Magic Obama Ball

We've developed a new game around Casa del Exador.

Bring up Obama Soundoff for a menu of Obama sound bites.
Have one person ask questions, like you would a magic eight ball.
The second person has to select the most appropriate sound bite to answer.

Take That, Nicodemus!

Victory is Mine!

Rat Killin

I spent the weekend trying to kill the little bastard that is getting into my house. After checking the attic and the crawlspace, I confirmed that A. It's not a squirrel in the attic, and B. whether it's a mouse or rat, it's getting into the house from the crawl space.
I put a trap in the garage, where there's a heating duct that goes into the crawlspace, one in the attic, and one in the crawlspace. The next day, I checked them and the one in the crawlspace had tripped. All the peanut butter was gone, but there was no victim. The trap was kind of sensitive, so it may have just triggered on it's own and then the invader came by for a meal. At this rate, all the peanut butter will eventually give him a heart attack.
I know rats are pretty smart, but I'm hoping not smart enough to know to stay away from the traps, or worse, to figure out how to trip them without getting caught.
If this fails, I'll have to get the glue traps. With my luck, the little bastard just escaped from NIMH.

UPDATE: Yep, I have super rats. I found that the trap in the attic and the one in the crawl space had been triggered and moved about three feet. There was still peanut butter in them, leading me to think that Nicodemus got hit, but there was no body.
I'm going to need a bigger trap, or at least add some spikes to these.

UPDATE: Technical tip. JB Weld will not bond finishing nails to a rat trap. I think it's the bronze of the trap wire. It just doesn't stick to it.

Back outa whack

I must have slept wrong on Saturday night, because I woke up on Sunday with my lower spine feeling like a disk was slipping out.
We went to Piedmont park on Sunday, so I thought, "Either walking around all day is going to fix my back or break it." Well, it broke it.
Monday and Tuesday, I was having a tough time doing anything. I obviously skipped aikido and layed on the couch on a heating pad.
I used my inversion table, which seemed to help a little.
By Wednesday, I was fed up with it, so I kept a hot pack on it all day at work and periodically did stretching exercises.
Wednesday night, I got on the inversion table again and kind of wiggled around while I was upside down.
That seems to have done it. I felt much better afterwards and still feel good this morning. I used it again before work while we watched the end of Mighty Joe Young (the original).

That inversion table is a God-send for anybody with disk problems.

Another Inigo Montoya Moment

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.






The mother of octuplets born in California last month says she's "not living off taxpayer money," but that she has been receiving about $490 worth of food stamps.
Nadya Suleman told NBC's "Today" in an interview broadcast Wednesday that her family receives no cash from the government and that the food stamps she's been receiving for 18 months are "not affiliated with welfare."

All together now:

FOOD STAMPS ARE WELFARE

DEADBEAT UPDATE:

Even before the 33-year-old single, unemployed mother gave birth to octuplets last month, she had been caring for her six other children with the help of $490 a month in food stamps, plus Social Security disability payments for three of the youngsters. In California, a low-income family can receive Social Security payments of up to $793 a month for each disabled child. Three children would amount to $2,379.

Also, the hospital where the octuplets are expected to spend seven to 12 weeks has requested reimbursement from Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program, for care of the premature babies, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Also, a Nadya Suleman Family Web Site has been set up to collect donations for the children. It features pictures of the mother and each octuplet and has instructions for making donations by check or credit card.

The Suleman octuplets' medical costs have not been disclosed, but in 2006, the average cost for a premature baby's hospital stay in California was $164,273, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Eight times that equals $1.3 million.

Suleman received disability payments for an on-the-job back injury during a riot at a state mental hospital, collecting more than $165,000 over nearly a decade before the benefits were discontinued last year. (Yeah, her back was hurting her so badly that she went out and got six invitro fertilizations before this one. The state should come after that $165,000, but what's the point?)

She's a scammer and a scumbag. She should not be celebrated, but shamed. All of her children should be taken away from her.

Current Events

Isn't it funny how, as time goes by, more and more people/experts are coming out saying that the economic stimulus package is a disaster and will hurt the US in the long run AAAAND Barack Obama is pushing harder and harder to just pass it and stop talking and thinking so much.

My company is expanding! We are breaking ground next week on our new building, which is going to double out floor space. We hope to move into it by Q3.

I can't wait for the warm front to hit. 65 tomorrow and 66 on Sunday.

Funny Quote of the Day

"Bush ought to have declared the progress in Iraq a state secret. The NYT would have published it."

Comment made in reference to this.

Loyal?

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.





When 27 Atlanta Firefighters called in sick on Superbowl sunday (twice the normal amount), there was such a shortage that the city was forced to temporarily close five firestations. Understandably, this has ruffled some feathers.

But fear not! The head of the firefighters union has issued this statement:

“We’ve been loyal to the city”

Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran then went on to say that he did not know if the increase was some sort of “blue flu” or “political statement,” but said firefighters call in sick more often on a payday weekend with a holiday or a big event like the Super Bowl.
Daws said firefighters called in sick because they get “burned out” by working in more dangerous conditions — such as fewer firefighters working on each truck — that he says were created by the furloughs. Daws predicted that the city will see firefighters calling in sick more frequently.

“I think this is going to boil until there is an incident where someone dies or is seriously hurt,” he said.

In honor of Black History Month

PMSBuddy

As a public service announcement, allow me to pass along this service:

PMSBuddy is a free online service that will warn you when it is your lady's time of the month.

From their site:

PMSBuddy.com is a free service created with a single goal in mind: to keep you aware of when your wife, girlfriend, mother, sister, daughter, or any other women in your life are closing in on "that time of the month" - when things can get intense for what may seem to be no reason at all.

For women, this is a great way to give people in your life a heads-up of when you might be feeling a bit irritable without having an awkward conversation.

What's more, we will not only keep you informed, but will give you some free advice on what to do about it. With PMSBuddy.com, there is no reason to ever be blindsided by PMS again.

PMSBuddy.com - Saving relationships, one month at a time!