Snowy’s Neighborhood

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After being buried under half a foot of snow here last week, and having come back from a stay in the USA, where a meter of snow fell as soon as I left (and it snowed, sleeted and freezing rained while I was there), more snow is predicted for tonight and onwards. Ten inches of it. And loads more snow for the midwestern United States. 

(a segment cut and pasted from the BBC's website)

Reconnecting flood-plains to rivers will help reduce the risk of future flooding, suggest US scientists.

A study by US researchers said allowing these areas to be submerged during storms would reduce the risk of flood damage in nearby urban areas.

Pressure to build new homes has led to many flood-prone areas being developed.

Writing in Science, they said the risks of flooding were likely to increase in the future as a result of climate change and shifts in land use.

"We are advocating very large-scale shifts in land use, "said co-author Jeffrey Opperman, a member of The Nature Conservancy's Global Freshwater Team.

"There is simply no way economically or politically that this could be accomplished by turning large areas of flood-plains into parks," he told the Science podcast.

The reconnection programmes would deliver three benefits, they added:

• Reduce the risk of flooding

• Increase in flood-plain goods and services

• Greater resilience to potential climate change impacts

My input: No shyte, Sherlock. The flood plain is part of the river. It was bad to sell land in a flood plain. Connecting the flood plain to the river will make the run off less likely to flood. Nature is now publishing the very very obvious. Next month's ground breaking article is about meteors falling from the sky actually being rocks from outer space caught in Earth's gravitational field.

What's your best advice on how to deal with the post-holiday blues?

Eat as much chocolate and cookies as possible and watch good comedy on the tv. Then go out for a long hike, no matter the weather.

Visitors who stay at GOF's Paradise will politely (sometimes) be made aware that our solar power supply whilst renewable, nevertheless consists of a finite number of electrons stored in the batteries.

Leaving a single light switched on unnecessarily, or automatically assuming that the television can be turned on in the morning before the sun comes up, or on a cloudy day, will attract some sort of educational muttering.

Family members similarly disobeying the rules of electrical engineering will receive a grumbled  "Stop wasting the battery, do you think we own a frigging electricity factory."

Some things over the years also tended to unnecessarily deplete my personal life force battery and joie de vivre.

As each calendar year expires I like to renew my commitment to some systems which ensure the happy running of my old jalopy.

1. The disciplines that I know are required for good physical
    health.
2. To forgive instead of seeking revenge and retribution.
3. Allowing thankfulness for life to wash away negative imaginings.
4. To not dwell unnecessarily on failures resulting from actions
    originally taken with the best reason and honorable intention.
5. To completely avoid engaging with people and activities devoid
    of inspiration.

It is also folly to become obsessively concerned with changing things that are beyond our individual sphere of influence.
Accordingly I provide a reminder for us all with this mournful lament from the Monty Python team, about preoccupation with minutiae and the baggage retrieval system at Heathrow.

I wish for each and every one of you a safe, constructive and rewarding 2010.

This just in....

Baby donkey deer spotted in suburban backyard !!!

 

Lydia does not have many marvellous things to write about in comparison with other countries, except for the gold dust that is carried down from Mount Tmolus.

- Herodotus, The History, 1.93

http://www.fleur-de-coin.com/articles/oldestcoin.asp

 

 

As I recline, hopefully recuperating,  my mind has turned to indulgences, and my selling therein of. For those of you late to St Flamingo Dancer flock, my New Year’s intention is to bestow upon myself sainthood. I am so wonderful, already a goddess,  that it is a natural extension of my fabulosity.

 

 I am also in it for the money.  I shall sell indulgences. Not the kind of indulgence that gets you a good after life, or anything of that nature, for that side of the market is already taken. No, I shall sell indulgences that perpetuates happiness in this world, and revenge upon those who wrong against my “clients”.

 

I thought about what currency I should use, and thought about the Electrum Stater Of Miletos or the tripodes", "axes" or "skewers"  of the pre-Numismatic Age, but eventually I arrived at the conclusion that Herodotus, sometimes, was right and so I shall use gold dust as my currency of exchange.

 

So I am thinking of setting the base rate of 14 grams of gold dust per smiting of employers, mothers in law and generally anyone who gets in your way in the supermarket. I set a lower price for smiting as I gain a certain large degree of pleasure from it myself!

 

28 grams of gold dust for the general sending of plagues and boils upon the person who annoys from the neighboring work cubicle, former university friends who now have 1. better jobs, 2. more money, 3. beautiful partners, or 4. has had cosmetic surgery though pretends otherwise.

 

32 grams will get you traffic free highways on the commute to work, no waiting in line for doctors, at banks, government departments, or checkouts, and wait, there’s more - no grey hair. In the case of the gentleman, you will be granted hair that remains on your head and never on your ears, but it may be grey. 32 grams of gold dust only goes so far!

 

The big stuff, a gold bar, will get you three wishes, as long as you remember your place and don’t expect to rise above me, as my fabulosity will not be undone!

 

Other indulgences upon request. Price non negotiable, no guarantees or warranties. Non returnable.   Responsibility and risk upon the requester.

 

 

An indulgence, in Catholic Theology, is the full or partial remission of temporal punishment due for sins which have already been forgiven. The indulgence is granted by the church after the sinner has confessed and received absolution. The belief is that indulgences draw on the Treasure House of Merit accumulated by Jesus' sacrifice and the virtues and penances of the saints. They are granted for specific good works and prayers.

 

Indulgences replaced the severe penances of the early Church. More exactly, they replaced the shortening of those penances that was allowed at the intercession of those imprisoned and those awaiting martyrdom for the faith.

 

Abuses in granting indulgences were a major point of contention when Martin Luther initiated the Protestant Reformation (1517).

 

Definitions of colonoscopy on the Web:

• visual examination of the colon (with a colonoscope) from the cecum to the rectum; requires sedation
  wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

• colonoscope - an elongated fiberoptic endoscope for examining the entire colon from cecum to rectum
  wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

• colonoscope - a flexible fibreoptic endoscope used to examine the colon and obtain tissue samples
  en.wiktionary.org/wiki/colonoscope

• Examination of the entire colon with an optic fiber tube inserted through the anus and rectum.
  aspirus.org/aboutAspirus/index.cfm

• a test that uses a long, flexible tube with a light and camera lens at the end (colonoscope) to examine inside the large intestine.
  www.childrenscentralcal.org/HealthE/P03012/Pages/P03011.aspx

• A procedure in which a long flexible viewing tube (a colonoscope) is threaded up through the rectum for the purpose of inspecting the entire colon and rectum and, if there is an abnormality, taking a biopsy of it or removing it. ...
  www.medicinenet.com/virtual_colonoscopy/glossary.htm

• Examination of the interior of the colon using a flexible viewing instrument.
  www.everydayhealth.com/gerd/understanding/glossary.aspx

• a diagnostic procedure in which a flexible tube with a light source in inserted into the colon (large intestine or large bowel) through the anus to view all sections of the colon for abnormalities.
  www.womenshealthzone.net/glossary/c/

• colonoscope - A thin, lighted tube used to examine the inside of the colon.
  www.pbs.org/secondopinion/episodes/coloncancer/medicalglossary/story283.html

• colonoscope - The long flexible lighted instrument used for performing Colonoscopy.
  www.ostomy.evansville.net/terms.htm

• colonoscope - Flexible, elongated tube that can be inserted through the anus allowing the inside of the colon to be seen.
  www.hollister.com/anz/ostomy/resource/glossary.html

• (col-un-AH-skuh-pee) examination of the colon with a long, flexible, lighted tube called a colonoscope. The doctor can look for polyps during the exam and even remove them using a wire loop passed through the colonoscope.
  www.mesothelioma-line.com/articles/glossary/

• An examination of the large intestine utilizing a long lighted fiberoptic or video scope.
  www.ostomy.evansville.net/terms.htm

• Visualization of the lining of the anus, rectum and colon through a rigid proctosigmoidoscope or a flexible fiber optic endoscope (types of viewing tubes). This procedure allows diagnosis of tumors and inflammatory diseases.
  www.abbottdiagnostics.com/Glossary/index.cfm

• Procedure that allows inspection and tissue sampling of the rectum and large intestine by inserting a flexible tube with an attached camera through the rectum.
  www.barrx.com/Patients_and_Families/index.cfm/55

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR - I think not! I was gong to say that I am really pissed off, but under the circumstances that might not be qute the right descripton!

We had fairly good flights in spite of the new airline security arrangements and arrived back in Washington DC late Saturday night.  I went to bed pretending that I had just had a big social night hoping that would help me get back into the time zone quicker.  I'm not sure it worked as I still needed a big nana-nap yesterday afternoon. 

First day back at work today and by 3pm I was wishing for a little lie down.   It's a three and a half day week this week as we close early on Thursday -  a nice re-introduction to a full week.  I was not so thrilled at the bitterly cold winds this morning and I've come home tonight to find that our heater is not working!!!!!!!     I'm going to have to go to bed now to stay warm. 

Last images of Sydney taken from the plane - a cloudy take-off:  (I wanted to also take photos of our arrival in Los Angeles but we were not allowed to have any items in our laps for the last hour)......

While we were in Australia, Washington had a 17" snow fall ......   this was all that was left on our top deck yesterday, one week later: