Pressure Cooker Registration

I imagine that since pressure cookers were used as a deadly weapon (sadly) that before long we will see the creation of a new regulatory department - "The Department of Pressure Cooker Compliance" (PPCC).  The department will be tasked to register all current pressure cookers, establish regulations for the control, sale and registration of pressure cookers, and the department will participate in new designs of pressure cookers which would minimize the fatal nature of the cookers.

Train Travel

My spouse, her sister and their mother are taking a train to California.  I dropped them off earlier today at the terminal.

I just received a MMS Photo of a picture of their berth in the sleeping car.  A couple of minutes later I received another picture stating "this" is our room.

Curiosity got the better of me so I called...It seems that she was in someone else's room and after she took the picture she rang for the porter and asked about their luggage - like where was it?

Her luggage was in her berth - in the next car...

The Toilet

Old Throne

Last Sunday as I was leaving the church I needed to make a quick restroom stop.  I closed the door to discover that someone had put paper towel into the toilet (the church has a cistern system and we have paid thousands of dollars for one problem or the other this year alone.  Paper towel going down the system creates difficulties.)  At any rate - I fished it out and then went to flush the toilet to discover that it was busted.  They just don't make toilets like they used to...

I called the church to let the Church Secretary know about the issue and then later in the day sent an email to the priest to let him know as well.

It seems that he had 7 or 8 people tell him while he was still at the church, and received another 1/2 dozen or so emails later in the day.  When I spoke with him the next day he simply said, "I wish I could get that quick of response from a  stewardship letter."

Early Bird Gets The Worm

I heard an interesting quote today...  "The early bird may get the worm, but the 2nd mouse gets the cheese."  

Perhaps I need to get over my need to be first in line...

The Last Thing You Want...

I was making a trip from Waterloo, Iowa to Ankeny, Iowa and as is typical - I waited until the last moment to take a potty break. The LAST THING I needed to see was a bus, filled with football players pull in just ahead of me...  One of the few times I encountered a line into the men's room.  The line was sooooo long I was contemplating a tree...

Iowa Back Roads

A friend of mine turned me on to this site -CLICK Here for Iowa Backroads - a photo a day from Iowa's back roads or click on the orange title of this post.  Worth a visit (the site and Iowa)!!

Fountain Prank

Fountain in Cedar Rapids

A coincidence I SWEAR!!  Those who know me are aware that during my college days I placed a box of tide into a fountain.  The story can be found on this blog The Bubble Bath. As it turns out my wife and family were having lunch across the street from the soap filled fountain.  The owners of the fountain had a sense of humor about it - something I did not encounter in 1969.

Kids Say The Funniest Things

Looking for Lunch

Four of our seven grandkids visited for the weekend and to keep them entertained we took them to a couple of museums.  At one of the museums there was a snake exhibit.  Grandma has a great fear of snakes and the closest she would get to the snakes was the top floor (snake exhibit was in the basement) and if she could have had a choice - the building next door would have been too close.  Grandpa was elected to take whoever wanted to go see the snakes - (oh joy)....  One of the girls want to go see the snakes so off we went and we were ever so lucky (sarcasm) a demonstration was starting in 5 minutes where you could "pet" the snake if you wanted to...

The guy who was the snake handler came into the room with 2 pillow cases and one very large container.  There were probably about 15 kids and 5 adults in the room.  He proceeded to take the snakes out one at a time and explained about their origin, what they ate, etc.  It was interesting - even though I didn't particularly enjoy being in a room where I could "be" lunch.  He let the kids touch the snakes if they wanted to...

Right after he started the presentation a little girl, probably about 5 or 6 years old raised her hand and asked him, "Do you have a snake in your pants?"  You could tell from his reaction that this was the first time he had been asked this question during a demonstration and after an awkward moment he patted his pants pockets and said, "No, I don't think so."

The adults in the room were stifling giggles as the handler squirmed as the girl continued, "Then why is it wiggling?"

This nearly put the adults over the edge, and made the handler stutter as he tried to figure out what the little girl was talking about and then it dawned on him.  It was one of those "light bulb moments" where you could see the exact moment he figured it out, "Do you mean the pillow cases?"

"Yeah, over there they're moving!"

He was relieved that the moment was over and continued with the demonstration.  I enjoyed it, learned some things about snakes I didn't know and had a good giggle at the same time.

A Day In An ER

My spouse was having severe abdominal pains this morning so we rushed her to the ER. Starting at the end of the story - she has a severe abdominal infection and is receiving antibiotics via IV and will be in the hospital for about 5 days.

Now, back to the beginning. We arrived at 8:40 AM to a not very busy ER, but that quickly changed. We had been there a short while when we heard a woman wailing, "...That's my little girl...why won't he let me say goodbye?" She wailed and wailed. I cannot imagine the heartbreak she was feeling. Someone else was screaming in pain, and yet another went buy our room unconscious.

Then there was a guy who arrived in an ambulance with his finger arriving later in a separate vehicle; the county sheriffs were there for (Or were delivering) someone, and I believe one gentleman passed away from complications of a heart attack. Another lady was having chest pains and was prepped and taken for an angiogram. I watched one EMT take 2 hours of verbal abuse from an obvious drunken (or crazy) man. It was abuse, mean spirited, vile, nasty and on occasion physical. If had been the EMT I would have decked him or tied his ears to the table...I saw the EMT later in the day and told him, "Whatever they're paying you is not enough - thank you for what you do."

Ambulances came and went all day - broken this, broken that, fall here, fall there, fainted female, cut male - the tragedy went on and on and on...

My youngest daughter is an ER Nurse and during a break today I asked how she could stand all of the human tragedy? She simply told me the rewards far outnumber the bad moments and that I had just had a glimpse into her life.

Through the entire day the nurses and doctors, while not as attentive as I'd like them to have been (I understand others had more serious problems), they all had a smile, were caring and were genuinely concerned for our welfare.

We were there for a shift change and we saw a bunch of tired people leave - and a new energetic group arrive. I imagine their night shift will be as busy as the day shift, but with perhaps an added stabbing or gunshot wound.

Memorial Day 2010

I am always amazed at the twist and turns my life takes. Last fall I had visited a grade school classmate of mine and during our visit she told me about the town of Williams, Iowa (where I grew up until I was 10) and the Veteran's Monument the town had erected and celebrated on Memorial Day 2009. Several months after that conversation I had been visiting the farm where I grew up on (taking photos and remembering my jump off the windmill) and I decided to stop in Williams and visit the Monument. While I was sitting on the stone bench reading the names, and at the same time remembering those that I had served with, a gentleman came up to me and introduced himself. He was a WWII Veteran, member of the local American Legion and one of the "shakers and movers" who brought the Monument from idea to reality.

We exchanged stories and he knew my folks when they lived in Williams and after I told him I had served in the Navy for 30 years he said my name should also be on the wall. True to his word he added my name as you can see in the above photo. We attended this year's Memorial Day Services in Williams and then travelled around the area visiting the cemeteries where my grandparents, parents and aunts and uncles are buried.

We stopped by the Boondocks USA for brunch and sat next to a guy who everyone called "Bob". He struck up a conversation and we visited while we ate. It turns out that, "Bob" was the owner of the Boondocks and the hotel and has been since the early 1970s. When I told him my name he asked me who my Dad was and I said, "George Hill".

"Did he work as an accountant at Kramers Corner?" I said that he had indeed worked there for a while after he had sold his farm. Well... he then proceeded to tell me a story about my Dad.

I didn't start the day expecting to hear a story about my Dad from a complete stranger - literally in the Boondocks - but I did and it made for a great Memorial Day 2010.