Miscellaneous Missives

Today was Beatles' Sunday at church. The service was based on peace and multiple Beatles' songs. Honestly, if I would have remembered, I may have stayed home. As I was listening to people sing, I reflected on my week of unplanned incidents. * text from Southwest canceling flight * frequent calls to Southwest ( Trains... ) * delayed flight * snowed in car ( shuttles ) * two nights of conferences * movies for Friday's class needed reformatted on Friday * lost/stolen purse * infection causing trip to Minute Clinic without insurance card ...and they say things come in three. "The misery here is quite terrible; and, yet, late at night when the day has slunk away into the depths behind me, I often walk with a spring in my step along the barbed wire. And then time and again, a feeling soars straight from my heart..." ~Etty Hillesum, An Interrupted Life Although I feel as though I've had my share of torment this week, I can't help but remember all of these e...

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com. Although I have all of the pictures I took in an album on Facebook and posted a view earlier, I used Animoto to make a short video. I should have shot a video with my iPhone while at the rally, but my fingers were cold to quite cold merely taking pictures.

Last night I was debating-- Rally to Save America or grade essays. Since I found someone to go with, I chose rally. I was proud to be there and excited to be around people with like beliefs... except for the one Walker follower who put is sign down for the first part of the rally. Later he had it raised high as pro-union people had their signs around his including one saying something to the effect that Hitler destroyed the unions too. My favorite sign of the day is the title of today's post. People are always creative when it comes to signage. A dog sported a sign stating that Walker was on a shorter leash than the dog. My favorite people (other than those I was with) were the two dressed up in red chicken type outfits with signs saying, "Wake up America." Another favorite, Keith Ellison, spoke. Each time I hear him, I am proud to have voted for him. I even had the opportunity to shake his hand and thank him for representing Minnesota. Today's rally might ...

I want to join the protest at the capitol tomorrow, but I can't seem to find anyone who is going. My hopes is that this is limited to the people with whom I have talked this evening and not the majority of people. This afternoon as I was talking to Dad and Carol, I became a little agitated thinking about what is happening in Wisconsin and what is happening to public employees. Most know that I am not a huge union person, but when something this absurd happens, it makes me ready to protest. It's been a long week from my trying to get home on Monday/Tuesday to two evenings of conferences. I also have five paragraph essays and corresponding outlines to correct from all of my students (yes, the boring five paragraph essay...). Since I am not in the mind to start the correcting marathon, I am spending the evening watching MSNBC (liberal media) and feeling that I should venture to the capitol tomorrow even if it is a trip made individually. I am being torn between the capitol ...

Last night (this morning) I actually arrived in Minneapolis a little after Midnight. Lucky for me I was able to sit next to a gentleman (I use this term loosely) who was able to spend his four plus hours in the airport imbibing in liquid refreshment and was able to partake again on our short flight. As we sat on the tarmac for over a half hour he was able to 1) explain to me in detail that they couldn't keep us on the plane for over an hour 2) repeat the same information to those around him 3) call Southwest on his phone to repeat the same information using the F word multiple times. Actually a flight attendant on the way out accurately guessed the caller. Anyway, by the time I arrived at the shuttle door it was closer to one. Since the shuttle were busy not only doing their shuttle runs but digging cars out, it was closer to two thirty before I saw my car. As the shuttle driver dug out behind my car, I waded through the drift around my car trying to get the snow off (without...

Last night I found out my early morning flight was canceled. At that point I started calling Southwest to get a new flight. After three calls Wednesday am was the earliest they could give me with no hopes of stand by, etc. In the middle of the night I started looking at rental car places and the weather between St. Louis and Minneapolis. Early morning I went to pick up my rental car, knowing it would be an exorbitant fare, to make the nine hour (in good weather) trip back home. When I arrived at the rental car, the attendant was about to hand me the keys when there was a problem with the paper work. Actually the problem was more with my expired license. Obviously they won't rent to someone without a valid driver's license. Another call to Southwest was made without any success. Next I tried Amtrak. The train had already left for today, but there were seats on Tuesday's train leaving at 6:00 in the morning and arriving at 10:30 at night. When I asked if there was i...

Today I picked up "gumballs" while helping my friend, S, do yard work. These spiked menaces are known as gumballs, and come from the American Sweetgum tree. We spent the afternoon in short sleeved tees picking up gumballs from the gumball machine that never quit. After raking a section, I would turn around and see more on the ground from the beautiful tree. S looked fabulous after our day at, work, so I took her picture. Although it seems as though I'm complaining, it was 70º (or warmer) and sunny most of the afternoon. This while Minneapolis is being hit by 10 to 15 inches of snow... not a bad trade off! I will admit tree is beautiful even though I threatened to cut it down on more than one occasion. Did I mention it was 70º when we quit at five?