Something Squirrelly this Way Comes

Accoustic ecologist, Gordon Hempton, is on a mission to preserve the silence at national parks. Olympic National Park, specifically. In 1989 Gordon received a grant to study nature sounds as a natural resource in the Pacific Northwest. From that study came the report One Square Inch (OSI) "as a natural soundscape management tool and created the noise-free interval (NFI) to measure natural quiet."

To date there is only one official OSI spot. One Square Inch of Silence was designated on Earth Day 2005 (April 22, 2005) to protect and manage the natural soundscape in Olympic Park's backcountry wilderness....The exact location is marked by a small red-colored stone placed on top of a moss-covered log at 47° 51.959N, 123° 52.221W, 678 feet above sea level.

When you're walking outside today, take a moment & listen. See if you can hear any sounds of nature in your world.

His last day as a one year old. See you soon, JT!

A week ago an email went out to everyone in my building & the adjacent one stating that a nearby hotel [Hotel] would like to WELCOME you to the area! Come with your appetites and ENJOY a complimentary breakfast on US! Next Wednesday (yesterday) from 7:30-9:00 in the lobby. I took that to mean in the lobby of our building. Apparently there was some confusion as four days later (Tuesday before the free breakfast) another email came out. This one clarified that the free breakfast was, indeed, in the lobby of my building.

I stroll through the doors at 6:30 yesterday and there's no sign of any breakfast. No tables, no boxes or cars. No hint that anything is going to be going on later that day. I fiddle around, do some work, write a blog entry and then hook up with Kelp and Nel at 7:25 and we head down to the lobby. There's a lot of people that work here, all of which are in favor of free food, and we didn't want to wait in line. And face it we could all use a break from work - even if we'd only been there an hour (or almost).

We get to the lobby. Nothing. I make a comment to Kelp and one of the security guards, "Where's the food?" and the guard points outside and says, "at the hotel." Much talking ensues betwixt Kelp, Nel & I. Yes, the emails did, in fact say 7:30 in our lobby. Another elevator opens & more people pile out in search of free breakfast. Kelp, Nel & I head towards the exterior doors & pause in the atrium. We didn't bring our coats & it's mighty chilly outside. Kelp & I decide to brave the weather, Nel pauses to ask the cleaning lady if she knows about the breakfast. (Side note: English isn't Nel's first language. Nor is it the first language of the cleaning lady's. Both have strong accents & both don't speak the other's language. I'm still not certain the cleaning lady had any idea of what Nel was asking her).

Kelp & I leave Nel to her communication attempts & start walking to the hotel with some other peeps in search of Free Breakfast. I glance back and see Nel heading back towards the elevators. Either she was giving up or was going to get her jacket. So the group of us, headed up by Kelp & I, are nearly to the hotel when we encounter people coming from the hotel. They inform us that there is no Free Breakfast for us in the hotel & that the hotel staff had no idea about any Free Breakfast anywhere.

We turn around & head back to our building, encountering more people on their way to the hotel. We spread the word & then loiter a bit in the lobby, talking amongst ourselves. Place is getting crowded as more & more people show up for the Free Breakfast &/or work. Elevator opens, people start gushing out of it & one of the first ones off is Nel with jacket on & buttoned up.

Kelp, Nel & I continue to loiter (with a lobby full of people) for about five minutes then decide we'd go back upstairs, get some work done (hah! who could work when our hopes & dreams of a Free Breakfast had been shattered??) & then try again at 8. Coworker Dani comes through at 7:50 & says no sign of food being set up. I call Kelp & give her the info. She says she'll ask one of her coworkers when he comes in if he sees anything (Kelp works on a different floor than I, vastly increasing our coworker pooling resources). She calls back at 8:02 to pass the word. There are now donuts & coffee in the lobby. Along with 50+ people. I call another coworker to give her the heads up & I head down to the lobby with Dani.

We step off the elevator to a madhouse. Huge line of people from the lobby, through security & around the elevator bay (there are 8 elevators, four to a side, all but one is blocked by people waiting in line). Kelp is one person in front of us. Dani & I determine that we would wait in line as neither of us had eaten breakfast. Why would we when we had a Free Breakfast at work awaiting us?? Another elevator opens & out come more people in search of Free Breakfast, two of which are coworkers.

We're waiting and waiting. Elevators regularly opening up to let more people off who have come in search of Free Breakfast. We're ever so slowly inching closer & closer to the Mecca of Free Breakfast. Then a lady from the hotel starts peppering us with questions. I get a business card & a survey to fill out. Some sample questions:

How many does your company plan a year?
How Often?
How Long?

If you're like me, you're wondering what exactly the hell they're talking about. How many What does my company plan a year? Trysts? Coups? Global Thermal Nuclear Wars? The light dawns a little as I read the next question, "Are you the Meeting Planner or anyone else that you can refer to us?" Where did these people go to business school? I need to write them & encourage the school to include English grammar as requirement for graduation.

We encounter another hotel lady & she informs us that they had only intended this to be for people who plan Meetings. They were hoping to sell their services. Yeah right. Who wants to use a hotel that shows up 30 minutes late, woefully under supplies and over advertises their Free Breakfast?? She claims that they had always planned on it being at 8:00. I inform her that we had received two emails - both of which stating 7:30 (one of which was forwaded from the hotel!) and that there was No mention of Meeting Planners Only. She apologizes & states that she "hopes we hadn't been waiting down here that whole time." Uhh no,lady. If I'd been down here waiting that entire time, I'd have gotten a better donut AND a cup of regular coffee instead of burnt decaf.

Yes, that's right folks. Dani, Kelp & I waited in line for 15 minutes and got a donut (I nabbed the very last one, btw) and Decaf!! coffee. Stupid hotel people show up 30 minutes late with only two trays of pastries, two urns of regular coffee, two urns of hot water & two urns of decaf. What were they thinking? There weren't even tea bags to use in the hot water! I heard a couple of different groups of folks speculating on the possibility of a riot. That's how quickly the unrest was spreading. Especially after I told people that they were out of regular coffee & donuts, only danishes, itty bitty muffins, decaf & hot water were left. And yes, I was flaunting my donut. Unlike Kelp & Dani, I chose not to use a flyer as a napkin. That's right, they even ran out of napkins. Stellar planning from people who want us to use them as meeting planners. Hmm, yeah, that seems like a Great idea.

I'm told that the scene was reminiscent of one from the TV show The Office. Something about a pretzel vender & a long line through the building and around the block? People shouting at each other & lamenting the fact that there won't be any cinnamon sugar pretzels left. I dunno. I've only seen the show once or twice.

Thankfully I had instant oatmeal packets in my desk and a coworker made a fresh pot of regular coffee. That was some Free Breakfast I had yesterday.

Things I'm thankful for this AM

1. The smart word completion function on my cell phone (for texting)
2. Spring water from Champagne region of France
3. Free breakfast from the hotel across the street in the lobby
4. Coffee
5. Not being prone to ...dehydration headaches in the morning
6. Cranberry Juice
7. Understanding friends
8. Rach's superb taste
9. That the annoying coworkers don't show up for at least an hour after me
10. That the Penguins clobbered the devils in hockey. :)

Since first seeing this picture I've had the song lyric "I'm bad to the bone" running through my head. Admittedly it's only been 15 minutes, but still.

In hockey news, stupid Buffalo has won 9 in a row. They used to be one of my fave teams. Then Lindy Ruff opened his yap during the playoffs last year. No more will I cheer for that club. Well, as long as Lindy is there anyway. On a brighter note, the Avs won!! Clobbered the Kings (sorry Joelya).

For lack of something else to blog about, here's my nephew. It's his last Monday as a one year old. I'm fairly certain his folks haven't told him that I'll see him this weekend for the big 'to-do'. JT prolly wouldn't be able to sleep at night for the excitement. And he'd be forever running to the front door to see if that car going by was me.

Oh wait. Who am I kidding? He only does that for papa & mama. Not for aunties or 'pamas' as he calls me. Ah well. Maybe if I get him the loudest, most obnoxious toy ever that'll change my ranking. Hmmm......

The hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica has beaten the record size logged six years ago, the United Nations' weather agency says.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) says data from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shows the hole in the atmospheric layer that guards the world against dangerous ultraviolet light has grown to 29.5 million square kilometres.

"This is the most serious on record," Mark Oliver, spokesman for the WMO, said. ABC News

"Such significant ozone loss requires very low temperatures in the stratosphere combined with sunlight. This year’s extreme loss of ozone can be explained by the temperatures above Antarctica reaching the lowest recorded in the area since 1979," European Space Agency Atmospheric Engineer Claus Zehner said.




The Dobson Unit (DU) is the unit of measure for total ozone. If you were to take all the ozone in a column of air stretching from the surface of the earth to space, and bring all that ozone to standard temperature (0 Celsius) and pressure (1013.25 millibars, or one atmosphere, or “atm”), the column would be about 0.3 centimeters thick. Thus, the total ozone would be 0.3 atm-cm. To make the units easier to work with, the “Dobson Unit” is defined to be 0.001 atm-cm. Our 0.3 atm-cm would be 300 DU.

The above image comes from the Ozone Hole Watch web site. As does the definition of The Dobson Unit (DU), which is used to measure the thickness of the ozone layer. I've included more links below so yall can peruse as you will. Serious news for a Friday entry.

NOAA Ozone Page
The Ozone Hole
British Antarctic Survey
World Meterological Organization: Global Atmosphere Watch

So the stupid devils beat the Penguins last night and the Panthers lose to the crapitals. Sorry tc, I know you like the devils - I have no idea Why though. It'd have been a pisser of a night for hockey except The Avs won!

On the bright side (pun not intended), someone has turned off the lights here. Just the emergency lights are on. I'm okay with that. So what if I could - probably - turn them on myself. Why bother? It's better when it's dark.

Phooey. Someone turned them back on. Ah well. It was nice while it lasted. Unrelatedly people are seriously getting on my nerves today. Yes, I know it's only 7.30 in the morning. What of it???

Today is the anniversary of the Clean Water Act. It began as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act in 1972 and was amended in 1977, becoming what we now know as the CWA.

Also today, the Water Environment Federation has joined with the Earth Conservation Corps to host World Water Monitoring Day™ 2006

The groovy thing about WEF is that they give info & directions on how every day people can test the four basic indicators of water quality: pH, turbidity (how silty/clear the water is), temperature and dissolved oxygen. There are local events across the country happening today & in the coming weeks. Below is a family friendly one for those in the DC area.

World Water Monitoring Day at Roundtree Park
Sponsored by Fairfax County Government
Saturday, October 21st from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Roundtree Park - 3311 Annandale Rd. in Falls Church, VA.

So go out, take a hike. Appreciate the creeks, streams, ponds, lakes, rivers & oceans. Maybe even take the time to pause and look under the water and see what critters & plants are living there. First step in saving our resources is to value them.

This is my poor, used nephew JT. See what his folks are making him do? I mean funds could be tight but I don't think you can justify having your child acting as your landscape architect or curb appeal consulter.

It's obviously chilly out and JT should be inside. But oh no. They take him outisde (against his will, I'm sure of it!) to pull weeds. He's not even two yet! What's the deal guys? Can't you let a kid just be a kid these days? Shouldn't you let him do what He wants to do?

And if using your child, My nephew, as weed labor isn't bad enough. His parents (and grandparents!) take JT to a field of giant pumpkins. It's bound to give a little boy nightmares. It'd give Me nightmares!

Just think of all the bugs and Spiders that must proliferate that place. Hello! If a place produces giant, mutant pumpkins what's to keep it from producing giant, mutant corn stalks! or zuchinni! I shudder to think about it.

Sure JT may look happy & cheerful in this picture. But I know that his cheezy smile is just a cover up. He's really thinking, "I wanna go pet the cows!" and really. Who wouldn't rather pet the cows?

After all I've shown you today, can you blame JT for trying to get away from these madmen he has for parents (and grandparents)?!! He's only grinning like a hooligan to throw them off his scent. It'll be easier for him to flee to his auntie's place if his folks don't know he's planning it.

It's okay JT! Run to me! I'll save you from the mutant pumpkin fields. Down here in pollution central, they have no idea what pumpkins are! You'll be free to run & cavort to your heart's content. No weed pulling here.

You Are a Dreaming Soul

Your vivid emotions and imagination takes you away from this world So much so that you tend to live in your head most of the time You have great dreams and ambitions that could be the envy of all... But for you, following through with your dreams is a bit difficult You are charming, endearing, and people tend to love you. Forgiving and tolerant, you see the world through rose colored glasses. Underneath it all, you have a ton of passion that you hide from others. Always hopeful, you tend to expect positive outcomes in your life. Souls you are most compatible with: Newborn Soul, Prophet Soul, and Traveler Soul

So today is Friday the 13th. That might explain why Kelp & I saw two people driving the wrong way yesterday. First one was a lady with Pennsylvania plates - which I figured explained everything right there - turning onto a one way street. She either recognized her mistake or wanted to turn around, as she immediately turned back around & was heading the right way. We didn't stay around to see if she did any more squirrelly maneuvers.

Other person was driving a little red car and was just crusing along on the wrong side of the street. This time it was a divided street (two lanes going each direction with a grassy median with trees! between them). At first glance I thought the car was backing up, then I realized they were facing forward. They had to have been going the wrong direction for a ways as there are no other turns onto the street.

It wasn't until I got to work this morning and Kelp reminded me that it was Friday the 13th that it ocurred to me that This could be the reason for crazy drivers. The full moon was Last Saturday. Here I was thinking it was the squirrels. And maybe it was. They just got their dates wrong but at least now they know that their techniques work. So maybe instead of watching out for black cats to cross your path, you should look out for black squirrels.....

I spent my first 30-40 minutes at work very productively. Kelp & I blew up balloons and decorated a supervisor's cube. She's turning the big 4-0 today. I brought in my multi colored sharpies (bought for U2 autographing purposes and sadly never utilized in that fashion) and set about writing on some of the balloons whilst Kelp strung some streamers. A few of my oh so clever writings

Uh Oh 35!
Happy 1st Birthday!
Who's 39???
Sweet 16!
Happy Birthday!
Meow! You still look good! with a picture of a cat's face on the opposite side
WoooHooo! 18! Now you can vote!
Happy 21st! Now you're legal! Don't drink & drive

Yeah, so the brain had some issues with creativity this morning. I drew a variety of smiley faces that were a cross between creepy, alien & silly. Also drew a candle that resembles a flame thrower, a sad lookin cake & some presents that look like they've been run over by a tractor trailer. I know, yall are jealous of my mad drawing skills now.

I must now go rest as all that balloon blowing up has left me with a touch of Vertigo ;)

Since Sat night/Sun morning I've had this 80's pop song stuck in my head. Correction, the Chorus of this pop song in my head. Hours and hours and hours of just "Tenderness" do do do "Tenderness" with the do do do being the music.

With U2IsMyDeal's help yesterday I figured out the song. Surprisingly it's called Tenderness and it's by some group called General Public. I figured once I knew what song it came from, it'd leave my head. But no. It's still there. And now it's joined by another lyric from some other song. "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier" Where are these things coming from??? I don't listen to the radio and I sure as hell don't own a cd with either song on it.

I may go crazy if "Tenderness Ive got soul do do do Tenderness but I'm not a do do do soldier" keeps running thru my head. I think I need something stronger than coffee this morning. I'm gonna add hot choc. mix to it. Hopefully a mocha will rinse all the crappy tunes from my noggin.

I thought about rambling about my trip to NYC this past Sunday today. Or about the 'shake up' in the Music World involving U2. Neither one really strikes my fancy this AM. Then I banged my knee on the metro bus this morning and all coherent thought fled the noggin. For some reason I was left with the visual of my friend Rach fishing her keys out of a toilet at the Flying J somewhere in Georgia this past weekend. Fell out of the pocket, into the bowl of an automatic flushing commode. Was it worth banging the knee to relive the humor? No.

Met up with my friend Mims this past Sunday. She's great! Love her to pieces. It's amazing how things like bulletin boards can bring folks together. I've known Mims for over a year now from the Zoo. This was the first time to meet in person. We hit it off like we had online. Another thing I have to thank U2 for. :)

Alright, enough sappy stuff, here are some links about the stuff I didn't ramble on about.

Dale Chihuly exhibit at the NY Bot. Gardens in the Bronx
Major Merger in Music World

There's currently an Evacuation in Apex, NC due to the explosion and subsequent toxic fumes from a hazardous waste storage facility. Over 15,000 people have been ordered to evacuate. The rest of Apex has been told to stay indoors, AC turned off, windows & doors shut and the news turned on. I heard a blurb about it on the radio on my way to work this morning and Elims was kind enough to have already sent me a link about the story so I didn't have to go find one on my own.

I've heard from some friends that they're okay but still awaiting word from others. Likely I'll be dealing with it at work when more details about the exact chemicals in the building are revealed.

Makes you realize that having minor anxiety attacks about NaNoWriMo being less than 30 days away and no real plot formation in mind seem rather, well, minor. Stay safe today folks.

Crepes Suzette I'm tired this morning. Was up late eyeballing hockey and then The Twerp was feeling chatty & I was too ired at the results of the games to go to bed. So I was up late, yakking with the squirrelly Californian male ninja (aka The Twerp) til the wee hours of the AM. Then I couldn't fall asleep. I blame it on the refs last night during the Canes/Sabres game. They were calling every little thing - on both teams. I'd see the replay and be like, "WHAT?? They called THAT! What the heck?? The players were doing 10x worse during last season and weren't called!" At least it was overzealousness on both sides of the officiating puck. (Did I mention I'm tired?)

Basically, all three teams I wanted to win - lost. Hence the ire that kept me awake and my friends avoiding their cell phones. I'm sure they'd hear the beep and sigh and tell whomever they were with, "That's G bitching about the hockey game again."

Ah well, there's more hockey goodness tonight. Not sure I'll be awake for it tho. I may flip it on and drift off to ZZZZZ land with hockey playing in the background. Oh and there are still seats available for the Crapitals home opener this Saturday (against the Canes) if anyone is interested.

Guess what today is folks?!! You ready? It's opening day of Hockey season! Waahoooo! Canes play the Sabres, Ottawa plays Toronto and the Stars play the Avs (Colorado Avalanche to all those who are confuzzled)..

C'mon Canes!! Let's go Avs!! umm err I can't even remember what Ottawa's mascot is... soo I guess I'm rooting for the Maple Leafs.

This Friday the Canes play the Crapitals here. Hmmm wonder if there are still tickets available. I know my Canes jersey is ready for a night at the rink :)

hahahaha funny funny funny. Just checked NHL.com to see what the Ottawa are.. they're the Senators. No wonder I blocked them from my mind!

Last week I had the urge to make some chicken noodle soup. And not the stuff from the can where you add water. Although I do have some of that in my pantry. Anyway, I had all the necessary ingredients noodles, chicken, chicken broth, onion, celery, carrots, garlic & spices. I don't do well with bones so I take help from the store and use boxed chicken broth as my base - let someone else deal with the bones. And since I wanted the soup soon and not a couple hours later, I used fully cooked chicken breast meat in a can. Yeah, so I'm lazy cook, what of it?

So I've got 8 cups of broth in my pot, simmering away with my chicken, garlic, celery, carrots, onion & way too much black pepper (altho I didn't know it then). The veggies are finally soft enough for me so I ladle it up and enjoy. I have it for a late lunch that day, then lunch & dinner the next day. It wasn't until I was heating the soup up for dinner that I realized I had forgotten to put the noodles in. Yeah. I'm rather observant. I had enough veggies & chicken in it that the soup was chunky, so I wasn't missing the noodles soaking up the broth.

I drop in a couple handfuls of pasta and put the container in the microwave for three minutes. Noodles are still crunchy. I heat it up for another three minutes. Noodles not as crunchy, soup steaming nicely. I let it set for a couple minutes and then nuke it for another three minutes. Soup is very hot & noodles are firm but not crunchy and plastic container feels really malleable. I decide to stop my nuking activities and wait 10 minutes for the soup to cool off enough for me to eat without scorching myself (I do have some sense, after all).

So yeah, a cooking tip from me to yall. When making chicken noodle soup, be sure to add the noodles when you're making it. It takes too long to cook them after the soup is done.

My brother told me this rather amusing story about my nephew, JT, last week. I'm sure angelic JT - as shown on the left here, absolutely angelic, don't you think? What? Why'd I name the photo JTsly? Ummmm errrr cause JTangel was taken. Yeah. Yeah. Not because I think he looks like he's plotting something. Nope. Nosiree. - would never have done what he did on purpose. Err ummm hmm. Now that I think about it, I'm not so sure that's true. I will say that he's a Totally happy & sweet little boy who will be two in 26 days. Technically he's purely an innocent party to the events because he has yet to enter his Terrible Tows. Uh huh.

Last Thursday (about 4.10 in the afternoon) JT wanted to go outside at daycare. However, it wasn't outside time right then as it was raining & JT's dad would be by soon to take him home. Well, this wasn't going to stop JT. He went over to the door & tried to open it. Didn't work. He, apparently, saw this other handle right next to the door & he thought he'd give that a try, see if it'd let him outside. So he pulls it, the door doesn't open but some lights start to flash & this siren goes off. Yep, darling, sweet, innocent JT pulled the fire alarm.

Once the the daycare ladies figure out why lights & siren were going off, they look over to the door and see JT standing there, pointing in the air with his mouth hanging open in a big O. Surprise & wonder etched onto his face. The daycare attendants then had to round up all the kids & take them outside, as per the fire code. And yes, it was still raining.

Hey, you can't get mad at him. He took the initiative to do something to change his situation. While it may not have been exactly what he planned, he still got what he wanted. Of course, now he knows that if they won't let him outside at daycare, he just has to pull the lever by the door & he will not only get to go outside, but he'll get a light & sound show to boot.