We’ve had some cold weather lately. Just a week ago, night time temperatures dropped below and a good number of less-hardy plants died off. And despite all that, when I came back from walking the dog, I found a rose blooming.
It’s an odd time of year for a rose to bloom, but it’s beautiful.
Interesting Day at the Office
Monday was the last day for one of the higher ups at my office and the event was marked with a lunch time going-away party. Midway through the party, the fire alarm started going off. There had been signs posted by the elevators that morning to announce fire alarm tests, so we stayed put and listened to several short speeches. After the alarms had been going off for nearly 15 minutes, someone came into the room and announced that the building really was being evacuated.
As we walked out of the building, we saw a group of firefighters walking in, all wearing their heavy fire jackets, several carrying fire extinguishers, dragging hoses, and one or two lugging breathing apparatus. MC heard one of them saying the fire was in the building’s basement.
They let us back into the building a half-hour later. As we were walking up the stairs, several of us noticed the smell of smoke. Either there really was a fire, or else it was one heck of a realistic fire drill.
Rumor has it that the fire started when someone threw a cigar into the landscaping and the mulch caught fire. Evidently it was right in front of the intake for the building’s ventilation system. That’s how we came to have smoke in the building.
Regardless of what really happened, this is the only party I’ve ever attended that really did end with the fire department arriving.
Sex-cams at the Beach
It seems that in Palm Beach they have a problem with people having sex on the beach. All sniggering aside, from a tourism standpoint, that’s probably not the sort of image they’re trying to project. Likewise, I rather imagine any responsible parent would have concerns about the kids getting an unexpected “education.”
Still, the response that County officials have come up with is one I can only describe as “unorthodox”: They want to set up cameras to automatically record the action.
As if the plan wasn’t odd enough by itself, the details are unintentionally(?) even funnier. According to the news story, one of the suggestions from the head of the county commission is that the cameras be set up so 911 dispatchers can watch the scene on the beach and call deputies if they see problems.
If implemented, this plan would no doubt decrease any motivation for local 911 dispatchers to use county funds for porn site subscriptions.
Alas for the 911 dispatchers, it appears that wiring the cameras to continuously upload to the internet isn’t practical. Instead, the news story says the plan is for county workers to periodically visit the beach and download the video from the cameras.
Here’s how I see this playing out:
- Morning drive-time DJs all over the country are going to be making jokes about this story. If not for the writer’s strike, it might even make it onto Leno or Letterman.
- The cameras will eventually go into place.
- A month later, Palm Beach will have it’s first scandal involving a county employee who couldn’t resist the temptation to take one of the tapes home and upload it to a video sharing site. “Palm Beach Nights” will become an instant online hit.
- The county government will promise an immediate investigation with a promise that appropriate action will be taken against those responsible for the release. No significant findings will be announced.
- A second scandal will occur, this time with a prominent community or political figure being caught on tape.
- A short time later, amid as little fanfare as possible, the cameras will quietly vanish.
Pythonesque
Starring Richard Gere, Julia Ormand and Sean Connery, First Knight was released in 1995. Twelve years later, I’m finally watching it. (I’ve been busy.)
The movie takes place after Arthur has already established the Round Table and portrays the events surrounding Lancelot’s arrival in Camelot. It’s a good movie and I heartily recommend it. The only difficulty I’m having with it is that I’ve seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail and in early 2006, Spamalot.
There’s a scene near the beginning of First Knight where Arthur greets Guinevere and as they prepare to enter the city, she speaks its name, “Camelot.” And what words should go through my head but, “It’s only a model.”
Likewise, when Lancelot is introduced to the High Council, I can’t help but imagine the assembled knights bursting into song with a chorus of “His name is Lancelot…”
But even with that distraction, it’s still a good movie.
Choosing Sides
As has been noted previously, the Great Animal Rebellion is upon us. A couple weeks ago, there was some speculation on the Transylvanian Dutch site about whether it was a flat-out rebellion with the animals on one side and humans on the other, or perhaps there might be animals on both sides of the fight.
I spotted an Associated Press news story today about a pooch who lost her life while saving one of her humans from a fire. For me, that pretty well settles it. The dogs are on our side.
Tick Tock, Tick Tock
I adjusted my alarm clock on November 3, the computers, the cell phone and the VCR all took care of themselves. The radio in the car got adjusted while I was on my work to that Monday, and on November 8, I fixed the clock in the living room and the one in the guest room. Wrapping it all up, I fixed the time on my phone at work this afternoon at about quarter till three.
I’m now officially ready for Eastern Standard Time.
The Legend of Bunny Foo Foo
Back in February of 2002, AJ lost a bet. A few weeks later, she found herself standing in a crowded restaurant, wearing bunny ears, and singing “Little Bunny Foo Foo.” Two months later, in May, she wound up doing a repeat performance, this time in front of the entire Maryland Jaycees. When AJ loses a best, she doesn’t mess around!
The result of all this singing is that over the past few years, AJ has become known throughout the Jaycees as “Little Bunny Foo Foo,” a role she’s come to wholeheartedly embrace.
In April of this year, AJ was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, a form of cancer. Adding insult to injury, within a few weeks of starting the chemotherapy, she ended up losing her hair. So when her husband, Mike, said that “anything to make her laugh” would be good, her friends jumped at the opportunity.
Because of the chemotherapy’s impact on her immune system, AJ was unable to attend the Jaycees’ quarterly convention in May. So to cheer her up, more than 70 people posed for photos to be put in an album for her. In the photos, everyone held signs bearing personalized messages, and everyone wore bunny ears.
This past weekend, I had the privilege of escorting AJ to the formal dinner at the November Jaycees convention. We paused at the door, waiting to be announced. As people throughout the room grabbed their cameras, the emcee, momentarily speechless, turned away from the microphone. Turning back, she softly said, “I never thought I’d be happy to see those again.”
As the flashes subsided, we were introduced and stepped forward grinning. Perched atop AJ’s head, topping six weeks worth of new hair, was a pair of bunny ears.
As we crossed the room, the emcee softly added in a tone equally laughing and wistful, “Welcome back Bunny Foo Foo.”
Reaching a Milestone
It’s been about three months since AJ completed her cancer treatment. It’s been a long road, but she’s come through the ordeal with no end of class. (I doubt I’d have been even half as inspirational a figure as she’s been.)
Today was her three-month checkup. She’s announced the results, and its some of the best news I’ve had all year.
The Naming of Things
I’m not sure why, but I’ve been going through another round of people asking me to suggest names for things. This is a bad idea. If it were up to me, all streets would be called “The Street” (with a few suitable variations, such as, “The Street Pete Lives On”). Likewise, every mountain would be either “The Mountain,” “The Mountain to the Left,” “The Mountain to the Right,” or else “No, That Mountain Over There.” This might cause some small amount of confusion.
Nonetheless, I’ve recently been asked to suggest names for Relay for Life Teams (I’m torn between “Fluffnutters” – because it’s fun to say – and “Flatfooters – because it’s descriptive) and just today, names for boats (“Hull in the Water” has a certain ring to it, though “S.S. Minnow” might work too.)
Just in case anyone is planning to ask, here’s a few naming ideas for your pets.
Dogs: Bob. (Short for “Bob Barker”)
Cats: Five (This joke was borrowed from elsewhere.)
Fish: Gil
It would be perhaps be best to avoid asking me to suggest names for children. (In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out though that none of the names on that list came from me. Therefore, if it’s a girl, I suggest naming her “Deniece” and if it’s a boy, I suggest “Denephew.”)
Breakfast
The assignment for last Monday’s class was to write a short story (5 pages, double spaced) in which the main character is dealing with a conflict of some sort. (It was at that point when I realized that most of my stories tend to be about the plot and much less about the characters.)
What I came up with is “Breakfast” which is filed in with the rest of my musings. Keep an eye out for a cameo by a certain fuzzy-faced denizen of these pages.
Enjoy!