BagOfNothing.com

Archive for December, 2007

A U.S. military dog whose handler and best friend was killed in Iraq gets a new assignment on Friday — retirement with the late Marine’s family.

It took months of lobbying by the family to get the adoption approved by the military.

Lex was beside Cpl. Dustin Lee when Lee was killed in a mortar attack in Falluja.

In spite of his injuries, the dog didn’t want to leave Lee’s side after the attack, according to the Marine’s father. Other Marines reportedly had to pull the dog away from the young man’s body so medics could reach him.

Lex attended Lee’s funeral in March, playing games with the 20-year-old Marine’s younger brother on the sidelines.

Although some shrapnel remains in his body, Lex recovered from his wounds and returned to duty at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Georgia.

Friday, he’ll move to Lee’s family home in Quitman, Mississippi, where the 8-year-old bomb-sniffing German shepherd will live out the rest of his life.

Jerome Lee, the late Marine’s father, lobbied hard for months to adopt the dog. Marine officials initially told Lee that it would be no problem to get the dog. But persuading the service to give up Lex before the dog’s mandatory retirement at age 10 proved to be a challenge.

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It’s like Guitar Hero but for the keyboard.  All you need to do is you the ASDF keys on your keyboard.

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For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere it’s the Winter Soltice which means today is the shortest day and longest night of the year.

For those of you in the Southern Hemisphere it’s the Summer Soltice where today will be the longest day and shortest night of the year.

It’s all because of the rotation and tilt of the Earth’s axis – or something like that.

And in case you are wondering, “solstice” is derived from two Latin words.  “Sol” meaning sun, and “sistere” meaning to stand still.

A lot of religions and cultures do something for the solstice, but there are really too many of them to write about to keep you interested.

Fun Geeding Fact:  I was married on the Summer Solstice.

For all those opposing Cowboys fans, print out a Jessica Simpson mask and take it to the game.

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 “Shoot all the lame Christmas stuff (but not Baby Jesus–he’s sacred).” 

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Reading in dim light won’t damage your eyes, you don’t need eight glasses of water a day to stay healthy and shaving your legs won’t make the hair grow back faster.

These well-worn theories are among seven “medical myths” exposed in a paper published on Friday in the British Medical Journal, which traditionally carries light-hearted features in its Christmas edition.

Two U.S. researchers took seven common beliefs and searched the archives for evidence to support them.

Despite frequent mentions in the popular press of the need to drink eight glasses of water, they found no scientific basis for the claim.

The complete lack of evidence has been recorded in a study published the American Journal of Psychology, they said.

The other six “myths” are:

* Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight

The majority of eye experts believe it is unlikely to do any permanent damage, but it may make you squint, blink more and have trouble focusing, the researchers said.

* Shaving makes hair grow back faster or coarser

It has no effect on the thickness or rate of hair regrowth, studies say. But stubble lacks the finer taper of unshaven hair, giving the impression of coarseness.

* Eating turkey makes you drowsy

It does contain an amino acid called tryptophan that is involved in sleep and mood control. But turkey has no more of the acid than chicken or minced beef. Eating lots of food and drink at Christmas are probably the real cause of sleepiness.

* We use only 10 percent of our brains

This myth arose as early as 1907 but imaging shows no area of the brain is silent or completely inactive.

* Hair and fingernails continue to grow after death

This idea may stem from ghoulish novels. The researchers said the skin dries out and retracts after death, giving the appearance of longer hair or nails.

* Mobile phones are dangerous in hospitals

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Reborn-baby.com is the website that specialises in making collectible lifelike dolls.

Our aim is to make the most realistic hand produced dolls possible where no babies are ever identical.

Monkeys, Lions and Chimpanzees are animals we often see in the wild or on the Discovery Channel, however many of these exotic animals can be purchased legally within the United States. Living in an acceptable jurisdiction and acquiring the correct permit could turn your home into a modern day zoo. These animals, however do come with a heavy price tag and that is not including the upkeep.

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A Savannah Cat will set you back $4,000 – $10,000.

I would rank this second on a list of dumbest Mavs plays ever. The only one that would beat this would be Derek Harper running the clock out in the fourth quarter thinking his team is ahead when in reality his team was tied with the Lakers in Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals in the Mavs first ever nationally televised game back in 1984. It’s so sad, Rolando Blackman is calling for the ball and when the clock runs out Harper starts to celebrate and Reunion Arena is silent with shock. The Mavs then lose in overtime and the Lakers take a 3-1 lead in the series.

The only clip I could find of Harper’s goof is in Spanish. It happens about halfway through the clip.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Susan Dahl had spent four months homeless in Colorado and just been on a harrowing 10-hour bus trip through sleet and snow. Hungry and broke, all she wanted to do was get back to family in Minnesota.

That’s when a tall man in a red coat and red hat sat next to her at the downtown bus station, talked to her quietly and then slipped her $100 on that recent December afternoon.

The man was doing the work of Larry Stewart, Kansas City’s original Secret Santa who anonymously wandered city streets doling out $100 bills to anyone who looked like they needed it. Stewart died of cancer at age 58 earlier this year. But his legacy lives on.

“He said `Here’s a $100 bill … and this is in memory of Larry Stewart,’” said Dahl, 56.

Over about a quarter century, Stewart quietly gave out more than $1.3 million to people in laundromats, diners, bus stations, shelters and thrift stores, saying it was his way of giving back at Christmas for all the wealth and generosity he had received in his lifetime.

For years, Stewart did not want his name known or want thanks or applause, but last December he acknowledged who he was and used his last few months while battling cancer to press his message of kindness toward others. He even trained some friends in the ways of Secret Santa.

This Christmas, a friend who told Stewart in the hospital that he would carry on for him is out on the streets, handing out $100 bills, each one stamped with “Larry Stewart, Secret Santa.”

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SecretSantaWorld.net

WifeGeeding recently received this as a gift.  As you can probably tell, it’s a baby nipple mocked up as a Rudolf.  There’s even a baby pin glued on the back so you can accessorize!  However, I just can’t bring myself to pin a nipple to my shirt.

WifeGeeding and I were very fortunate to ride in a flight simulator a couple nights ago thanks to our favorite neighbor.  I’ve always heard how real these simulators feel, but you really can’t appreciate it until you actually inside one of these things.  Our simulator was was a Beechjet 400A.

These simulators are really amazing, and HUGE – about the size of a two story house!

But before we dared the Beechjet simulator, we started off small with a gliding simulator.

It took a little getting use to, but very very fun.

But then it was on to the big boy toys.  Our neighbor the flight instructor threw all sorts of stuff at us light bad weather conditions and other planes flying straight at us, but it only added to the fun.  Out of three landings, I actually had one ’safe’ landing.  WifeGeeding didn’t’ do too bad herself.

This picture above was taken right after liftoff just before my right engine decided to fail.

WifeGeeding is trying to concentrate on her instrument panel since she’s flying through thick fog over NYC.  We tipped our wing over Rev Hart’s apartment.

Now I’m almost tempted to start work on a pilot’s license.

My 14th and 15th Christmas cards came in the mail today

The 14th card is from Ashley of Mesquite, TX.  We’ll be driving though her city within the next 24 hours on our way to see WifeGeeding’s family in East Texas.

The 15th card is from Jonathan of Lubbock, TX who sends greetings from West Texas.  He was nice enough to include a small donation to help fight lupus.

Thanks to Ashley and Jonathan for the cards and helping to fight lupus!

So that’s eight cards from Texas, two cards from NY, and one from North Carolina, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Canada.  

With a total of 15 cards, that’s $15 I’ll donate to help fight lupus.

A small recap of the experiment of me trying to see if any of you are willing to send me a Christmas card:

Option 1:  You can make a direct donation to the Lupus Research Institute in memory of Kim Geeding.  Have the acknowledgement sent to my address, and I’ll consider that my Christmas card.  I’ve done some research, and out of all the lupus organizations I feel most comfortable with the Lupus Research Institute came out on top.

Option 2:  If you just want to send a card and no money, then I will total up all the cards received before Dec 25, and for each card donate a dollar (up to $50) to the Lupus Research Institute.  If you include any money, I’ll make sure to donate the funds directly to the Lupus Research Institute. 

Send all cards to

Keith “BagOfNothing” Geeding
421 Vista Noche Dr
Lewisville, TX 75067-8345

Please be sure to include the “BagOfNothing” in the name so I know the card comes from a reader and not the dentist or plumber.

Fans now have the chance to take home Tony Romo for the holidays as Eastern Illinois University athletics is offering EIU Tony Romo replica jerseys.EIU is also selling replica Romo jersey T-Shirts.

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And in case you missed it, he gave $100,000 to the university which is the largest one-time donation for the athletic department.

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

And also:A fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great, (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only “

There are only about 15 of them.  Click refresh on the page for a new picture.

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