Life's Lessons

I think I am going to add a new little program to MandyLand. More little pieces of good to know information available to you and all in one convenient location.

Life Lessons. Brought to you, by The Liquor Fairy.

Lesson #1: Google Bombing.

For all those asswits out there who deserve it.

29 Feb 08

There must be somewhere I can get this picture put on a big stupid flowery flag to stick on the front of my house.

28 Feb 08

27 Feb 08

26 Feb 08

My neighbors house. The flag has a picture of her dog on it.

WTF.

Perspective

According to the AP today, an Elementary School in Parma, Ohio just suspended a six-year old for having a mohawk.

There are no rules on the books about not having a particular haircut; their motivation for this is that it violates the rule for "proper grooming."

It's not like he hadn't washed his mohawk in three months or was infested with lice. It wasn't unbrushed or so long that he couldn't see the board or something. So, I really don't see where this flies.

They also cited it as being "distracting to other students." So let me get this straight, if a kid gets cancer and goes to chemotherapy and his hair falls out in clumps and he goes to school- they are going to suspend him because his hair fails to meet "proper grooming" or is "distracting to other students."

Everything is distracting to a six-year old. The only thing that made him singled out was the adults. They created this issue.

I guess when you put it in perspective and realize that this is what is happening in a country that is spending millions of tax payer dollars and the time of its elected representatives to hold hearings on whether or not Roger Clemens had steroids shot into his ass and then lied about it, it really doesn't see that stupid to suspend a six-year old over a haircut.

Don't Die In The Friendly Skies

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/story?id=4338321&page=1

This is outrageous. It's bad enough that a women died on a flight.

Now according to this AP article and the women's cousin. She asked for oxygen and was denied not once, but twice! Then both oxygen bottles eventually produced by the airline were empty and the defibrillator also didn't work.

Who the fuck is the flight attended to diagnose who needs oxygen and who does not? Bullshit. Is someone is visibly having breathing problems and asked for oxygen, go fucking get it. What do you have to lose? So this poor women DIED on this flight.

Since she had be pronounced dead already on board (there were two doctors and two nurses on board) they opted to continue to their original destination instead of continuing the emergency landing in Miami.

They put her dead body on the floor in the aisle way of the first class cabin and draped a blanket over her for the duration of the flight.

American Airlines is of course denying this version of events. They say the bottles weren't empty and the defibrillator didn't work because her pulse was too weak at the time.

They do not deny bypassing the emergency landing and leaving her corpse on the floor of the First Class Cabin draped with a sheet for the remainder of the flight.

The truth here has got to come out. There were too many people on this flight for it not to. It will be interesting I am sure.

In the meantime, fly at your own risk.

25 Feb 08

24 Feb 08

23 Feb 08

Fried Mac & Cheese.
Yes. Seriously.
And it was soooooo good.

22 Feb 08

21 Feb 08

20 Feb 08

Pie Slayer.

19 Feb 08

18 Feb 08

17 Feb 08

16 Feb 08

This is Annie visiting today with her guardian angel. This is Viv, she runs a rescue and was the women who saved Annie from a gassing shelter less than 24 hours from when she was scheduled to die and fostered her until we adopted her.

15 Feb 08

14 Feb 08

13 Feb 08

12 Feb 08

11 Feb 08

BFF

The husband has been crazy busy the last month and a half with work. He works late, he works weekends. He comes home, snarfs down his dinner, then spends the remainder of his evening snoring on the couch.

I think things are so busy that he's constantly running around all day and eating whenever and whatever he can at the time.

Recently, I think he realized his clothes were fitting better- but he refused to get on the scale to find out. Then someone said something to him at work about losing weight and I think finally curiosity got the best of him.

He came home and stood in the bathroom and stared at Nemesis.

I imagine it was like pacing off for a dual.

I hear him get on it and then... silence.. . "Huh."

He gets off.

Silence.

He gets back on. "Huh."

No "Fucker." No "Fuck that thing."

Just "Huh."

Almost every morning for the last week or so, he's gotten on it and checked.

I think now it's his BFF.

10 Feb 08

I did it. I ran my first race. Not only did I survive, I made a decent time, and I loved it.

And true to form, I believe I was the only one there who ran wearing a brewery hat.

Put Up Or Shut Up Time

The day has arrive. Today is put up or shut up time for me.

My first run. This afternoon is the Raleigh Run for the Roses 5K.

I have been training for this since mid November. Keep in mind, previous to that I had not run a step since high school and that was prior to almost 8 years of smoking. I've been active, I have worked out and lifted weights, but I have never been a runner.

And now, I love it. I love to run. I look forward to it all day and have to actually make myself not run on my off days.

5K isn't that far all things considered, but for me it is. I am not running to win, I am running to prove to myself I can. My goal is simply to run the entire race and not come in last. It's a respectable start I think.

I have only been training on the treadmill and today's race is downtown outside, basically flat, but there will still be some elevation changes I am sure and that's going to be hard for me. But hey, what the hell else do I have to do?

So, wish me luck.

09 Feb 08

08 Feb 08

07 Feb 08

06 Feb 08

05 Feb 08

Wanderlust

I think we've had a faux spring creep in down here.

It hit 80 degrees this week. It seemed like an utter travesty that it happened on a week day.

The other days have been in the high sixties. You can help but feel like we are done and spring is here. I keep reminding myself of last year. It was the same way in early February, but then we got a bone-chilling northeastern pattern that arrived in the South and stayed here for like 2 weeks. It sucked bad.

The warm weather and the sunshine are creeping into my bones. I can't help it. With spring brings renewed optimism and to me it reawakens my wanderlust. I keep fighting the urge to jump on a plane. Doesn't matter so much where, I just want to go.

Crappy weather is other places yet has helped to temper me, but it's coming.

If I spend enough time away from airports I start to feel more ambitious as the rage wears. But reading Otto's post this week about the TSA blog helped.

And with spring begins beer festival season. Ahhh..

I already changed my Phoenix plans and tacked an extra two days on to the trip. If I am going to go out there I was to hang out as long as I can and since my projects at work slide out- Carpe Diem, man.

04 Feb 08

03 Feb 08

02 Feb 08

Project 366 - Lessons Learned

So I've made it through the first month of 2008 with my Project 366. I looked back at the pictures this morning and have realized some things.

First off, by posting a picture a day, it does actually kind of tell a story. I have started posting comments with them too, which I think seems to help in the telling of the story. I hadn't initially been doing that, but I think I will from now on if I feel like the picture needs the additional background.

I have also learned by seeing the story unfold that my life is really fucking boring these days.

Sometimes, it's actually hard to find something over the course of the day to take a picture of. Other days there are lots of things and lots of good pictures and it's hard to find just one to post for that day. Sometimes it just hard to remember.

I've almost conviced myself to give up the Project based on the fact that it may not be worth telling a story that isn't a good enought to be told. But, it's still early, right? It's only January and January is typically slow time, and all things considered, this is shaping up to be a good year- so I am going to hang in here with this for a while and see where it takes me.

01 Feb 08

Dirty Girl.

31 Jan 08

Amanda's Birthday Martini

30 Jan 08

Our unscheduled candlelight dinner. The power went out for about 2 hours this evening. Fortunately, dinner was already made in the crockpot.

29 Jan 08

2.5 Million Dollar Tantrum

Okay. Now I am impressed.

T.O.'s 2005 Tantrum with the Eagles ended up costing him almost 2.5 million dollars total. That's fantastic.

He's been pretty quite lately. Is it possible they've finally gotten through to him?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3220008&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines