Snowman, We Hardly Knew Ye, But We Propped You Up

With a mere two inches of snow comes this handsome fellow. With those stunning black eyes, red nose, celery mouth and buttons, and pine board pipe, he screams sophistication. A smashing red scarf and Cincinnati Reds floppy hat top off the ensemble. Coming in at a shade under five feet, while small in stature he is big on fun. Looks can be deceiving. Lest you think he is perfect, he did develop a mean lean. But he is not your typical snowman, so he did not fall over like your typical snowman either. I know what you are thinking - his head fell to the ground and returned to the snowflakes from whence it came. Wrong! His entire body, including the bottom section, tipped over and was laying on its side. There was only one thing to do, and you would have done it too if you have a heart. Tip him back up and wedge him to remove the lean. Sure, we had to patch his head back together, but only a little bit on the back. And now he is as good as new, even better than before. And now he can melt with dignity, as any snowman should be able to do. As we wait helplessly, he is dissolving before our very eyes. but as the old saying goes - better to have built a snowman, tipped him back up, and watch him melt, than to never had built one to begin with.

Fun with Candles

With the Christmas season comes candles, for some reason. Someone I know has become fascinated with burning candles, especially the toy soldier. This unlucky soldier met his demise within a couple of days. Of course he had been spared for years prior to this by being stored safely in the cabinet. Once his head had melted, his midsection quickly dissolved with his shoulders and arms collapsing into the fire and melting and burning away. The legs went just as quick and before you knew it he was all boots. Now his residual pool has cooled and he resides in the garbage, unrecognizable as the wax defender of freedom he once was. Now it is on to a white tree shaped candle which burns just a quickly. One and a half sections down the tree and fatigue fell upon the candle burner, who fell asleep. Now the candles are out and waiting for another day of fire and fun!

Marshmallows: Check!

Last night the fire pit was called into service again. This time with roasting marshmallows in mind. Actually, I just wanted to build a fire and marshmallows were a happy result. It is amazing how a browned/burned marshmallow is so tasty and takes you straight back to the days of yore. It was rather cold, even with the fire going, but worth it if you ask me, and our special, secret guest who shall remain anonymous for his protection and mine. We had no splitting disasters this time.

Edger or Log Splitter?

The fire pit has been christened! After a couple of attempts to get the logs burning, she burned and fun was had by all, except the landscape edger, which is not a log splitter. I was able to split some of the small logs with a hammer. That worked out pretty well. However, one of the big ones I thought I could split with an edger by banging it into the log and slamming it against the concrete driveway. Bad idea. I managed to get the edger wedged in the log, then got a chisel stuck for a while before knocking it out, and finally had to saw through half the log with a hand saw before I was able to beat a chunk off and I could get the edger out. It was quite entertaining for the neighbors I am sure. I think the handle on the edger may be broke, but it is still attached - a moral victory indeed. After that fiasco we roasted hot dogs and ate outside. All seemed well until I was driving to work this morning and saw something flicker in the mirror. I could not see what it was until two of them came flying out of the bed of my truck as I picked up speed. Apparently we left two paper plates, I am sure on of them still had some food on it, in the bed of my truck. Fortunately no police were around to nail me for littering. Upon arriving to work I also noticed two plastic cups in my bed, as well as the fire poker. So now I have some lessons learned to carry forward as I have the next fire sometime in the future. Just for safety's sake let us review:

Lesson 1: An edger is not a log splitter.
Lesson 2: Clean up all paper plates and cups to prevent driving away with them on your vehicle.

Up next - marshmallows.

President Obama, Bow This Way

It seems President Obama is willing to give in to everyone except the American people. He has now bowed to two foreign leaders but will not listen to the outcry of the American people against his health care bill, among other things. Of course, he knows better than us, which is why he continually says we "need" his health care reform. I guess we are just too ignorant to know any better. I think it is time he respects and submits to the will of the American people, as he has to foreign leaders. After all, he is serving us, right?

Let Us See You Smile, Nancy

How nice that the esteemed Speaker of the House had to pass her horrendous legislation under the cover of darkness on a Saturday night. After watching a couple of hours of the proceedings and votes on several amendments and motions, Pelosi was nowhere to be found until after the magic number of votes had been reached and it came time to announce the measure had passed. Then she popped up behind the desk, announced the bill had passed, and then faded away, leaving someone else to swing the gavel the rest of the way. Then magically, she reappeared at the self congratulatory press conference with all her cronies. She acted and looked more like she had just been crowned prom queen than a supposedly respected politician. They all had their face time in front of the microphone and I half expected them to begin high-fiving and chest bumping. It was reminiscent of a Hollywood awards show where they all gather together and tell each other how great they are by giving themselves awards. She then reminded everyone how this was for the American people. Not sure how she can say that given that the majority of Americans are AGAINST this health care reform bill. But then again, this has nothing to do with the American people but everything to do with her getting credit for something and building her power through control of everyone's daily lives and their taxes that will undoubtedly go up if this does eventually succeed. This whole fiasco is a disaster waiting to happen. It was so disgusting that I tried to call C-SPAN even though I did not get through.

Would You Like Some Cheese With That Whine?

Why do some people refuse to do their job simply because they do not want to do it, leaving it or others to do. Why when asked to help do they answer with a flat no, effectively admitting they are of little use? It must be nice to have no sense of responsibility outside of your little niche that you have carved for yourself and whine your way out of everything else you do not want to do. I can not understand why some people refuse to help others while at the same time insisting others help them and complaining when they do not, making up stories apparently trying to make others look bad. It is usually the ones that have a work ethic and are willing to do whatever is asked that get abused and under-appreciated, while the squeaky whiners get noticed and advanced beyond what they deserve and certainly beyond their value. I guess that is the way the world works, unfortunately.