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We have a bird show this weekend and neither me or the birds are in the mood. Although budgies are native to Australia, the birds we have bred for show over the years are no longer native desert birds. The heat bothers them just as much as it can bother us.
And for the Puget Sound area we are having a real hot spell. Cliff Mass’s blog says that we are, “going for over 100F tomorrow...and Thursday as well.” 100ยบ F is apparently the highest ever recorded temperature for Seattle since they’ve been keeping records. So we’re are very likely to break that record in the next couple of days.
I find I’m spending most of my time in the basement of our house where it is probably 20 degrees cooler then upstairs. Good thing the basement is finished and the computers and main TV are in the basement.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Where Was I When?
The 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon and the death of Walter Cronkite got me thinking about where I was for some of the happenings over the years.
November 23, 1963, the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. I was a freshman at the University of Washington in Seattle. I had stopped at a small grocery store in the U District while walking back to my dorm from class. All of a sudden a young hysterical girl came into the store screaming that Kennedy was dead. None of us believed her until we got to a TV and saw the news coverage. That was a pretty sobering event; and I would guess that anyone who was alive and more than just a toddler can tell you exactly where they were when they first heard the news.
July 20, 1969, As Neil Armstrong from Apollo 11 took the first steps on the moon by man; I was sitting in my apartment at Knickerbocker Circle in Hampton, Virginia. I was down to my last 60 days in the Army and stayed up most of the night to watch the coverage. I was watching on a small Black & White TV I had bought at a Sears store. I bought it with my first, ever credit card. Thank you for that Sears.
May 18, 1980, Mount St Helens in the Southern Cascades in Washington blew up. I was still the Army Reserves and it was our drill weekend. We didn’t even know the mountain had erupted until one of our soldiers came back from church and told us. Needless to say, the rest of the day was spent in front of the TVs in the cafeteria. Living in the Puget Sound area we only got dusted with ash a couple of times, I sure would not have wanted to live in the main patch over near Yakima. We had some friends who lived there then and they say it was like nighttime at noon.
Any other significant events I’ve forgotten? Where were you for these?
November 23, 1963, the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. I was a freshman at the University of Washington in Seattle. I had stopped at a small grocery store in the U District while walking back to my dorm from class. All of a sudden a young hysterical girl came into the store screaming that Kennedy was dead. None of us believed her until we got to a TV and saw the news coverage. That was a pretty sobering event; and I would guess that anyone who was alive and more than just a toddler can tell you exactly where they were when they first heard the news.
July 20, 1969, As Neil Armstrong from Apollo 11 took the first steps on the moon by man; I was sitting in my apartment at Knickerbocker Circle in Hampton, Virginia. I was down to my last 60 days in the Army and stayed up most of the night to watch the coverage. I was watching on a small Black & White TV I had bought at a Sears store. I bought it with my first, ever credit card. Thank you for that Sears.
May 18, 1980, Mount St Helens in the Southern Cascades in Washington blew up. I was still the Army Reserves and it was our drill weekend. We didn’t even know the mountain had erupted until one of our soldiers came back from church and told us. Needless to say, the rest of the day was spent in front of the TVs in the cafeteria. Living in the Puget Sound area we only got dusted with ash a couple of times, I sure would not have wanted to live in the main patch over near Yakima. We had some friends who lived there then and they say it was like nighttime at noon.
Any other significant events I’ve forgotten? Where were you for these?
Thursday, July 2, 2009
July 1st and All is Well
I am about 3/4th of the way through my first grave shift of the year. Only two more hours and then I get to go home and try to sleep on what is going to be one of our hotter days of the year. I’ve been working hard the past week trying to get my body turned around so that I can stay awake all night and sleep during the day.
The past couple of days I’ve been able to keep my eyes open until 4:00 am, so I should make it to 6 am without too much trouble. After a few more days of this, I should be pretty well adjusted. By December 31st I won’t even remember what it is like to work when the sun is shining.
We are half way through 2009. The year is going pretty fast, but so far everyone in the family seems to be hanging in there without any major problems.
Grave shift, which for us is 10:00 pm to 6:00 am, is usually slowest shift. That’s kind of why I’m hoping I’ll be able to be a bit more dedicated to regular updates to the blog. At 4 in the morning when nothing is going on is a good time to jot something down to blog about.
Right now, on my first full night, I’m not really thinking straight, so I’ll quit for now, and try again in a night or two. Happy Fourth of July to everyone, Have a Safe and Sane Holiday!
The past couple of days I’ve been able to keep my eyes open until 4:00 am, so I should make it to 6 am without too much trouble. After a few more days of this, I should be pretty well adjusted. By December 31st I won’t even remember what it is like to work when the sun is shining.
We are half way through 2009. The year is going pretty fast, but so far everyone in the family seems to be hanging in there without any major problems.
Grave shift, which for us is 10:00 pm to 6:00 am, is usually slowest shift. That’s kind of why I’m hoping I’ll be able to be a bit more dedicated to regular updates to the blog. At 4 in the morning when nothing is going on is a good time to jot something down to blog about.
Right now, on my first full night, I’m not really thinking straight, so I’ll quit for now, and try again in a night or two. Happy Fourth of July to everyone, Have a Safe and Sane Holiday!
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