February 9. 2013

Happy weekend everyone! I hope all our friends in the northeast are doing OK. I hear it's really bad out there. Everyone trying to get home from work yesterday got stuck in the blizzard & firetrucks were getting stuck, too. I miss snow, but that's a whole LOT of snow. Sheesh! Stay warm & safe everyone. The FD got toned out to a lift assist yesterday, Pete & I had snausages for breakfast, & then I did a whole bunch of house cleaning that I haven't been able to get to all week. I dusted the bedroom lights, fed the pets, cleaned the dining

room walls, cleaned the stove, did the dishes & cleaned the counters, dusted the video game system, did small pickups around the house, swept the bedroom, & decided to add frozen mixed vegetables to the next meal (along with frozen peas & fresh garlic). I finished just in time to leave for the Dallas Stars game. Thank you to the site that gave me the tickets! I won a pair of Stars tickets in a Hometown Heroes contest & coincidentally the game was on Pete's birthday. DOUBLE WIN! Soon after 

the game started I get a text message from my Chief with a photo of the section we're sitting in. Freak out! "Where are you?!". He was in the section across from us. LOL! A few minutes after that I get a text from Chris that there was a terrible fleet accident involving a Texas State Trooper just outside of our district. The officer is OK, was transported with only minor injuries & the other vehicle involved, a large truck, was hit so hard that the rear axle was torn completely out. The driver of the truck was able to walk away from what I hear. When we got home at 1:30a, the officer's car was still there & traffic was being routed to the shoulder. Thank you to First Response Photography for the photos. Just received a package in the mail, something I bought on eBay. The package is from John Blaze. HA! Now I've got the Ghost Rider theme stuck in my head. Blasting it now ... I like the version by Spiderbait. :) Chinese New Year tomorrow.

Comparison shop. Get a few estimates before you make any big repairs. An estimate should include parts (new or used) & labor (dealerships tend to set their rates near $100/hr; independent  shops closer to $70/hr). Review the estimate w/ the service adviser & speak up if you'd prefer to go w/ re-manufactured or used parts. Saving 15% on 1 major repair a year is worth the effort of shopping around. Potential savings: $285/yr.

Do a day's work while seated in the beanbag chair.

In 2007, Oklahoma made watermelon its official state vegetable. not to be outdone, Idaho chose the potato.

Key isn't to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.

May an untouchable juggle your figs.

Snowballs didn't make the top 10 list, they kept melting.

Sports balls in the world top 10:

1. Soccer ball
2. Cricket ball
3. Ping Pong ball
4. Volley ball
5. Golf ball
6. Football
7. Basketball
8. Tennis ball
9. Baseball
10. Softball

SugarSync:

Have you ever been away from home or the office and realized you need a file that is on your computer? SugarSync puts ALL of your data from ALL of your computers right at your fingertips…anytime, anywhere from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. With SugarSync, you get free cloud backup that you can use to sync files, share folders, and access your data directly from your device. If you like Dropbox, iCloud, or Box.net, you’ll love SugarSync.
But don’t just take our word for it. Experts agree that SugarSync is the leader online backup, mobile sync, and file sharing. Here’s what a few industry experts have said:
SugarSync "is by far the best solution I have tested to replicating and synchronizing your files across multiple computers. It really works." – Walt Mossberg, Wall Street Journal
"Using SugarSync to manage your files is a lifesaver and I think it is the only sane way to edit documents on the go" – John Biggs, TechCrunch
In addition, the app is perfect for mobile photo and mobile video backup and sync. It is dead simple to back up photos or videos on your device to the Cloud and sync it to ANY folder on your computer. Forget about thinking, wires, or emails to yourself. It just works.
Using this app, your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch can:
* Get anytime, anywhere access to ALL of your files, photos, and music
* Back up photos and videos to the Cloud and sync it to ANY folder on your computer
* Stream your entire music collection, even while you use other apps
* Download files or entire folders for fast, offline viewing
* Share ANY file or folder via email, or copy and paste links to share with another app
* Create new folders or text files and sync it to any computer
* Share, move, and delete files on your computers. It’s like a remote control for all your files!
* View photos from all of your computers (and easily save any to your iPhone/iPad)
* And MUCH more!
If you don’t have an account, you can sign up from the app and get 5 GB of free online storage. To get real-time access to files from your computers, don’t forget to install the free SugarSync application on your PC or Mac. For more information, visit www.sugarsync.com.

Turn off your desktop computer's monitor & CPU if you won't be working on the computer for the next 2 hours. Although computer equipment requires a small surge of energy when starting up, the surge requires less energy than when you leave equipment idle for long periods of time.

U.S. sub collides with Japanese fishing boat in Pearl Harbor (2001):

On this day in 2001, a United States military submarine collides with a Japanese fishing boat in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killing four students and five other people. The USS Greenville was hosting a cruise for VIPs at the time, some of whom were actually at the controls of the sub when the collision occurred.

Scott Waddle was the commander of the Greenville, a 7,000-ton nuclear submarine. As part of the Distinguished Visitor program, 16 civilians were on board the sub on the morning of February 9. The last maneuver that was to be shown to the VIPs was the Emergency Ballast Tank Blow that brings the submarine to the surface very quickly.

It was at this point that proper procedures broke down completely. Commander Waddle gave orders that could not be completed properly in the time assigned. Appropriate sonar and periscope sweeps to determine the safety of surfacing were not completed. In addition, the crew failed to communicate its intentions properly in part because civilians were sitting at the sub controls. It also failed to notice that the Ehime Maru, a Japanese fishing vessel, was above them on the surface.

The Greenville's rudder sliced right through the Ehime Maru's engine room as it rose to the surface. The fishing boat, used as a training vessel for high school students, was damaged so severely that it sank within 10 minutes. Nine people, including four students, drowned. A week later, the boat was found resting on the ocean floor 2,000 feet below the surface and was carried (still underwater) closer to the island of Oahu for salvage operations. Divers recovered eight bodies in October and, later, a memorial was established at Kakaako Park in Honolulu.

Despite the failures of Commander Waddle, Navy administrators did not pursue a court-martial. Waddle received only a reprimand and was allowed to keep his rank and pension.

The Greenville went on to be involved in two other incidents the following year: In August, it ran aground in a Saipan port, and on January 27, 2002, it collided with the USS Ogden near Oman. Commanding officer David Bogdan was removed from duty following the Saipan incident but there were no disciplinary measures taken after the Ogden collision.