Baldur

Happy Birthday to Tiger Drew-Honey, Cameron Bright, Michael O'Hearn, Andrew Ridgely, Wayne Gretzky, Road Warrior Animal, Salvador Sanchez, Ellen DeGeneres, Anita Baker, Eddie Van Halen, Lucinda Williams, Gene Siskel, Jules Feiffer, Paul Newman, Hans Holzer, Philip Jose' Farmer, William Hopper, Stephane Grappelli, Maria Von Trapp!, Bessie Coleman, Douglas MacArthur, Juan Pablo Duarte, John-Baptiste Pigalle and Emperor Go-Nara of Japan.

Dragon

LOL at gifting cookies in a 'Wormland' bag.

Baldur

Happy Birthdsy to mebu27, Wynne Evans, Bridget Fonda, Keith Olbermann, Kadri Malik, Mimi Rogers, White Shoes Johnson, Beatrice Tinsley, Troy Donahue, Mohamed Al-Fayed, Bobby Blue Bland, Fritz Spiegl, Donna Reed, Elmore James, Skitch Henderson, William Randolph Hearst Jr., Art Rooney, Admiral Hyman Rickover, Jerome Kern, Elizabeth Israel, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, Captain Edward J. Smith!, Samuel Gompers, Admiral Togo Heihachiro, Lewis Carroll, Eugene Viollet-le-Duc, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart! and Anna Petrovna.

Baldur

Well yesterday we got another 10" of snow here at Boughbreak. There is currently about 36" sitting on the ground.
If there had been no melting in between the various storms the total would be over 48".
All in all it's a banner Winter here. Baldur doesn't recall another that was so continuous in it's snowfall.

Baldur

Happy Birthday to Elijah Wood, Nick Carter, Joey Fatone, Daunte Culpepper, Rick Ross, Emiko Kado, DJ Muggs, Sarah McLachlan, Randi Rhodes, Nicolas Sarkozy, Leonid Kadeniuk, Barbi Benton, Mikhail Baryshnikov, John Tavener, Dick Taylor, John Beck, King Tubby, Carlos Slim, John M. Fabian, Leonid Zhabotnynsky, Alan Alda, Claes Oldenburg, Acker Bilk, Harry Corbett, Jackson Pollock, John Banner!, Canuplin, Robert Stroud, Arthur Rubenstein, Colette, Charles W. Nash, Pope Clement IX, King Henry VII of England, Queen Joan II of Navaree and Saint Thomas Aquinas.

Dragon

Does Baldur need to clear the roofs around Boughbreak when it gets this much snow? I know of several places where this is needed because the snow gets so heavy it can collapse the roof, in fact this just happened a couple of day ago in Edmonton (I think) at a seniors home. The staff heard strange sounds coming through the ceiling and got everyone out before the collapse, thank god.

Baldur

If we had gotten 36" all at once we would indeed need to clear it off. The roofs (rooves?) here have gotten at least slightly cleared by natural forces, a combination of wind, sunlight and gravity.
Right now there is less than a foot of snow sitting on top of Boughbreak, the bottom 4" or so is solid ice.
Baldur must say that we do have world-class icicles this year.

Dragon

I was unsure of the proper spelling of roofs/rooves. I would always pronounce it rooves but it just looks wrong when writen down.

We're expecting 15 - 25 cm of snow (6-10 inches) today. I can't say I'm thrille about it but maybe it will fill in the ruts in the road outside our condo so it's not so much like riding a bucking bronco just to turn into the driveway.

marius

Some people living in Colorado Springs wondered why their rain water barrel was almost empty every day. They set up a couple of cameras and caught this. (You'll need to scroll down the page a bit to see the answer.)

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=363204

Baldur

My computer is running slow, I waited a couple minutes watching that link slowly try to open. It never got there marius.
Baldur will try again later.

Despite the tremendous amount of snow the plows have gotten all the roads down to bare pavement, Now they are trying to knock down the height of the snowbanks. At some intersections one cannot see over the mounds of snow making it rather dangerous to turn corners.
All of the roads have narrowed down considerably, cars are driving through narrow cut channels.

Baldur

Happy Birthday to Athina Onassis, Adam Lambert, Sara Gilbert, Bob Holly, Greg Louganis, Oprah Winfrey, Paul Fusco, Tommy Ramone, Ann Jillian, Tom Selleck, Claudine Longet, John Forsythe, Victor Mature, Peter von Siemens, R. Norris Williams, W.C Fields, John D, Rockefeller Jr., Anton Chekhov, William McKinley, Thomas Paine and Emanuel Swedenborg.

mdawrcn

Oh marius, that is hysterical! That little intruder has made himself right at home. Light a candle and give him some bath salts. Too funny.

Baldur

I just got this in an email, it has been passed along so many times it may not be possible to ever give credit to the originator.
Thank you, whoever you are.

"I wish I could help, but I don't want to."
Phoebe from Friends

Paraprosdokian means "beyond expectations" It is a figure of speech in which
the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising. Some are gems.


Ø I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn't work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.

Ø Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

Ø I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather. Not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car.

Ø Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

Ø The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list.

Ø Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

Ø If I agreed with you we'd both be wrong.

Ø We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

Ø War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

Ø Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

Ø The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Ø Evening news is where they begin with 'Good evening', and then proceed to tell you why it isn't.

Ø To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

Ø A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.

Ø How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

Ø Some people are like Slinkies ... not really good for anything, but you can't help smiling when you see one tumble down the stairs.

Ø Dolphins are so smart that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand on the very edge of the pool and throw them fish.

Ø I thought I wanted a career, turns out I just wanted pay checks.

Ø A bank is a place that will lend you money, if you can prove that you don't need it.

Ø Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says "If an emergency, notify:" I put "DOCTOR".

Ø I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

Ø I saw a woman wearing a sweat shirt with "Guess" on it...so I said: "Implants?"

Ø Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?

Ø Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

Ø Why do Americans choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America ?

Ø Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.

Ø A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

Ø You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.

Ø The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!

Ø Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won't expect it back.

Ø A diplomat is someone who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you will look forward to the trip.

Ø Hospitality: making your guests feel like they're at home, even if you wish they were.

Ø Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.

Ø I discovered I scream the same way whether I'm about to be devoured by a great white shark or if a piece of seaweed touches my foot.

Ø Some cause happiness wherever they go. Others whenever they go.

Ø There's a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can't get away.

Ø I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not sure.

Ø I always take life with a grain of salt, plus a slice of lemon, and a shot of tequila.

Ø When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the Fire Department usually uses water.

Ø You're never too old to learn something stupid.

Ø To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

Ø Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

Ø Some people hear voices. Some see invisible people. Others have no imagination whatsoever.

Ø A bus is a vehicle that runs twice as fast when you are after it as when you are in it.

Ø If you are supposed to learn from your mistakes, why do some people have more than one child?

Ø Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

Baldur

Happy Birthday to brigsis, Christian Bale, Otis Smith, Jody Watley, Payne Stewart, Curtis Strange, Phil Collins, Marty Balin, Dick Cheney, Boris Spassky, Vanessa Redgrave, Gene Hackman, Dick Martin, Barbara W. Tuchman, Roy Eldridge, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Marcus Severus Didius Julianus.

Baldur

Happy Birthday to Vernon Davis, Justin Timberlake, Minnie Driver, Fat Mike, Harry Wayne Casey, Nolan Ryan, Richard A Gephardt, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Suzanne Pleshette, Philip Glass, James Franciscus, Ernie Banks, Jean Simmons, Norman Mailer, Mario Lanza, Carol Channing!, Jackie Robinson, Garry Moore, Thomas Merton, Jersey Joe Walcott, Tallulah Bankhead, Eddie Cantor, Anna Pavlova, Zane Grey, King William Charles Lunalilo of Hawaii and Franz Schubert.

sheftali52

King Lunalilo of Hawaii--doesn't that sound quaint? There's a major highway there named after him, on which I've traveled many times. When I was born in Hawaii, it was not yet a state, it was the Territory of Hawaii. Statehood for Hawaii occurred in 1959.

Dragon

So did you automatically become a US citizen then or did you have to apply or were the people there already considered US citizens before becoming a state? I mean, was it a territory of the United States and they decided to change it to a state instead of a territory? If so, why? We have both provinces and territories in Canada.

sheftali52

Dragon, thanks for asking about my home state. The residents of Hawaii were already citizens when Hawaii became the 50th state in 1959, by virtue of being born in a US territory (Hawaii became a US territory in 1989). The reasons Hawaii became a state are debated widely, but I believe it had to do with the strategic location of Hawaii in the Pacific and the successful role it played in World War II. There are still many folks who do not consider Hawaii a state, but I'll leave that debate to the historians! I assume residents of Canada's provinces and territories are full citizens?

sheftali52

Sheesh--Hawaii became a US territory in 1898, not 1989!!!!! Sorry about that lapse....

Dragon

Indeed Territories in Canada are pretty much the same as provinces, just with a different name (I'm not sure why, maybe it's a northern thing, all 3 territories are the northernmost). In fact we have a fairly new territory, in 1999 the territory of Nunavut split off from the Northwest Territories.
What I did wonder is what's the difference between a US Territory and a State. Is it more like how the British Virgin Islands are ruled by Britain?