Saturday, September 20, 2014
"Puss the Magic Dragon: Cat transformed in Russian pet salon"
Charlie has already informed me that if I ever attempt to do this to him, I won't live to see the next day.
Friday, September 19, 2014
Four for Fridays
Hello everyone and welcome back! It has been a LONG week filled with too much drama. Hopefully the drama has been taken care of. Anyways, here is your questions...
1) How do you deal with drama?
2) When was the last time you climbed a tree?
3) What was the best thing happened to you today (so far)?
4) What do you prefer, sunrises or sunsets?
Enjoy your weekend!
1) How do you deal with drama?
2) When was the last time you climbed a tree?
3) What was the best thing happened to you today (so far)?
4) What do you prefer, sunrises or sunsets?
Enjoy your weekend!
Thursday, September 18, 2014
"Satanic Children’s Book To Be Distributed To Florida Schools"
"It seems that not only do devils and demons live in Hell, but also trolls. That’s because the people at The Satanic Temple are trolling, hard. In response to a Christian group in Orange County, Florida, distributing bibles in public high schools, they are planning to distribute a satanic themed children’s activity book. Well isn’t that special!?
"In order to make it legal to let the church distribute Christian literature, the school board (after a lengthy legal fight) had to agree to allow other religions and non-religious groups to distribute their material as well. Something about the constitution and separation of – blah, blah, blah. The Dark Lord’s pointy ears perked up at this opportunity and commissioned The Satanic Children’s Big Book of Activities. You can download the whole book here!"
Read more: http://www.break.com/article/satanic-children-s-book-to-be-distributed-to-florida-2760399
I've figured it out: half of Floridians are nuts and the other half is insane.
"10 Hour Video - Troll Song"
Whenever life gets a little too hard, I listen to 7 or 8 hours of this to put my head back on straight.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
What's The Cheapest Thing You Buy?
I had a rare dream I remember a couple of nights ago and one of the things I remember was discussing this question. Yeah, even my dreams are nerdy.
Anyway, I have still been thinking about it. You might say you can't buy anything for less than a penny, but unit cost definitely could be. For example, a big bag of M&M's, each M&M costs less than a penny.
Now before we go too far here, atoms and molecules don't count! The rule we established is that it had to be something produced/manufactured by people to serve a specific purpose. Even this definition is tricky...how do you count a bag of sand? Sand occurs naturally, but if you buy a bag of sand, it has been sorted/processed to give a certain consistency.
But even given that, my answer I think beats even a grain of sand: transistors. Transistors are smaller than grains of sand and you can buy billions of them. You can buy an Xbox one for about $400 and it's processor has a whopping five billion transistors (that's just in the main processor...not counting memory and other chips in the system) for a cost of one eight hundred millionth of a cent per transistor! Seriously, two Xbox ones and you have more transistors than there are people on Earth for less than $1000.
Now this is kind of silly, obviously...you can't buy just one transistor for that price so you can debate whether or not that counts. Buying individual transistors from Radio Shack for electronics projects run a few cents to a few bucks depending on what type you need. I guess that's why we buy in bulk!
What is the cheapest thing you can think of buying? Curious if we can get down to less than the cost of a transistor?
Anyway, I have still been thinking about it. You might say you can't buy anything for less than a penny, but unit cost definitely could be. For example, a big bag of M&M's, each M&M costs less than a penny.
Now before we go too far here, atoms and molecules don't count! The rule we established is that it had to be something produced/manufactured by people to serve a specific purpose. Even this definition is tricky...how do you count a bag of sand? Sand occurs naturally, but if you buy a bag of sand, it has been sorted/processed to give a certain consistency.
But even given that, my answer I think beats even a grain of sand: transistors. Transistors are smaller than grains of sand and you can buy billions of them. You can buy an Xbox one for about $400 and it's processor has a whopping five billion transistors (that's just in the main processor...not counting memory and other chips in the system) for a cost of one eight hundred millionth of a cent per transistor! Seriously, two Xbox ones and you have more transistors than there are people on Earth for less than $1000.
Now this is kind of silly, obviously...you can't buy just one transistor for that price so you can debate whether or not that counts. Buying individual transistors from Radio Shack for electronics projects run a few cents to a few bucks depending on what type you need. I guess that's why we buy in bulk!
What is the cheapest thing you can think of buying? Curious if we can get down to less than the cost of a transistor?
What's on the Menu!
Today I am going to post a recipe that you can have for breakfast or dinner and it is so good. I haven't made this in a long time and my younger daughter just loves this one. She has been bugging me to make this since she has been home but I haven't.
Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie
1lb Ground Beef
1 Small Onion chopped
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Shredded Cheese
1/2 Cup Bisquick Mix
1 Cup Milk
2 Eggs
1. Spray a 9 inch pie pan or I use a cake pan.
2. Brown the ground beef and onion and drain the grease. Put the meat on the bottom of the pan and sprinkle the shredded cheese over the meat.
3. In a small bowl mix the rest of the ingredients blend real good together then pour over cheese and meat.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake for 25 minutes.
I have had to double this recipe for my kids because they love having left overs of this.
I hope everyone enjoys this recipe.
Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie
1lb Ground Beef
1 Small Onion chopped
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Shredded Cheese
1/2 Cup Bisquick Mix
1 Cup Milk
2 Eggs
1. Spray a 9 inch pie pan or I use a cake pan.
2. Brown the ground beef and onion and drain the grease. Put the meat on the bottom of the pan and sprinkle the shredded cheese over the meat.
3. In a small bowl mix the rest of the ingredients blend real good together then pour over cheese and meat.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake for 25 minutes.
I have had to double this recipe for my kids because they love having left overs of this.
I hope everyone enjoys this recipe.
Monday, September 15, 2014
Local Loyalty - S.E. Wisconsin Hearing Center, Inc.
Welcome back!
Today, I am happy to introduce you to
6015 Durand Ave. Suite 100
Located directly behind Wells Fargo Bank
"We'll bring music to your ears"
262-884-4327
Open 9:30-5 Monday thru Friday
Weekends and evenings by appointment
With school starting and life going back to 'normal' for many of us, whether we have kids in school or not, we start to think of appointments to make, things to do, etc. Setting up doctor appointments and other necessities, etc.
I, personally, have noticed issues with my hearing.
I didn't want to admit it, guess it was pride?
Stupid pride and maybe fear, is more like it.
I needed help.
Where do you go, who do you trust? That one, alone, made the decision to get answers easy. I can personally vouch for David Braun. He used to be my neighbor. I knew he would be straight with me and if it was bad, he would tell me in a way that wouldn't freak me out, or anyone else.
This is just the kinda guy David is.
This is just the kinda guy David is.
I went in for a hearing test (always free). I do have some hearing loss. I notice it primarily with certain tones of voices (Sorry, Drew, you're one of the ones I have a hard time hearing :( ) I also noticed it with certain shows, and male voices of lower tones. The test is very thorough, with double checks for accuracy.
I was able to 'road test' a pair of aides, and WOW, I had no idea what I had been missing! I even challenged my hubby to turn down the TV to the lowest he could comfortably hear. With the aides, I was able to go a handful of clicks lower!
WOW is all I can say. Early next year (due to our rotating insurance), I will very happily be hearing much better! I can't wait!!
Now, that's my story. Let me tell you about David's place.
He has been there for year now.
There is so much info, I don't know where to begin!
PLEASE check out the website!!
If you notice people are mumbling, or you ask them to repeat themselves often, have to keep turning up the TV or radio, struggle with background noise in restaurants, you could use some help! Hearing loss doesn't get better. You need help to stop the decline. Pride doesn't work in our favor. Today's aides are smaller, and hardly noticeable, and quite comfortable. Don't be afraid to find out and get help. It's painless and will only improve your quality of life.
My kids tease me about being deaf, as I don't always hear things they say.
(ok, part of that is selective but definitely not all!)
David is a musician and understands sound in a way most of us don't. This makes him unique, and very suited for this profession!
His goal is to help people hear better and become the #1 hearing provider of our area. He is independent and beholding to no certain company. He is a a straight shooter, honest and only wants what's best for anyone who comes to him.
If you're having issues with hearing, please give David a call and see what help is available, hearing test are free, you've got nothing to lose!
The 3 words he chose to describe his business -
1. Customization
2. Personal
3 Independent
He spends all the time with you that you need.
Don't you wish our regular doctors would do that??
For your own sake, if you are noticing any difficulty hearing, please have it checked out. It's time to stop missing things. I'm glad I went in!
Don't forget to tell him you saw it here!
Peep Show! The Sandpipers (part 1)
It's shorebird season again.... This is the time of the year when many shorebirds head from the Arctic regions of Canada southward towards their winter grounds of southern U.S., Caribbean, Central and South America. Some of these long distance migrants go south as Tierra del Fuego! A distance of 17,000 miles!
So what are these shorebirds? Well, the name kind of says it all.... I'm not talking about gulls, herons, geese nor ducks. I'm talking about stilts, plovers and most specifically sandpipers. Over the course of the next three blog posts, I'm going to try to weave through the confusion of shorebird identification. (Remember, even the experts can get confused.)
Shorebirds tend to intermingle with one other, sometimes traveling in flocks containing different species. Harmonious and gregarious by nature, they do not compete directly with each other for food. Take a walk at Myers Park, one could see an array of sandpipers, plovers (and sometimes) stilts foraging the shorelines and marshes for food. Stilts and plovers I have discussed here on the JTI. (Please click on the Wildlife Photos tag below the post for further information).
Sandpipers belong to the Scolopacidie family. There are 34 Wisconsin species. I'm going to start with the sub-family of Tringa and then work my way down the taxonomical table. I'm using the Killdeer (an abundant plover species) to co relate to size. An average Killdeer is about 9 to 10.5 inches long
A little smaller than the Killdeer, the Spotted Sandpiper (see picture below taken at North Beach 5 2 2014) is one the most common sandpipers species in the state. Unlike many of the sandpiper species, the Spotted breed in the state. This skittish bird is distinguished by its brown upper parts, white underneath and brown belly spots. (The spotting will fade by fall) Yellow legs and orange bill with a black tip are the other identifying factors. The most recognizable trait they have are their incessant bobbing while on the ground.
Quite similar to the Spotted Sandpiper is the Solitary Sandpiper.(see picture below taken at Bong 8 16 2013) Slightly larger its cousin, the Solitary does NOT bob around nor has a white streak through the eye. True to its name, the Solitary is often found traveling alone. They seem to prefer inland ponds and marshes over lakeside locations.
Making an occasional visit while passing through Wisconsin during migration is this tall, blueish grey legged sandpiper called the Willet (see picture below taken at Myers Park 5 20 2014) Among the largest sandpiper species in North America, this tame and stocky bird is easily identified by its long straight bill and patterned grey/brown plumage. The most impressive part of its plumage is the distinct black and white underneath markings on the wings seen while flying.
Commonly seen walking gracefully along the countryside mudflats and coastlines during migration across the state is the Lesser Yellowlegs (see picture below taken at Myers Park 9 3 2014) Easily;y distinguished its long, yellow legs and a bill that is just as long as its head. This elegant bird is smaller than the Willet, while showing off a black and white molting and a streaky belly during breeding season. In the fall, they turn more pale with or no streaking.
With a dove-like head on a long neck and a long tail, the Upland Sandpiper (see picture below taken a Buena Vista Grasslands near Stevens Point, WI 7 5 2014) is perhaps the most usual sandpiper species in Wisconsin. Unlike the other species, there is no need to be around water. Found and bred in prairies and open grasslands in selected areas across the state, they can be seen perched on fence posts and telephone wires. These long distant migrants are about 12 inches tall, heavily marbled black and brown on top, white belly and yellow legs. Their call is described as similar to a "wolf whistle".
Although it may be seen along coastal waters all over the globe, the Whimbrel (see picture below taken at Myers Park 8 20 2014), it is considered a rare species here in Wisconsin. We were fortunate to have one foraging for insects and worms at Myers and on the picnic grounds of North Beach (same bird) for about a week. The distinguishing remarks about this foot tall bird is its long down curved bill, greyish brown plumage with a dark striped crown.
Another rare migrant that passes through Wisconsin is the Marbled Godwit (see picture below taken at Bolca Chica Wetlands in Huntington Beach CA 7 3 2009). Mainly seen in the wetlands in central North America, they migrate to the coastlines for the winter. This large shorebird is easily identified by its long pink upturned bill, long bluish grey legs and a pale brown with dark bars on the chest and flanks. I have never seen one here in Wisconsin, however there was one spotted at North Beach earlier this spring.
The other sandpiper species that fit the criteria of this blog are the Greater Yellowlegs, Eskimo Curlew, Long Billed Curlew and the Hudsonian Godwit.
I've seen the Greater Yellowlegs a few times by countryside ponds across the state, but they were too distant to get a quality photo. Although not as common as the Lesser Yellowlegs, they are almost as identical. The Greater is bigger than the Lesser with a longer bill.
The Eskimo Curlew is extinct and the Long Billed Curlew is an accidental species.
Hudsonian Godwits look much like the Marbled. The Hudsonsians are smaller than the Marbleds with a slightly different plumage. Just as rare too, for I've never seen one....
So what birds have you seen? Which ones would you like to see? What are your thoughts?
So what are these shorebirds? Well, the name kind of says it all.... I'm not talking about gulls, herons, geese nor ducks. I'm talking about stilts, plovers and most specifically sandpipers. Over the course of the next three blog posts, I'm going to try to weave through the confusion of shorebird identification. (Remember, even the experts can get confused.)
Shorebirds tend to intermingle with one other, sometimes traveling in flocks containing different species. Harmonious and gregarious by nature, they do not compete directly with each other for food. Take a walk at Myers Park, one could see an array of sandpipers, plovers (and sometimes) stilts foraging the shorelines and marshes for food. Stilts and plovers I have discussed here on the JTI. (Please click on the Wildlife Photos tag below the post for further information).
Sandpipers belong to the Scolopacidie family. There are 34 Wisconsin species. I'm going to start with the sub-family of Tringa and then work my way down the taxonomical table. I'm using the Killdeer (an abundant plover species) to co relate to size. An average Killdeer is about 9 to 10.5 inches long
A little smaller than the Killdeer, the Spotted Sandpiper (see picture below taken at North Beach 5 2 2014) is one the most common sandpipers species in the state. Unlike many of the sandpiper species, the Spotted breed in the state. This skittish bird is distinguished by its brown upper parts, white underneath and brown belly spots. (The spotting will fade by fall) Yellow legs and orange bill with a black tip are the other identifying factors. The most recognizable trait they have are their incessant bobbing while on the ground.
Quite similar to the Spotted Sandpiper is the Solitary Sandpiper.(see picture below taken at Bong 8 16 2013) Slightly larger its cousin, the Solitary does NOT bob around nor has a white streak through the eye. True to its name, the Solitary is often found traveling alone. They seem to prefer inland ponds and marshes over lakeside locations.
Making an occasional visit while passing through Wisconsin during migration is this tall, blueish grey legged sandpiper called the Willet (see picture below taken at Myers Park 5 20 2014) Among the largest sandpiper species in North America, this tame and stocky bird is easily identified by its long straight bill and patterned grey/brown plumage. The most impressive part of its plumage is the distinct black and white underneath markings on the wings seen while flying.
Commonly seen walking gracefully along the countryside mudflats and coastlines during migration across the state is the Lesser Yellowlegs (see picture below taken at Myers Park 9 3 2014) Easily;y distinguished its long, yellow legs and a bill that is just as long as its head. This elegant bird is smaller than the Willet, while showing off a black and white molting and a streaky belly during breeding season. In the fall, they turn more pale with or no streaking.
With a dove-like head on a long neck and a long tail, the Upland Sandpiper (see picture below taken a Buena Vista Grasslands near Stevens Point, WI 7 5 2014) is perhaps the most usual sandpiper species in Wisconsin. Unlike the other species, there is no need to be around water. Found and bred in prairies and open grasslands in selected areas across the state, they can be seen perched on fence posts and telephone wires. These long distant migrants are about 12 inches tall, heavily marbled black and brown on top, white belly and yellow legs. Their call is described as similar to a "wolf whistle".
Although it may be seen along coastal waters all over the globe, the Whimbrel (see picture below taken at Myers Park 8 20 2014), it is considered a rare species here in Wisconsin. We were fortunate to have one foraging for insects and worms at Myers and on the picnic grounds of North Beach (same bird) for about a week. The distinguishing remarks about this foot tall bird is its long down curved bill, greyish brown plumage with a dark striped crown.
Another rare migrant that passes through Wisconsin is the Marbled Godwit (see picture below taken at Bolca Chica Wetlands in Huntington Beach CA 7 3 2009). Mainly seen in the wetlands in central North America, they migrate to the coastlines for the winter. This large shorebird is easily identified by its long pink upturned bill, long bluish grey legs and a pale brown with dark bars on the chest and flanks. I have never seen one here in Wisconsin, however there was one spotted at North Beach earlier this spring.
The other sandpiper species that fit the criteria of this blog are the Greater Yellowlegs, Eskimo Curlew, Long Billed Curlew and the Hudsonian Godwit.
I've seen the Greater Yellowlegs a few times by countryside ponds across the state, but they were too distant to get a quality photo. Although not as common as the Lesser Yellowlegs, they are almost as identical. The Greater is bigger than the Lesser with a longer bill.
The Eskimo Curlew is extinct and the Long Billed Curlew is an accidental species.
Hudsonian Godwits look much like the Marbled. The Hudsonsians are smaller than the Marbleds with a slightly different plumage. Just as rare too, for I've never seen one....
So what birds have you seen? Which ones would you like to see? What are your thoughts?
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