Get lost!

O-Hi-O

2009-10-05T19:35:00.004-05:00

9 hours on the road Saturday found me in Jackson, OH for a week-long SAR seminar. Internet connection here is molasses. I was hoping to be able to post a few pics of the puppies working, but connection is a little slow for that. Maybe tomorrow!!

A little ray of sunshine...

2009-10-02T11:13:00.003-05:00

...on an otherwise cloudy, dreary kind of Friday.

My dear friend and co-worker did get a little good news yesterday following a PET scan earlier in the week. The oncologist reported that there were no additional tumors that they didn't already know about from the previous endoscopy and CT scan. Great news!! He will begin chemotherapy in a week. While the overall situation is still very serious, this one small "miracle" is so welcome. You have to take the little victories when you get them. I know he was extremely anxious about the results of the scan. It was a big relief to hear this little bit of good news.

I know you don't know him, but please keep my friend in your prayers. It will be a long and painful road for him and his loved ones. Thanks.

Tripping through the webcams

2009-09-28T16:35:00.005-05:00

I was getting my voyeuristic fix this afternoon tripping through some of my favorite webcams. Of course, I started with the Great Smoky Mountains cameras, visiting Look Rock and then moving on to Purchase Knob. Just barely starting to see the first twinges (or tinges) of autumn. Then I found a new one. This one is in Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia. Let me just share a snapshot with you:

Oh, yeah. This shot was taken around 4:30 pm, central time. Do you see that color?? Do you see it?? Fall is definitely in the air. I am heading to Ohio next week for a week-long Search & Rescue seminar. I am very much looking forward to cooler days, nippy nights, and changing leaves.

The week that was....

2009-09-27T15:24:00.003-05:00

....amusing, maddening, disburbing, and most of all, quite sad.

Well, this past week was the Post-Vacation week. It was a great trip to Canada (which I will share in installments), but it's always a great feeling getting back home to my house, my bed, my pillow, my puppies, and the list goes on. However, getting back to my job isn't always the greatest. Don't get me wrong, I do love my job, but I could definitely see myself as more of a "home" body, at least part time. There's just so much to do around here sometimes. Dogs, horses, 10 acres, 2 of which is "yard." Let's just say my real job definitely interferes with my home work.

Now, back to the list. The week was amusing and maddening for many of the same reasons: President Obama at the UN and then in Pittsburgh for the G20 summit. The US Apology Tour continues ad nauseum. I will not go into detail. I posted enough of that on the FaceBook and Twitter stream. Suffice it to say, there were plenty of opportunities during the week for me to be amused and pissed off. Oh yeah, and don't forget Muammar al-Gaddafi, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías. What a freak show. At least Benjamin Netanyahu was there to spread a little sanity over the gathering.

Disturbing? Videos of young school children (and I do NOT care whether it was the prompting of the teacher or guest author or whoever the Hell it was that instigated it) singing praises to Barack Obama, and to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" no less. WTF???

Lastly, terribly, terribly sad. On Tuesday I was told by a dear friend and co-worker that he found out on Monday he has esophageal cancer. He also has spots on two other vital organs. On Friday, I found out it is stage IV. I've worked with him for the 9 years I've been with my current company. I have worked very closely with him the last few months as we integrated a new hardware system in our software test bed facility. I've spent hours and hours sitting in front of a computer terminal with him while he worked his hardware "magic." He'll be starting treatment immediately, but the situation is very grave. I've shed many tears the last 5 days. He is my age. Sorry, I'm having a hard time seeing the keyboard. Everything's all blurry and something keeps dropping on the keys. He is a wonderful, smart, caring, funny guy. I know he will be strong and fight. What do I say? How can I help? I haven't seen him since mid-week. I'm afraid I'll just break down and start bawling when I do, which of course makes me want to avoid seeing him. But I can't do that, can I? Why can't I be strong? I'm such a crybaby.

Well, enough of the morbid. Sort of. My SAR team was called out on Friday to work a "cold case" a little further south in the state. I went along as support. So, while the handlers and dogs worked in the woods looking for some sign of human remains (it's a really cold case-years old), I took along the camera and took a few pictures of the end of summer wildflowers:

And of course one of Search Dog Rudy:

Postcrossing.....

2009-08-06T12:09:00.007-05:00

I ran across Postcrossing this week. I don't really remember how I got to it. From FB sidebar? Flickr? Just can't remember. Anyway, it looked rather intriguing and neat. It is an international postcard exchange group. You register an account and then you go in the big group and when others request to send a postcard, they receive a person at random to send a card to. You can set up your profile so that you only exchange with foreign countries, etc. So far, I have requested and sent 3 postcards: Finland, Germany, Taiwan. I've looked through the discussion forum and it looks like it can be several weeks before you start receiving any cards, but I'm hoping I get some soon!

I'm going to update the blog with rec'd cards. Should be pretty interesting to see what and where they come from. Stay tuned.

Back?

2009-08-06T10:26:00.002-05:00

Yes, I've been quite absent lately. I have been crazy busy. But, I am honestly going to try and be more faithful to the blog. With summer drawing to a close and fall just around the corner, I am hoping life will slow down just a bit. We'll see.

The political scene has certainly blown up lately. Some days I just can't get my brain around everything that is going on with this administration, Congress, the democrats and the republicans. There have been some major gaffes by all parties concerned. Of course, the gaffes by some have been a boon to others. Funny how that works sometimes.

The photography has been going well. I've made some really (in my opinion)great shots over the past few months, particularly the caving shots. I've had lots that have ended up the Recycle Bin. That's the beauty of digital!

Work is busy as ever. I am so very thankful to be in an industry and a geographic area that, so far, has weathered the recession well. Huntsville has received some hits, but so far, nothing really major. North Alabama is a great, great place to be right now.

My beautiful, smart, and most wonderful son got into grad school at Vanderbilt University. Yea! We got him moved from B'ham to Nashville, Tennessee two weeks ago. He's in class this week. The Masters of Finance is a one-year program. I am really looking forward to trying to catch a Vandy football game this fall. Beautiful campus, nice stadium, short drive.

My hubby's son & daughter-in-law welcomed the latest addition to the "Ski" family a few weeks ago, a beautiful, healthy baby girl.

Guess that kind of catches me up. I'll be posting some pictures and adventures from the last few months soon. I also stumbled upon a great blog project that I am hoping to get started on. More on that later.

Love to hear from you all! See you on the trail.

Ms. Boxer, you ma'am, are an ass

2009-06-19T09:39:00.003-05:00

As busy as I am, these folks just keep giving me an excuse to post. What an arrogant, pompous, holier-than-thou jerk this "senator" is. I didn't see any other clips from this hearing except Ma'am Boxer's, but I am willing to bet that not a single male senator insisted that the General call them "Senator" instead of "sir."

GIVE ME A BREAK!! And yet, these people continue to get elected. My fervent wish is that everyone and anyone who has to address Ma'am Boxer in the future will Ma'am her coming and going.

I've been busy, honest!

2009-06-10T14:02:00.004-05:00

Sorry - I have not fallen off the earth. :-) But, good gosh, have I been busy. For some incomprehensible reason, I agreed to become the Membership Chair/interim Board Member/ad hoc Newsletter Editor for an international search and rescue organization, based here in the good ol' USA called Canine Search & Recovery. I've been a "little" busy.

I have been meaning to get caught up on posting, but the further behind I got, well, the further behind I got. Had some exciting things going on over on my Flickr account. Went on a caving trip and had some photos make "Explore." One of my photos has had over 820 views!

Anyway, the thing that has shaken me out of my stupor and forced me to get back on here was an interview that took place this morning on MSNBC. Please, if you have a single conservative bone or fiber in your body, go and watch this info-Babe get way in over her pretty little head. It's a stitch!

Friday, Thank God it's Friday.....

2009-05-15T11:55:00.003-05:00

Remember that old song? And while I don't feel like getting up and breaking into a disco shuffle, I'm disco-ing inside, doing the Electic Slide, yeah, boogie down. Back it up! Step, unnnhhh. Oh yeah.

Sorry, I slipped off into Boogieland there for a minute.....Really, I'm just trying not to think about the weekend and all the damn RAIN that is again bearing down on the beautiful Tennessee Valley. Enough already!! Tomorrow I'll be driving down to Alexander City and back. The day is shot anyway, but Sunday....Bankhead and Sipsey are screaming my name, like ....Sirens luring me to crash on the boulders of the Sipsey Fork. And the damn weatherman is predicting rain, rain, rain, rain. The only "bright" spot for Sunday's forecast is no thunderstorms. Just rain. I can handle hiking in the rain, but it's a bee-otch trying to take pictures in such. Whatever. I'm going anyway. I'll just try to shoot between downpours. And who knows? Maybe they've got it wrong this time.....

Rumblings and Ramblings

2009-05-13T09:55:00.005-05:00

Good gosh, I am tired of the rain. Yesterday was beautiful, but I woke about 2 am this morning and could have sworn I heard rain, again. I convinced myself that I was wrong. Got up to let the pups out at 5 am and much to my surprise and consternation, discovered that I had indeed heard it raining during the night. It's gotta stop soon, right?

Went to the NAPG May meeting last night @ Tommy's Pizza. Had about 10 of the "regulars" there and had a great time. Lots of talk of waterfalls, hiking trails, Bankhead, Sipsey, Monte Sano, Three Caves... It's just killin' me! Have got to get out of the house and on the trails.

Unfortunately this Saturday will be spent driving to Alexander City for an AARS meeting. That's going to shoot Saturday to heck. But Sunday....forecast is showers but no T-storms....I don't care if it is raining. I'm going to hit the forestor somewhere that day.

And while I'm rumbling, I checked the webcam for Smoky Mountains. Here's this morning's shot:

Isn't it lovely? And green? And blue? I am so so so wishing I was there. Trying to plan a weekend overnight to Le Conte for June/July timeframe. We did it a few years ago. We always do the dayhike when we go up, but only overnighted at the shelter, near the lodge, once. Unfortuately all the sunset pics I took that trip were on my laptop that was stolen when our house was burglarized a few years ago. I have got to get back up there for another sunset.

Gloomy Day @ Brushy Lake

2009-05-11T08:05:00.001-05:00

Gloomy Day @ Brushy Lake, originally uploaded by tjs1963 (Terri).

Went out to Bankhead/Sipsey twice on Sunday. First time out to Sipsey and got socked by the rain after about an hour. Went home and got on the treadmill and "piddled" around the house all afternoon. Funny thing, after that first round of rain went through, it didn't really rain any more that afternoon even thought the radar showed a lot on the way. I guess it just broke up and went around.

About 2:30, I was going absolutely stir-crazy, so I grabbed my boots and camera and headed out again. Just went down to Brushy Lake and walked around a bit. Empty and dreary - but really beautiful. It was so green, green, green. But my mood was B & W.

Another guilty pleasure....

2009-05-05T13:05:00.003-05:00

.....Okay, I admit it. I love Mariachi bands. Have for a long time. And today, in the dining area at work, I got to hear a mariachi band! It was wonderful. Remember? It's Cinco de Mayo.

These particular guys used to play every weekend at the Guadalajara restaurant in Decatur when it first opened. They are from Birmingham. Banda la Perla - The Pearl. I always requested "El Paso" when they would take requests. It got to the point that they didn't even have to ask anymore. And today, they remembered me! It was so funny.

They had been playing several traditional songs and the lead guy looked across at me, smiled really big and started playing "El Paso." These guys ROCK!!!

That just made my day. See? I'm smiling. ;-)

Hallelujah!

2009-04-30T11:10:00.002-05:00

YouTube strikes again! Got this from my choir director today. It's a performance of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus by an order of monks. Enjoy!

Some Enchanted Evening...

2009-04-30T07:17:00.003-05:00

and I am absolutely sure I won't be the only person using that phrase today.

I refuse to spend one more minute of the precious time I have in this life watching a presidential press conference, particularly the current administration. It's nauseated me ever so slightly during the past ones watching the way the press gushes and fawns over the man. So, I "missed" last night's 100th Day Celebration Press Conference.

Unfortunately, I couldn't avoid snippets this morning while eating breakfast and surfing the news channels. This one actually stopped me in my tracks and made me laugh out loud:

"During these first 100 days, what has surprised you the most about this office? Enchanted you the most from serving in this office? Humbled you the most? And troubled you the most?"

It was from a NYTimes reporter I believe. Enchanted??? WTF?? Are they kidding me?

But, how about the really important questions? Like, did they ask how Bo was doing? Is he potty-trained yet? How many of Michelle's shoes has he chewed up? Who takes him for walks? Oh, and how about asking him about the fly-over on Monday? No? That didn't come up? And...that middle class tax-cut. I didn't see a clip of that question either.

Enchanted. God, I'm still laughing. It had to be a joke, right?

A complete bust!

2009-04-26T11:27:00.002-05:00

This weekend, I mean. Bummed out. The folks that were going to come up and go to Bankhead with me on Saturday had to cancel due to unexpected family issues with an elderly loved one. I was going to go by myself, but got "guilted" into yard work.

So, I spent the better part of Saturday afternoon on the Cub Cadet mowing our 2 acre yard. I was damned and determined that as soon as the last blade of grass was mowed I was heading to Sipsey anyway. Not. Honestly, I was just worn out. It's hard to believe that riding a lawn mower all afternoon would do that to you. I mean I was RIDING it, for God's sake. I was just beat to death. Our yard isn't the smoothest, most level in the world. And I had the thing wide open trying to get done as fast as possible so I could head to the woods. Just didn't work out the way I planned.

Then, my second hiking trip for this morning has turned out to be a bust as well. My hiking buddy for today was supposed to let me know whether she could make it or not, but she must have run into difficulties as well. So, here I sit. Bored to death. I guess I'll just go get on the treadmill and watch the last couple of episodes of Lost again, or maybe Deadliest Catch. Decisions, decisions.

Mize Mills Falls - cropped

2009-04-24T10:32:00.004-05:00

Mize Mills Falls - cropped, originally uploaded by tjs1963 (Terri).

So here's the cropped version. Wasn't sure whether to crop it evenly on both sides and keep the falls centered up or just crop the tree and leave uncentered. One of my contacts said he liked it this way. Says it looks like you rounded the corner and there it was. I think I like it this way too. I'm particularly fond of the green fronds framing the bottom and right corner. What do you think?

I realized once I logged into the blog, that the way the picture is displayed here versus the way it displays on Flickr are a bit different. On the Flickr site, it's very off-centered to the left side of the frame. It's also a bit elongated top to bottom here. Check it out on Flickr. I think it looks better over there.

Heading out to Sipsey/Bankhead again tomorrow afternoon and all day Sunday. Hope to get some good shots. Taking a couple of newbies out to some new spots they've never visited. It's going to be a good weekend! Hope you all enjoy yours as much as I'm planning to enjoy mine

Mize Mills Falls-uncropped

2009-04-24T10:30:00.001-05:00

Mize Mills Falls (Upper Turkey Foot), originally uploaded by tjs1963 (Terri).

Took this pic a couple of weeks ago. I just got it uploaded to Flickr last night. I'm having massive issues right now with the Virtumonde trojan/virus and it just pisses me off to much to even try and getting online at home. Anyway....

Someone suggested I crop out the tree on the left. So, I did that this morning and re-posted. the picture. Since I'm doing this from the Flickr account, I can only post one at a time. So, I'll post the cropped version in the next entry.

Motivation

2009-04-21T09:36:00.003-05:00

I get funny emails from time to time with jokes, pictures, news stories, etc.
This one fell in my inbox this morning and made me laugh out loud. I'm probably violating some copyright or something, but I just had to share it. Enjoy!

A-Day

2009-04-19T20:42:00.002-05:00

Pics from A-Day @ Auburn

Sunday morning ramblings

2009-04-19T09:35:00.002-05:00

I updated my FB status one day last week with a note that I was heading to my treadmill for a 3 mile walk/jog. One of my "buddies" made a sarcastic comment asking me if I knew that I could actually do that out of doors now that the weather is nice. You know, Point Mallard trail, Wilson Morgan Park? So I took his advice, threw on the shorts and tennis shoes and headed to Pt. Mallard for my 3 miles this morning around 8 a.m. I like the cover of the trees provided by the Pt. Mallard trail. It would just be too embarrassing to jog out in the open. There's just too much jiggle goin' on and I don't mean in a good way!

I always take my iPod with me when I walk/jog. I usually just put it on "shuffle" and let it pick the songs for me. Here's what it served up today during my 3-miles:
1. Desperadoes Waiting for a Train - Nanci Griffith
2. Wimoweh - Nanci Griffith
3. Wondering Where the Lions Are - Bruce Cockburn
4. I Still Miss Someone - Nanci Griffith
5. Sing Me to Heaven - St. Olaf's Choir
6. Who Knows Where the Time Goes - Nanci Griffith
7. No Rain - Blind Melon
8. Sunk a Few - Derby
9. Down from Dover - Dolly Parton
10. Showdown - ELO
11. El Paso - Marty Robbins
12. Mr. Blue Sky - ELO

A rather eclectic mix, I suppose. I don't know how, but my iPod almost always picks just the right song for where I am in the jog. It's almost psychic.

The jog was mostly uneventful. Other than dodging really bold squirrels that sit right in the middle of the trail until you are almost on them and one large black snake scooting off into the brush, the only really exciting thing was the pack of 6 or 7 Army guys that passed me about half-way through. I was able to keep up with them for about a minute. Damn those guys run fast. But at least it gave me "inspiration" briefly :-). Then I met up with the other Army guys carrying full tactical packs/gear. They weren't running, but I bet I wouldn't have been able to keep up with them either!

Yesterday I got up way early and headed down to the Loveliest Village on the Plains. Of course, that is Auburn. It was the annual A-Day game. My son met me and we got to hang out together for the day. We went to Little Italy and ate pizza and drank beer. We walked around campus for a while and did a little "catching" up, then headed to Jordan-Hare for the game. It was one of the best days I've had in a while. Looks like he'll be heading off to Vandy in the fall for a Masters of Finance degree. He's excited and I'm excited for him.

I haven't pulled the pics off the camera yet, but I hope I got some good ones. I'll upload them later today I hope. Bad weather is on the way, so the computers may be shut down for a bit.

I'm heading out shortly to the Chicken and Egg Festival. Sounds like fun, right?

And a final musing for this morning, if your off day is spent in typical fashion (i.e., watching Fox News, a DVD or two, maybe the treadmill, and various yard workings), does it really matter what time the bug man comes to spray the house?

New Navy Poster

2009-04-17T08:48:00.001-05:00

Got this from a co-worker who received it from a friend in the Navy. It's circulating around the Navy folks now. I just had to share it:

Just when you thought it couldn't get any stranger...

2009-04-17T07:00:00.002-05:00

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-IL, releases a statement to the press. Hmmm.

A friend and fellow blogger posted yesterday that Rep. Schakowsky had labeled the Tea Party protests of April 15th as despicable and shameful. I won't say that I thought he was exaggerating, but I will say that I thought, "There's no way an elected official would come out and say such a thing, surely. There must be a mistake." So, I looked it up myself and sure enough, she did.

Here's her actual released statement:

“The ‘tea parties’ being held today by groups of right-wing activists, and fueled by FOX News Channel, are an effort to mislead the public about the Obama economic plan that cuts taxes for 95 percent of Americans and creates 3.5 million jobs. It’s despicable that right-wing Republicans would attempt to cheapen a significant, honorable moment of American history with a shameful political stunt. Not a single American household or business will be taxed at a higher rate this year. Made to look like a grassroots uprising, this is an Obama bashing party promoted by corporate interests, as well as Republican lobbyists and politicians.”

Now, this is coming from a woman who is married to a guy who was convicted in 2005 of check kiting and tax violations. Two felonies. This is from the 2005 USA Today:

"The husband of an Illinois congresswoman pleaded guilty Wednesday to tax violations and bank fraud for writing rubber checks and failing to collect withholding tax from an employee. Robert Creamer, a political consultant married to four-term U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, could face four years in prison on the two felony counts when he is sentenced Dec. 21.

"In my heart, I know that these mistakes do not define or diminish this good man, or the good work that he has done over the last 40 years or that he will do in the future," Schakowsky, D-Ill., said after her husband's court hearing.

Creamer, 58, a prominent Chicago political consultant, was accused of swindling nine financial institutions of at least $2.3 million while he ran a public interest group in the 1990s."

I think I'm just speechless at this point.

Lest anyone ever doubt media bias...

2009-04-16T08:41:00.002-05:00

"Left-wing media bias" is the battle cry for many conservatives. I try to be objective when it comes to the networks, but this takes the cake. I watched this video clip this morning and I have to say it is disturbing, maddening, humorous, and completely representative of that left-wing bias. I can't believe this woman is a paid reporter. So, if you have ever doubted that CNN is biased (hello, what rock have you been under?), please watch them in action:

Un-effing-believable and sad.

For your viewing and listening pleasure...

2009-04-13T11:56:00.001-05:00

Ry Cooder and The Moula Banda Rhythm Aces from 1987
"Jesus on the Mainline"

Bring It...

2009-04-13T08:45:00.000-05:00

Reuters News Service:

"Somali pirates were quick to vow revenge over the shooting of their comrades, as well as a French military assault to rescue a yacht on Friday.

"The French and the Americans will regret starting this killing. We do not kill, but take only ransom. We shall do something to anyone we see as French or American from now," Hussein, a pirate, told Reuters by satellite phone."