Remembering

This morning as I worked a 757 to Chicago I remembered the morning 7 years ago when I was working a 757 (maybe the same one) to Denver. I didn't have my cell phone with me, it was in the car charging. After all, I was only doing a turn (airline speak for an out and back in one day trip) and I was going to be back before school let out so I wouldn't need it anyway. The Captain called and let us know that a plane had hit the World Trade Center but he didn't know anything else, but to be aware of anything strange. They even thought it could have been a private aircraft accident. Then he called back to let us know that another plane had hit the tower and that we were to look out for possibilities of having hijackers on our very own plane. No details were known except that the rumor was that the first one belonged to American Airlines. Chills went down our spines as we walked through the aisles looking over our passengers. We were headed to Denver which was supposed to be our destination anyway, and we knew that our plane as well as all the other planes wouldn't be leaving again at least for awhile that day. We were told that we might be on the ramp for awhile as they didn't know how many airplanes were going to be at the gates, we might have to wait for them to unload one to get us in. It was incredibly scary to have to look out for something that you didn't know what you were looking for.

Up until then our training on hijackings had been pretty much based on the usual "take me somewhere and then I'll let you go" of bygone days. At that moment we knew that probably wasn't the case from that point forward. Obviously the training hadn't taken this kind of thing into account...and boy was I mad when I found out that a hotel room in Indonesia was raided 5 years prior with plans for this scheme. Why weren't we trained for the possibility? But I digress.

When we landed, the flight attendant that I was sitting with on the jumpseat said (and how right he was) "you know, when they open that door, our lives will have changed forever." I was worried about making arrangements for child care for my children as soon as we got in so the full effect of what he said didn't sink in right away.

The gate agent told us that they were grounding the entire fleet, in fact, all US carriers were grounding their planes. The passengers were greeted by the agents and told what to do and our crew all went to the crew lounge to watch the coverage on the TV there. There were so many crews that people were sitting on the floor, standing, perched everywhere. We watched as "our" (yes, we are a big family) 767 hit the 2nd tower again and again in horror. We knew that the crewmembers on that plane (and we didn't know who they were yet), though trained in Medical and other emergency procedures, were certainly not ready for whatever had happened aboard. They undoubtedly had done their best to calm and comfort the passengers, but they had died a horrible death, and our training had been sadly lacking for this kind of thing. The next plane hit the Pentagon while we were nervously waiting for news of the the flights that were not answering radio calls, one of them was ours. In aviation, there is a bond between crews, regardless of the Airline that you work for. We were hurting for American and they for us. Needless to say there were a lot of tears shared in that room. Too much to absorb? But it was only the beginning. The towers collapsing and flight 93 going into the ground outside of Shanksville, PA were next. We were all numb.

(This is the actual airplane that was used for flight 93, and yes, I'd flown on it in the past.)

The crew desk (thank goodness those folks were right there and not "consolidated" in an office in Chicago yet) helped all the crews find lodging which was quite a task, and our crew went out to Golden because there were no rooms available closer in. The sky was quiet and empty, and very eerie. I had to run to the market and the store to get some clothes and supplies, I was supposed to be home that night so I didn't have much with me. Many businesses were closed due to the fear that there would be more attacks other places in the country, other were closed just due to shock and sadness.

The next days were a blur or meetings with grief counselors, supervisors, and watching the sad drama unfold on TV while eating bad room service meals and trying to read whatever book I'd had with me in my tote bag, I don't even remember what it was now. I just didn't want to come out into the public, I didn't want to talk about it anymore, I just wanted to be numb. We eventually moved downtown as rooms vacated and that was a plus so I could get a few more changes of undies and not have to wash them nightly in the sink! Our union had a room in one of the nearby hotels where we would go for information and support, it was good to have them there, but difficult to share this drama with the flight attendants that knew the Denver based pilots (the Captain of 93's wife was a flight attendant, one of the passengers' mom was a flight attendant, I could go on). When the names were released, I realized I'd known and worked with both pilots and a few of the Boston based flight attendants that were on 93, and probably knew by face if not by name some of the crew on the 767 that went down in New York.

Just one of the extended family that I knew, CeCe was our "extra" (a flight attendant that joins a base crew because the trip calls for a bigger airplane for that one flight-sometimes from a different base) every week for a month, and I really enjoyed her, we bonded very quickly on those long flights. It's one thing to not see someone for awhile because you're flying a different schedule, quite another to realize they're gone forever. She had been a police officer in Florida, and some of the Baltimore flight attendants got in touch with her family as she also was retired from the police, and brought gifts that Christmas down for her husband and kids.

As more and more information surfaced about the attacks, we learned more about how the crews, especially those working up front, suffered even though in some cases the crews in coach didn't even know what was going on until later on. They took the cabin curtains out for that reason! The flight attendants were attacked in order to get the cockpit door open and gain access in some cases, and the purser on 93 was bleeding from having her throat slashed prior to the cockpit being taken over...that's the diversion that was used. Needless to say, I can't share very much, but we are all that much more secure for all that learning, and many of those rules that you passengers don't always like would make sense if you only knew.

(The resting site of Flight 93 with the cleanup and recovery people still there. The flag hangs from an old quarry crane that was there at the time and as far as I know, still flies the flag. I flew today, didn't get to go up there to the service)

I stayed in Denver until Friday, talking frequently to my kids and to my husband who was on a trip himself, wanting desperately to be home but the airport stayed closed until Friday. I flew the Purser position on the first flight from Denver to Washington to leave, a 777 airplane with a fairly junior and shaken crew, what a day! Some of the passengers that were on my flight from Baltimore were on that flight going back East, and we took comfort in the familiarity of the faces, we talked, we hugged, and some of those wonderful passengers are my friends to this day. It was tough to watch the news coverage when I got home, and I really didn't want to talk about it at all with anyone that was not in the airline industry because they just didn't understand so much. I really didn't want to talk about it and rehash it over and over, but every place I went people asked me about it. It was just too painful right then.

It's still tough to see all the accolades going out only to the firemen, the police, the rescuers, the brave souls that risked their lives to save others, when I also remember the brave crew members that lost their lives trying to make enough sense of what was going on to help themselves and their passengers during those fateful flights. We know that the flight attendants and the passengers were trying to take back the cockpit before flight 93 crashed (and theories abound about exactly what happened). We know, for example, that CeCe was using the coffee makers to brew up scalding water to use to help, she told her husband that while they were still in the air. I'm sure that everything the crews did was in their usual "safety professional" role with the passengers their first concern. The first to die were the flight attendants, and then the pilots, they were the ones attacked before the crashes. They were truly the first responders. It is no less sad to have lost a loved one in the Twin Towers or Pentagon, not a bit less horrible. I just feel like the crews weren't sufficiently recognized.

The passengers on our flights right after 9/11 were fantastic, asking if they could help, being understanding, needing their own reassurances, and we didn't have an ounce of issues with unruliness or rudeness for a month or so. Things are not quite the same today. Yet we'll be the first responders again if need be, and thankfully our training has changed for the better, our focus has strengthened, don't you worry.

But the next time that a flight attendant asks you to do something that he/she is required by law (or even not necessarily a legal issue) to do, please just smile and comply, regardless of if you agree with the regulation or not. It might be that person has just worked 14 hours and multiple flights that day, and is there for the love of the job because they had his/her pay cut 20-40% since 2001, and it might also be that he/she will be in the next run of layoffs due to fuel prices. They're just doing their job, and trying to do it well. It hasn't gotten easier since that day 7 years ago, if anything it's much more difficult with the additional safety and security responsibilities that we have. And remember that that flight attendant is your first line of defense in the case of an emergency. And when you're getting off the airplane and we're saying thank you for flying, rather than rudely making no eye contact or acknowledgement, at least smile and nod. Because we're working every day to make sure that there isn't another 9/11 on our airplanes.

Happy Girlfriend's Day

And to my dear girlfriends, Happy Girlfriend's day, take a moment out to smile and know you are loved. :)

It is good to be a woman:
1. We got off the Titanic first.
2. We can scare male bosses with the mysterious gynecological disorder excuses.
3. Taxis stop for us.
4. We don't look like a frog in a blender when dancing.
5. No fashion faux pas we make, could ever rival the Speedo.
6. We don't have to pass gas to amuse ourselves.
7. If we forget to shave, no one has to know.
8. We can congratulate our teammate without ever touching her rear end.
9. We never have to reach down every so often to make sure our privates are still there.
10. We have the ability to dress ourselves.
11. We can talk to the opposite sex without having to picture them naked.
12. If we marry someone 20 years younger, we are aware that we will look like an idiot.
13. We will never regret piercing our ears.
14. There are times when chocolate really can solve all your problems.
15. We can make comments about how silly men are in their presence because they aren't listening anyway.

Camera issues

My apologies, I won't be able to blog very much for a while. I dropped my camera and it is broken beyond repair (second one I've dropped in less than a year). Until I can find a new one and get it sent to me, I won't be able to post any pictures. I'll be up and running as soon as I can. :)

Very interesting: By a woman that's known Palin for years and years

This article was a very interesting read by someone that has known Ms. Palin for 16 years. I just worked a flight back from Minneapolis/St. Paul on Friday with loads of folks coming back from the convention, and I wanted more information on this newcomer so I started looking around. Thought I'd share. It was published in the LA Progressive newspaper. - V

About Sarah Palin
September 3, 2008
by Anne Kilkenny –

I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992. Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her father was my child’s favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the residents of the city.

She is enormously popular; in every way she’s like the most popular girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and won’t vote for her can’t quit smiling when talking about her because she is a “babe.”

It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents for seven months.

She is “pro-life”. She recently gave birth to a baby with Down syndrome . There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.

She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym.

She is savvy. She doesn’t take positions; she just “puts things out there” and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.

Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin’s kind of job is highly sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything like that of native Alaskans.

Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.

She’s smart.

Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000 (at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about 670,000 residents.

During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had given rise to a recall campaign.

Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a “fiscal conservative”. During her six years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over 33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation (1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they benefited residents.

The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration weren’t enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece of property that the City didn’t even have clear title to, that was still in litigation 7 yrs later–to the delight of the lawyers involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.

While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office redecorated more than once.

These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city.

As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state.

In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today’s surplus, borrow for needs.

She’s not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren’t generated by her or her staff. Ideas weren’t evaluated on their merits, but on the basis of who proposed them.

While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin’s attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the Librarian are on her enemies list to this day.

Sarah complained about the “old boy’s club” when she first ran for Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of “old boys”. Palin fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people, creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally grateful and fiercely loyal–loyal to the point of abusing their power to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the case of pressuring the State’s top cop (see below).

As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla’s Police Chief because he “intimidated” her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska’s top cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure and she had every legal right to fire him, but it’s pretty clear that an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn’t fire her sister’s ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew her support.

She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn’t like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness.

Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything publicly about her.

When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah got the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: one of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had no background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great job which paid $122,400/yr, she was criticizing her pay as too high in the press . I was told that she hated that job: the commute, the structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of this Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party) engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved all her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and as a gutsy fighter against the “old boys’ club” when she dramatically quit, exposing this man’s ethics violations (for which he was fined).

As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the “bridge to nowhere” after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.

As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative action restored most of these projects–which had been vetoed simply because she was not aware of their importance–but with the unobservant she had gained a reputation as “anti-pork”.

She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a fiscal conservative.

Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah. They call her “Sarah Barracuda” because of her unbridled ambition and predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah’s mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.

As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of package of legislation known as “AGIA” that forced the oil companies to march to the beat of her drum.

Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked to global warming. She campaigned “as a private citizen” against a state initiative that would have either a) protected salmon streams from pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State’s lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior’s decision to list polar bears as threatened species.

McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a heartbeat away from being President.

There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more knowledgeable and experienced than she.

However, there’s a lot of people who have underestimated her and are regretting it.

Claim versus Fact:

“Hockey mom”: true for a few years
“PTA mom”: true years ago when her first-born was in elementary school, not since
“NRA supporter”: absolutely true
Social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships (said she did this because it was unconstitutional).
Pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to promote it.
“Pro-life”: mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life legislation
“Experienced”: Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska. No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city administrator to run town of about 5,000.
Political maverick: not at all
Gutsy: absolutely!
Open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at explaining actions.
Has a developed philosophy of public policy: no
A “Greenie”: no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.
Fiscal conservative: not by my definition!
Pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built streets to early 20th century standards.
Pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on residents
Pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city government in Wasilla’s history.
Pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union doesn’t make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim that she is pro-labor/pro-union.
Why Am I Writing This?
First, I have long believed in the importance of being an informed voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years I put on student voting programs in the schools. If you google my name (Anne Kilkenny + Alaska), you will find references to my participation in local government, education, and PTA/parent organizations.

Secondly, I’ve always operated in the belief that “Bad things happen when good people stay silent”. Few people know as much as I do because few have gone to as many City Council meetings.

Third, I am just a housewife. I don’t have a job she can bump me out of. I don’t belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am no fool; she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this will cost me somehow in the future: that’s life.

Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the 100 or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah’s attempt at censorship.

Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else was afraid to say anything because they were somehow vulnerable.

Caveats
I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for the increase in spending & taxation 2 years ago (when Palin was running for Governor) from information supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City of Wasilla, and I can’t recall exactly what I adjusted for: did I adjust for inflation? for population increases? Right now, it is impossible for a private person to get any info out of City Hall–they are swamped. So I can’t verify my numbers.

You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for the population of Wasilla, ranging from my “about 5,000″, up to 9,000. The day Palin’s selection was announced a city official told me that the current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census count was 5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996 to 2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90’s.

by Anne Kilkenny
August 31, 2008

Reprinted by permission of the author.

Disclaimer: The LA Progressive has no way to certify this report beyond a recommendation we received.

Hanover Chili Cook off 2008

The day dawned bright and beautiful and not too very hot. We were going to do our annual trek to Hanover,Pa via Silver Run, Maryland to see our friend Dot...
We got to the chili cook off at about noon and the line was huge but fast moving. If you've never been to a Chili cook off, this would be a good one to start with.
It's held in a big field right next to KClinger's restauraunt right next to where we do the Battle of Hanover Reenactment. We usually meet friends up there and indeed we met up with Mike and Laura and his family too.

Local groups all make huge vats of Chili and you get a spoon when you pay at the door and go around and get small 2 bite cups of the product from each chili group. You vote for the best by leaving your entrance ticket in their bucket. Of course, you have to go around and taste the chili by all of the various groups that make it.
The proceeds all go to charity in Hanover and it's a big event. We enjoy the take on chili that everyone takes, there are Firehouses, families, businesses, and all kinds of groups that make the chili for competition.
Of course, there are various food and drink and beer vendors there too. I brought a huge bottle of water so I just enjoyed the chili and the sunshine.
We're already looking forward to next year's 16th annual event! :)

My girls are SO helpful

It never ceases to amaze me that the kittens can have absolutely no interest in something until the moment when I get busy with it. I decided to work on the quilt that has been on the rack in the living room as the weather has been a little bit cooler so I can stand to have the whole warm quilt on my lap. Belle watches very closely to see how best to help before she dives in.
The girls like to sleep on the quilt rack but that evening they were playing or sleeping elsewhere so I thought I was safe. As quick as can be, Belle jumped up onto the quilt and was well on her way to getting right into the middle of things.
She tried to grab the thread as it went through the quilt and she was also trying to put her paws on the area that I was working on so that she covered up the whole area I was trying to work on.

I tried to move her away so I could finish the motif that I was quilting into the block. I didn't want to have to leave a needle in the quilt in case the girls slept on it later on when I wasn't watching, so I kept her at bay while I finished that block.
She finally partially gave up and decided to just lie down and watch from right "up close and personal".
A little while ago I had a couple of bumps (large balls) of fiber that I had to weigh and pacage and label for the business. I couldn't leave them on the floor as the kittens would try to grab the fiber as I unwound it from the bump. So I gave up and lifted the bags up onto the table and turned around and guess what, the girls had found a way to help.
Rose is much more aloof and demore and doesn't jump right into whatever I'm doing. She prefers to watch from the sidelines. She's settling in here nicely, but she is still the shy one of the two girls.
Unlike Belle who likes to get right into whatever I'm doing, and try to keep control of the whole process. Here she is lying right on top of the bag of fiber with the strand of roving the I'm trying to pull out of the bag there between her front paws. No wonder it takes me twice as long to do anything than it used to before we had cats in the house. lol

Watching the Olympics

We've been enjoying watching the Olympics on TV in the evenings. As you can see, Belle very much enjoys watching too. She has figured out that it's a lot of fun to try to touch the swimmers, the gymnists, and here, the track runners while she sits up on the speaker under the TV. We've enjoyed watching her too, it's very entertaining. lol She's also grown long enough to nearly touch the top of the TV, she'll be 5 months old in a week.
Rose on the other hand, prefers to watch the TV from the comfort of the sofa where she doesn't have to jump up and spend any energy entertaining the humans. She often falls asleep while watching, but that doesn't diminish her support of the athletes. She's the mellow kitten most of the time. She'll be 4 months old this weekend.
All worn out, the girls decide to move to the quilt rack for a well deserved nap. I'm thinking that they're not going to like it when the weather cools off enough for me to continue working on quilting it. I guess I should be getting another one ready to go on the rack when this one is finished.

Hanover Reenactment 08

I wasn't feeling that great this weekend so I sat and sewed on Saturday afternoon at the reenactment and then through the meeting after the dinner. I was wearing one of my summer camp dresses but forgot to have any pictures done of it so I'll have to table that until another time when I have it on. I changed for the dance into this evening dress that I made last summer for outdoor dances when I didn't want to wear anything in silk but wanted to have a cooler neckline and sleeves. I also tend not to wear light colors for day dresses, but I might have to make a lighter one for future dances.
I was so pleased to see some of my sewing class friends at this dance, it was called by Karin and Bryant, Karin helps and instructs at sewing classes, and Joanne, Patrick, Rosie, and Angela were all there too. It was great! These are pictures I took while sitting out of the group doing the Gothic Dance which is one of my favorites. I think that the women's dresses are so beautiful in the line when they are dancing. Mark is the one in the dark vest in the middle with Angela to his Left. It was very common and appropriate during that era for people of the same sex to dance together rather than to sit out the dances, so everyone gets to dance.
Of course, since the dance was open to anyone that wanted to join, there were some kids that were dressed inappropriately for the Civil War era. Most of the period-appropriate dresses were day dresses anyway, which make these dances more accessible to anyone that wants to come, no fancy ball gowns are necessary. It was fun for all, and I'm glad I got to see everyone that I sew with. I look forward to seeing them at the next sewing class I'm taking in November.

Hmmm, what shall I knit?

I finally got some pictures taken of the yarns I'd done at the beginning of July. This blue one is asking to be maybe a hat...it's the Louet Northern Lights color "Picasso" plied one to one with Louet Bright Blue Dyed Corriedale, both from (where else) Kendig Cottage Fiber Supply. It's very soft and I like the way the colors came out.
This is the Purple NZ Corriedale plied one to one with some fiber I bought many years ago in Rheinbeck at the show there prior to having a fiber business. There is maybe 4 ounces of this yarn now and I'm not sure what to make from it. It'll be probably mittens or something small. I was able to spin it one day of volunteering at the Carroll County Farm Museum early in the month.
This is a candid shot of the girls plotting something. I'm not sure what they were thinking of getting into, but I'm sure it was something. I know I'm behind on pictures of projects, I'm actually wearing one of my summer camp dresses so hopefully there will be pictures of the two I made in camp to show eventually.

Excerpts from pet diaries

Excerpts from a Dog's Diary......

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!

9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!

9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!

10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!

12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!

1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!

3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!

5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!

7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!

8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!

11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

Excerpts from a Cat's Daily Diary. ..

Day 983 of my captivity.

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a 'good little hunter' I am. Bastards.

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I wa s placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of 'allergies.' I must learn what this means and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now................

National Aquarium in Baltimore

Last week, Jonathan and Michelle took me to the National Aquarium in Baltimore as a Birthday present. I hadn't been there since they opened the large exibit about Australia, and it's one of our favorite places to go anyhow. Jon and I took our cameras and snapped some pictures of the residents of this wonderful place.
These beautiful parrots are in the aviary and rain forest exhibit. If you stand there and just look around rather than walking quickly through the exhibit, you can see all kinds of beautiful birds and animals there.
One of the aquarium volunteers told us that there was a tree sloth in one of the trees by the observation platform. He showed us where the sloth's arms and legs were but neither Jon nor I could see it.
This guy is a Black Durgeon. He's in the coral reef exhibit and he's my absolutely favorite fish to see in the wild ocean because of the way that he swims. His find undulate and there is a floursent strip at the base of both body fins that shines. This fish shows up as black in natural sunlight while underwater. There was also a good opportunity to take some pictures of the ray tank from above.

These are some more pictures from the aviary where we spend quite a bit of time enjoying the various birds there. This is a pair of sun conures. Michelle is a definite bird lover and she knows a lot about them, so I very much enjoyed learning about the birds while walking through with her.
This guy was up on top of one of the exhibit sign areas, oblivious to all the people looking at him.


This is a Bullnose Ray. The ray tank is always fun to watch, they have rays of several species as well as some really cool sharks and a rescued three legged green sea turtle (honu) which lost his leg and can't be released into the wild again.

These are just some more shots from various areas of the aquarium. If you ever get to Maryland or DC, I sincerely recommend this place. It's web address is www.aqua.org. They also have dolphin shows and a great 4-D film experience, and a cafe where they DO serve fish sandwiches among other choices. :)

Ticket agent funnies, or are they just kinda sad?

DC airport ticket agent offers some examples of 'why' our country is in trouble!

1. I had a New Hampshire Congresswoman ask for an aisle seat so that her hair wouldn't get messed up by being near the window. (On an airplane!)

2. I got a call from a candidate's staffer, who wanted to go to Capetown. I started to explain the length of the flight and the passport information, then she interrupted me with, ''I'm not trying to make you look stupid, but Capetown is in Massachusetts .'' Without trying to make her look stupid, I calmly explained, ''Cape Cod is in Massachusetts , Capetown is in Africa .''
Her response - click.

3. A senior Vermont Congressman called, furious about a Florida package we did. I asked what was wrong with the vacation in Orlando. He said he was expecting an ocean-view room. I tried to explain that's not possible, since Orlando is in the middle of the state. He replied, ''Don't lie to me, I looked on the map and Florida is a very thin state!''

4. I got a call from a lawmaker's wife who asked, ''Is it possible to see England from Canada ?'' I said, ''No.'' She said, ''But they look so close on the map.''

5. An aide for a cabinet member once called and asked if he could rent a car in Dallas. When I pulled up the reservation, I noticed he had only a 1-hour layover in Dallas. When I asked him why he wanted to rent a car, he said, ''I heard Dallas was a big airport, and we will need a car to drive between gates to save time.'' (Aghhhh)

6. An Illinois Congresswoman called last week. She needed to know how it was possible that her flight from Detroit left at 8:30 a.m., and got to Chicago at 8:33 a.m. I explained that Michigan was an hour ahead of Illinois but she couldn't understand the concept of time zones. Finally, I told her the plane went fast, and she bought that.

7. A New York lawmaker called and asked, ''Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know whose luggage belongs to whom?'' I said, 'No, why do you ask?' She replied, ''Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said (FAT), and I'm overweight. I think that's very rude!'' After putting her on hold for a minute, while I looked into it. (I was laughing). I came back and explained the city code for Fresno,
CA is (FAT - Fresno Air Terminal), and the airline was just putting a destination tag on her luggage.

8. A Senator's aide called to inquire about a trip package to Hawaii. After going over all the cost info, she asked, ''Would it be cheaper to fly to California , and then take the train to Hawaii ?''

9. I just got off the phone with a freshman Congressman who asked,
''How do I know which plane to get on?'' I asked him what exactly he meant, to which he replied, ''I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these planes have numbers on them.''

10. A lady Senator called and said, ''I need to fly to Pepsi-Cola , Florida. Do I have to get on one of those little computer planes?'' I asked if she meant fly to Pensacola, FL on a commuter plane. She said, ''Yeah, whatever, smarty!''

11. A senior Senator called and had a question about the documents he needed in order to fly to China. After a lengthy discussion about passports, I reminded him that he needed a visa.' 'Oh, no I don't. I've been to China many times and never had to have one of those.'' I double checked and sure enough, his stay required a visa. When I told him this he said, ''Look, I've been to China four times. and every time they have accepted my American Express!''

12. A New Mexico Congress woman called to make reservations, ''I want to go from Chicago to Rhino, New York.'' I was at a loss for words. Finally, I said, ''Are you sure that's the name of the town?'' ''Yes, what flights do you have?'' replied the lady. After some searching, I came back with, ''I'm sorry, ma'am, I've looked up every airport code in the country and can't find a rhino anywhere.' ''The lady retorted, ''Oh, don't be silly! Everyone knows where it is. Check your map!'' So I scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, ''You don't mean Buffalo , do you?'' The reply? ''Whatever! I knew it was a big animal.''

Now you know why the Government is in the shape that it's in!
Could anyone be this DUMB?
YES, THEY WALK AMONG US, ARE IN POLITICS, AND THEY CONTINUE TO BREED!

Why you should never leave plastic bags unattended

I was just telling Michelle (Jonathan's girlfriend) earlier yesterday not to leave any plastic bags unattended because the cat would get into them, so after we got back from buying fabric for a couple of skirts I'm going to make for her, we tied up our bags from the store and I took them all upstairs. I was putting things away and turned my back only for just a second and when I looked again, here's what I found, Belle all the way in the bag and she'd taken up residence! Needless to say, I pulled her out of there and continued putting things away, including the plastic bag! When Mark came home from his business trip and unpacked his small bag, he left it on the bed just for a minute. Well guess what, we looked around and found that Belle had climbed into there and was taking a nap. When I was doing summer camp and taking things back and forth to class, she loved to climb into my tote bag with the fabric and projects, and I do know how much she loves to be in the sewing room when I'm working. Here's Rose in her favorite spot, asleep on the top tier of the Cat tower where she can be pretty sure that she isn't going to get pounced by her sister. She and Belle are getting along very well now, they play and pounce, and they also let each other be quiet and get in their naps. This morning they were eating from the same dish so I guess that they're pretty much friends now.