It is a constant astonishment to me what people'll do to save some bucks.

A local radio station, 103.7, had a Valentine's contest where the prize is a Fantasy Wedding (I have this straight from the web site) for one lucky couple.

The lucky couple was chosen, and now the fun begins!  Who doesn't want to wear a wedding gown voted on by the listeners of 103.7, eh?  Yet that's how the selection will be determined....the most votes wins.

How American. 

BTW, anyone notice a certain similarity in the three available dresses?  I trust the reason all three are that particular style is because that's what the bride wants.  It'd be dreadful if she was stuck with it, especially as some churches don't permit it.

I voted (sure I voted!  Voted in the primary election this week, too....don't have to force me to do my civic duty) for #2, as the sleeves or stole or whatever that is on #1 was weird, and apparently #3 comes with a truly strange feathered fan.  #2 is comparatively sedate.

Well, I did it.

Whether it will prove to be a good idea or a complete waste of money remains to be seen, but by jingo, I've set my feet (shakily) on the path leading to something that'll both fulfill a long-held wish of mine and provide much-needed exercise. 

Went and signed myself up for ice skating lessons at Ridglea Iceland. 

I've tried to ice skate before on a few occasions, but always my ankles turn in and I give the whole thing up as a bad job.  The guy at the ice rink says most times when the ankles cave like that it's because the skates are too big (they fit tighter than regular shoes).

We'll see, won't we?  The young lady who finally showed up to take my money (I could have backed up a truck and hauled away the vending machine in the length of time it took for someone to show their whiskers....heck of a way to run a business) assured me I'm not the only, er, person of mature years to take lessons.

We'll see about that, too. 

I've tried to get back into mall walking but it's just so dang dull.  Did it years ago but simply can't get myself to do it regularly now.  OTOH, ice skating is something I've always yearned to do, so I'd be working toward an actual goal, if only to make it around the rink without my ankles turning in or falling down.

Goals needn't be lofty to be legitimate, y'know. 

What I'd really love to do is get Don and Dmitry to take lessons with me;  especially Dmitry as he doesn't get any significant exercise at all these days.  Somehow, though, I'm not sure how enthusiastic he'd be about taking skating lessons with his mother.  Hard to put the moves on the ice bunnies with one's mother right there, after all. 

It took 'em long enough, but Hollywood has finally decided to bring the television series "Dallas" to the big screen.  

Dallas itself is about to bust a gut, it's so anxious to have the movie made within its city limits.  The Dallas Convention and Visitors' Bureau has pulled out all the stops in an effort to convince the production company to select Dallas as the filming location, and to that end has come up with a slogan to be plastered upon T-shirts and gimme caps:  Shoot JR In Dallas

Nah.  Too many words.  Just use the first and last....

Shoot Dallas!

I'd wear it. 

There's a building boom going on here in the Arlington Heights area where we live, and it's frankly a bit puzzling.

Townhomes.  You know, three or four tall, skinny houses that share at least one wall?  Generally found in San Francisco and NYC?

I can think of at least three groups of townhouses currently under construction, with another one planned for the end of my street (that particular one never seems to get any forrader, though....I'm wondering if the would-be builder is unwilling to start construction until at least one or two of the proposed townhouses are sold).

It's kind of strange looking, having groups of a few upscale townhomes interspersed among small, 30's and 40's era houses.

Just in case the 8th grade math quiz didn't depress you enough:

What it took to get an 8th grade education in 1895

--Remember when grandparents and great-grandparents
stated that they only had an 8th grade education? Well, check this out.
Could any of us have passed the 8th grade in 1895??
This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina, Kansas, USA.
It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley
Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, KS, and reprinted by the
Salina Journal.
Here is the actual 8th Grade Final Exam-Salina, KS, 1895. See you how your would score...

Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph
4. What are the principal parts of a verb Give principal parts of "lie," "play," and "run."
5. Define case; Illustrate each case.
6 What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.?
7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many
bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at
50cts/bushel, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary
levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104
for incidentals?
5. Find the cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20
per metre?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of
which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.

Orthography (Time, one hour)
1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic, orthography,
etymology, syllabication
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph,
subvocals,diphthong, cognate letters, inguals.??
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.'
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two
exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi,
dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup. 8. Mark diacritically
and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that
indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood,
fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane,
fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation
by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)
1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas??
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba,
Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same
latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the
sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the
earth.

Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete. Gives the saying "he
only had an 8th grade education" a whole new meaning, doesn't it! Also
shows you how poor our education system today has really become...

[dubiously]  Maybe people back then were in eighth grade when they were 23 years old?   

Sometimes I wonder.....I really do.  At BBC there's a story entitled Europe's angry young Muslims:  "Europe is home to a new generation of alienated young Muslims whose anger may turn to radicalism..."

Granted many of the AYM were born in Europe, but that doesn't really help much, not if the local culture and society in which they were raised is alien to the host nation's.  I've an online friend who was born and raised in Boston, and is still there, but is so at odds with the prevailing culture he doesn't fit in at all.

Truthfully I am concerned when I read in the news that Wal-Mart is now the largest purveyor of groceries, elbowing aside Tom Thumb, Kroger, Albertson's, etc.  In fact, over the past several months  -  ever since the SuperTarget opened off Montgomery St. and a Wal-Mary Food Center opened on Vickery  -  those two stores have received the overwhelming majority of my grocery dollars.

Yesterday, taking heed of the warning if enough people do the same we won't have the traditional stores to shop at, so will be held captive if the big boxes decide to raise their prices, I elected to shop at Tom Thumb for the few things I needed.

Painful.  If there's a price difference of 20¢ that's no big deal, but often the differential was much, much higher.  A couple of things I tend to buy at Target or Wal-Mart for $1.99 were a full dollar higher at Tom Thumb!  Frequently the spread was in the 50¢ range.  To be fair, the bread we favor was on a good sale (2/$3.00) so I saved over 50¢ there, and milk was on sale for $2.50.  But those savings hardly offset the higher prices found on virtually everything else.

So I dunno what to do.  Shop for groceries where the prices are lowest, thereby hastening the exit of traditional grocery stores from this area and leaving us at the mercy of predatory pricing once the competition's been eliminated, or split my shopping in an effort to support the trad stores, even though it means I pay more?

Trouble is, the language at the site where I found these often is unsuitable, so I just snagged a few of those that elicited snickers and even a guffaw:

And my favorite....

By golly, what a day it's been!  While at Tom Thumb an hour ago, darned if the cell didn't ring and it was CHARLES!  

He's doing fine!  Making good grades
on his various tests (4.6 and 4.7 out of 5.0), received another 5.0 on a surprise inspection, and here's what he's
really proud of....he received a 216 on the live gun range, classifying him as a
sharpshooter.  His was the third highest score in his division, he'd
have us know. 

A downer, though....no signing
bonus. 

You know, I'm giving serious
consideration to complaining to our congressional reps about this.  For all the
yatter about equality in the military, having two recruits with the same
educational level signing up for the same job not receiving the same signing
bonus is ridiculous.  Not to mention I'm tired to death of hearing about "Better
get it in the contract because you can't trust the recruiters or recruiting
office!"  This is the military supported by our tax dollars, and I am not at all
happy with the idea of lying being condoned in it, at whatever
level.  

Has anyone else who has both a Xanga blog and uses Firefox had a problem getting new entries posted?

Both of the last two had to be copied and pasted into a "Main Entry" window using IE instead of Firefox.  Nothing would happen when I hit "save changes" with the latter browser.