Archive for May, 2009
Continental says pilots cashed in on sham divorces
Continental Airlines Inc. is suing nine pilots that it says got sham divorces so their ex-spouses could collect their retirement benefits while they kept flying.
The airline said the pilots concealed the divorces from children and friends, then remarried their spouses after getting the money.
Bag of Randomness
- It’s amazing what you can get done around the house when you don’t blog. I ended up installing a ceiling fan, two interior lights, one exterior light, cut down a tree, cleaned some very hard to reach windows (and came close to breaking my neck), and did a little woodwork and painting.
- Some folks asked a few questions, so it’s time to answer the Mail Bag . . .
- My U2 tickets have me placed in the Red Zone section. I splurged and participated in an auction to get the better seats, which is a special section very close to the stage.
- My sister moved to NYC about a nine months ago, and WifeGeeding and I haven’t made the trip out there to visit as of yet, but hopefully things will work out for us in the future.
- The doctor gave me a steroid shot to help with my hives, and prescribed a MethylPREDNISolone dose pack. The shot started to work very quickly, I would say in about five hours you really couldn’t see the hives anymore.
- I remember the old Western Auto store by the old post office and the Baker, right next to Russell Whatley Motors. The name Price sounds very, very familiar. I think my dad actually bought me a bicycle from that store.
- Yesterday I mowed the lawn while SisterGeeding used the weedeater. I’m sure Mom and Dad would have been proud to see both of us helping each other out.
- Greg Ellis and TO are no longer Cowboys – who will do all the whining?
- The other day I took SisterGeeding out to eat at a local burger place, and as we entered the entire Coppell Fire Department and EMT personnel was in attendance for a fundraiser. If there was ever a time for me to have a heart attack at a burger place, that was the time.
- WifeGeeding recently answered the phone and screamed at the top of her lungs – I was scared to death. Turns out one of her friends got engaged. I’m still freaked out.
- OtherDogGeeding somehow got his bottom infected, which resulted in a trip to vet, which resulted in him being sedated and having the infection lanced. OtherDogGeeding is not a happy camper.
- It was just about a year ago that OtherDogGeeding swollowed that sewing needle.
- While driving to Lowe’s this past weekend I passed a local car dealership and saw they were selling a Delorean for$17,000. Even though I have no idea what kind of shape the car is in by simply driving by it, it’s tempting, so very tempting.
- Regular blogging returns for sure next week, but I might find some time later today to prep for some postings tomorrow.
- Grace
Closed For About A Week
Family is more important than blogging, and with my sister visiting from the East Coast, I would rather spend time with her than on a computer. But that’s not to say I might sneak a post or two along the way – you should just not expect anything.
In the mean time, feel free to leave a comment about whatever. Maybe you always wanted to ask me a question or wondered about something but never had a chance to ask me. So shoot, and I may just end up posting a answer to them.
Grace.
Banker Helps Baby Ducks
This is a few days old as I saw it on the news, but I just took the time to find the story online. It’s cute and touching all in one. Watch and say, “Ahhhhhh.” If you haven’t seen this, watch it, it will be the best two minutes of your day – online at least.
Read the article here.
RunPee
In short, know when to pee while at a movie. What a great idea. They even take it a step further by not only telling the specific time to go and what’s happening, but there’s a section that’s scrambled that tells you what you missed – just click the unscramble button to discover what you really missed.
This site would have come in handy during my Angles and Demons experience.
Speaking of which, a reader was nice enough to send me this shirt.
After the Rapture: Orlando man will deliver messages to those left behind
There are those who believe in the Rapture prophesied in the Bible. And there is Joshua Witter, avowed atheist.
They need each other.
At least some people think so — those willing to pay Witter to be their post-apocalyptic postman, delivering cards and letters to their non-believing friends, relatives and neighbors who will be left behind when the Day of Reckoning arrives.
About 70 people have paid the Orlando man about $5 apiece to get their messages to those doomed to face the plagues, pestilence and darkness of Armageddon.
Bag of Randomness
- Talk about an ironic tattoo.
- Oh to be young, single, only care about self image and forget about finanical planning again . . . I found two 2005 Maseratis with under 30,000 miles for under $45,000 on sale at a local dealership. If I got one of those I could probably roll with Vincent Chase.
- All the local sports radio stations seem to be hyping the Rangers and are upset that they aren’t getting proper national recognition. I’m sorry, I’ll root root root for the home team, but I know they are the Rangers who have never won a playoff series and more than likely will never win one in my lifetime.
- I see that the Palm Pre will be available for purchase on June 6 – oh yes, it will be mine.
- I’ll dare say it, it’s going to be better than an iPhone.
- Its success will depend on Palm and Sprint’s marketing plan, and nobody markets better than Apple, especially over the past five or so years.
- I had to got to the doctor because of a case of hives. Not HIV, but hives.
- I read that the Hubble will never be touched again. I bet sometime in the very far future it will be in a museum, either on Earth, space, or the moon.
- I enjoyed watching Newt Gingrich and Jon Stewart talk on The Daily Show. Both men seemed to have a pretty civil conversation and were real substantive. I think Newt made some really, really good points regarding Pelosi, but I really didn’t agree with anything else he said.
- Lady Gaga was on the Dancing With The Stars. The first words out of WifeGeeding’s mouth, “She’s white?!?”
- I hear only 20% of college graduates are able to find a job. They might be better off riding out the recession and going straight to grad school.
- May sweeps brings out the worst in local news. Last night the teaser story was about doctor offices and germs. Well, duh. Sick people, especially sick children, go to the doctor and congregate in a waiting room for somewhat long periods of time – germs are going to happen. Then you leave to go get medicine and feel better. Probably one of the dumbest news segments I’ve seen in a while.
- Speaking of the doctor, I can’t believe how well the shot he gave me helped reduce the swelling of my hives. That, along with my oral medication made them pretty much gone by the end of the night.
- A very interesting assignment. Google the place, you’ll be fascinated.
- I saw this segment on child preachers, well, in particular one child preacher, on Nightline the other night. ShowBiz or Salvation?
- Grace
Study Ball
The Study Ball gadget is a prison-style ball and chain that you can program to keep track of how much time you spend studying. Once you’ve selected the desired duration, you chain the ball to your ankle and the manacle won’t come off until the schedule study time is up.
A red LED indicator displays the “Study Time Left“ and keeps you informed as to how much longer you’ve got to keep studying. The ball and chain are made of highly durable steel and weighs a total of 9.5 kg / 20.95 pounds, which makes it difficult to move while wearing it.
Quite often, students who are having problems concentrating tend to get up every ten minutes to watch TV, talk on the phone, take something out of the fridge, and a long list of other distractions. Were they to dedicate all this wasted time to studying, they would optimize their performance and have more free time available. Study Ball helps you study more and more efficiently.
Mass. Christian College Adopts New Mascot; Drops ‘Crusaders’
A Christian college in Massachusetts heralded in a new mascot this week in response to the changing connotation of its previous mascot.
As of Wednesday, the athletic teams of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy will be known as the ENC Lions and not the Crusaders, the liberal arts college announced during an event celebrating its seniors’ upcoming commencement.
Schools switching to clip-on ties
Clip-on ties are replacing knotted school ties as schools worry about health and safety, says a survey of school uniform suppliers.
The Schoolwear Association says 10 schools a week in the UK are switching, because of fears of ties getting caught in equipment or strangling pupils.
There are also claims that clip-on ties can stop pupils from customising the size of the knots in their ties.
Uniforms are an “instrument of social levelling,” says the association.
The Schoolwear Association, the trade body for the school uniform industry, has been identifying this year’s trends.
The break of the curveball
This is actually pretty cool, especially for those of you that have actuallly seen a curveball. Be sure to check out the animation here.
In baseball, a curveball creates a physical effect and a perceptual puzzle. The physical effect (the curve) arises because the ball’s rotation leads to a deflection in the ball’s path. The perceptual puzzle arises because the deflection is actually gradual but is often perceived as an abrupt change in direction (the break). Our illusions suggest that the perceived “break” may be caused by the transition from the central visual system to the peripheral visual system. Like a curveball, the spinning disks in the illusions appear to abruptly change direction when an observer switches from foveal to peripheral viewing.
