New Years Eve

Just stepped out for supplies (no, not groceries, Mother Hubbard's cupboard will stay bare until after this holiday crap is over with).  You know, cigarettes and beer.  Don't have to worry about having enough for PT; he doesn't smoke and I finally decided after six years of waiting for him to shit or get off the pot, I gave him the gate.  NEXT!  So, once again it's me and the dogs hangin' together, but we're used to that.  I also purchased a ticket on the lottery (which I only do when the pot is gettin' large) so when I cash my ticket next week Mr. & Mrs. Andy and I can celebrate my birthday at Buck's in New Mexico or Dad's in the real Mexico.  We'll see.
Sorry, the train just totally got derailed and I don't remember where I was going with this.
Oh ya.  When I stepped out, I realized what a good job the kid did of shovelling the walk.  I mentioned in an earlier post that maybe I'd wait 'til the kid showed up.  Well he finally did.  Only several weeks late.  I tell you, if someone had offered me $10 a trip to keep the walks cleared when I was 13, I would have been all over that like a fat kid on a Smartie!  He could have made over $100 so far, but I guess you snooze, you lose and he only made $40 nstead.  It snowed here for the last couple of days and he called last night and came over at around 6 with a friend and they had a lot cleared within and hour (he didn't get the whole deck cleared last time, it's 16' x 40'(?) which is great in the summer but not so much in the winter) and I called them in; it was way too cold for them to stay out much longer than they had been.  I'm not an ogre. 
Anyway, if he keeps at it on a regular basis, he should have it done by March.  Or April.  Or even May, but not any time soon the rate he's going.

to my readers

I was checking my stats earlier and was blown away by how many of you there are.  Just sayin', I've gone from 480 page views for the months June 'til end of November to 280 this month alone.  Where'd y'all come from?  So, without further ado, I'd like to give a shout out to the following: (not in any particular order, tho' it was tempting to go highest to lowest)
Canada
USA (including Alaska)
Mexico
Brazil
Indonesia
Russia
Egypt
S. Korea
Thailand
Netherlands
Germany
My apologies if I missed anyone.
Some of you are repeat offenders and I thank you for stopping by on a regular basis.  Please don't be shy, leave a comment so I know who you are and maybe reciprocate by stopping by to see what you're up to.

To all of you, Welcome Aboard!  I don't always promise to be informative or funny, but crank yer hat down, we're in for a helluva ride.
Deb

NYC sanitation workers destroy a Ford Expediton

I didn't notice the date that this was put up, so I'm not sure if it's from the latest round of blizzards.

Proof that men have not evolved much (heh)

Who'd a thunk it?

Came across this in this morning's paper.  Odd how your own perceptions of your country are often wrong.


Canadians More Patriotic Than Americans



Canadians often think of themselves as less patriotic than people of other nationalities, particularly Americans.

But a four-country poll shows that with the notable exception of francophone Quebecers, Canadians are more deeply attached to their country than people in the United States, Germany or Spain.

Ninety-five per cent of Canadians outside Quebec said they are attached to their country, compared to 92 per cent of Americans, 84 per cent of Germans and 81 per cent of Spaniards, according to the survey for the Association of Canadian Studies.

"I think that Canadians presume that Americans are super patriotic and have a deep sense of attachment because we think they manifest their attachment more openly than Canadians do," said Jack Jedwab, executive director of the association. "We think we are modest about our identification with Canada, but I don't believe that to be the case. Repeatedly, survey after survey shows that outside of Quebec, Canadians have a very deep sense of attachment to their country," Jedwab said

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/life/Canadians+more+patriotic+than+Americans/4040278/story.html#ixzz19bVNgsvc

Skating out of the limelight

For those who haven't heard yet, Calgary Flames GM Darryl Sutter was asked yesterday to step down from his position.  Ya kinda gotta feel for a guy that's 52 and out of a job, huh?

Calgary Herald December 29, 2010 9:33 AM
As the old year is set to bow out in a few days, so too is Flames general manager Darryl Sutter bowing out along with it.

Sutter's holiday-week departure may have come as a surprise, but it was a well-timed one. Given the Flames' less-than-dazzling performance of late, Sutter would have paid the ultimate price for it eventually, and it's best that it happened sooner, rather than later, while there's still time for the team to turn things around and have a shot at the playoffs.

The coups Sutter scored with the illustrious lineup of Miikka Kiprusoff, Dion Phaneuf, Robyn Regehr and Jarome Iginla have crumbled to dust -- he shed Phaneuf for the hugely disappointing Matt Stajan, while paying him $3.5 million US per season, and other pieces of the Phaneuf exit package -- Ian White and Jamal Mayers -- have already flown the Flames coop. (and then brought that joke Jokinen back)

The days of auld lang syne -- the Flames' glorious 2004 run for the Stanley Cup -- will never be forgot, as the song goes, but it didn't look like they were about to be repeated under Sutter's recent management.

Thinking back to that heady playoff season of 2004, we'll take a cup of kindness yet -- but look ahead to the team's new year. Fresh start, different face at the helm, and hope rekindled for the team.

Thank you, Darryl Sutter, for all you achieved for the Flames and their fans. We wish you well

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/Skating+limelight/4035475/story.html#ixzz19WhwSXOC

from my email inbox this morning, a Lesson on France