July 4, 2016

Thoughts on Orlando

I am a conservative Christian.  That has not and will not change.  But I'm realizing that I have also been very judgmental.  That is something that needs to change.

I still believe and always will believe that some things are not right, they are against what the Bible clearly says and as such they are against God's laws.  Man can make his own laws but that does not change God's laws.

However, we can all make our own lifestyle choices.  And we shouldn't be judged for that.  We should be respectful of each other and each other's choices.  I don't have to agree with specific choices that people make.  They don't have to agree with mine.  What we all need to do is accept that we are not all the same and that we don't have to be.

What happened in Orlando on Sunday night was an act of terrorism.  There is no doubt about that.  At this point, it may have been anti-gay or it may have "just" been anti-American.

But the actual reason for the shooter's actions don't really matter in the long run.  Innocent people were murdered.  Families are torn apart and everyone of those people had parents, friends and people who they loved and who loved them.  Parents and families that are now having to deal with the worst pain possible.

No matter what choices we make in life, we are all special to God.  And we are all, hopefully, special to other people - friends, family whether family is by blood relationship or not.

And nothing, NOTHING, can excuse the taking of another's life.

We are all diminished by the death and pain caused Sunday night by a madman.

Stepping

Close. Way Too Close.

Last night, Tuesday, April 26, 2016, we unexpectedly had to play this.  We got over 15 spaces!

Including the one about circulation - and it sprouted right over our house.

It was an ugly night.

But let me start at the beginning.

We knew a few days ago that the conditions were going to be right for bad stuff on Tuesday afternoon, evening and night.  The forecast kept changing and by Tuesday morning, it looked like we would probably not have the bad stuff but still could get thunderstorms, hail and wind with a much slighter chance of bad stuff.  We had a thunderstorm with hail midday.  Then the sun came out and that is actually bad, because warm air was not a good thing to have.

About 7:30 or so, it was a little rainy and it was windy but not bad.  About 9:00, it was obvious that we were probably going to get some storms out of the system that was rapidly moving in from the west.  There had been a few rotating areas, but the one spot that could possibly cause us concern was going to far north to bother us at home or Otter at her apartment although we expected that she could get a harder storm because the southern edge of the storm track was going to be pretty close to her.  Shortly before 10:00, I texted her with that information since I had the tv on and was watching it.

Almost immediately, we heard the worst sound possible:  the sirens going off.  We went to the laundry room (our safe spot) and I called Otter.  I told her to head down to their basement immediately.  She said the sirens in her area were not sounding but she got her shoes on, grabbed her purse and her radio, locked her door and started heading down.  She texted me as soon as she got downstairs and said that their sirens had started almost as soon as she had locked her door.

From then until 10:30, we texted back and forth with updates and the reports kept getting worse and worse.  The storm in her area was tracking north enough that it looked like her area would be safe.  She stayed in the basement with most of the other residents in her building until it was safely past them.  But by then, another "pop up" had happened and it was heading our direction.  It had produced at least one small tornado but it didn't stay.  However, the track was still coming towards us and we were waiting to run back to the laundry room if we needed to.  We weren't sure if we were going to get hit or not.  The wind was pretty strong at that point.  But it suddenly increased and it sounded odd - somewhat like the train sound associated with tornados but not exactly.  At that point, I commented to Bill that I did not like the sound of the wind and at that time the reporters started calling out street names and they were right where we live.  We hotfooted it back to the laundry room - and Maggie went right along with us.  We had taken her back every time we went to the laundry room, but animals frequently seem to sense things like that - maybe they hear them.  When she started heading to the laundry room pretty much ahead of us and on her own, we knew that something bad was happening.  The sound of the wind increased and it was very loud.  That was probably when it was sprouting.  It blew past us in a matter of a few minutes; it did actually develop into a tornado and it touched down probably less than a mile from our house.  I had been texting with Otter because she had heard the same reports we did and she knew we were in the firing line at that point.  When it passed us, I let her know that we were safe.  It was around 11:00 p.m. then.

Otter stayed in their basement for a while, there were a few dogs that were also their with their owners and they did what they always do - she's a magnet for them.  She was playing with a chihuahua that lives in the 1-bedroom that was originally her apartment before she and former roommate moved to the 2-bedroom unit.  Let's just say that she is very much my father's granddaughter!  She went back upstairs after a little while and let me know.

We were both exhausted by that point, but also Thankful.  It was after 11:30 before I managed to get to bed.  Bill was up for a couple more hours, he knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep.  I was awake until well after midnight.  It was so hard to get up at 6:15 this morning when my alarm went off.

Otter had her 3rd of 4 dental appointments today, otherwise I think I would have just turned the alarm off and gone back to sleep.

But we are safe and their were no injuries associated with any of the storms.  There were several small tornados, in Tulsa as well as assorted surrounding areas.

Easter 2016

And The Stars Look Very Different Today

I have always loved music in (nearly) all it's forms.  I was an original Kiss Army member, the Bee Gees are way up there for me, I like a lot of country music and I really like all genres.  Prince has always been a favorite, mostly because he is very unique and somewhat ahead of the trends.  But through it all, there has always been one artist that I would call my absolute favorite.

From the first moment I heard is music in the early 1970's, there was no doubt.  He was so far beyond brilliant, there are simply not words to express the depth of his gift.

He wasn't simply a trendsetter.  He WAS the trend. 

Ziggy played guitar...

And he said goodbye to us with his last work.  That in itself is a special gift to all of us.

He succeeded wildly at it.

It certainly was never boring while he was here!

A look at the life of David Bowie

I've seen several different people that this quote it attributed to.  But it sums it up perfectly:

"If you're ever sad, just remember the world is 4.543 billion years old and you somehow managed to exist at the same time as David Bowie."

Christmas 2015

 

Luke 2:10-11King James Version (KJV)

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

King James Version (KJV)

(Credit to the Author)

74 Years

Never Forget.

Amen

Pray for Paris

Veterans Day 2015

Thank you.  All of you.

Another Star Trek Loss

Lt. Kevin Riley

It's another sad day for Star Trek fans.  Even though Bruce Hyde was only in two episodes, the character of Lt. Riley was a fan favorite.

I think this is the 5th Star Trek related death this year.

Can't Think of Anything To Call This!

I've been fighting allergy symptoms for several days and today I don't feel the best.  So, cut me a little slack Froggy!  (You know you want to get on me because it's been a few days. :)  Do I know you or what!)

Last week had some interesting weather.  Wednesday was odd.  I don't think we even made it to 80!  It was so nice, it was a very pleasant change from the warm and icky weather we've been having.  It hasn't been "hot", but then I go by TEXAN standards so my version of warm might be someone else's version of meltingly hot.  But the point is, it was nice and I enjoyed it.  We've had a few days of rain, Yesterday was rainy for most of the morning and into early afternoon.  I had plans to go to two neighboring towns on an errand for Froggy, but I decided not to after seeing the radar and the storm prediction.  It wasn't bad in terms of tornado alley bad, but there was a lot of water and some localized street flooding.  So my plans changed.  When Otter got off work at 2:00, I picked her up and work and we went across the street to Hobby Lobby.  After we shopped, I took her back across the street and dropped her off at her car.  This morning, we were planning on visiting one of the other 2 churches we are interested in but then we woke up to a pretty loud thunderstorm and a lot of water!  The power went out for about 30 seconds, which was B.A.D. because the coffee pot was only about half way through!  It came back on quickly, so I pushed the "on" button on the coffee pot and it finished.  That was a good thing, because I desperately needed caffeine this morning.

Otter came over to do her laundry this morning, Maggie Moo didn't get a walk yesterday because of the rain or Friday because it was just rainy enough that she wouldn't go outside (she might melt, you know!), so she was raring to go this morning.  When Otter got here, Maggie Moo was overjoyed and then she was even happier when she got to go on a walk with her Otter.  (Maggie made a new friend on her walk today, a young female pittie mix puppy who is just the sweetest, goofy baby!)  I wanted to get something at Wallyworld, so Otter and I ran up there after she got her laundry going.  When we got back, we went through the fabric boxes that Otter left here.  She cleaned out a small amount and got a few things to take home with her, but most of the boxes will go back to the closet.  Which is fine with me, they are not in the way and she doesn't really have that much room at the moment.  She may get some or all of the fabric later on, but it's fine if they stay here.  She gave me one of the picnic baskets - the original one that I had and gave to her, and some of the stuff in the boxes was mine so it's now in the picnic basket.  She left the large plastic tub full of her silk flowers and another box of misc. stuff that she'll get in the next few days or we'll take to her if we happen to be heading in the direction of her apartment.  We also stopped at Subway to get lunch to bring home after we went to Wallyworld, we all got foot long sandwiches with the idea of getting two meals out of them.  Bill's having his 2nd half for dinner at the moment, I'll get to mine eventually.

I don't remember if I mentioned it or not, but we're closing our booth at the antique mall.  We're paid through the end of this month, next weekend we'll bring the machines home.  I told Otter that we might want to borrow her car, since these are restored machines and could be damaged if they are tossed in the back of the El Camino.  I also might need to borrow her car one day to get myself to work, since we're probably going to put new tires on my car this week.  She's agreeable, we buy her gasoline when we borrow her car!

In the news this week, former President Jimmy Carter has cancer and it's spread to his brain.  He probably doesn't have a lot of time left.  I have never made a secret of the fact that I think he is the worst President in recent history.  I'm not too impressed with some of his actions/statements after he left office,specifically his comments about Israel.  But as a human being, I do feel for him and I wish him the best with his treatment.  I also think that he is a genuine Christian and not a "show Christian."  He needs our prayers as he faces what is probably the final battle of his life.

I rearranged some of the kitchen decor.  Actually, the dining room.  I have a triangular plant stand, it's tall (5 or 6 shelves) and is designed to fit in a corner.  I moved it from where it was to the other side of the dining room, it's now beside the china cabinet and the trash can is moved to where the plant stand was.  I'm going to hang the 5 ceramic and 1 metal pie plates on the wall that was formerly covered up by the plants stand.  It makes the dining room look better, less cluttered and all I did was move two things to the opposite side of where they'd been!

Tired. Blessed.

The Teenager's funeral was this afternoon.  The church was pretty full, he knew just about everybody and it's a tribute to him and an indication of the immense respect people had for him.  He was one of the happiest people I've ever known and he wanted everyone else to be happy.  He enjoyed his life and always tried to find the fun in things and the good in people.  There is going to be a huge hole in the lives of a lot of people, mine included.

Otter obviously went with us, and so did J.  J never met the Teenager, but he wanted to support Otter and also to show respect to someone who was so important to her - and we really appreciated his obvious concern and care for Otter.

The office will be closed tomorrow as well.  The Teenager would probably be unhappy with us for that - there wasn't much that could keep him out of the office.  :)

Since I have an unplanned day off tomorrow, I'm taking the Magginator in to get her rear parts squished and her pedicure.  But mostly, I'm just going to take it easy and do stuff around the house.  I may get some crochet time in and I am partially through with cleaning pins on a pachinko machine for Willy.  But I desperately need some down time and I'm going to get it tomorrow.

Tonight is going to be spent sitting on the couch with a beagle at my feet and the tv remote in my hand.  Possibly a drink as well.  But that's about the extent of my activities for the evening.

But I do think we gave the Teenager a good send-off.  He was special and he deserves every bit of respect possible.  I truly feel Blessed to have had him in my life for the last 21+ years.

Stress Tuesday

Yesterday was awful.  I went in to work early and Younger Boss was ahead of me.  It was so hard, we both just kind of hugged & cried for a while - and we don't normally hug, but this time we did.  He was pretty well overwhelmed, there is so much to do normally when you lose a parent but when the parent was the owner of the business it seems like the stuff to be done was quadrupled.  I ran a couple of errands for Younger Boss in the afternoon.  On Sunday, after he called me and let me know, I went into the office and worked on the obituary.  Younger Boss and his sister had put a lot of things down on paper, but I "professionalized" it and added a few things that they'd forgotten - it's hard to remember everything in that situation but I think that between the three of us it's pretty good.  We hit the highlights anyway.

He left after a couple of hours, to go meet with the Pastor about the service for the Teenager, a couple of meetings with banks, the cpa, etc., and he also spent a couple of hours with his mom.  She's doing pretty well, considering the circumstances.  I talked to her for a while and she was trying to be strong.  She's so precious to all of us.  But she's 97 herself and has had some rough health issues.

Today was better.  Most of the day has been spent in dealing with various banks, the Teenager set everything up a few years back so that the business would continue to run but the banks need specific paperwork, which is understandable.  That's been the bulk of today.

The obituary was supposed to run today, but it got to the paper too late so it will run in tomorrow's edition.  The phone has still been ringing non-stop with condolence calls.  The Teenager pretty much knew everyone, and he would be so flattered to realize the high regard he was held in.  Everyone needs someone like him in their life.  He was special.  He was one in a million, that's for sure.

The funeral is Thursday afternoon.  Otter is getting off work a little early, I'm off obviously and Bill is taking the day off.  It's going to be a very emotional service and I anticipate a large crowd.  The Teenager deserves every accolade he can get and he's getting a lot of them.

98 Years and 9 Months

The Teenager left us this morning at 8:05.  He was 98 years and 9 months young.  He was a spectacular person and I will miss him forever.

Stressful Friday

As of now, 6:30 p.m. the Teenager is still with us.  He was able to be moved to the hospice/nursing home section of their community and his wife and family have been able to spend the day with him.  Younger Boss said that the Teenager seemed to relax a lot once his wife started talking to him and holding his hand.  He is on morphine and is not showing any signs of the discomfort and possible pain he had yesterday, but he is not medicated enough to be unconscious however he has not awakened and probably won't.  But he is more comfortable and seems to understand on some level that he is home and surrounded by his family.  How long he has left in this life is up to God, but now that he's at home where he wanted to be it is possible that he might be able to let himself go.

I vacumed the entire office, neatened the Teenager's office and his desk and cleaned out a lot of old medications such as peroxide that was so old it didn't have an expiration date and so forth.  I've also spent a lot of the day getting checks done and other things that need signatures situated so that Younger Boss doesn't have to worry about things at the office next week.  I spent a while working on a list of things that Younger Boss is going to need to do once his dad is gone, things like calling the insurance company, medicaid, social security - all the miniscule things that have to be dealt with in this situation.

I'm very tired, I have been all week.  But as tired as I am, I'm sure that it doesn't even begin to compare to what the Teenager's family is dealing with.  I remember how hard it was after Mom and then later on after Dad died.  I didn't think I'd ever get to sleep again.  They are dealing with so much, and I would like to request prayers for them as well as for easing the Teenager's transition from this life.

But life goes on around my house, and we discovered this when we were in the back yard after we both got home from work:

I think we know what has Maggie's attention under the shed.

That's a raccoon track.

They are not an animal we want her to tangle with.  She's up to date on her shots, but they can be very mean animals and we don't want her hurt.  We don't want a raccoon to be hurt, either, but Maggie Moo is our first consideration.  We thought we maybe had a possum, but I'm thinking that the raccoon that left these tracks is what she's been chasing under the shed.

I'm going to have a drink and vegetate on the couch for a while.  It's been very stressful and will be for a while yet.  The Younger Boss will update me over the weekend on his father's status.  As Froggy said, the Teenager is very like our Dad.  In a lot of ways, and Otter considers him to be one of her grandfathers.  It's going to be rough, even though we do see it as a release for him and have absolutely zero doubt as to where he's going next.

Prayer Request

It's been a tough few days.  And it's going to be tough for the next several.

You probably have seen me refer to the Teenager on here.  He's my 98-year old boss and he is wonderful.  Everyone should have someone like him in their life.  I'm blessed that he's been a part of mine for the last 21+ years, and that also includes his delightful wife.  He's one of Otter's favorite people.

One day last week, he was hospitalized with what the doctor described as extremely low sodium levels and possibly potassium as well.  He was getting better and getting stronger.  A couple of days ago, he didn't really wake up in the morning and the doctor was concerned about a stroke.  The plan was to give him an MRI but they would have had to anesthetize him which is the last thing anyone wants to do when the patient is 98 years old.  So, a ct scan was performed instead.  The probably diagnosis is that he did have a stroke, but it was probably while he was asleep and he probably never knew it.  His son talked to him and thought he was trying to wake up, but he never really did.  Since then, he's been getting worse.  We pretty much all expected to hear what the doctor said today.

This morning, the doctor said that he's dying.  It is just a matter of days, and probably not very many days at that.  The plan was to transfer him back to the retirement community he lives in, to their nursing home division so that his wife can spend as much time with him as possible.  Her son has taken her to the hospital several times, but she's pretty frail too.  But the hospice nurse is concerned that he might not survive the transfer process.  He isn't in pain, but he did seem to be having some discomfort when he was moved for the ct scan so the nurse wants to give him a little morphine and then possibly he may be transferred tomorrow.  Younger Boss (the son) has been spending a lot of time at the hospital and I suggested he take his mom to the hospital this afternoon, in case the Teenager isn't able to be transferred and also because they time is very short.

Please pray for his family, his wife and that he has a peaceful transition from this earthly life.

Day 9

Last day of my 9 day weekend.  Back to work tomorrow.

Bill and the mechanic neighbor looked at the car seat and determined that the part that broke is not the seat itself, but it is the frame that holds the seat in place.  Bill made a few calls on Friday but apparently a lot of places were also closed on Friday.  So he's going to check on it tomorrow.  Chevy was open but it was somewhere close to $700.00 just for the part (no labor!) from them and we are NOT doing that unless we absolutely have to.  Bill did consider getting a replacement from a salvage yard, but since it is a fairly important structural piece he's decided against that option.  I'll ride with him in the morning, he has to be in at 7:00 but leaves the house earlier to beat the traffic.  I'll get myself to work in the El Camino and then I'll pick him up after work.  Hopefully, we can go pick up the part right then and get home in time for him to install it.  The seat should just come out and go right back in.  We are probably getting rain mid week, starting Tuesday, so Bill's kind of in a hurry.  Me too!

Otter came over Friday morning.  She got her laundry done and then we went shopping.  We hit a few yard sales, drove past a few more and went to a few stores.  We got lunch at Long John Silver's to bring home and share with William.  Then we went to the booth store and another similar store.  We had a good time but didn't really buy much.  We did get to Big Lots, which is probably the only place I really bought anything at and that was mostly household stuff.  I bought her a little gasoline to replace what we used.  She and Roomie are still discussing their options but I think that they are leaning towards a 2-bedroom unit.

We had a fairly quiet 4th.  We went to Taco Bell for lunch and then to Hobby Lobby to get some sinew-type thread/string to repair Bill's houseshoes with.  While there, I did cruise the yarn aisles.  The summer colors are out and are everywhere, but the fall colors are beginning to be stocked.  I saw a few I really liked but I didn't buy any.  Yet!  Bill actually had the "unsmartness" to tell me that I have too much yarn - which is when I asked him to tell me again exactly how many pachinko machines he has!?  I also reminded just how much room his machines take up vs the corner of the craft/guest/YARN room that holds my stash.  He stammered out that he meant I had a lot of $$ invested in yarn and then I reminded him how much a skein of yarn is vs the $30 - $several hundred he's spent on machines.  At that point, he saw the light and shut up. :)  Which is good, because I was going to take no prisoners on that one!

Speaking of yarn, I finished the mink scarf yesterday.  I had it about where I wanted it when I realized that I'd made a mistake several rows back and had to frog out several inches.  It wasn't a mistake I could leave in and ignore, it changed the stitch per row count and the shape.  Mink yarn is harder to frog than regular yarn, I'm thinking it might felt very easily.  I used less than one ball of yarn so I still have plenty left.  I'm not sure what I'm going to use it for, it is fairly expensive ($33. per skein 2 years ago) but I'm sure I'll find something.  (No, Bill.  It's still cheaper than your machine stash!)  I started a new scarf for Otter, we got the yarn for it a while back but I hadn't gotten a chance to work on it it yet.  I started it and did a few rows because I wanted to see if she likes the pattern I made the mink scarf it - which she does.  I will get back to it soon, I just wanted to get it started so I could show it to her.  She had two sets ordered from different yarns.  I had one scarf made already and made the matching hat this morning but I have to wait for her to come over again so I can check the size before I call tie it off and call it done.  But I'm going to get back on her poncho soon so her 2nd scarf/hat combination may wait a while - but they go fast.

I have some sort-of TEXAS flag printed wall border, the kind that a teacher would have used years ago over the blackboard.  I got it at a thrift store for about a buck many years ago and it's just been stuck in the closet.  I took two pieces of it, it's long, and taped them together.  Then I took one of my many yard sticks and marked it off in 1" increments with smaller marks at the half inch marks.  No, I would not have done that if it was actually the TEXAS flag!  It's now hanging on the wall, attached with pushpins at the top and bottom.  Now, when I'm making a scarf or one of many other projects that need to be measured I don't have to drag out the measuring tape or yard sticks, and then fight to get it flattened out on the floor.

We had homemade cheeseburgers for our July 4th meal.  We were going to grill steaks but it as supposed to rain so we decided against that.  Of course, it didn't rain.  There were quite a few neighbors that had fireworks, including some of the really big ones, so we stood outside and watched the show for a while last night.  There were several lightning bugs, I always wonder if they get confused on July 4th?  The mosquitos eventually showed up, so we came inside but it was fun.  Otter took her sparklers left from last year when she came over on Friday.

I have a prayer request:  The Teenager was hospitalized Friday for low potassium and general weakness.  He's a tough old bird, but the key word is old - he is 98, after all.

100 Years 12/24/14

‘I shall never forget it’: 100 years since WWI Christmas truce

Published December 24, 2014

FoxNews.com

                              

• 
  

  In this image provided by the Imperial War Museum, World War I German and British soldiers stand together on the battlefield near Ploegsteert, Belgium in Dec. 1914. Soldiers who had been killing each other for months climbed out of their soggy trenches to seek a shred of humanity amid the horrors of World War I. (AP Photo/IWM)
• 
  

  In this photo taken from an image in the collection at In Flanders Fields Museum provided by the family of German soldier Kurt Zehmisch, a German World War I soldier of the 103rd Saxon Regiment wears the hat of a British soldier as he sits in a trench with other German soldiers in Warneton, Belgium. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
• 
  

  Hands reached out across a divide the narrow divide, presents were exchanged, and in Flanders Fields a century ago, a spontaneous Christmas truce briefly lifted the human spirit. (AP)

With British and German forces separated only by a no-man's land littered with fallen comrades, sounds of a German Christmas carol suddenly drifted across the frigid air.

"It was a beautiful moonlit night, frost on the ground, white almost everywhere: and at about 7 or 8 in the evening there was a lot of commotion in the German trenches and there were these lights -- I don't know what they were. And then they sang, "Silent Night" – "Stille Nacht." I shall never forget it, it was one of the highlights of my life. I thought, what a beautiful tune," Pvt. Albert Moren, a British soldier, wrote in a journal.

Then, during that first Christmas Day during World War I, in 1914, something magical happened, at least in some areas. 

Soldiers, the number is hard to quantify but believed to be around 100,000, who had been killing each other by the tens of thousands for months, climbed out of their soggy trenches to seek a shred of humanity amid the horrors of war.

Hands reached out across a narrow divide, presents were exchanged, and in Flanders Fields a century ago, a spontaneous Christmas truce briefly lifted the human spirit.
"Not a shot was fired," Lt. Kurt Zehmisch of the 134th Saxony regiment wrote in his
diary that Christmas.

On the other side of the front line, Pvt. Henry Williamson of the London Rifle Brigade was amazed by the goodwill among his enemies.

Few could believe their eyes, on this patch of Belgium and northern France where crimson poppies had long ago shriveled in the cold. Peace allowed for dead bodies to be recovered from the fields and given a proper burial.

Fighting continued in many other places on the front line and some generals ordered the troops to get back into position and feared there was a softening. But it was a momentary peace in a war that would last for nearly four more years.

Frank and Maurice Wray of the London Rifle Brigade settled in to keep watch when they suddenly heard a German band in the trenches play songs "common to both nations," they later wrote in an article. "Quite understandably a wave of nostalgia passed over us."

At dawn, a German called out, "We good. We no shoot," and the Wrays noted: "And so was born an unofficial armistice." Men walked out, extremely apprehensive at first, many fearing some deadly trick. Then human warmth cracked the freezing cold.

Another said that at about 30 scattered points across many miles of Belgium, similar scenes occurred. Others happened across the Western Front, which ran from the North Sea to the Swiss border.

Apart from talk in a shared language or merely with hands and kindred eyes, the men exchanged gifts, using everything from bully beef and barrels of beer to small mementos. Some played soccer.

The New York Times identified the last survivor of the truce as Sgt. Alfred Anderson, from Scotland. He died in 2005 at 109. That same year, The Times ran a column noting some soldiers' journal entries

"We stood inside the circle like street corner orators. … What a sight -- little groups of Germans and British extending almost the length of our front! Out of the darkness we could hear laughter and see lighted matches, a German lighting a Scotchman's cigarette and vice versa, exchanging cigarettes and souvenirs," Cpl. John Ferguson, a Scottish troop, wrote.

German soldier Werner Keil scribbled his name on a piece of paper and gave a uniform button to 19-year-old British Cpl. Eric Rowden of the Queen's Westminster Rifles on Christmas Day 1914. "We laughed and joked together, having forgotten war altogether," Rowden wrote.
The Associated Press contributed to this report

Sad News

The ones that burn the brightest, burn out the soonest.  Too soon, way too soon.

Robin Williams was a super nova.

Otter said it's like losing a favorite Uncle.  But to me and Bill, he will always be Mork from Ork.  He was something special, there will never be another one like Robin Williams.  We are all poorer for his loss.