I'm At a Loss So I'm Rambling

I'm tired. I've been watching the Olympics and more and more, curling, cross-country skiing, downhill, speed skating and more. Yes - curling, one of those very odd Olympic sports that's crazy, fun, strategy rather than head-to-head brute force, and ... well, I love it. A small team, a set of very heavy rocks with handles and a long course of highly-polished ice, brooms, calling - no...screaming - orders to sweepers. What's not to love? Actually, I know a lot of people who just don't get curling. But DH and I would be really happy to sit and watch for hours. Strategy, skill and a bit of luck, it all comes to play in curling.

The US doesn't do curling well, but we love the sport anyway. In 2010 we
were in last place at the end of the games, but we're here again and trying
to improve. So far, though, the women's team is 0-2. *sigh*

But, what else to post about today? Well, I'm head-deep into an illustration project for B2MeM. I wasn't going to take an art project, but had an idea and my schedule seemed to cooperate, so I decided that my story was progressing well enough that I could finish it on time, still keep up with the small things, and allow myself the fun of playing with pencils, inks and pastels. So I'm doing an illustration. I worked on the mock-up on Sunday, did the first penciling yesterday morning, and will be continuing that today to try and get to the inking tomorrow. It's flowing well across the page, so I have hopes for this one. I also have a very fast due date, so I can't waste a lot of time with it.

I started using Pan Pastels almost two years ago as a media and I really
love them. They are so easy to blend, and I can use water or other carriers
to change them on the page. They're very fun. I think I gathered my collection
over a year using Dick Blick Art Supply 40% off coupons. 

Bought an ebook a bit outside my norm this morning without a really strong idea about why, except it seemed interesting and the reviews were FABULOUS! So, I'll be reading "The Fault in our Stars" by John Green within a few weeks (I have to read others I've downloaded before it first, thus the delay). It just seemed like a really interesting book. I read into the first ten reviews or so and they were glowing. There were more than 2000 5-star ratings for it, so I caved. Those of you doing book clubs - this may be a good one for you.

The Fault in our Stars is also going to be a movie, released
in early June this year. The tag line "One Sick Love Story" is a
bit controversial, since the two main characters are
both suffering from cancer. But I'm looking forward to
reading the book. 

Finally, in this very disjointed post, I'm going on the record saying that I'm really tired of winter - REALLY TIRED. It's cold, I'm just seeing a lot of dirty snow and very high piles of shoveled snow - mountains of it in the parking lots, and I really want winter over already. I want the snow I see to be on the television as the skiers compete in Sochi, not in my front yard.

One of the places where the city deposits street snow is behind one of our stadiums.
This pile is from two years ago. We have LOTS more snow this year so
our pile is even higher. They move the snow with backhoes and front-loaders
that move up a path from the right. Notice the person standing in the front. 

It's a crazy post today, but sometimes rambles can be fun. Have a wonderful Tuesday.

Once Again Addicted...An Olympics Post

I'm an Olympics geek. I really love watching them. My DH is just as bad (maybe even worse) and so when the Olympics are being broadcast, our TVs are on to watch them. It is a lot of fun. So yesterday, while finally having the opportunity to catch up on doing my laundry, I watched Team Skating, hockey, lots of cross country skiing and speed skating, snow boarding and ski jumping, and occasional glimpses of world powers or royalty.

Congratulations to Poland's Kamil Stoch who won gold in the normal hill
ski jumping competition yesterday. He flew! It was really beautiful. He was
carried around the staging area on the shoulders of the silver and bronze
medal winners. Great job by all!

It's always fun when a nation's powers are there to support their athletes. But there's a serious difference between Vladimir Putin clapping in his controlled manner for Russia as their 15-year-old female individual skater nailed it in their attempt to win their Team Skating Gold Medal vs the King and Queen of the Netherlands wearing orange and supporting their speed skaters by spending long days at the track. Does Putin actually have emotion? His very faint smiles never reach his eyes. The man is like a dead fish - rather frightening and certainly not someone I'd be inviting over to share a cup of tea. The King and Queen, however, are sitting on benches, laid back, cheering and supporting, and yeah - probably very well liked by their people because they come across as very honest and caring.

Dutch King Wilem-Alexander, left, Queen Maxima and Prime Minister Mark Rutte
celebrate as Sven Kramer sets a new 5000-meter speed skating record, winning
another gold for the Netherlands. 

But audience aside, the point of the Olympics is really the athletes and they are having a wonderful time. They are performing in their chosen sports and events and the joy I'm seeing on their faces, even those who are not anywhere close to winning medals, is making these Games well worth watching. I've also really loved watching the easy interaction and support between athletes who are from different nations and competing against each other. They understand that it is a competition, that each of them will have good days and bad, and that their similarities far outweigh their differences. Now, if we could just teach our politicians that little lesson.

Not much gets Putin to smile. I looked through pictures of him congratulating
the Russian team and the US team, getting hugs and shaking hands, and never
did I see a real smile, only a slight upturn of his mouth. Would it kill the guy to
actually be enthusiastic? 

My Sunday was relaxing while doing five loads of laundry. I began working on an illustration I'm doing for B2MeM, watched the Olympics and read my current e-book. I really needed a kicked-back day and I got one. I hope your Monday is totally fab and that you return to your homes after work today, happy with what you accomplished today. Smile at someone today and help make their day easier and happier.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back - Gays and the Olympics

The Olympics are officially open after a long, rather heavy-handed opening ceremony that was fun in a lot of ways, but lacked the precision of Beijing or the pure exuberance of London. These are most certainly Putin's Olympics and his stamp was on everything. I'm not casting blame here, it makes sense that any Olympic game will spotlight the host country for their opening ceremony. Indeed, it is expected.

Oops! Isn't there supposed to be a fifth ring? Small little glitches
like this would never have been allowed in Beijing. When this ring
failed to open, I told my husband that "Putin will be pissed - heads will roll." 

This Olympics athletes are being more open and brave about coming out as homosexual. This is possibly partly as a gut reaction to Russia's extreme anti-gay laws. There are six athletes who have publicly come out as gay competing in Sochi - all women. I give them all credit. It's not easy to be a gay athlete on the world stage, and to do so in a country that is so extremely anti-gay takes great courage. The six women are: Anastasia Bucsis, Canadian speed skater, Belle Brockhoff, Australian snowboarder, Ireen Wüst, Dutch speed skater, Sanne van Kerkhof, Dutch short track speed skater, Cheryl Maas, Dutch snowboarder, and Barbara Jezeršek, Slovenian cross country skier. These brave women, and in all probability other athletes who are still closing the closet doors for a variety of reasons, are now competing in a nation that is actively anti-gay. Very uncomfortable. Give these women your support as they compete over the next days.

Many people have protested the anti-gay laws of Russia. This protester in
was arrested in June at a protest in St Petersburg.  He carries the Rainbow Flag and
the pink triangle made infamous by the Nazi regime is prominent on his clothing.
A very brave young man. 

Russia is only one of many nations with severe anti-gay legislation, but it is in the spotlight right now. Russian law forbids discussion or disseminating information about homosexuality in any forum. This is specifically directed at anyone providing information to children or teen aged young adults - probably the segment of the population most in need of the facts. Vlad Putin is pushing Russia hard to focus on population growth in a time when the world population numbers are reaching a point of no return and planet non-sustainability. He has also been linking homosexuality and child molestation - a serious misstatement of fact that is often incorrectly cited as a justification against homosexuality. However, I'll save my tirade against child abuse for another post.

Here's a great graphic for all of you to grab if you want a FB profile
pic (resize to 180 x 180) or an LJ avatar (resize to 100 x 100). Maybe the
Russian who designed the opening ceremony rings was subconsciously
emulating this poster? 

With just these two actions - the repressive anti-gay laws and the push for population growth - Russia has proven that once again it is placing itself outside of the world community and focusing on interests that are not beneficial to the world, but only to Russia.  (I argue that the anti-gay laws are not actually beneficial to anyone - inside or outside Russia.) Simply put - Russia is selfish, self-centered, and self-focused, ignoring anyone else, and totally narcissistic. If Russia was a girl in high school, she would be the one who was so vacuous that even though she would have her own little clique, most of the student body would despise her. Yet, she would never realize it because her head would be so far up her own derriere.

Self-centered much? Russia wants to be part of the world, but keeps
building walls to keep the rest of the world at arm's distance with
antiquated laws and regulations. 

But anti-gay discrimination hits closer to home too. Just this morning I was reading about a local high school boy who was brave enough to come out as gay on Facebook within the past month and since then he has received physical threats from students in his own high school. This, in MY state - a state that has equality of marriage and one of the largest Gay Pride movements in the nation. I am appalled and ashamed that some of our children are so close-minded.

Here's one more really excellent item that is perfect for your Facebook
profile or your LJ avatar. Size dimensions are listed above. Don't have
the ability to resize but want one or both of these? Let me know, I'll
be happy to size it for you. 

I'll finish today's post with the names of some other Olympic athletes who have come out as gay, some of whom may be competing in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro:  Ari-Pekka Liukkonen, Finnish swimmer; Thomas Hitzlsperger, German football (soccer) player; Ian Matos, Brazilian diver; Brian Boitano, US figure skater; and, Tom Daley, British diver. If you want to know more about any of these athletes or Russia's anti-gay laws, just follow the link. In the meantime, I'll be watching the Olympics and continuing to work towards true sexual equality for all people, LGBT or Q. Have a great weekend.

Success on Two Fronts

First ... we have water! The water dude called me at 7:15 am Thursday asking if someone could be at the house in an hour. "Absolutely!" I replied, and promptly awakened DH to get dressed and over there. Of course that meant I had to go to work, even though I was sick and felt totally horrid. But we needed the water and I could tough it out.

This magic faucet fountain is in Spain, but there are several of them
throughout the world.

So DH left to meet the water guys and I snuggled back to sleep until 8:00 am when I got motivated, left the house, did the banking and arrived at the shop. I ended up working, somewhat, until 11:30 am when DH walked through the door, his arms raised in triumph. He worked for me, I went home and I slept.

VICTORY OVER WATER! I'm pretty chuffed about it - LOL.

I finally allowed myself to eat some soup and crackers for dinner and managed to survive that, so I guess I'm over this bug. But it was pretty miserable for a while there. I lost eight pounds in a day - crazy, yes? I don't recommend the method, but I don't mind the loss. I'll continue to be really careful about what I eat for a while now. I really don't want a repeat performance.

I don't have a mug this snazzy, but isn't it cute? I love the whole idea
of having your crackers right next to your soup. 

The water department told DH to leave the faucet in the laundry tub open to a flow of 3-4 gallons an hour. That's a lot of water flow. I always knew about trickling water to help stave off freezing, but this larger flow has to remain until the water department tells us to turn it down or off, or until April 1st, whichever comes first. The water guys worked on our pipes for several hours on Monday, almost twelve hours on Tuesday and another three hours on Thursday and we didn't have to pay a thing! I'm very impressed and grateful. It was inconvenient, but it could have been so much worse.

Today's Google Doodle is in honor of the Olympics and
features text below quoted from the Olympic Charter.

"The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing
sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual
understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play." - Olympic Charter

So today I'm going to try to get back to normal. It's cold, but not unexpected. There's no snow which is totally delightful, and it's a Friday. The opening ceremonies for the Sochi Olympics will be broadcast tonight and last night's two events were very fun to watch. All good. Now if I can just get some work done on my B2MeM story... Have a Fabulous Friday!

Sick - Short

I'm sick. I feel really cruddy, the bathroom and I are best buddies, and I allowed myself to sleep in some extra time. I'm not 100% sure I'll go to work today, I may have to play things by ear. But I can't skip a post, so here's a very short one for you. One paragraph, one pic (and we're still dealing with frozen pipes, *sigh*).

I'll be living with green tea and ruibos today. No food - anything I eat
just comes back to haunt me. Icky!!!

Water is Still Not My Friend - The Frozen Pipes Saga

Don't get me wrong - I love water. I love the ocean, I love looking at lakes, and I love looking at the moving water of rivers and streams. It's personal water that I have a problem with - plumbing water; the water that enters pipes into homes. Of course I have a long history of plumbing issues, but what we're going through right now may well take the cake (so to speak).

The ceiling leaks were actually resolved by Sunday...but that's just one problem. 

A small bit of background. We are currently responsible for three houses and my business. We are also experiencing what may well turn out to be the coldest winter in 30 years. And we've had a bunch of snow. So far (knock on wood and hope that a check-in this morning will prove me right), my father-by-marriage's house pipes seem to be holding up in this cold. I've been turning the faucets on and off and flushing the toilet whenever I've dropped by after a real estate agent has been through with a potential buyer. I'm hoping that proves to remain true when DH drops by this morning.

The goal of plumbing is to have water come from faucets and have toilets
flush appropriately. Frozen pipes tend to get in the way of this goal.

And, for a change, my own house is not experiencing a leaking roof, a backed-up water system or frozen pipes - at least so far.

And the leaks in the ceiling of my shop seem to finally have been stopped after several more days of dripping into the five-gallon buckets that I think I'll just keep in their current locations for a few more months (no long-term faith about my roof, added to a long history of leaks, both small and seriously large).

Which leave my grandmother-in-law's house. We've been renovating this house in our 'spare' time to put it on the market later this year. It needs a hell of a lot of work. We hadn't been over for a while, but usually are there every few days. It had been mid-week last week when DH had last been there and he always opens the taps and lets them flow. He dropped by on Saturday, three days later, and ... no water. None. Of course we tried heating the pipes (for several hours) and only got the system to drain out, but no new water flow. It was beyond our abilities. So....

Love this glass water faucet. So innovative. 

On Monday morning I contacted St Paul Regional Water Services and was pushed through to dispatch who added us to a long list of frozen pipe people. Around 11:30 am or so on Monday they called and I sent DH over there. He was there for the rest of the day and I had to hold down the shop solo - not easy and not comfortable, but I can usually manage if things don't get too busy.

The Water Department worked on it for most of Monday afternoon and determined that the frozen pipe was at least 15 feet from the house toward the street. OK...fine. But then they had to leave because a local community center was also experiencing frozen pipes and they had children who needed water. They would be back with us on Tuesday after they got the Community Center resolved.

I had three St Paul Regional Water Services trucks in front of my little
house when I drove by last night on my way home. I can't fault the guys -
they're really trying. They're just not succeeding! *sigh*

Tuesday - they called me around 11:00 and I called DH (Tuesday is a day off for him) who rushed over to let them in. It was three trucks and several guys and they worked on our pipes all day. They got a 50-foot hose and determined that the pipe was frozen past that point. They left and returned with a 100 foot hose which also didn't work. They put in for a call for some sort of electrical vehicle (beats me...I don't understand how this is working) but it can't arrive until today some time. So...at 8:30 pm they wrapped it up and they'll be back today. DH finally got home just before 9:00 pm.

So, yesterday I had three St Paul Regional Water Department trucks in the street in front of my house, and today I'll likely have four. I'm giving up my day off because I have to work so that DH can be there with the guys. So far they've broken one window and two light bulbs. DH is stressing out, I'm stressing out, and it's like a comedy of errors or the Keystone Cops in action. Oy!

None of these instructions would have helped us. Our block is much closer to
the main and way past the house. We were doing everything right inside, but
it still didn't help. 

The water department guys said they're seeing the frost line down 6-1/2 feet. Since most house plumbing lines are about five feet under the soil, I foresee a very busy remainder of the winter for these guys. And I just hope we can get crossed off their list by the end of today so that I can take my day off on Thursday instead of today. Anyone know of a warm condo in a nice, safe, southern state that I can move to? LOL *headdesk*.

Ramblings - A Variety of Small Thoughts, Pics and Paragraphs

I'm uninspired today. I'm tired, I'm cold, and I really wish I could groundhog it today and just curl up in blankets with a good book and a warm cup of tea. But reality intervenes and raises its highly annoying head and work calls. I can wish for an opportunity like this, but even tomorrow, my scheduled day off, won't be able to be spent lazing about with a book and a cuppa. Since I'm uninspired, I'm going to allow my mind to roam free for today's post  - so anything goes.

Do you remember the musical?

Anything Goes - the musical was originally written in 1934 by Cole Porter. It isn't performed as often, although in 2011 it was on Broadway (and may still be - I'm not up on my Broadway shows). It was supposed to originally star Ethel Merman and it's got a stellar list of songs that have stayed with us for so many years.

I loved this evil Sochi mascot welcoming people with
the traditional bread and salt. It's one of a series of
black art done by a Russian artist for the games.
To see more of the art, follow the link. It's worth a look.

The Winter Olympics - Sochi begins on February 6th (or at least the broadcasting of the Olympics will begin then). Between the various television stations and the internet, they promise that every event and every minute will be available to watch. Those of us addicted to the Olympics might be in serious trouble if that's the case because we'll be glued to the TV.

Charles Agustus Magnussen is the villain for this episode, and he's
a good one. I'm looking forward to watching the episode again because there's
a lot to take in. But unlike others, I really enjoyed Season 3. 

His Last Vow was the third episode of Season Three's "Sherlock". There's lots of buzz about the episode and growls and applause, but here's my take (for whatever it's worth). I enjoyed it. There you go. It was confusing in some ways, but I liked it. The dynamics between the characters was deepened, the schisms of beliefs grew and the surprises were fun. My only disappointment - that there were only three episode in Season 3. I feel shorted.

The Kitten Bowl featured a variety of different balls and teams usually
separated by coat coloring. It's hard to resist kittens at any time, but
they were truly adorable as they chased the ball and pounced here and there. 

Finally, did you catch the Kitten Bowl on Superbowl Sunday? It was totally adorable. The portion we saw had a complicated channel and lighted balls that the kittens were coaxing along the track to the end zones. They were super into those balls :-) So cute!

So there you have it - random thoughts and silly things for your Tuesday pleasure. Enjoy the day!