Smallest Coolest Apartment Contest

Apartment Therapy is hosting the Smallest Coolest Apartment contest, with the winner scoring a $2500 gift certificate from Design Within Reach. I have really enjoyed browsing through the pictures of all the contestants. Here are a couple of my favorite. If you would like to see more pictures of a particular apartment, click on the picture. ~Enjoy.


(this link was not working this morning, hopefully it will be back up soon)

How's The Weather?

"Probably no'east to sou'west winds, varing to the southard and westard and eastard, and points between; high and low barometer, sweeping round from place to place, probable areas of rain, snow and hail and drought, succeeded or proceeded by earthquakes with thunder and lightning." ~ Mark Twain on weather forecasting

I have been reading Freaks of the Storm: From flying cows to Stealing Thunder, The World's Strangest True Weather Stories, by Randy Cerveny. It occurred to me that many of the stories were coming from the Midwest; I thought I would share a few for our Midwestern readers.

"Sept, 3 1970 three children in Coffeyville, Kansas, found a hailstone that was determined to be 17.25 inches in circumference and 5.6 inches in diameter."


"The world's record one-hour rainfall took place in two places - Holt, Missouri, and Kauai, Hawaii. Both locations recorded an extraordinary rainfall total of twelve inches in one hour. The Holt, Missouri, storm took place on June 22, 1957."

"Missouri,The Luckiest Man in the St Louis Tornado (May 27, 1896): A.M. Meintz became quite possibly the luckiest man in the ruined town following the terrible F5 tornado of 1896. Meintz, a wealthy and shrewd man, owned a two-story office building at the corner of Third Street and Missouri Avenue in East St. Louis. Prior to the tornado, he had decided to add an extra story to his building and was preparing to remove the roof so that the addition could be built. Then the great tornado hit, devastating the city and, for the most part, causing tremendous misery and destruction. For A.M. Meintz, however, the tornado was a blessing - it ripped off his building's roof but left the rest of the building untouched. And, equally fortunate, Meintz was one of the few men in East St. Louis who - prior to the twister -actually had purchased tornado insurance. So his "losses" on the roof were entirely covered and he saved the expense of roof demolition for his third-story addition."

More to come if you like these.

Abba

Honey, I thought you would enjoy this. ~J

Toy Car

I took these pictures on Saturday in the Target parking lot. Weird.

Genealogy

A couple reasons I think Pop Preston should come here to do his work; we practically OWN the town!

Phalaenopsis

I purchased my first orchid this Saturday; it is just beautiful. I have been reading a lot on how to care for these; I hope I don't kill it. Anyway, enjoy the pictures - click on them if you would like to see larger detail.

Pray for the Christians of Belarus

Early voting polls opened last night for the presidential election in Belarus. Authorities called the early vote standard democratic procedure. But supporters of the main opposition
candidate in the March 19 vote, Alexander Milinkevich, expressed concern over possible ballot-stuffing and multiple voting at unguarded and unmonitored polling stations; Milinkevich, said advance votes would simply be stolen by the authorities. Authorities have detained a number of Milinkevich supporters in advance of the vote, sentencing some to terms of up to 15 days - this will keep them in prison until after the election.


Minsk last week refused to grant observer status to a European Union delegation at the March 19 presidential elections. Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly,
and religion continue under the current president's rule. Since his election in July 1995 as the country's first president, Alexander Lukashenko has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means. He has changed the country's constitution to allow himself to run for a third term; Alyaksandr Lukashenko is widely expected to win a third term in office.


Please remember our brothers and sisters in Belarus. Our friend as requested that we pray that the political movements will not harm God's work there; she said the atmosphere there is very tense.

Something the Today Show Probably Won't Cover

*In January, Canada's human rights commission was authorized by the Supreme Court to resume consideration of a union's claim that Air Canada's flight attendants (who are mostly women) are just as valuable, and therefore should be paid the same, as its pilots and mechanics (mostly men).

*In Nagano, Japan, five disgruntled Buddhist monks (along with four clerical workers) at the Zenkoji temple formed a labor union that was certified by the National Confederation of Trade Unions, to combat what they say was harassment by the head monk regarding working conditions.

*James Clifford Hanna, of Canada's Yukon Territory, argued in court in February that "James Clifford Hanna" was merely a name involuntarily given to him and that since he never officially accepted it, he can't be forced to pay James Clifford Hanna's taxes. (He lost.)

*And Finally - Man with longest ear hair. GROSS

Wafah

Wafah Dufour, Osama bin Laden's niece, who wisely dropped the Bin Laden part of her name, has signed a deal for a new reality television show. Can't wait to see this. One thing television lacks is a show about an unknown actress, designer, singer, model, inventor, juggler, ice skater, ballroom dancer, or terrorist winning a competition on their road to stardom.

Get Human

I have to call airlines, hotels, and credit card companies frequently with my job. I have found this cheat sheet at gethuman.com very helpful in getting directly to a live person. If you have to make a call to a major company, I would suggest pulling up this site to get you through all the electronic prompts quickly. J

4 Years Old

On this date in 2002 I had my very first date with Brian. We went to dinner at Millie's in downtown Springfield and after dinner walked to Lander's Theater to see the play Rumors. Brian spilled a glass of wine at dinner and the play was poor, but we still had a great time.

I'll Have Another

I love Peeps, especially the yellow chicks.


Here you can see peep research results from Emory University students - find out what happens when Peeps are placed in a vacuum, in a hot tub, in liquid nitrogen, electrocuted, etc.


Here are some fun facts
Just Born produces enough MARSHMALLOW PEEPS® to circle the earth twice.

In 1953, it took 27 hours to create one MARSHMALLOW PEEP®. Today, it takes six minutes.

Each PEEPS® Chick has 32 calories (160 calories per five-chick serving) and 0 fat grams.



Celebrity PEEPS® fans include Diane Sawyer, Emeril Lagasse, and Ellen DeGeneres.

What's in a Name?

Sometimes it's not always what it seems. Take a quick look at this video from Ebenezer Lutheran Church.

Sell Anything on Ebay

This auction's starting bid was $9.99 - there were no bidders. Read the description below.

I’m selling this for a young and very devout Christian woman who was praying and praying to have a baby or to receive a sign from God. She asked me to sell this for her. She said she prayed and prayed for many days, then as her money was running out (she is now begging) when all she had to eat was some cheese and bread. She put it on the fire and as she was about to eat it she saw lights surrounding the bread and saw clearly the image of The Holy Mother holding the baby Jesus. She had been praying to the image to become pregnant and just before she gave it to me to sell, she and her husband did indeed conceive. I’m happy to report that she is doing well, except for the lack of money. I completely believe it. She is very kind and sweet and in need of money to get an apartment. I help her, but I can only do so much. I will ship the item for free. All of the money will go to her. All this time (months), the item has not been kept in a air-tight plastic bag, but has not grown any mold at all. She said that it is clearly a miracle--beyond her understanding. Blessed are the meek. Peace be with you.
















*************************************************************************************

This auction's starting bid was $19.95 - there were 30 bidders - sold for $10,000. Read the description below.

Image Of Jesus On Sheet Metal Unpacked it from crate and had to do a double look! Totally amzed me, you can actually see an image of him with arms in the air or a frontal and a side image of him. Felt Chills When I Held It!!!!
























I don't see either one.

Cute Website.

I like to visit this website once in a while for a smile. Cuteoverload.com Here are a couple of sample pictures.

We're waiting. . . .

Honey,

We are all sitting at the computer checking "theprestons" blog daily and anxiously awaiting your next post. Please indulge us.

B

Restaurant Coupons

Restaurant.com has dining certificates for restaurants all over the country. Some of the certificates are for 50% off (food portion of the bill only), $3 for a $10 off dining certificate, and $10 for a $25 off dining certificate. This month you can purchase certificates for 60% off; that means I spent $1.20 for $10 dining certificate! Rasta Grill in downtown Springfield is on the list this month - pay $10 for a $25 dining certificate - but with the promotion code you pay only $4.

In order to get the 60% off savings, you must type in discount code 46202

Enjoy.

We are Sinking

Funny commercial. I thought Pop Preston would particularly enjoy this one. J

A profitable walk in the snow

We walked up the road in the snow early Saturday morning to an estate sale. The gentelman moving out of the house was 100 years old.

Most of the good stuff was already picked through by 8:30 but we still managed to find some deals.

A few weeks ago Jillian made some scones, which turned out great; however, we had some disagreements on the amount of flour that should be used. So when we came across a nifty sifter I snatched that up quickly. Just $1.00. It is just like what mom uses, and her mom used. On top of that he had a classic toaster complete with the old cloth cord and the mechanism ticks when you push it down. Guess how much it was? $1.00, can you believe such a deal! Here are our before photos. The toaster is in great shape and I cleaned it up with Bartkeeper's Friend cleaner - which I highly recommend having for cleaning metal surfaces.



And after.


This baby is a winner. You'd probably have to spend $35 bucks for a look-a-like at Target and you can bet it's not the same rugged construction.

More book cooking

Apparently my friend David liked that last comic so much that he sent us a similar one.



This one takes me back to my work days at DT Industries where we found $20 million in accounting fraud at the Montreal location, and NASDAQ halted trading of our stock. My own personal Enron-like experience.

B

Creative accounting

PETA People are Weird.

These are demonstration pictures of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

No vacancy

Sorry no posts lately. We have had house guests.

My Drive Home

Click this image to make it bigger...and to see what the blue sign reads.

Hawk Hunting

This fella has been menacing the neighborhood wildlife. We have seen him kill baby rabbits and robins. We even saw him swoop down and grab a big cat. The cat did a flip 4 feet off the ground and never knew what hit him.

On this day he was hunting squirrel as we watched him attack a nest, He wound up empty-clawed.




We tracked him and moved in closer but he got away.

A party for your children

There is an interesting post at The Henry Institute about strange ways Americans are indoctrinating politics into their children. Here are some excerpts:

Now there's a new genre of children's literature designed to catechize youngsters in "party values." Political activist Jeremy Zilber has written a new book for children, Why Mommy Is a Democrat. The book features cute pictures of a cuddly maternal squirrel teaching her little ones why "Democratic values" are best. "Democrats make sure we all share our toys, just like Mommy does," the book notes. "Democrats make sure we are all safe, just like Mommy does."

The book promo assures us that it uses "warm and non-judgmental language" but with "numerous subtle (and not-so-subtle) swipes at the Bush Administration and the Republican Party."

. . . I find this kind of humorless political propaganda for the kindergarten set a bit scary. It's not "Uncle Joe" Stalin surrounded by smiling children, mind you, but, even so, it's a bit strange. And I would say the same thing about a GOP version: "Republicans protect us from terrorists and evildoers, just like Daddy does." In fact, the conservative versions already exits: think Fox News spin-caster Bill O'Reilly's children's book. Can Ann Coulter for Preschoolers be far behind?

At first I couldn't put a finger on my discomfort with this until I realized: it's Sunday school material. In Red and Blue America, we've so privatized our religious convictions ("We're going to let Johnny choose whether or not he goes to church, and which one") that all we have left is our political identities. And so much separates us now that it really matters why Mommy is a Democrat or why Daddy is a Republican, or vice-versa.

I suppose such children's books and radio programs and television shows will only continue. Intentionally catechized Christian little ones may seem stranger and stranger as hyper-partisan America raises up its children in the nurture and admonition of Caesar.

Red and Blue Toddlers?
Sunday, January 29, 2006

Flipping Chevys

I got an e-mail from my friend David last night where he stated:

'My brother, Richard, had been working on a expensive '69 Firebird. A friend/dealer owned the car and Richard had done all the work on it. Real nice car. Some guy wanted to buy it, drove down, took it for a test drive and the thing ended upside down in your dad's front yard. Nice.'

I confirmed this story with Pop Preston. Here is his account:

It was a 1967(I believe) Chevrolet Super Sport two door hardtop. The guy lost if after he came out of the curve(when he probably goosed it). It turned almost all the way around and and slid across the road toward our yard, taking out one of those new reflective curve indicator signs. The steel post broke off at the base and the whole sign landed not far from our front door. The car slid sideways, almost facing the direction it came from, up our bank into our yard and flipped upside down trapping the driver and female companion. They were trapped for quite some time while the fire dept. raised the back of the car enough to get the driver's door open. Amazingly, the couple crawled out and didn't seem to have a scratch even though the top was pretty well smashed in. They appeared to be in their late forties or early fifties. If the car had caught fire, they may not have survived. The next day I asked the attending officer if he filed any charges against the driver. He charged him with having an invalid operators license. I am wondering if they had any insurance.