Getting to Know Your Friends

Teresa sent me this, so I figured I’d post here instead of emailing the whole world.

Welcome to the 2008 edition of Getting to Know Your Friends. What you are supposed to do is copy (not forward) this entire e-mail and paste it onto a new e-mail that you will send. Change all the answers so they apply to you, and then send this to your friends including the person who sent it to you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little things about your friends that you might not have known!

1. What time did you get up today? 5:15 am CST.

2. Diamonds or pearls? Both.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? I Am Legend.

4. What is your favorite tv show? MythBusters, Dirty Jobs, CSI, Animal Cops, Smash Lab, The Closer, Saving Grace, Inuyasha, Futurama, … I have several more

5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Either a biscuit or a protein bar.

6. What is your middle name? Nicole.

7. What food do you dislike? Ooh, I have a lengthy list … I’m a picky eater

8. What is your favorite cd? Right now it’s a mix CD of Seether and Three Days Grace songs.

9. What kind of car do you drive? Hyundai Santa Fe.

10. Favorite sandwich? Either a BLT or turkey and provologne.

11. What characteristic do you despise? Deceit.

12. Favorite item of clothing? My new ‘Bama jersey.

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Ireland, Japan, Galopagos…

14. What color is your bathroom? Mostly blue.

15. Favorite brand of clothing? Right now, Chicos.

16. Where would you retire to? Nowhere. The South is where it’s at!

17. What was your most memorable birthday? Last year’s.

18. Favorite sport to watch? Football. ROLL TIDE!!

19. Furthest place you are sending this? The internets. :mrgreen:

20. Favorite saying? WTF?

21. When is your birthday? April 15th.

22. Are you a morning or night person? Definitely a morning person.

23. What is your shoe size? Don’t you know never to ask a woman that?

24. Pets? Not anymore.

25. Any new and exciting news you would like to share with us? I’m in the middle of fscking up my website, isn’t that great?!!?

26. What did you want to be when you were little? A teacher.

29. How are you today? Can’t complain, and yourself?

30. What is your favorite candy? Oh, I have many favorites. Let’s just say chocolate … that should cover most of them.

31. Your favorite flower? Roses.

32. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? Saturday.

33. What is your full name? Are you a census taker?

34. What are you listening to right now? The Essential Ozzy Osbourne.

35. What was the last thing you ate? A piece of Altoids gum.

36. Do you wish on stars? No, I leave that to Jessie now.

37. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Flame red.

38. How is the weather right now? Kind of soggy.

39. Favorite soft drink? I dumped soda … but he still calls sometimes.

40. Favorite restaurant? Oh, I have several! Cajun Steamer, Bento, BK, Doodles, El Carreton, China One, Styx, … there are several more, but can’t think of them at the moment.

41. Siblings? One brother.

42. Favorite day of the year? Any of the “eating” holidays.

43. What was your favorite toy as a child? My NES.

44. Summer or winter? Definitely summer!

45. Hugs or kisses? Both.

46. Coffee or tea? Tea is my poison of choice.

47. Chocolate or vanilla? What kind of question is that? Chocolate, fool!

48. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? Sure if they don’t wanna comment.

49. When was the last time you cried? This morning.

50. What is under your bed? Dust bunnies, a baseball bat, and probably the odd sock or two…

51. Who are the friends you have had the longest? Let’s see … Big Jim, Teresa, Mara, Jeff, John, … I’m sure there’s a couple more…

52. What did you do last night? Vegged out.

53. Favorite smell? Lavender.

54. What are you afraid of? Why do you need to know?

55. Salty or sweet? Definitely sweet.

56. How many keys on your ring? 10.

57. How many years at your current job? Not quite 1 year yet.

58. Favorite day of the week? Payday.

59. How many towns have you lived in? 5.

60. Do you make friends easily? Usually, yeah.

61. Many people will you send this to? The whole internets.

62. How many will respond? If I lie and say ’10,’ will you come back later to check?

Humpday Hilarities

My co-worker sent me today’s funny:

While walking down the street one day a US senator is tragically hit by a truck and dies.

His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance. ‘Welcome to heaven,’ says St. Peter. ‘Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we’re not sure what to do with you.’

‘No problem, just let me in,’ says the man.

‘Well, I’d like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we’ll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity.’

‘Really, I’ve made up my mind. I want to be in heaven,’ says the senator.

‘I’m sorry, but we have our rules.’

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.

Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people. They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and champagne.

Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go. Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises…

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him. ‘Now it’s time to visit heaven.’

So, 24 hours pass with the senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

‘Well, then, you’ve spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity.’

The senator reflects for a minute, then he answers: ‘Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell.’

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. Now the doors of the elevator open and he’s in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder. ‘I don’t understand,’ stammers the senator. ‘Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there’s just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?’

The devil looks at him, smiles and says, ‘Yesterday we were campaigning… Today you voted.’

(Yes, I know … very similar to the Bill Gates/beta one. I like this one better ;p)

Fair warning

Hey gang, over the next few days I will be moving around the file structure on my web host, and will be making lots of changes to my domains — nothing major, just re-organizing and dropping a couple domains I don’t need.

I’m not anticipating any downtime, and will be crossing my fingers. However, because I decided to get a wild hair and do it in the middle of the week … this is your fair warning that I may be mucking things up!

Good job, Jeff Co sheriffs!

On the way home from the gun show in Bessemer Saturday, we were coming up on the I-65 Walker Chapel exit. We were starved and wanted to grab a quick bite to take home with us. There was an 18-wheeler pulled over with a couple of Jefferson County sheriff cars. The truck driver was outside the back end of the truck, with the doors open and one of the sheriffs climbing inside.

I mentioned to Jim, “Looks like a drug search.” We went on and I didn’t think anything else about it, other than I had almost snapped off a few pics as we drove by.

This was just posted to the MyFoxAL feeds:

Breaking News: Record Cocaine Bust

BIRMINGHAM, Ala (WBRC-TV MyFoxAL.com) — The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office has announced that they have conducted what could be one of the largest cocaine seizures in the state of Alabama and probably the largest in Jefferson County.

On January 26, the Highway Safety Unity stopped a tractor trailer traveling North on I-65 near Walker’s Chapel Rd.

Upon inspection of the trailer, 265 pounds of cocaine was discovered.

The shipment was believed to be heading to the North-East of the country to be turned into crack-cocaine. The value of the drugs was approximately 7.2 million dollars.

Resident Mexican Alien Jose Luis Magana of Edinburg, Texas was arrested and charged with cocaine trafficking. He is being held under a 1 million dollar bond.

Edit: And this was just posted to the Birmingham News feeds:

265 pounds of cocaine seized in highway bust

Investigators confiscated 265 pounds of cocaine being smuggled in a truck traveling Saturday on Interstate 65 near Walker’s Chapel Road, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department announced.

The bust is believed to be one of the largest cocaine seizures in state history and the largest ever in Jefferson County, according to the department.

Authorities believe the cocaine was destined for the northeast where it would have been converted to crack cocaine with a street value of about $7.2 million.

The driver of the truck, Jose Luis Magana of Edinburg, Texas, was taken into custody and is being held in the Jefferson County Jail on a $1 million bond on charges of trafficking in cocaine.

The Sheriff’s Highway Safety Unit found the drugs and made the arrest.

Birmingham News staff

A Mexican immigrant. I’d guess illegal, but the media never reports that kind of thing anymore. Anyone surprised? That’s a prime example of the kind of element we DON’T want coming here. (Wishing more of the outspoken pro-immigration community would denounce these kind of lowlifes that seem to keep sneaking up here!)

Anyway … I knew should’ve snagged those pics. Oh well, ’tis a cool catch for the local sheriffs dept! :cool:

Seen at the gun show today

25 years later, are we still looking for our Bear?

I knew the anniversary was coming up, but had forgotten about it until I read an excerpt on The Birmingham News’ blog asking readers to share their memories of Paul William “Bear” Bryant, Sr. Saturday is the 25th anniversary of the death of our beloved coaching legend. That day, I think the entire state mourned his passing. I remember Gramps saying, “Today, a good man and a great coach has died.” Ever since that day, I’ve heard fellow fans refer to him as “The Greatest Coach That Ever Lived.”

I was only 8 years old when he died, but I had heard stories about “The Bear” all of my life, and they’ve stayed with me. I was born an Alabamian, but I was a University of Alabama fan “but by the Grace of God.” Where I come from, he’s more than just a man, he was a legend. But I think most Alabama fans didn’t know how good we had it until it was over. In the 24 years that we had The Bear, Alabama had 232 wins and only 46 losses. His teams gave us 6 national championships — the most number celebrated by Southeastern Conference members and among the most of any school in the whole country!

With those kind of numbers, it’s no wonder many fans want to compare every coach that steps up to him. Why, I’ve heard my own husband gripe, saying that if fans would stop doing that, they could appreciate the coach they do have more. While I agree with that to an extent, but you know the truth is: we were spoiled. And I think now people are realizing that we’ve been missing that kind of quality coaching for a long time. I like what I hear about the guy we have now. I hear Saban’s very tough on the kids. Good, we need someone who can keep those boys in line and teach ‘em a thing or two. He’s no Bear, but if you ask me, he has a lot of the same qualities that make him just as good a coach — let’s hope he proves me right in the next few years.

Selective reading/viewing and link love

• The Birmingham News has put together a photo gallery of Bryant-related Birmingham News photos.
• My own collection of Bear Bryant pictures are here. (though Zooomr is currently in a move, so if they’re down please try again later!)
• There are a TON of Bear Bryant videos on YouTube.
• RedElephants’ Bear Bryant bio and timeline.
• Mike Puma’s “Bear Bryant ‘simply the best there ever was’” for ESPN.
• Phillip Casteel’s And What “The Bear” Had To Say… page of Bear Bryant quotes and anecdotes.

I know there’s a LOT more out there, but those are what I keep bookmarked…

EDIT: Here’s a few more I’ve found along the way…

• Alabama jokes posted over at Wade Kwon’s blog
• Fox 6′s coverage of the anniversary
• The archived footage of Bear’s funeral

In closing

I’ve heard tons of Bear Bryant stories over the years, but there’s one in particular I have heard told by several people and it’s by far my favorite. I’d like to leave that here with you all, following my favorite clip of The Bear, giving one of his famous half-time speeches:

Bear Bryant knew how to be nice. At a TD Club meeting many years before his death, Coach told the following story … typical of the way he operated:

“I had just been named the new head coach at Alabama and was off in my old car down in South Alabama recruiting a prospect who was supposed to have been a pretty good player and I was havin’ trouble finding the place. Getting hungry I spied an old cinder block building with a small sign out front that simply said “Restaurant”.

“I pull up, go in and every head in the place turns to stare at me. Seems I’m the only white fella in the place. But the food smelled good so I skip a table and go up to a cement bar and sit. A big ole man in a tee shirt and cap comes over and says, “What do you need?” I told him I needed lunch and what did they have today? He says, “You probably won’t like it here, today we’re having chiltlins, collard greens and black eyed peas with cornbread. I’ll bet you don’t even know what chitlins are, do you?”

“I looked him square in the eye and said, “I’m from Arkansas, I’ve probably eaten a mile of them. Sounds like I’m in the right place.” They all smiled he left to serve me up a big plate. When he comes back he says, “you ain’t from around here then?” And I explain I’m the new football coach up in Tuscaloosa at the University and I’m here to find what ever that boy’s name was, and he says, “yeah I’ve heard of him, he’s supposed to be pretty good.” And he gives me directions to the school so I can meet him and his coach.

“As I’m paying up to leave I remember my manners and leave a tip, not too big to be flashy, but a good one, and he told me lunch was on him, but I told him for a lunch that good, I felt I should pay. The big man asked me if I had a photograph of something he could hang up to show I’d been there. I was so new that I didn’t have any yet. It really wasn’t that big a thing back then to be asked for, but I took a napkin and wrote his name and address on it and told him I’d get him one. I met the kid I was lookin’ for later that afternoon, and I don’t remember his name, but do remember I didn’t think much of him when I met him. I had wasted a day, or so I thought.

“When I got back to Tuscaloosa late that night, I put that napkin from my shirt pocket and put it under my keys so I wouldn’t forget it. Hell, back then I was excited that anybody would want a picture of me. And the next day we found a picture and I wrote on it, “Thanks for the best lunch I’ve ever had, Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant.”

“Now let’s go a whole buncha years down the road. Now we have black players at Alabama and I’m back down in that part of the country scouting an offensive lineman we sure needed. Y’all remember, (and I forget the name, but it’s not important to the story), well anyway, he’s got two friends going to Auburn and he tells me he’s got his heart set on Auburn too, so I leave empty handed and go on see some others while I’m down there. Two days later, I’m in my office in Tuscaloosa and the phone rings and it’s this kid who just turned me down, and he says, “Coach, do you still want me at Alabama?” And I said hell yes I sure do. And he says, OK, he’ll come. And I say, “well son, what changed your mind?” And he said, “When my grandpa found out that I had a chance to play for you and said no he pitched a fit and told me I wasn’t going nowhere but Alabama, and wasn’t playing for nobody but you. He thinks a lot of you and has ever since y’all met.” Well I didn’t know his grandad from Adam’s housecat so I asked him who his grand daddy was and he said, “You probably don’t remember him, but you ate in his restaurant your first year at Alabama and you sent him a picture that he’s had hung in that place ever since. That picture’s his pride and joy and he still tells everybody about the day that Bear Bryant came in and had chitlins with him. My grandpa said that when you left there, he never expected you to remember him or to send him that picture, but you kept your word to him, and to Grandpa, that’s everything. He said you could teach me more than football and I had to play for a man like you, so I guess I’m going to.”

“I was floored”, he said. “But I learned that the lessons my mama taught me were always right. It don’t cost nuthin’ to be nice. It don’t cost nuthin’ to do the right thing most of the time, and it costs a lot to lose your good name by breakin’ your word to someone. When I went back to sign that boy, I looked up his Grandpa and he’s still running that place, but it looks a lot better now, and he didn’t have chitlins that day, but he had some ribs that woulda made Dreamland proud and I made sure I posed for a lot of pictures, and don’t think I didn’t leave some new ones for him too, along with a signed football. I made it clear to all my assistants to keep this story and these lessons in mind when they’re out on the road. And if you remember anything else from me, remember this, “It really doesn’t cost anything to be nice, and the rewards can be unimaginable.”

Women’s health and the “Big C”

Big of warning to you menfolk: there may be a bit more information here than you’d care to know about me and/or the subject of women’s bodies and their monthly ‘cycle’ in general. You’ve been warned.

I was skimming through the headlines on the MyFoxAL blog feeds and ran across this one: “Study: The Pill Protects Against Cancer.” Thinking that sounded familiar, I looked through the archives over at That’s Fit to find this article, “Taking the Pill reduces cancer risk,” from back in September. They weren’t exactly the same in content, but both conveyed the same general idea: women who take the pill lower their risk of developing cancer later in life.

YAY! Good news for folks like me!

While there is some dispute over which cancers are prevented and which ones aren’t differ, it is good news overall. Given my family’s medical history (cancer on both sides), I’m willing to take this as a plus. That said, it helps to know what to expect when going on ANY kind of birth control. I know some girls who would read the above mentioned articles and go ask for the pill right out!

Ladies, you first need to really know what you are putting into your body. While this is sound advice for any medication, it is essential when we’re talking about birth control. Think about it, people: these are hormones! These products are made to intentionally interrupt and re-arrange your body’s natural timing. Some of these products may be dangerous! For instance, most commercials I’ve noticed on tv nowadays aren’t for “the ye olde pill,” it’s for the newest super-pill, or a patch, or a ring. Has anyone ever wondered how safe those products are? Remember the Nuvaring commercials? That product died a quiet death after studies had shown that its users were experiencing ‘severe side effects’ — yeah, I’d say the deadly kind!

Hello, can we say: Pulmonary embolisms? Strokes? Anyone? Bueller?

What’s worse, many women are completely unaware at the side effects that may come with birth control. I personally ran into a whole stint of problems and my gyn at the time put me through several different drugs. For whatever reason my ‘plumbing’ stopped behaving as it should. I stopped getting periods. After 3 months, they ran a pregnancy test (of course they never believe you when you tell them you’re “not pregnant” :roll: ), and when it came up negative, they ran all sorts of tests and ultimately told me, “We have no idea why it’s doing that. Just wait another month and we’re sure your cycle will correct itself.”

Three months and a whole myriad of tests later, still no period. I went back to see the doctor and he put me on Seasonale. It was a little weird. I was told to expect to be on a pack for 3 months, then have a short period. Ok, no big deal, right? On the third month of the pack, I kept having really painful cramps and more headaches. I called the doctor, was told this was normal. I completed the pack, and was told by my doctor that I didn’t have to have a period and could start right away on the new pack, skipping the sugar pills. Two weeks later I started hemorrhaging. Alarmed, I called the doctor. He told me that break-through bleeding was “normal” and not to worry.

Me: This isn’t just a little spot or two. This is full on gushing blood here. How the hell is hemorrhaging normal??
Dr: Is there a possibility you’re pregnant?
Me: Not unless you’re expecting another Messiah.

So I’m told to come in for another exam. They find nothing wrong and I’m told that I’ve lost a lot of blood.

No shit, Sherlock!

After this point, I’d had enough and went to see my GP — who, honestly, I should have seen in the first place. I told her what was going on and told her about the various medications I had taken, and about the problems I’d recently had with Seasonale. She told me that she wasn’t surprised, and that Seasonale had just gotten their fannies smacked by the FDA (pdf), and she’d heard from several other women had experienced the same thing I had just gone through.

Note: I was told by several sources it’s been pulled from the market altogether, but can’t find anything in print right now.

Anyways, she switched me to a low hormone pill. When I asked about the other kind of rings, patches, etc. She told me she didn’t trust them, and they increase your risk factors for blood clots and certain types of cancers (among a whole horde of other things).

I’m on Loestrin now. What pisses me off most was that when I was put on all those other meds before by my gyn, I asked if there were any side effects I needed to be aware of. I was never told about the cramps, the bleeding, the headaches, or the extensive list of other side effects I could possibly encounter. All in all, I’ve learned that yes, having a period is a pain, but it also serves a necessary function, and having one every few months is better for my peace of mind.

Anyways, the whole point of this rant is: ladies, talk to your doctors! Whether you’re a user of a patch, a ring, or a pill. Find out if you need to get more calcium, if OTC medicines or one of your prescriptions could counter-act it (as well as various drug treatments), if you may gain weight (a biggie with EVERY woman I know, myself included!), … There are a lot of myths about the pill that have been around since our mothers and grandmothers were on it, and it amazes the hell out of me how many doctors DON’T talk about this sort of thing. (And too many women either don’t know, or are too scared, to ask.)

Thankfully I am ‘me’ again

Well, I am FINALLY starting to feel a bit better. I came back to work yesterday and lasted pretty well (half the day). I had another doctor’s appointment yesterday afternoon. It seems the flu gave birth to a sinus infection.

Lucky me … it’s the gift that keeps on giving! ??:

So I got a shot and more pills. Meh. Oh well, at least now my head is clearer and though I’m still coughing up a lung quite a bit, I do feel a LOT better and have gotten most of my voice back. (much to Jim and Jessie’s chagrin I’m sure! )

I read that the Lunarpages crew are having their final 12 vote. None of mine were included, but two of my design submissions are now featured in their WordPress Theme Gallery, so that’s pretty cool in itself. Entering the contest was more about testing the waters and getting some (hopefully) unbiased feedback on my designs — so all in all, it was a good learning experience.

Though 5 years of free hosting WOULD have been nice … LOL!

Being at home by myself this week, I was reminded of why I stopped working from home and went back to work in an office environment — it’s boring! ;P The quiet time was nice, but after only a couple of days, I was wishing I was well enough to go in to work. Don’t get me wrong, I got a good bit of work done, but by the end of the day I was running out of things to do to entertain myself until time for Jim and Jessie to get home. I watched stuff on YouTube, I played online games, … in fact, this was the first time I played online Backgammon. I used to play Backgammon a lot when I was little with my Gramps. I think if he were around now, he’s probably love to hit up some Backgammon online.

I also spent some time working on a mockup Blogger design for the lovely ladies in the Cotillion that I had started a while back:

It’s based on an earlier design that they used at a previous location (on mu.nu I think). Overall, I’m very pleased with how well it turned out. I’ve still got a few bugs here or there to tweak. It’s harder than designing a WordPress theme, but I think that’s because it’s been such a long time since I’ve played around in Blogger code … so much of it has changed since I last had an account there.

Moving on … anyone got anything exciting planned for the weekend? Jim and I are planning on meeting up with Captain Fantastic and the lovely Miranda tomorrow and heading to the gun show in Bessemer. My Ladies Night Out group is also meeting up tomorrow night, but I don’t know yet if we’ll be done in time to go.

In all honesty, I don’t care what we end up doing. I’m just happy to get out of the house!

Humpday Hilarities

In my NyQuil-induced stupor, I almost forgot to post this. Today’s funny bit comes from someone y’all may recognize from a recent Geico commercial — Brandon Hardesty. I’ve been a fan of his works for a few years now, and this is one of my favorite videos he’s released on YouTube:

Snowballing

I’m now on Day three of the sickness. I feel like hammered shit. Throat hurts, head hurts, back hurts, and now I’m starting to cough uncontrollably. I can’t find any chocolate in this house (it’s my fault, I didn’t buy any so I wouldn’t eat it), my temperature’s back. And to top it all off, Fred Thompson just dropped out of the race.

Dammit, dammit, dammit!

I should’ve stayed in bed …

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