There's only 12 days until Christmas... It's coming fast, as usual.
And, as usual, I'm feeling the pressures of the holidays.
I have a love/hate relationship with the holidays. I often feel pulled in several directions and there is never enough time to do all the things I want to do.
I have vacation time planned, but I also have commitments that will not allow me to vacate out of the hustle and bustle.
Happily I'm pretty much finished with the shopping. A couple more gifts to pick up, but I'm pretty sure what and where to get them.
I'll keep pushing forward and soon I can whine about the boredom of January.
Cheers all!
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
12-12-12 12:12:12
Does the headline above mean anything to you?
It represents a date and time. Today, December 12, 2012 at 12 minutes and 12 seconds after 12 noon.
That very moment in time will be 12-12-12 12:12:12. (Some will argue that it actually happened just after midnight. But using a 24-clock, 12 after midnight is actually written as: 00:12. So there!)
Who cares right?
Perhaps no one. But I do. I want to remember where I was at that moment in time because a date and time with all the same number will not occur again for a very long time.
For those of you trying to calculate that date, I'll do it for you. It will happen again on January 1, 2101 at one minute and one second after 1:00 am. That's actually 88 years, 19 days, 12 hours, 48 minutes, 49 seconds after the 12-12-12 12:12:12 moment.
So, unless you think you'll be around on 01-01-01 01:01:01, you might want to make note of where you're at, who you're with and what you're doing at this once-in-a-lifetime moment in time.
It represents a date and time. Today, December 12, 2012 at 12 minutes and 12 seconds after 12 noon.
That very moment in time will be 12-12-12 12:12:12. (Some will argue that it actually happened just after midnight. But using a 24-clock, 12 after midnight is actually written as: 00:12. So there!)
Who cares right?
Perhaps no one. But I do. I want to remember where I was at that moment in time because a date and time with all the same number will not occur again for a very long time.
For those of you trying to calculate that date, I'll do it for you. It will happen again on January 1, 2101 at one minute and one second after 1:00 am. That's actually 88 years, 19 days, 12 hours, 48 minutes, 49 seconds after the 12-12-12 12:12:12 moment.
So, unless you think you'll be around on 01-01-01 01:01:01, you might want to make note of where you're at, who you're with and what you're doing at this once-in-a-lifetime moment in time.
Friday, December 7, 2012
December 7: "A day..."
This quote, as President Franklin D. Roosevelt tells the American people that Japan has attacked them, is well known as part of history. It allows me to easily recall the date when Pearl Harbor happened.
It was a turning point in World War II.
A single carefully-planned and well-executed stroke removed the United States Navy's battleship force as a possible threat to the Japanese's southward expansion. America, unprepared and now considerably weakened, was abruptly brought into the Second World War as a full combatant.
Just a year-and-a-half earlier, FDR had ordered the United States Fleet to Pearl Harbor as a deterrent to Japanese aggression The Japanese military, engaged in the seemingly endless war it had started against China in mid-1937, badly needed oil and other raw materials.
In July 1941 the Western powers effectively halted trade with Japan. From then on, as the desperate Japanese schemed to seize the oil and mineral-rich East Indies and Southeast Asia, a Pacific war was virtually inevitable.
By late November 1941, with peace negotiations clearly approaching an end, informed U.S. officials (and they were well-informed, they believed, through an ability to read Japan's diplomatic codes) fully expected a Japanese attack into the Indies, Malaya and probably the Philippines.
Completely unanticipated was the prospect that Japan would attack east, as well.
The U.S. Fleet's Pearl Harbor base was reachable by an aircraft carrier force, and the Japanese Navy secretly sent one across the Pacific with greater aerial striking power than had ever been seen on the World's oceans. Its planes hit just before 8 AM on December 7.
Within a short time five of eight battleships at Pearl Harbor were sunk or sinking, with the rest damaged. Several other ships and most Hawaii-based combat planes were also knocked out and over 2400 Americans were dead.
These great Japanese successes, achieved without prior diplomatic formalities, shocked and enraged the previously divided American people into a level of purpose-driven unity. and resolve.
However, the memory of the "sneak attack" on Pearl Harbor fueled a determination to fight on. Once the Battle of Midway in early June 1942 had eliminated much of Japan's striking power, that same memory stoked a relentless war to reverse her conquests and remove her, and her German and Italian allies.
History was written and December 7, 1941 is a date that will live in infamy.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Ahead of myself
Somehow my internal calendar has gotten screwed up. I'm not sure how it happened, but I think it involves an earlier than usual Thanksgiving day coupled with some unseasonably warm weather.
All this week I've been thinking the date was one day ahead of the actual date on the calendar. You know, I was thinking today was December 7th rather than 6th.
I think the Thanksgiving / Christmas / New Year season is so filled with things to do that people meet themselves coming and going. I know I do.
And it just about puts me over the edge.
But I keep pushing on knowing I'll be bored and wishing I had things to do come January 2. (January 1 is still part of that holiday madness!)
So, here I am rushing to blog a quick note to my friends who read this nonsense as part of my hectic daily routine.
That's my whine for the day. Someone remind me about this blog when I'm crying about being bored on a cold winter weekend in January.
All this week I've been thinking the date was one day ahead of the actual date on the calendar. You know, I was thinking today was December 7th rather than 6th.
I think the Thanksgiving / Christmas / New Year season is so filled with things to do that people meet themselves coming and going. I know I do.
And it just about puts me over the edge.
But I keep pushing on knowing I'll be bored and wishing I had things to do come January 2. (January 1 is still part of that holiday madness!)
So, here I am rushing to blog a quick note to my friends who read this nonsense as part of my hectic daily routine.
That's my whine for the day. Someone remind me about this blog when I'm crying about being bored on a cold winter weekend in January.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Lead to believe
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| Not-Brewed Iced Tea in my book. |
Something that rubs me the wrong way is the iced tea dispenser at my local convenience store. It clearly says "Brewed Iced Tea." But in reality, the dispenser is a mixer for water and an iced tea concentrate from a box under the counter.
Is that really brewed?
Technically, I suspect, the concentrate is brewed at the factory. But in my world, I expect freshly brewed iced tea. By the mere shape of the dispenser, I'm lead to believe that is what I'm getting.
Maybe I'm too literal with words.
This past weekend I picked up a few dozen cookies at a church bazaar. The ladies of this congregation were always known for their homemade treats. I especially enjoy the delicious cutout sour cream cookies like my mother would make at Christmas.
Imagine my disappointment when I got home and realized that about half a dozen of the beautifully decorated cookies were actually frozen precut cookies from the food supply company.
Silly me. I was lead to believe by my previous experiences that all the cookies would be homemade. But I might have known that times have changed. Those great cooks are long gone and a new generation of working women, with jobs outside the home, are baking cookies for the bazaar.
Another example is when a group of men don football uniforms and call themselves the Detroit Lions. We expect them to play football and maybe even win a game now and then.
I guess it's all just an illusion for the mind.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Advent
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| This wooden advent calendar is shaped like a festive Christmas tree. |
The season of Advent is the beginning of the Christian year as a prelude to Christmas Day. The Advent wreath is becoming increasingly popular in the United States.
It's the time when we prepare for the return arrival of Christ.
Churches are often dressed with Advent wreathes and the addition of the traditional Advent color of purple. Advent calenders, with little doors/windows containing chocolate or small toy, are often given as gifts to increase the joy and excitement of Christmas coming.
Some people enjoy the practice of offering Advent prayers for the needy, peace, health and other blessings.
With the arrival of Advent, we know Christmas is near.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
World AIDS Day
HIV/AIDS first became knows in the early 1980's. It was called a gay cancer because of the number of gay men, mostly in San Francisco, who were dying of a strange and unknown disease.
Since then, we're learned HIV/AIDS is not a gay health issue. It is a HUMAN health issue.
(Red) is an organization which has brought together the power of companies and people to fight AIDS. Their goal is to deliver an AIDS-free generation by 2015.
You can join their fight at: JoinRed.
If you have never been touched by the devastation of AIDS, feel blessed.
If you want to find out what you don't know, you can take this quiz. If you learn something, share it with others.
You can make a difference in a generation that speaks of AIDS like past generations speak of polio.
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