogspot.com/2012/03/list-of-rush-limbaugh-show-sponsors.html

Click on the link above.

Tell those who are still supporting Rush that you will not purchase their products.

Tell those who have removed their support that you thank them and that when you need their products that you will remember them.  In the weeks to come, if you buy something from one of the advertisers who responded to this outrage by removing their ads, be sure to let them know this is the reason!

This is the way it works. We who don't have millions of dollars respond by millions of us withholding our small amount of dollars to achieve the same impact.

So here's the short of it, 
Chattanooga's been slammed with storms and tornadoes today.

And here's the long.

I've had the weather on most of the time that I've been at home.  We have wonderful meteorologists here in Chattanooga - and they've done a really good job of keeping us informed about where the storms are and letting us know if we need to take cover.

I wasn't at work this afternoon - one of the things I did was run over for a visit with Mommy Anne.  While I was there, they had brought all the residents to sit in chairs in the hallway - their tornado safety.  They were there for about 30 minutes.  Some of them really didn't have a good idea of why they were all lined up in the hallway!  But Mommy Anne did.  I'm guessing the way the evening has gone they've been back in the hall at least a couple of times.

The storms have been coming through in waves since about lunchtime.  Valdis spent some time in their basement.  Liga spent a bit of time on lock down at the hospital (I don't really understand why they do that for weather). And here's a link to photos people have submitted to one of our TV channels.  http://www.newschannel9.com/sections/slideshow/?id=12808394

The worst damage I've heard about is up in Harrison near where we always used to put in when we were boating - the Wolftever ramp. The damage they keep showing on TV is on Short Tail Road.

We've had a couple of bands come through that have had pretty strong winds right here in Brainerd.  We've had the hard rain and some hail and really dark skies.

Right now we seem to be out of danger, but the radar shows several more storm cells moving this way from Alabama.  We won't be out of danger until probably about midnight, but I don't think I'm going to try to stay up to keep my eye on what's going on.

We did have a funny this evening before it got completely dark.  During one of the breaks in the storm, I had the back door open. I could see the storm cell approaching.  It was dark and the lightening was very visible as it got closer and closer.  I turned around to grab something in the laundry room and saw this dark streak fly by behind me.  I realized that it was Lola!  She was about two feet in front of the storm cell from which the rain was just falling in sheets!  It was quite funny - although we did get a bit of rain blowing in the back door.  And of course it was only funny, because the kitty girl made it in without being drenched.

So here's the short of it, 
Today the weather has been really beautiful and warm.

And here's the long

Today I had an opportunity to have lunch with a big group of co-workers - intelligent, dedicated, and amazing women (yes today they were all women today at lunch).  We had great work conversation and the weather was wonderful enough for us to eat outside and enjoy the first really wonderful springlike day.

Five of our small group is going to be retiring at the end of this school year.  One will be leaving us in two weeks.  This will be one of those years of really big change.  Of course, it will all be OK, but it sure will be a transition time!  But we've still got 3 months to get through before all that comes to pass for sure.

Tonight it's getting close to bedtime, and Lola kitty hasn't shown up for the evening yet.  I saw her at supper time, but it's so unusual for her not to be around.  I'm hoping she's just out enjoying this wonderful weather.