Adventures in Floor Care

Stripping floors, in a commercial setting, can be dangerous. The very act of applying stripper to a waxed floor means you have to take great care walking around. A stripper-covered floor is incredibly slick. More than once I’ve found myself smacking the floor as my feet have done a Wile E. Coyote dance in the air. No traction at all! But that’s the price of doing the job: you take your time, move with care, and pray you won’t take a wrong step. ;)

Last night that wrong step had not a danged thing to do with a slippery floor! Oy!

So Saturday we - myself, and two co-workers - had an Animal Hospital to strip. It’s been nearly three years since it was last stripped, which is way too long between strippings. I knew we were in for a tough job, but we would be careful, and we’d strip it twice, if need be. And that’s what I ended up doing on most of the floor.

Having stripped the surgery for a second time, the floor was no longer a greased Teflon surface, but I decided to wash down the coving - baseboards - with water to rinse off the stripper and push it away from the walls. This makes vacuuming the sludge much easier, as well as the later rinse.

So there I was, with my plastic pitcher of water, crouched over, doing a rinse of the coving, and moving well. And where was I looking? At the baseboards, of course. I completely forgot the X-Ray film viewer bolted to the wall. You know, the one with the very sharp corners? Well, trust me, that’s the one!

Next thing I knew something struck my head a tremendous blow! I thought it was one of those annoying over-head light fixtures that will not stay up! I slapped my hand to my head - dang! It hurt! - and looked over to see what I had actually hit. Yep! The Viewer cabinet bolted firmly to the wall. Pulling my hand down, I figured I might have some blood - it was a whale of a shot! - and sure enough there was blood. A lot of it!

I could feel the warm trickle running down the side of my face, and slapped my hand back on it, then ambled out of the surgery to a nearby sink.

“A little cold water might stop this,” I figured.

My co-workers were out there, and probably heard my loud imprecations at the offending cabinet and my own utter stupidity, because they were both staring at me. I splashed water on my head a few times, then clamped some paper towels onto the spot.

“Dayum!” I heard one of the guys say. “You better get to the hospital, man.”

I pulled off the paper towels and saw they were soaked red.

“Oh shit, man, you better go,” said the other one. He grabbed some gauze pads and handed them to me. I realized I could still feel a warm trickle down my face, even with a new set of paper towels, so I asked him to put the gauze over the damaged place. Yep! I was holding the towels just under the actual cut! LOL

We went out, hopped in his truck, and motored down to the local Emergency Room. It took maybe 30 minutes to get checked in (I sent my co-worker back to the Animal Hospital about midway through the wait.), called to an exam room, get all the vital stats done, then find my way into one of the treatment rooms. Another 10 for the Doctor to come in and begin torturing me. ;)

Actually every step of the way the folks at the Countryside Mease Hospital were friendly and helpful. My brains weren’t leaking, so it wasn’t like a life-threatening situation. :)

The Doc talked me through every thing he did, warning me when he was about to stick a needle in, to numb the area, and so on. We joked most of the time. He seemed unimpressed at my complaints over no longer having such an awesomely pretty visage.

I barely felt the needle, only sort of felt the stitches going in - I have a nice 90-degree cut, with a little bit of *me* missing - and when he left he had explained everything. The Nurse came in about 5 minutes later, to give me a tetanus shot. I didn’t feel that at all! I don’t know what they teach Doctors and Nurses these days, but giving a hypodermic seems to be perfected at Countryside Mease! :D

Signed my release, and went outside to call my co-worker to come back and get me. So I spent the rest of the night with my head bandaged like an Apache. This morning that wrap had pretty much come off. So I had my first look at the damage.

*meh!* Not so bad. But it’s very tender, and after a shower I’ve slathered it with an anti-biotic.

And that was yesterday’s Adventure in Floor Care. :) And how was your day?

PS: I said copious thanks to the Lord for knocking some sense into me, and for the help I received, too. The Lord is always very good to me, despite the fact I'm a grubby sinner. :D

A Few Of My Favorite Things ...

M&Ms!

Okay, so there's a lot on the news, and in the world, this morning. But rather than curmudgeon my way through that ... I think I'll do a list. "A list," you ask? Yeah, why not?

My Favorite Poet (Dead): James Whitcomb Riley
     I'm not much of a poetry-lover, but Riley is one I remember from childhood, with "The Raggedy Man", and I liked it!

My Favorite Poet (Alive!): Joni Zipp
     'Course it helps that she's a writing friend of a number of years. But I can read her 'stuff' and 'see' it. And appreciate it, too. :) Her Sunday Poem blog posts are worth reading!  

My Favorite Fiction Writer (Dead): Robert A. Heinlein
     Heinlein's writing isn't always smooth, or elegant, but he can tell a very good story - mostly Science Fiction - and some of his characters are very memorable! As for those critics who whine that Heinlein was just a fascist/militarist, etc. well, that's what you can expect from Leftist custard-brained Commies. ;) "You live and learn. Or you don't live long." - Lazarus Long  

My Favorite Fiction Writer (Alive): I guess it depends on who I'm reading at the moment.
     I'm very partial to Jonathan Kellerman, and Faye Kellerman. But so many others are right there, too! And don't miss F. Paul Wilson either!  

My Favorite Color: Blue!
     Yeah, I guess that's a 'guy thing', but I do like blue. And being a Philadelphia Eagles fan my favorite shade of blue, at least during the NFL season, is Midnight Green! And Wikipedia says the Midnight Green is, well, go read it, okay? ;)

My Favorite Candy: M&Ms!
     Well, duh! That much all of you ought to know! M&Ms have a very long history in the U.S. Lots of colors, too! Hah! :)

All right, I think that’s enough for now, don’t you? Maybe I’ll add more tomorrow. ‘Course if you check my old posts you’ll see other things I’m very partial to.  

Note: The results are in and Mitt Romney seems to have won the Iowa Caucus. Congrats, Governor Romney. My own thoughts on that ... with all the money he has, and has spent, and considering he’s been running for President since 2006, I have to think this ain’t much of a victory for him. Rick Santorum was in single digits, in the polls, just two weeks ago. An 8-point win over Santorum seems more like a Santorum ‘win’ to me. Just my opinion, Folks.

Post Note Note:If you're paying attention to the Pundits, Taking Heads, and so on ... stop! There is NO PERFECT CANDIDATE! Not one of them will align with every one of your beliefs. So stop looking for that candidate. There ain't none. Every single on of the candidates has votes, statements, actions in their past that don't look good, or go against what you, or I consider a positive thing. Remember: "The Perfect is the enemy of the Good." Look for the best out there.

Of the ones I can support, right now, it's Santorum, and Perry. If the GOP nominee ends up being Romney I will support him. I don't think I could support Ron Paul. Ever.Come November, barring a Dr. Paul miracle, it has to be ABO! Anybody But Obama.

And now is the time to rededicate yourself to electing those candidates at the local and state levels who will support, or rein in, the President. That's where Conservatives can make the biggest difference! 

Very New Year: A Fresh Start ...

Okay, so it's the first "real" day of this brand new year - a Monday! - and perhaps time to do some rededicating to the blog, and to a lot of other things, too. I've finally cleaned up the blogrolls, down at the bottom of the page. When blogrolling closed down, I just left things as they were, After all, the links were still there, weren't they? Well ... now they're gone. So I've started rebuilding those links. If you ain't there, but you wanna be, let me know.

And while playing with that, and all the vicious html that goes along with it, I rediscovered Timothy Fish's blog. Yeah, his blog is now under the Writing Pad Blogroll, so there's that. ;) His blog post for today includes this:

"The sad thing is that people are more willing to put their faith in Mayans who are dead than they are in people who are living. They are more willing to put their faith in a piece of ceramic with no evidence to support it than they are in the Bible, which has a preponderance of evidence to show that it is true. Why would you believe a calendar that has no proven claims over a book that has hundreds of proven claims and no disproven claims? That doesn’t make sense to me."

Well, I agree. It doesn't make sense to me, either. But I've listened to UFO Believers who insist that they have seen, or read, all the necessary evidence they need to prove the existence of Aliens.

Of course at the same time they look down their noses at those of us have Faith in the Word. Funny thing, that. The Biblical record can be buttressed with archaeological evidence (and is), among other things, but is dismissed by UFO-logists, and others as "unproven". And naturally the extinct Mayan culture must be correct! Why? Well ... because! Shut up!

This year I will continue to read the Scriptures, and I'll also continue to delve into Apologetics - the Defense of the Faith - which has helped my understanding greatly. Do I have all the answers? No. Of course not! But I do know which questions are serious, and which are the same old 'gotcha-style' nonsense questions. And I know that the ones asking the nonsense questions aren't seriously seeking enlightenment, or answers. So often the only answer available is, "I really don't know." Which go well with the one I have in my head: "And which scientist has all the answers, if you please?"

If you're reading this, and can spare a few dollars, I'll repeat the call for help that I posted below ... twice! My friend is in need of dental care. Right now she's fighting infections that, of course, are causing problems in her body, not just with her mouth. And she has no money. So please begin the year with some charity. Okay? Just head to her blog post, read it, and if you can, donate! Like I said before ... why waste your money on cash-happy political parties? Send a donation to someone who badly needs the help! Thanks! :D

Well, that's it for now. Maybe I'll be able to blog more, through 2012, and maybe I'll lose interest again. Only time will tell!

Happy 2012!

Update! Joni has today blog post up, so go check it out! Goals for the New Year

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 

It's now 2012. A brand new year on the calendar, and a new start, if you want it.


The best of everything to you, and yours! May God richly bless you all the year! 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

PS: We've not gone totally Luddite, yet: NASA spacecraft enters moon’s orbit

Busy times ...

Writing, reading, working - though the actual work hours scarcely break 25 hours per week (yeesh!) - trying to keep up-to-date with the latest machinations of the Leftists in Media and the Dem Party.

Professional Leftist agitator is knocked down, the truncated video becomes a Leftist talking-point. Attendee at same rally is attacked by Leftist, no sound from the Leftist Peanut Gallery. Surprised? No, nor me, either.

Insiders say the NRCC has given up on Joe Miller in Alaska. Conservatives wonder just when were they actually working for, or with, Joe Miller in Alaska? Suggestion to conservatives around the fruited plains: Send not one penny to the GOP. Nothing to the big campaign committees, those who keep pushing middle-of-the-road, or Dem-Lite, candidates for Republican Nominees. Send your contributions directly to the candidates you support. The GOP is abandoning the principles they ostensibly represent. I'm speaking of the Elitists in the Beltway. Karl Rove? Asshat!

You know those charming folks, right? The ones who thought Charlie Crist was a fine choice? The ones who assured you that Christine O'Donnell could not beat Mike Castle (the fellow who voted with the Dems nearly all the time?), the same Republican elites who continue to disparage the primary winners? They've abandoned Republicanism for some odd idea of holding onto power, while watching the Leftist government continue to drag us down the crap-hole of Socialism and Dhimmitude. Give them nothing.

Meanwhile I'm still Mentoring the F2K writing course, and now Nanowrimo has begun, too! The writing stuff makes for a very busy day/week/month! And that's just fine by me!

Can't promise I'll be updating much, but I figured it was time to do something, right? I hope the world is treating you well. :D

Whoo-Hoo!

Leftist Luddites On The March

And so the expected squealing, screaming demands for a ban on oil drilling arises. It didn't take too long, though longer than I had anticipated. For this is the way of the world in Left Land. Anything that would buttress the American economy, and thus the American people, must be destroyed. No matter to Leftists what will become of 'the people' as long as the agenda and aims of the Left is kept goose-stepping forward to the rear. No crisis can be wasted!


An oil spill is an ugly thing, killing wildlife, destroying areas of coastland where the oil washes up, poisoning the water in which it floats. No question this is an occurrence that should be avoided. Which is why the Oil Industry does, in fact, do its best to so avoid such spills and accidents. The cost in money alone is sufficient reason for the Oil Industry to work hard to prevent spills.


But nothing is guaranteed, you know. Nothing we do is free of risk. Accidents do happen, all the time, and though we can prevent most with planning and technology, there is no way all accidents - in any endeavor - can be prevented. Only children and Leftists believe such a prevention fantasy. If the Left has its way all of humanity, not just those primitive cultures you love to read about in the National Geographic, will be living in caves, subsisting on nuts, berries, and roots. And a Terminator shall lead them.


As Jeffrey Lord notes, in his American Spectator article, California's Governator wants to stop the risks!

"But then again, you know, you see that, you turn on television and see this enormous disaster and you say to yourself, why would we want to take that risk?"

-- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, on his decision to refuse oil drilling off the coast of California

Arnold as Ned Lud.

Who would have imagined this casting? The Austrian-immigrant turned body builder, entrepreneur, movie star and governor of the nation's largest state. The man who once seemed to have such a perfect grasp of the can-do spirit behind the idea that is America -- starring in a 21st century portrayal as Ned Lud.

As Lord also notes, regarding the Luddites:

And right about 1812 there began to sprout up in Britain what American novelist Thomas Pynchon described as "bands of men, organized, masked, anonymous, whose object was to destroy machinery used mostly in the textile industry. They swore allegiance not to any British king but to their own King Ludd" adding for some incomprehensible reason a second "d" to Ned's last name. Pynchon adds: "It isn't clear whether they called themselves Luddites, although they were so termed by both friends and enemies." As observers have pointed out ever since, the Luddites had what the late British scientist and novelist C.P. Snow termed an irrational fear and hatred of science and technology. They were the "counter-revolutionaries" of the Industrial Revolution, who angrily detested modern inventions they had "never tried, wanted or been able to understand."

Lord goes on to say:

But the real question here is whether or not Americans will succumb to the Luddite world view. Or clean up the mess, understand that risk is a part of everyday life, and that in fact nothing in this world is either risk free or fail safe.

And what happens to us when the Leftists manage to ban oil drilling, much less oil distillation, production, and use? Are you all ready to do without, not simply gasoline for your cars, heating oil for your homes, but lubricating oil for machinery? What about all the modern products that come from oil? Will you happily do without them?

Oh, don't you worry. The Ruling Leftist Elite will not be doing without. They will still have the use of fuels for their lifestyles - after all, they are our betters, and deserve so much more than we, don't they? - but they'll also be the only ones who have the products made from petroleum products. And why not? They'll be the only ones remaining with enough money to afford these soon-to-be luxuries (after they destroy the economy utterly, leaving the rest of us on the dole).

Don't use oil-based products? No? Don't think so, do you? Well, here's a partial list of what those Evil, Mean-Spirited, Gaia-hating, Oil Industry Fascists create from that horrid, un-natural petroleum:

ammonia, anesthetics, antifreeze, antihistamines, antiseptics, artificial limbs, artificial turf, aspirin, awnings, balloons, ballpoint pens, bandages, basketballs, bearing grease, bicycle tires, boats, cameras, candles, car battery cases, car enamel, cassettes, caulking, cd player, cd's, clothes, clothesline, cold cream, combs, cortisone, crayons, curtains, dashboards, denture adhesive, dentures, deodorant, detergents, dice, diesel, dishes, dishwasher, dresses, drinking cups, dyes, electric blankets, electrician's , ape, enamel, epoxy, eyeglasses, fan belts, faucet washers, fertilizers, fishing boots, fishing lures, fishing rods, floor wax, folding doors, food preservatives, football cleats, football helmets, footballs, footballs, gasoline, glycerin, golf bags, golf balls, guitar , strings, hair coloring, hair curlers, hand lotion, heart valves, house paint, ice chests, ice cube trays, ink, insect repellant, insecticides, life jackets, linings, linoleum, lipstick, luggage, model cars, mops, motor oil, motorcycle helmet, movie film, nail polish, nylon , ope, oil filters, paint, paint brushes, paint rollers, panty hose, parachutes, percolators, perfumes, petroleum jelly, pillows, plastic wood, purses, putty, refrigerant, refrigerators, roller skates, roofing, rubber cement, rubbing alcohol, safety glasses, shag rugs, shampoo, shaving cream, shoe polish, shoes, shower curtains, skis, slacks, soap, soft , contact lenses, solvents, speakers, sports car bodies, sun glasses, surf boards, sweaters, synthetic rubber, telephones, tennis rackets, tents, tires, toilet seats, tool boxes, tool racks, toothbrushes, toothpaste, transparent tape, trash bags, tv cabinets, umbrellas, upholstery, vaporizers, vitamin capsules, water pipes, wheels, yarn

But don't let that stop you, if you want to avoid the risk of another oil spill, anywhere in the world, anytime. By all means, let's not use oil, that natural substance, so useful and important to our culture and our economy. No, we can't take the risk! Risk-taking is foolish! Nobody in their right mind takes risks!

The Left continues its ceaseless assault on humanity in general, and Americans in particular. They want oil drilling, exploration, and refining banned. All in the name of risk-avoidance, economic justice, and the Religion of Gaia.

As Van Helsing puts it, after the latest insane mumblings of Left Coast politicians:

Here's an idea: next time there's a tragic car accident, let's ban automobiles. Then we won't need so much oil anyway.

Heaven knows my economic well-being is just fantastic, these days. I can handle ruin as well as anybody. *sheesh!*

Note: Maybe you wondered what happened to all the oil spilled during the Second World War? I know I have. From all the evidence available Nature handled it. And it wasn't just a few drops, either. From The Environment website comes this question and partial answer:

Where did the first major oil spill occur?

The first major oil spill occurred during World War II (1939-45), between January and June of 1942. German U-boat attacks on tankers off the East Coast of the United States spilled 590,000 tons of oil.

The first major commercial oil spill occurred on March 18, 1967, when the tanker Torrey Canyon ran aground on the Seven Stones Shoal off the coast of Cornwall, England. The tanker spilled 830,000 barrels (119,000 tons) of Kuwaiti oil into the sea.

On January 25, 1991, during the Gulf War, almost 1.5 million tons of oil was deliberately dumped from Sea Island into the Persian Gulf. Another major spill occurred in Russia in October 1994, in the Komi region of the Arctic. The size of that spill was reported to be as much as 2 million barrels (286,000 tons).

Spills such as the aforementioned were far larger than the much-publicized Exxon [...]

In case you had forgotten, Saddam Hussein, the asshat who purposely spilled all that oil, during the Gulf War, was a member of the Socialist (that's Leftists, folks) Baath Party. I'm just sayin'.

Phillies' Robin Roberts Completes the Game

Robin Roberts, the Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher of 'Whiz Kids' fame, has passed away (May 6, 2010). This gentleman, who spent so much of his 'retirement' years teaching baseball to the young, will be missed, as another link to a more innocent sporting past goes to his reward.

I was too young to ever have watched Roberts pitch for the Philadelphia Phillies. The earliest Phillies' baseball era I can remember was in the 60s, when names like Johnny Callison, Jim Bunning, and Chris Short were the Phillies my mind conjures up. Not until the 1970s, with Greg "The Bull" Luzinski, Mike Schmidt, Larry Bowa, and Willie Montenez, did I pay much attention to baseball. But the name of Robin Roberts was, even then, famous and revered in Phillies lore.

He was the consummate team-player. A gifted pitcher whose career was anchored with a team which never made the post-season after Roberts' second season in the Major Leagues. Phillies fans remained fond of Roberts despite his team's season-after-season losing records. In a small way I can relate to this feeling.

In the 70s the Phillies had Steve Carlton pitching, a reclusive man whose talents were phenomenal on the mound. I can recall one season when Carlton's victories comprised something like 49% of the Phillies wins, that year. The players seemed to believe that if Carlton was on the mound they would win. I think Roberts provided a similar feeling to the Phillies teams he was a part of.

The difference between the men was obvious, though. Roberts was unassuming, friendly, generous. Carlton led a monastic-like life, shunning the spotlight, and often, the fans, in his bid for pitching perfection.

One could scarcely imagine Carlton joshing with a team-mate in an easy manner. But Roberts did. And here's how Larry Thornberry, in his article on the passing of Robin Roberts, A Very Complete Game, describes how Roberts' pastor, Wally Meyer, pastor at Christ Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, remembered his story-telling:

Meyer also liked Roberts' baseball stories, including the one about the rookie Lou Piniella who was sent up to pinch-hit for Roberts (who wasn't a bad hitter for a pitcher). Piniella grounded out to shortstop. Later in the clubhouse the by then venerable Roberts joshed the rookie, saying, "I could have done that."

Athletes' careers end, their lives go on, and so many of them become caricatures, while most simply move on to other things, and are nearly forgotten. But some, like Robin Roberts, move on to better things, improving their own lives as well as the lives of others. As Thornberry notes:

Those who knew him will tell you that, taken all around, Robin Roberts was a Hall of Famer as a man as well as a pitcher. His long and productive life was more than a quality start. It was a very complete game. He will be missed.

Yep!

Robin Roberts: a genuine article and humble legend

Robin Roberts at Wikipedia

Note: Robin Roberts' number - 36 - was the first Phillies' number to ever be retired by the Philadelphia Phillies.

Books - Reading Reviews

I love to read! More than watching television or movies, I like to sprawl out and read a book. Hardback, paperback, it doesn’t matter. I even have the programs on my computer so I can read ebooks - though this is not as enjoyable (reading a book at the computer can be tiring, I gotta say) - and if you have an old ebook reader you don’t use, why, just send it to me!

I don’t often read reviews of books. Most seem to be written by professional critics and tend to be overly critical and demanding. But every-so-often I’ll find a review that does a good job, giving enough information to make me want to buy and read the book reviewed.

Steven Brandt has a blogging site called “Reviews From the Deep”. On it he reviews the books he has listened to and lets you know what he thinks. I say ‘listens to’ because Steven has been going blind for some time now. So he buys audiobooks - mostly on CDs, and gives a review of the tale, as well as the production - namely the narrator.

The reviews are from the viewpoint of a reader, not a critic. So even if you disagree with his opinions you'll enjoy reading them, anyway. :)

When I could afford it, and had a long commute, I was a member of audible.com. Rather than novels I would purchase biographies and histories to listen to - on an mp3 player - on my way to work. At that time I was spending a good 45 minutes to an hour to get to work. Instead of fiddling with the radio, to try and find music that wouldn’t annoy me, I could listen to a history. And I enjoyed it.

Now audible had abridged and unabridged recordings of the books. Abridged books, of course, are edited down a bit, sort of like a Reader’s Digest version. I never bought these, preferring the full version. So now, when I read one of Steven’s reviews I don’t know if he’s using an abridged or unabridged version of the book he’s reviewing. I suppose I should ask.

Anyway, if you like to read, and want to see a review of some of the books he’s read, I recommend heading over to Reviews From the Deep and checking out what he’s got there.

And leave a comment, too, why don’tcha? He’d appreciate that.

:)