Ow, ow, ow, ow

I *hate* needles. So, what would be the most fun thing I could do? Survey says....Allergy Testing!

Yes, that's right, here's twenty small "scratches" we will do on your back. Ok, a "scratch" is something that grazes the skin, kind of mildly. What I had done was a friggin nail gun going machine gun into my back.

Ok, now we will wait 20 minutes to see what happens. If any of those start to itch, or burn, then we will know what you are allergic to. The more you react to now, the fewer intradermal tests we will have to do next.

Now, for those of you that aren't half-nurse, like I am, interadermal is a fancy word for shot. Thanks for letting me know about the possiblity if more fun shots, and, better yet, letting me stew about those for the next twenty minutes. Did the Marquis de Sade give you the day off today to work here?

Twenty minutes, no itching, no burning, no nothing. Jane, come in here, will you look at this? Gee, I've never seen that before, he didn't react to any of those.

Just my luck, I shoulda bought a lottery ticket.

Well, sorry about that, but now let's do twenty shots of more fun, this time with real needles. Let's pick somewhere fleshy, how bout the triceps of each arm? Great, 10 on the left, 10 on the right. And, when I do these, I have to inject a bit of allergen (translated = something nasty) under the skin. So these aren't nail guns like the ones on the back, these are full fledgers.

Ok, so that's 40 needles and the results..... One. Only one damn thing caused a reaction. Gee, good thing you didn't do these one at a time and then stop when you found it. That would have taken all the fun out of it.

So, I'm allergic to mold. In the air, on stuff, maybe even in foods. Here's some pills, there's some nasal spray. When do you want to come in for the next round of tests?

Gee, the 3rd of Never is good for me, but in lieu of that, how about after Thanksgiving. That way I can be thankful for not being another human pincushion for the next month or so.

(Originally posted on myspace, October 2005)

Happy New Year from Maddie

Madilyn is wishing everyone a Happy 2009 from Tennessee. So it's another state for her to cross off her list as she celebrates her very first New Year's Day. And she's wearing a snazzy new outfit from Aunt Shelley.

Insert Tab A into Slot B...hey, wait a minute

Zoo solves mystery of celibate polar bears (cnn.com)

Ok, I'm thinking that even those meddling kids from Scooby Doo wouldn't have taken three years to figure out this "mystery".

I'm thinking the Japanese zoo must have called in those experts from the Wildlife Conservation Society, Dave and George. You may remember them from such blog postings as "Where do you hide 125,000 gorillas?" Let's tune in for another exciting episode, shall we?

Dave: Wow, Japan. This is really exciting. Do you think we'll get to see Godzilla?

George: Um, sure. No, wait... I heard on the plane that he was going to be at Disney World for Thanksgiving this year.

Dave: Darn it, I come all this way... hey, quit pulling my chain, George. I'm smart enough to know that there is no Thanksgiving in Japan.

George: *rolling his eyes* Geez, you caught me.

Dave: So I wonder why these two polar bears haven't started getting it on. Maybe they need some atmosphere.

George: Atmosphere? Please, enlighten me.

Dave: You know... soft music, candles, a romantic dinner.

George: Um, why don't we start with something a little more basic. How about the old Noah's Ark test?

Dave: C'mon, do you really think they would have flown us all the way from New York if they hadn't already checked to make sure they have one boy bear and one girl bear?

George: Dude, I'm not going in there. Those are full grown polar bears. They could rip me apart and have me for dinner.

Dave: *under his breath* Well, I'm sure that'd be romantic for them.

George: And even if they are two girl bears, that's fine by me.

Dave: I'm going to go in there... Wait a second, what?!?

George: Hey, I'm hip with what's going on today. I've watched the L Word.

Dave: *stunned, with jaw open*

George: I mean really, if that aging rocker chick and her partner had a kid, these two hot young bears should be no problem. I'll go find an older, drunk, fading stud, you find the turkey baster.

Dave: I knew I should have waited until Sam came back from vacation.

George: Hurry up, I'm going to be hungry in a hour.

George: C'mon, I want to get this done so I can see Mothra as she comes out of her cocoon.

Dave: If you kill someone with a turkey baster in another country, and they are dumber than a rock, can you hear it?

Good Luck, Marauders!

The Ovid-Elsie Marauders, which is my cousins' alma mater, destroyed the Standish-Sterling Panthers in prep football this weekend, 55-20. This means O-E will play, for the first time, in the state championships after Thanksgiving. They will play Muskegon Oakridge, the number one ranked team in Division 5, at Ford Field on Nov. 29th at 4:30 p.m. Link to the playoff tree.

Speeding Tickets

The Detroit News has an interesting article about speeding ticket quotas, as well as an interactive map of each city/village/township in the tri-county area which shows yearly ticket numbers as well as lists speed traps.

Personality Type?

The famous Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is shown as a four character shorthand notation for each of the personality types. I've taken several of these tests and the my results are almost always the same: ISTJ (Introversion, Sensing, Thinking, Judging).

The website http://www.typealyzer.com lets you enter a website, say this blog, and then determines which type you are.

Based on the postings I have made to my blog, typealyzer decided to mark me as ESTP (Extraversion, Sensing, Thinking, Perceiving).

Well, 2 out of 4 ain't bad. If you are the Detroit Lions, 50% would be a massive and unexpected upgrade. Even if you are a Detroit Tigers batter that isn't too shabby. But, as with all things on the web, your mileage may vary. :)

At the 11th minute of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month...

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

In Flanders Fields by John McCrae

For all veterans, including our cousin Viktor Scherbinksi (Find a Grave), a Russian by birth, Polish by ancestry, American by choice. With thanks for your service and sacrifice for your new country.

Madilyn at 9 months old

Check me out - not only can I sit in my rocking chair, but I can read too!

Enjoy!

Lots of Love,
Madilyn @ 9 months old

Mary is cheering for the Tigers!

Maddie is rockin' the pink beret!

RIP Dolemite

Comedic actor Rudy Ray Moore (1927-2008), best known to blaxploitation fans as kung fu pimp "Dolemite", died Sunday at an Akron nursing home from complications of diabetes, according to media reports. He was 81. (link)

Wikipedia links:

• Rudy Ray Moore
• Dolemite
• The Human Tornado
  

Mopar at the 2008 SEMA show

• Dodge Challenger R/T Blacktop (link) 5.7L HEMI with Mopar cat-back dual exhaust and cold air intake kit, along with a six-speed manual transmission.
  
• Dodge Challenger Targa (link) 540HP, 490 lb. ft. of torque, 392 HEMI V8 Mopar crate motor mated to a Tremec six-speed manual gearbox
• Dodge Challenger SRT10 (link) the Viper's 8.4-liter all-aluminum V10 engine that pumps out 600 horsepower and 560 lb. ft. of torque. The 'halo' concept car features a new coat of vibrant Tornado Red paint with a carbon-fiber deck lid and a functional shaker hood inspired from the 1970s HEMI Cuda.
• Super Challenger and Super Cuda (link) with up to 900HP
  
• 2009 Dodge Ram TRXtreme (link)
• 2009 Dodge Ram R/T (link)
• 2009 Dodge Ram Sportsman (link)
• Aftermarket convertible available for Dodge Challenger (link)
  

Cousins' First Halloween, October 2008

Mary the Bear

Madilyn the Ladybug

Mary the Banana and Madilyn the Ladybug.

Mary and her Little Lamb

Legally, her name wouldn't be Mary if she didn't have her Little Lamb.

Top Ten rejected captions:

1. Mom, is it still there?
2. Creepy Sheep.
3. Two Words: Lamb Chops.
4. Somebody's Watching Me.
5. Dooby Dooby Do.
6. As soon as I can crawl, I'll wipe that smile off yer face.
7. Him? He's a cardigan in training.
8. I could have had a pony, but noooo.
9. Mmmm... veal.
10. I'm three months old, you are lucky I could count to nine!
    

Mary's 3 month photos

And the only thing that can make a baby's picture even cuter is to have it in black & white or sepia tones.

Hee, if you or I stick out our tongue in a picture, we get yelled at. When a baby does it, everyone says "awwwwhhhh". :)

States I have visited = 22 + D.C

Visited US States Map from TravelBlog

Windows Annoyances: Pivot Table formatting

PivotTables provide a great way to analyze large amounts of data and pull out the summarizations that you need. Once you have the PivotTable displaying the values you need, you can then format the table to make the data presentable--for a while. You see, when you update the data on which the PivotTable is based, and then refresh the PivotTable, all your formatting work may go away.

The way around this is to follow these steps:

1. Make sure that your PivotTable displays the values you want.
2. Format the PivotTable in whatever way desired.
3. On the PivotTable toolbar, choose Table Options from the PivotTable menu. Excel displays the PivotTable Options dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.)
4. Make sure the Preserve Formatting check box is selected.
5. Click OK.

Now, when you refresh the PivotTable, your previously applied formatting should remain on rows and columns previously in the PivotTable. If the refresh results in new rows being added to the PivotTable, then you will still need to format those.

From Allen Wyatt's Excel Tips

If you've ever had a crazy dog

Then you will recognize this right away.

I'm not a big spider fan, so if I posted this, you know it's not about a Scary Spider.

http://www.vectorpark.com/etc/spider.html

It is not a game, it is just a WasteOfTime, which sometimes we all need.

I love the reaction of the animated dog. Be sure to move the spider around under the feet and hold the mouse button to make it jump. Not to mention the way it tracks the little guy's every move.

And it will definitely bring a smile to your face.

Just like Mur & Syd, and Comet, and Spence, and my childhood pet and friend, Taffy.

startwearingpurple.yahoo.com

http://startwearingpurple.yahoo.com

I've always worn purple, and even had to pick up a few new ties.

Thanks, Kohl's Klearance!

Why the Economy Sucks

...or more properly titled, two stories of how it got into the shape it is today.

That is, if you agree that a collapsing, sucking void is a shape. I haven't been in elementary school in a long time, so I am not current on all of the "new geometry". Circle, square, triangle...void. Hmm, now I'm not sure, I'll have to check out my nieces' toys.

"Commentary: How we got into this money mess" by Glenn Beck.

Glenn tells it like it is, and regardless of your political leanings, I think everyone can understand a story that includes a Tickle Me Elmo.

Personal favorite - the Elmo disclaimer.

"A layman's guide to sub prime mortgages" a stick figure google docs slideshow.

So easy, even a Junior Accounting Monkey can follow along!

Note - not that I have little kids reading my blog aloud, but there is some profanity involved in the text of the slideshow. But then, anyone who has ever worked in Accounting just takes that for granted. :)

Personal favorites - slide 29 and the conversation in slides 35 to 44.

All of which support MrDolomite's First Rule of Accounting, which he proclaimed back in the mid 1990's:

"Don't Dick with the Money"