Dragon

Dragon has lived in Alberta for 31 years and has shovelled snow for probably 25 of those (though I will grant you as small children we probably weren't very helpful but found it much more fun than it is as a grown up.) Most of the shovelling I've done has been fairly minimal, either I lived with other people who shared the chore or lived in places (like now) where that was taken care of by a condo assn. I can recall a few ridiculous shovelling days, during one it was snowing so heavily that with 2 of us shovelling we got the whole sidewalk done and by the time we reached one end the other end needed it again. Yesterday was not much different and we shovelled the walk at work 5 times in a 9 hour day. It certainly makes it much easier when the work is shared. It's such a treat to work with people who think nothing of simply taking turns with such chores.
We would have happily had any of Baldur's versions of hot cocoa (I think I would add a little Irish Whiskey to mine )

sheftali52

Yes, Dragon, it is wonderful to work with people who share responsibilities for stuff such as snow removal. And BTW, I really, really like your current profile pic--it is the best dragon yet!!!

Dragon

Thanks sheftali! I must say I'm quite enjoying the mischievious little smile on your bunnys face. It's kind of like the Mona Lisa, you wonder what that bunny's smiling at.

sheftali52

Thx marg--the bunny will never tell! ;-)

Normal

If you like decadence with convenience, here's the Normal method. Any of the prepared cocoa mixes, stirred into a slurry in the mug with a slosh of whatever. (Favorites I've tried are Amaretto and Baileys - Kahlua sounds good too.) It keeps the mix from forming little globs, just like making a sauce.

sheftali52

lol Normal--convenience is often good! Now you have Sheftali wanting to go get some Bailey's soon, but I do have Kahlua on hand. What's not to like about all these variants of hot chocolate? Some simple, some complex, but all good.

Robindcr8l

Rumplemintz in hot cocoa is good too, if you like chocolate peppermint flavor! I can hardly wait to make the melted chocolate variety of Baldur's hot cocoa! I may save this recipe as a special Christmas Eve treat for myself and Jake.

marius

Great show the past few days! Am glad we don't have snow yet, but they say it's coming Monday or Tuesday. However, they are wrong a great deal of the time.

I am in my winter funk a bit because like Dragon, I'm a tropical person, wanting to be comfortably outdoors all year round. Oh well. Have pulled out the silk long-johns and am going for a hike in the woods today no matter how cold it is. When I do that, it's like I've "beaten the weather" and that lifts the spirits. Plus, it can be toasty warm and enjoyable outside, if dressed right.

Have pondered Baldur's what do we want question and in five seconds came up with a very long list. Funny thing about the list, I could buy most of it but haven't ... so either haven't felt like shopping or don't want any of it that badly? Not sure.

My favorite items on the list: a non-pharmaceutical cure for mental illness, and a time and space travel machine that is guaranteed 100% safe. (You didn't say practical gifts!) tee hee. The time machine would not be an actual machine. It'd be more of a technique for going to whatever time and space you wanted, whenever you wanted, and it would have a built-in whatever that would prevent silly time-continuum things.

marius

So enjoyed the story of Sheftali's spouse buying the snow blade for tractor, and someone's idea that the purchase might actually "prevent" more snow ... and Baldur's santa stories and hot chocolate ... and Robin's son who would rather buy her a gift than not argue for a whole day! Also - Dragon, great new pic for sure! LOVE the expression in the eyes.

polenta

Sorry if I'm off-topic. I have an anecdote.
A young Uruguayan boy called Federico Alvarez posted a 5-minute video on YouTube and as a consequence was called by many Hollywood studios. I think the reason was he had spent only about $300 on this video. He was invited to Hollywood and one or two weeks ago he signed a contract with a certain Sam Raimi, director and producer who is said to have become famous for the Spiderman films. The budget of the new film will be between 30 and 40 million dollars. I was quite amused when he got a free trip to Hollywood. Now I'm amazed at how the Internet can make miracles...... Who knows how much this completely unknown Federico Alvarez will get.
Here you may see the video and some comments.

http://popwatch.ew.com/2009/11/30/panic-attack/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed& utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ew%2Fpopwatch+%28Entertainment+Weekly%27s+PopWatch%29

maddyjean08

Yeah, Dragon, love the latest Dragon! The mischeif in his eyes, the wicked smile spread across the red, devilish face.

Baldur

Thank you polenta, that was a marvelous short film.

maddyjean08

Wish I could've watched it.........

sheftali52

Holy cow--that film clip was neat, Polenta! Low budget but high quality. Impressive.

Arw65

that was very neat polenta. Arw(Ashley) is a bit odd... i cannot, cannot handle the heat, i over heat if i spend more than a few minutes in the sun- burn- regardless of sunscreen, headache, i get lightheaded, etc. on the other hand i get quite frustrated with precipitation, Last year was particularly snowy here in Flagstaff- let me tell you, shoveling your way out of 2-3 feet of snow with a 'Baby bump'- not fun, also i have an older daughter Brenna- she was about 18 months when the snow hit . this year i hope it's not as bad since i have an 11 month old now as well.- Tho- the point of my story, I live on a college campus so usually there are a number of people around- it's always nice when a complete stranger comes over- usually with 2 or 3 friends, and offers to dig you out of the snow while you sit in the car to warm up. I love when people are nice!!

Arw65

and the hot chocolate sounds divine- i must try it!

marius

Yes, cool video, Polenta! Thanks for sharing!

Has been and will be another very busy week. Since marius can't write much (due to busy-ness and who knows what else) she is wondering about another Baldur story.

We had the "when he met Robert" story. There must be another of some kind. Hmmm - how Baldur began stringing beads, when Baldur discovered he likes to cook, the first moment when time stopped in Baldur's life (I know you have one ... everyone does, don't they?) That's all the suggestions I have so far. There IS the second spaghetti story too. Or perhaps another Kris Kringle (Santa) story? My favorite line in that whole movie btw, the one that brings the tears, is Natlie Wood saying, "Stop the car! Stop the car!"

And sheftali, have wanted to know how you could live off base. Thought military personnel HAD to live on base. Were you the only one? Did others think it odd? Did you always live off base? Were the numbers limited of how many could live off base and which persons? Was there a requirement that one could only live so many miles from the base?

And ... have always wondered, when one retires from the military, is one truly retired? For example, if there were a major crisis would one be required to re-join, or somehow serve, even for a small amount of of time?

Goodnight to all and sweet dreams.

marius

PS Arw, loved your when people are nice and dig you out of the snow story. Does warm the heart - and there are many nice things like that! Thanks for the reminder.

sheftali52

Marius, your continuing interest in others is very endearing. Generally, if there is base housing, they have to keep it filled for the most part. There's housing for junior single enlisted members (barracks) and for families in the States. Enlisted members have to attain a certain rank before they're allowed to live off-base. All officers, except some in key positions, are allowed to live off-base but can also choose to live on-base. Overseas, it's a bit different. Only the larger military installations had base housing. In Turkey and Greece, there was no base housing where I was stationed. Everyone lived "on the economy", which made for some very interesting experiences! We had to live close enough to the base to be there quickly if recalled for an emergency, though there really wasn't any distance limitation. Sheftali always chose to live off-base, and really enjoyed the experiences.

When one retires from the military, it is possible to be recalled up until the 30th year after joining. But, that generally happens only if truly necessary, say, if they needed a particular skill that was sorely lacking at the time. Now, if all hell broke loose, the rules could be changed. Sheftali has just passed that 30-year point and can truly retire her uniforms now!

Robindcr8l

Sheftali, I join Marius in finding your military life fascinating, so thanks for sharing with us. And I join you in finding Marius endearing by always asking about others and sharing such simple wisdom. I feel like I learn something on here every day.

I was thinking about ARW's kindness story. How total strangers just helped shovel her car out for her. And what Marius said is true...these things happen all the time to all of us. Or maybe we're the ones that are randomly offering an act of kindnes. Maybe we should share such stories on here. They always warm the heart.

One day a couple of years ago I had a random act of kindness happen to me. It was this simple little thing, and yet, here I am years later still telling people about it. I was on my way to work one morning (I worked days back then) and decided to stop at the local Burger King to get some breakfast for my office mate and myself. I had to make a left turn into the driveway, and there was a guy coming from the other direction who was turning right into it. Somehow, oddly, he cut me off and I really had to swerve to avoid being hit by someone else. I wasn't mad...felt like he didn't do it purposely, and that my own driving was partly to blame, and besides, nothing even happened. He went through the drive-thru ahead of me, and when I went up to pay for my food, he had already paid for it! I guess he was apologizing or something, I don't know. But my friend and I had free breakfast that day and I smiled all day over it!

Now it's your turn to tell a story....