Cassie-b

9 days of vacation

I have been on vacation for 9 days.  Wow.  What a nice break.

We didn’t go anywhere, (except Thanksgiving day, and a couple of very successful shopping trips to New Jersey), and didn’t want to.  It was nice to just be an “at home” person. 

I did work about an hour a day on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, but at home, and at my own pc. 

We ate out a lot, and that’s a favorite thing for me.

HOME SWEET HOME

A good time to travel in PA

PHILADELPHIA - Toll collectors on the Pennsylvania Turnpike went on strike Wednesday, just as Americans were hitting the road for Thanksgiving.

The strike has not been settled yet, and if you travel on the turnpike, $2.00 will get you from one end of the state to the other.

On to the next holiday

Stockholm, Swedem—At these Winter Games, there are no strenuous slaloms or figure-eights. But if you can’t shimmy up a chimney or wrap a Christmas gift, forget about competing. The annual Santa Winter Olympics kick off this month with about 50 Santas from across Europe testing their holiday mettle in Sweden’s cold, northern reaches.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - At these Winter Games, there are no strenuous slaloms or figure-eights. But if you can’t shimmy up a chimney or wrap a Christmas gift, forget about competing.

The annual Santa Winter Olympics kick off this month with about 50 Santas from across Europe testing their holiday mettle in Sweden’s cold, northern reaches.

“This is a very serious business,” said Sivert Svensson, an organizer. “To wrap a Christmas gift quickly and nicely in a proper way is no easy task.”

In addition to the nimble fingers required of the gift-wrapping competition, the Games test strength and endurance in disciplines like kick-sledge riding and reindeer driving.

There are gold, silver and bronze medals - in the form of miniature peaked shoes - for the three lucky Santas deemed the best of the bunch.

But in a nod to the holiday spirit, losers will be awarded consolation medals.

Santas are traveling from as far as Britain, Russia and Spain to take part in the Nov. 19-21 contest in the city of Gaellivare, 745 miles north of the capital, Stockholm, and about 60 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

The contest is organized by the local folklore society in cooperation with a hotel.

Last year’s winner came from the Aland Islands, an autonomous province of Finland situated in the Baltic Sea halfway between Sweden and Finland.

There are many rules for qualifying - including having a big Santa heart.

“For a start, you must believe in Santa and be good, kind and happy. You have to behave in front of the children and also have been recommended by another Santa Claus,” Svensson said, adding that each new Santa applicant must go through a yearlong trial period.

The Pilgrims Feast

As I was starting to prepare the dishes we are bringing to Thanksgiving dinner, I took a moment to check up on the first Thanksgiving feast.

Foods Available to the Pilgrims for their 1621 Thanksgiving

FISH: cod, bass, herring, shad, bluefish, and lots of eel.

SEAFOOD: clams, lobsters, mussels, and very small quantities of oysters

BIRDS: wild turkey, goose, duck, crane, swan, partridge, and other miscellaneous waterfowl; they were also known to have occasionally eaten eagles (which “tasted like mutton” according to Winslow in 1623.)

OTHER MEAT: venison (deer), possibly some salt pork or chicken.

GRAIN: wheat flour, Indian corn and corn meal; barley (mainly for beer-making).

FRUITS: raspberries, strawberries, grapes, plums, cherries, blueberries, gooseberries (these would have been dried, as none would have been in season).

VEGETABLES: small quantity of peas, squashes (including pumpkins), beans

NUTS: walnuts, chestnuts, acorns, hickory nuts, ground nuts

HERBS and SEASONINGS: onions, leeks, strawberry leaves, currants, sorrel, yarrow, carvel, brooklime, liverwort, watercress, and flax; from England they brought seeds and probably planted radishes, lettuce, carrots, onions, and cabbage.  Olive oil in small quantities may have been brought over, though the Pilgrims had to sell most of their oil and butter before sailing, in order to stay on budget.

OTHER: maple syrup, honey; small quantities of butter, Holland cheese; and eggs

Some perhaps startling omissions from the authentic Thanksgiving menu

Ham. (The Pilgrims most likely did not have pigs with them).

Sweet Potatoes-Potatoes-Yams.  (These had not yet been introduced to New England).

Corn on the cob. (Indian corn was only good for making cornmeal, not eating on the cob).

Popcorn.  (Contrary to popular folklore, popcorn was not introduced at the 1621 Thanksgiving.  Indian corn could only be half-popped, and this wouldn’t have tasted very good.)

Cranberry sauce.  (Cranberries were available, but sugar was not.)

Pumpkin Pie:  (They probably made a pumpkin pudding of sorts, sweetened by honey or syrup, which would be like the filling of a pumpkin pie, but there would be no crust or whipped topping.)

He saw a lot of history

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The world’s oldest man, according to Guinness World Records, has died less than two weeks before he would have turned 114.  Fred Hale Sr. died in his sleep at his home.

Fred was also in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the world’s oldest driver when he was 108. Back then, Hale said slow drivers were his biggest pet peeve.

Fred Hale Sr. lived through 21 US presidents, and was in his 70s when Neil Armstrong landed on the Moon.

In 1890, there were only forty-three stars on the American flag when he was born in New Sharon, Maine.

On Friday, twelve days before his 114th birthday, the Maine native died in his sleep at his home in Syracuse, New York.

Thanksgiving salad

I’ve been asked to bring a salad to our Thanksgiving Dinner this year.  And I like to slice some Amish Pickled Beet eggs to put on the top.  Not only are they delicious, but I think they add some zip to the salad.

Thought to ponder

For those of us who (Moms and Dads) are raisingteenagers,
have raised teenagers,
or who are now teenagers:

Comments?

Kind of Pricey

Love Cats, But Suffer From Allergies?

ALLERCA Inc. is to Develop the World’s First Hypo-Allergenic Cats as an Alternative to Current Allergy Treatments.

This company is now accepting $350 deposits for the British Short Hair breed of cats it plans to charge $3,500 a piece for these cats, which will be spayed and neutered to prevent breeding with naturally born felines.

I wonder how much allergy shots cost? 
And are they covered by insurance?

Neighborhood Break-in

Our next door neighbor’s house was broken into on Friday night.  The husband is in a nursing home, and the wife is in a rehab center, coming home this Wednesday.  And someone broke the door down. 

Whoever broke in didn’t make much of a mess, and not much seems to be missing.  They did steal the garage door opener.

It’s very disturbing to have something like that happen to people you know and care about, and in your own neighborhood. 

I’ve lived here for about 8 years, and nothing like that has happened in all that time. 

Scary

Where’s the Complaint Department?

I’m kind of tired and feel a little stressed, so maybe you wouldn’t mind listening to my biggest frustration of the day.

Help Desk Or Whatever it is

I’m sure some help desks are good, so if you are a help desk person, please don’t take offense.  I’m only talking about the help desk that I have to deal with. They are so obtuse! 

I’ve been working with the help desk to get permissions and mapping for my brand-new back, Tammy for 5 weeks now. This was really important to me, because I can’t go on vacation till Tammy’s trained.

Finally today, after the final permission was granted, the help desk person couldn’t help Tammy map the necessary files to her pc. 

In total frustration, I got on the phone, and helped her do it myself (we’re located at different business sites).

Which just shows that I know more than the help desk folks who were helping me.