In The Rear View Mirror

Saw this shortly before Father's Day, and thought I'd share with those of you who are missing your father today as much as I miss mine:



The most memorable dance I ever had with my dad?  Get your hankies out...



Yes, we both sniffled and smiled our way through the entire thing.

Miss you, Daddy!

Lover's Lane

Too sweetly funny not to share:

Intersections

For those who recently dropped me notes of sympathy, really the teeth in, teeth out routine isn't that bad.  What does suck about the whole thing?




So there.
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Oh, sure... Fabulous at 50! You have fewer colds, less sensitive teeth and are better at sex

I have less sensitive teeth... because I don't have real ones any more.  The rest, well... that's for me to know and you to find out.

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Valentine's Day is coming.  How to you define love?

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A survey has revealed than an astonishing 43 per cent of women carry around a pair of sexy pants in their handbags... just in case.

I find that astonishing.  In fact, I've put together a little survey of my own to see just how true that is.  Click here to take survey

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"Is my kid entitled?"  If you have to ask, the answer is more than likely YES.  This is one of the most sensible reads for parents that I've seen in a long time.

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I did know this -- "Cut flowers prefer a cool, humid environment and should be kept out of bright light and away from heating vents."

 

What I didn't know was this -- "Do not place cut flowers close to a bowl of fruit, because ethylene gas emitted by ripening fruit can damage the flowers. So can cigarette smoke."  

 

Good to know!

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I recently spent an evening in the company of a delightful soccer coach from Glasgow, Scotland.  Given that I couldn't understand over a third of what he said (though the accent was delightfully piquant), Siri has my sympathy and this article had me in hysterics.  

See?

Drive-Bys

Just how gullible can some women be?

An 81-year-old man who posed as a doctor so he could con his way into women's homes and perform fake breast examinations has struck a plea deal with prosecutors, narrowly escaping spending the rest of his lief in prison.

Phillip Winikoff, from Coconut Creek, Florida, was accused of carrying out the pretence with a black doctor's bag in April 2006 at an apartment complex in Fort Lauderdale.

Two women are said to have fallen for his ruse and allowed him into their apartment.

The first victim, a 36-year-old, said once Winikoff was inside her apartment, he 'touched her breast'. She realised something was wrong when he moved his hand down into her pants and fondled her.

By the time the victim called 911, Winikoff had already found a second victim, the sheriff's office said.

Seriously???
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Speaking of seriously, how has this managed to have gone unaddressed for so long?

Cook County Forest Preserve District workers soon will be getting e-mail addresses, performance reviews and clear descriptions of their jobs.

The lack of decent technology is bad enough, but the no performance reviews? No job descriptions? That's just plain nuts. (And that's government Chicago-style for you!)
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For those of you that think Hillary Clinton running for Veep alongside Obama is a good idea, keep in mind her "good" judgment:

"I do not think it's even in the realm of possibility, and in large measure because I think Vice President Biden has done an amazingly good job."

That ranks right up there with, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."
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I've been beating the drum on this topic for years.

In the movies, you know the seemingly mismatched couple are really soulmates when they perform karaoke and both miraculously know the words to some obscure song. All their problems melt away, and confessions of undying love and marriage on the beach swiftly follow.

The inference is that once you find your soulmate, there are no rows and you will be unquestionably accepted for who you are. No wonder everyone wants one — particularly this generation, many of whom had a front-row seat for their parents’ divorce.

Obviously, we need to believe that something will save us from repeating our parents’ mistakes — so the idea that soulmates exist is very attractive. Sadly, it’s totally devoid of realism.

Did they listen to me? Noooooooooooooo. And nobody will pay any attention to this article, either.

Lest you think I lack a romantic soul, however, keep in mind that several of my close friends also thought I was nuts when I arranged for two crazy kids to meet back in 2007. In 2008, those same friends had to eat their words. And guess what?


(Click to embiggen, and check the left hand.)



Nanny-nanny boo-boo to you!
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Drive-Bys

The weather here has been lovely today... just... freaking... lovely.

Current conditions

70°F

Thunderstorm

RealFeel®:

67°F

Humidity:

88%

Winds:

S 16mph

Pressure:

29.79°Hg

Visibility:

8 mi.

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Do you have a BoA or Chase credit card? Then you may want to pay attention to this:

If you have a credit card account with Bank of America or Chase, two of the nation’s largest banks, a major security flaw has been exposed that could make your information vulnerable to an Internet crook – or even a nosy neighbor.

Consumer advocate Edgar Dworsky of ConsumerWorld.org, who discovered the flaw, says anyone who knows your phone number and has the last four digits of your Chase or BofA credit card number might be able access your account.

Here’s the flaw Dworsky uncovered: When you call a bank’s automated credit card account information system, the computer uses caller ID to compare the number you’re calling from with the one on the account (usually your home phone).

At BofA and Chase, if the phone number is a match, the verification process is streamlined. Rather than requiring the entire credit card number to be entered, the caller can usually access the account with only the last four digits. In some cases, a zip code is also required.

“The last four digits of your credit card number are just out there so predominantly,” Dworsky says. “If you look at any sales receipt, it always has those last four digits.”

In order for someone to take advantage of this security loophole, they’d have to trick the bank’s computer to make it appear the call is coming from your home phone. Internet “spoofing” sites make this incredibly easy to do. Con artists have been using this technology for years, and it is how those British tabloid reporters were able to hack into so many voicemail systems.

Yikes!
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Here's a very interesting four-part article on the state of high tech manufacturing, and why it's less and less likely that it'll happen here in the states. While the focus of this article is mainly on Amazon's Kindle, the very effects it describes is evidenced in this article on GE moving its X-ray business to China.
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From Joan of Argghh! a three hankie weeper. Seriously. Don't click on the link without an entire box of tissues at hand.
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Graumagus has finally resurfaced. Yay! Now we can once again enjoy pithy posts such as this.
The man truly does employ a unique turn of phrase...
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Update: Folks ending up here run the gamut from searches on "ass burgers" to "examples of inviolability of human dignity."

Y'all are an interesting bunch.

Drive-Bys

Giggle of the Day:

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24 hours of Mexican food in Chicago? Sounds fabulous!
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Boozer and his former wife, Cindy, say the Osorios promised 1,000 percent returns from projects that benefitted disaster-stricken areas.

When you truly believe you're going to get returns like that, you might want to remember Bernie Madoff and how well promises like that worked out for his clients.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
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Quote of the Day:

You don't wait to find clarity a few days after you begin a war. You'd better have complete clarity before you ever give the order to fire in the first place.

Too right.
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They spent their whole lives together and their love was plain for all to see.

What a lovely love story! (And the photos are gorgeous.)

That's Sweet

In the spirit of Valentine's Day...

Not one, but two stories of long-lasting loves!

First,

The year was 1927. The setting was rural Nebraska, on the eve of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. She was 14 years old, a little shy and "too young to date," she recalls. He was 19, an outgoing, blue-eyed farm boy who made his living picking corn by hand.

"We met on the dance floor," he remembers, then turns to her for confirmation. "Wasn't it at a dance?"

Yes, she nods and smiles.

They married in 1930, just five days after she turned 17. "A neighbor told Grandma, 'That ain't gonna last,'" she says.

"Everyone who knew us and our families," he adds with a grin. "They all said it wouldn't last."

But Elza and Vivian Moses surprised them all. He is now 102, and she is 97. They have become minor celebrities in central Illinois since September, when they reached an astounding milestone of marital longevity: their 80th wedding anniversary.

It goes to show you never can tell!

Second,

When the couple were introduced by friends in 1954, he was a devout bachelor and she was a devout bachelorette. They both were older, had never been married and never thought they would build a life together that has been anything but routine.

Henry Hines, who turns 96 on Saturday, is fit and trim and still walks with his back straight. Mattie Hines, 88, is petite and soft-spoken. On the day I visited them, she wore a magenta jogging suit. The Hineses admit they have no secret to their longevity in life or love. Just a story:

"You look at the statistics today, and it seems some people don't stay married 55 minutes, let alone 55 years," Henry said. "Maybe it's that I used to run on the road and absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"But, Henry," Mattie said, "you've been retired since 1980 and I've been retired since 1988 and we've been together ever since. We enjoy each other."

"We really do," he said. "We've never had major arguments. We disagree sometimes. But we've never been too set in any particular way."

"When we go out, you see one, you see the other," she said. "We're always together. At home, we watch movies or we go to our separate rooms, but we always come back together. We enjoy each other."

"We really do," he said.

How lovely is that?

And those stories, my friends, are my Valentine gift to you.

Sunday Schedule

So cute I almost can't stand it:

(One day I will have one of my very own, just you wait!)

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Giggle of the Day, Part I:

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Giggle of the Day, Part II:

When confronted with the allegations of force-feeding the activists meat, using them as ad hoc latrines, leaving them incapacitated in fast food restaurant dumpsters, and ‘farting on their heads,’ the organizer declined to comment in detail. “That’s just our secret handshake,” assured the organizer.

I apologize to no one for laughing myself silly over this. (Thanks, Denny!)

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Now here's a lovely love story:

“All of the sudden, I realized, my God, am I 16 again?” she said “What’s the matter with me? I was sitting there hoping he’d call! It just surprised me that I was having that good of a time.”

Love is not strictly the province of the young... and we should all be thankful for that!

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Sunday Schedule

Now here's a first -- "Unknown" and "Misc." in the same day!

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Giggle of the Day:

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This is not one of the things I wondered about when I hit thirty:

I find myself at the age of 31 wondering what proper nipple etiquette is.

(Mental eye-roll.)

I ask you, ladies -- planted question or the genuine article?

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Future Darwin Award winners?

Kristopher Carlson, 20, of Ingelside and Frank Dumelle, 19, of Round Lake were reportedly making explosives when one of their home-made bombs exploded, police said.

“We don’t think that the men were with any type of terrorist network or radical group. They were just some kids experimenting,” said a spokesman from the sheriff’s department.

You betcha!

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Here's another love story with a unique twist:

Some men are lucky like this. They discover what they love and they never leave.

How lucky those young men are who had Scott Lang for a coach!
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I see the TSA is once again proving it has our its own best interest at heart.

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Bad hair day, maybe?

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Listening to the NHL Allstars game. Home boy Clay Aiken did a fine job on our National Anthem, but the Canadian Tenors singing "O Canada" were simply awesome.

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The Irish promote the virtues of Whiskey in the Jar:

The Scots, apparently are going in a different direction:

(That's "Dram in a Can" to my fellow Yanks.)

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From another one of my site meters, the search phrases that brought people here today:

cute pictures 2

funny images 2

funny pictures 2

funny pictures of dogs with captions 2

blogspot leslie 1

funny animal sayings 1

funny cats with words 1

funny pudding pictures 1

funny snow mobile trail pictures 1

hot passion

Yep, that's me -- a little bit cute, a lot funny and a surprising drop of... *ahem*.