Random Fact of The Day

The word "toast," meaning a wish of good health, started in ancient Rome, where a piece of toasted bread was dropped into wine.

Finally a Friday

This week has seemed to drag its lazy ass so much that it feels like I went thru 2 weeks instead of 1. To top it off, it is cold, windy and rainy today, too. Basically, this week is ending the way it started...rainy. I think everyone is feeling slow and sluggish today, despite it being a Friday. I got stuck behind every slow ass car and truck on the road today. I think no one was in a big hurry to get to work, including me.

I freakin' ache so much today, and last night was no picnic either. I was in a lot of pain last night and taking Advil didn't help. I was out of my Ultracet because I gave them all to my brother (he pulled a muscle in his back and was definitely hurting more than me, so I gave him all the rest of my pills). Luckily, I will be able to pick up a refill of them today at Walgreens. I guess it was wishful thinking on my part that I thought I wouldn't need them for a while. Phooey on me.

Let me congratulate myself on my picking all of the 4 departees on last night's American Idol. I had correctly predicted that it would be Heather and Brenna leaving for the girls and David and Jose for the guys. Thank you. Thank you very much. Just call me psychic Kim .... ummm... nevermind ... let's not - lol.

I actually have some work to do today. I know. I am shocked too.

Pain, pain go away!

Funny Stuff From Dave Barry

"Buying a TV today is complicated. It's not like in the 1950's, when I was a boy and the glaciers were receding and electricity had just been invented. Back then there was only one kind of TV, which was a refrigerator-sized mass of walnut with two knobs and a tiny screen. In fact, some of the early TV's had no screen at all: People would just sit there and stare at the walnut. That's how starved we were for entertainment."

Stupid News Story of The Day

(It would have been easier just to have paid the tickets.)

Woman Allegedly Fakes Death Over Tickets

DES MOINES, Iowa - Kimberly Du landed in a grave situation after police say she tried to avoid traffic charges by faking her death. Du, 36, of Des Moines, faked her death in December, court records show.

Someone claiming to be Du's mother used a pair of forged documents, including a death notice printed on a newspaper Web site and a letter purported to be signed by Du's mother, to persuade court officials that Du had died, records show.

The day after courthouse clerks received the documents, a judge tossed out an arrest warrant for Du.

Authorities caught on to the plan when Du was stopped on Jan. 4 for speeding and driving with a suspended license.

Police say an investigation showed that Du's supposed obituary never ran in a newspaper, and that a funeral was never held.

Du was arrested last Friday and charged with forging her mother's name on a letter to the court. If convicted, she could face up to two years in prison.

She was being held in the Polk County jail on $50,000 bond.

Random Fact of The Day

The female spotted hyenas rank the highest in the social hierarchy of the hyena clan, which is dominated by one female called the matriarch. Second in rank are the cubs, and last, the males. Males are smaller and less agressive than the females, and both females and males have similar-looking genitalia.

Kim's 10 Commandments of Driving

1. Thou shall always use thy turn signal, especially when changing lanes on the freeway.

2. Thou shalt not run red lights.

3. Thou shall pay attention to the road and not to thy cell phone.

4. Thou shalt not tailgate.

5. Thou shalt not cut thy neighbor off.

6. Thou shall always use the other driver's name in vain when he or she makes you slam on thy brakes and spill thy coffee in thy lap.

7. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's spinners. There are already enough spinners in the world. Thou doest not need them.

8. Thou shalt not kill...instead, use thy middle finger to get thy point across.

9. Thou shalt not drink alcohol and drive.

10. Thou shalt not take up 2 parking spaces in the parking lot.



yes, I had a few road rage moments on the freeway this morning, thus the above list - lol.

Funny Stuff From Dave Barry

"You should not go to your fortieth high school reunion. You go expecting to see people whom you vaguely remember as being attractive, and even though you know they've aged some - heck, even YOU have aged some - you figure, hey, it's not as if you're OLD yet! You're middle-aged! Like Harrison Ford! So you go to the reunion, and suddenly you find yourself in a room full of unrecognizable fossils, lurching around on the dance floor to the sounds of Herman's Hermits, and you realize to your horror that YOU ARE ONE OF THEM."

Stupid News Story of The Day

(There is a reason why companies include instruction manuals with their products)

Fla. Man Showing Off OnStar Arrested

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. - A man showing off his OnStar system in his Cadillac Escalade found out the system worked too well. Ralph A. Gomez, 38, was being held Wednesday on $15,000 bond on charges of possession of an illegal narcotic within 1,000 feet of a church and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Gomez was showing off his OnStar system to his girlfriend, but the volume was set so low that he couldn't hear the OnStar operator. OnStar comes on many new General Motors vehicles and allows a customer to contact an OnStar representative in an emergency or to get directions.

If there is no response, OnStar contacts police.

That's what happened with Gomez on Friday night, Tom Clements, a spokesman for the St. Augustine Police Department, said Wednesday.

When police located Gomez' car, they determined there was no problem. But Clements said cocaine was clearly visible on the car's center console.

In addition to seizing $1,900 in the case, the Cadillac equipped with the OnStar system was also seized, Clements said.

There was no information available from Clements or the jail on whether Gomez has a lawyer.

American Idol recap - the guy's turn

Well, American Idol just wrapped up. Out of all of the guys, 3 stood out for me: Gedeon, Elliott and Chris.

Gedeon totally surprised me with his performance. He really has a good voice, and I found myself really liking him. He was a lot better than he was last week.

Elliott gave a completely awesome performance. His vocals were right on. I absolutely loved it!
But Chris....he was the man tonight. His rendition of Fuel's "Hemorrhage (In my hands)" just rocked. (Ok, so it's not metal or punk like I normally like, but his voice just rocks!). Judging by his last 2 performances, I think he is well on his way to winning the whole thing.

In my opinion, Kevin's rendition of "Heard It Thru The Grapevine" was just boring, and David's performance of "The Way You Look Tonight" was yawnnnnnn. And the fact that I like those 2 songs in their original forms doesn't make it any better. You can't sing a song that I really like (like Sinatra's "The Way You Look Tonight") and sing it ho-hum like that. Boring!

Ace, who I normally like a lot was kinda ho-hum tonight too. And Taylor, who sang a song I like, "Easy Like Sunday Morning," was verging on the edge of boredom, too. I kept expecting him to suddenly burst into some good vocals that left me stunned, but nope. It was another yawn.

Will, the Bobby Brady lookalike, was actually pretty good on "Lady" by Kenny Rogers, but it wasn't brilliant. Still, it did show off his good vocal tone. He has a lot of potential.

And Bucky, the southern rocker, was decent on "Thunder Rolls" by Garth Brooks, but, again, it wasn't the best.

Jose, who sang a Stevie Wonder song, just wasn't that great either.

I think, judging by tonight's performances, it will be Jose and David who get the boot, although Taylor's future is looking rather dismal too. Kevin's performance was weak, too, but the girls like him so I doubt he'll get the boot just yet.

We shall see tomorrow night.

Random Fact of The Day

The familiar "V" shaped flying formation of the Canada Geese has a function. "Geese change positions within the "V", so that different birds lead the flock, and this "V" pattern breaks up the wind resistance, allowing the geese to conserve energy."

from Canada Goose

American Idol recap

Last night's American Idol seemed to have a country theme. Even Mandisa sang a country song. Overall, the singers were ok, but I wasn't blown away by any of them in particular. I think Melissa did a great job on her song (Why Haven't I Heard From You), and so did Kellie (Something To Talk About). Kellie is so likeable and naive and so darned cute. Even if her voice isn't the very best, it is still good. Mandisa was good, but I think she oversang her song (Cry). Ayla was really good on her song (I Want You To Need Me). She was my favorite of the night. Of course, I love Paris, simply because she is so sweet and nice and always full of life. Her song, The Wind Beneath My Wings, was right on spot. Katharine wasn't remarkable, but I still like her the best overall. I still hate Brenna, and judging by last night's performance, I doubt she'll be around much longer (thank you!!!). The rest of the girls, Lisa, Kinnik, Heather, were all good, but none of them stood out.

I think the 2 that will most likely be voted off will be Heather and Brenna....at least those are my choices.

Tonight is the guy's night. Woo hoo. Ace....he is just so darned handsome, and Chris, well his voice rocks.

I hope it's a good night for the guys.

(yes, I really have nothing better to write about today than this - lol)

Funny Stuff From Dave Barry

"A skiing tip: If you're skiing with your wife, and you foolishly ride up the mountain on a chairlift with her, and for reasons that are never made clear she fails to get off at the top, so they have to stop the whole chairlift and make it go backward and help her remove her skis so she can climb down, and she is very embarrassed, this will turn out to be YOUR FAULT. Don't argue! Just accept it, and apologize."

Stupid News Story of The Day

(I was never vere gud in skool.)

Problems with his pasport...

NICOSIA (Reuters) - You might have the best forgery skills in the world, but it is not much use if you cannot spell.

A Cyprus court jailed Pakistani national Fazal Ur Rehman for eight months for forgery after police spotted spelling mistakes on stamps on an Afghan passport he was carrying -- otherwise it was a near-perfect copy, the Cyprus Mail said Wednesday.

"Ministry" was spelled "Menistry" and the first "n" was missing from government, the newspaper said.

"The passport looked perfect and professionally made ... almost deemed original by forensics," a police officer told a magistrate in the Cypriot capital Nicosia.

Funny Stuff From Dave Barry

"I am opposed to leftovers. I believe the only food that should be kept around is takeout Chinese, which contains a powerful preservative chemical called 'kung pao' that enables it to remain edible for several football seasons."

Stupid News Story of The Day

(Bye bye probation...hello jail.)

Probation Card Found at Burglary Scene
By The Associated Press

STEVENS POINT, Wis. - A woman didn't have to look far to figure out who likely broke into her home and took a camera from her purse. Police said the burglar left behind his probation and parole card.

The woman was going through her purse after the burglary earlier this month to make sure nothing other the camera was taken, Detective Sgt. Tony Babl said.

She found the man's probation and parole card, which had a date and time stamp on it for his next appointment, he said.

"He must've had the card in his hand when he went into her purse," Babl said. "He doesn't even know how it got there."

The man had not yet been charged as of Saturday, though police plan to request burglary charges in the next week for at least eight incidents over the past three years, Babl said.

Monday...Monday

Monday is here, which means my week off is over. I say "week off" because it wasn't really a "vacation" in the true sense of the word. The word "vacation" implies that you took time off to do something fun and exciting or just took time off to relax. True, I did go to Big Sur, but that was just during the 3-day weekend. My actual time off was neither fun nor relaxing. So I don't count that as a "vacation."

I came back to work of course. I have worked through 4 cases already and have a few more I need to work on my desk. I am glad I didn't have any face to face interviews today. Gives me more time to work on cases.

My grandma's funeral was on Saturday. It was a nice service, and one my grandma would have appreciated. There were quite a few people there, and many I haven't seen for years and years. My cousin, Amy, was one of them. I hadn't seen her for probably 20 or so years (except in pictures - lol). I remember her as a little girl and being quite a brat (lol). But she seemed really nice and mature now, and it makes me wish I would have kept in touch with her. I also saw my uncle Eldon and he was as smart-assy as ever - lol. He is a hoot and a half. His daughter, LaVon, drove the both of them down. Gosh, I hadn't seen her since I was just a little kid. I remember going to her place once in Palas Verdes, and admiring her view from the deck of her house, but that is the only memory I have of her. It is nice to see relatives you hadn't seen in years, but at the same time, it is a shame that it takes a funeral to bring family members together like that. It is just too bad we can't see each other more often.

It is quite windy and rainy today and the lights have been flickering a little. I had to take down my wind chimes this morning because they were driving me nuts! So, I better end this while I can before the power goes out and I have to type the whole danged thing over again - hehe.

Funny Stuff From Dave Barry

"The true essence of modern skiing is trying to contact other skiers via cell phone. I saw a LOT of this during my trip. Every thirty seconds or so, there'd be beeping, and all around me, people would frantically start unzipping layers of designer ski attire to see if it was their phone ringing. If it was, they'd have a conversation like this: 'Hello? Hello? Where are you? Have you seen Bob? He was with me, but then the gravity got him. Although one of his legs is still here."

Stupid News Story of The Day

(Want fries with that?)

Customers Cook Up Trouble With Fake Penis
By JOE MANDAK, Associated Press Writer

PITTSBURGH - A woman who claimed she was trying to cheat on a drug test was behind a bizarre incident in which a frightened convenience store clerk thought she had microwaved a severed penis, police said.

The clerk at the store outside Pittsburgh actually microwaved a prosthetic device used to cheat on drug tests, police said Friday.

The incident unfolded late Thursday afternoon when a man and a woman entered the store and the man asked the clerk, "Can you microwave something for me? It's a life-or-death situation," according to an account the woman later gave police.

The man asked for paper towels, wrapped an object in them, and had the clerk microwave the item for 20 seconds, said McKeesport police Chief Joseph Pero.

When it was finished, the clerk handed the item back to the man and saw what she thought was a severed penis, Pero said.

After news reports Friday, a woman called police to say she was with the man in the store and gave her account of what happened, Pero said.

The woman told police she was applying for a job and was required to take a drug test. She said the man had filled the device with his urine, which she planned to submit for the test, Pero said.

According to the woman, the couple stopped to warm the device in the microwave so the urine would "pass the body temperature test," Pero said — that is, be warm enough to not arouse the suspicion of those administering the test.

Pero said police weren't sure why the woman was storing the urine in a device mimicking male genitalia.

The woman wasn't applying for a job at the convenience store, but Pero said he didn't know anything else about the job.

The chief said the woman planned to come to the police station for an interview. Police Friday night said they had no new information and said the chief would have to answer any further questions on Monday.

Pero wouldn't release the names of the man or woman. Charges, including harassment and disorderly conduct, were possible, he said.

The clerk at the Giant Eagle Get Go! is "still visibly shaking," Pero said.

Giant Eagle, which owns the convenience store, said the microwave will be discarded.