Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens…

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Ms. C

If I had a voice like Julie Andrews I would go about the neighborhood today singing about a few of my favorite things.  Unfortunately, as far as signing voices go I lean toward Roseanne Barr’s quality level.  So, to spare you all I won’t be singing.

Instead I will chime in here – in blissfully silent words – about one of my all time favorite things.  In fact, I will instead use a few pictures taken today by Cheyenne from the car to illustrate one of my all time favorite things.

Now wasn’t seeing the beautiful frost on the trees way better than dealing with Roseanne Barr’s singing?  ;-)

Day nine hundred and forty-two of the new forty – obla di obla da

Ms. C

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Helping out my buddies Phil and Chuck…

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Ms. C

I believe in helping others when I can.  As such, I am willing to offer my assistance to the two most popular groundhogs – Punxsutawney Phil and Staten Island Chuck.  It seems they disagree on whether we will have six more weeks of winter of an early spring.  I can understand why there is some confusion between these two furry icons as to what the next six weeks will hold. 

Seriously, take a good look back at the past handful of months in the Fargo-Moorhead area.  The area rolled into the fall from a summer that was quite cool and far too dreary for most folks’ taste.  The fall, in contrast, was decidedly lovely and temperate.  Then came winter, at least on the calendar.  It hasn’t been the winter that most North Dakotans are accustomed to, but the complaints have been minimal.  Indeed, there have been days throughout November, December and January that were spring-like, actual, bonafide short weather.

So you can understand why Phil and Chuck are struggling.   But let’s face it – they are both right depending upon how you look at it.  According to Phil, we have six more weeks of winter – which if you look at the winter we have had isn’t really saying much more than we are having an early spring (at least tempertaure-wise).  According to Chuck, an early spring is enroute – which would mean a bit more than spring-like weather –  it could mean spring-like blooming activities like the appearance of tulips and daffodils.  Either way, have we received bad news from either one?  I don’t think so, but let me help put any debate to bed with my prediction which bridges’ the predictions of Phil and Chuck.

My prediction:  We will have six more weeks of a spring-like winter.  How do I know?  Well, I saw the shadow of my brand new, never been used, shiny snow blower in the garage and I heard the faint snicker of the universe.

So there you have it – from West Fargo Carol.  I’ll expect the major news channels at my doorstep next year at this time.  But media folks, don’t come around without coffee and danish and don’t come before ten AM, because unlike Phil and Chuck – I bite.  ;-)

Day nine hundred and forty-one of the new forty – obla di obla da

Ms. C

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I found God…

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Ms. C

I found God inside a bathroom stall.

God came to me via a yellow sticky note attached to the inside of a bathroom stall door in the Memorial Union at NDSU.  Now I must say, as someone who has never been a fan of bathroom stall graffiti, that I appreciate post-it note graffiti’s ability to provide a message without doing any permanent damage.

The sticky note immediately brought to mind the song You Found Me by The Fray which offers as the first line, “I found God on the corner of First and Amistad.” I have since been humming that tune’s first line in my mind in a repetitive loop with a bit of a lyric adjustment, “I found God on the door of a bathroom stall.”

The sticky note said:

Shepherd’s Chapel
check your local listing
and get the truth
and peace of mind :-)

Well, when God messages you via a bathroom stall I do believe you are somewhat mandated to listen.  So when I got home, after hundreds of mental repeats of that song’s first line I went looking for Shepherd’s Chapel.  Here is what I found: Shepherd’s Chapel is an organization under the tutelage of Pastor Arnold Murray that has about as many detractors as fans.  The organization is based in Gravette, Arkansas and you can catch its teachings via television stations, the Internet or tapes.

I personally have no comment as to the belief system promoted by Shepherd’s Chapel – I believe in letting folks experience their faith as they see fit (as long as they aren’t hurting other folks in the process).  I believe that freedom of religion equates with freedom of thought – and free thoughts are key to a free society.

So, carry on followers of Shepherd’s Chapel – I am happy that you believe you have found the truth and have peace of mind.  As for me, I appreciated the sticky note – it did sort of make my day as I really like that song by The Fray and I have been listening to it on YouTube the whole time I have been typing this blog entry.

I found God -  in my own way long ago.  I very much encourage others to likewise find the source of their faith wherever it may lie. Who knows, it may be on a bathroom stall door.;-)

Day nine hundred and forty of the new forty – obla di obla da

Ms. C

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Sugar babies?

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Ms. C

OMG!  The liberal-minded adult in me just wants to scream, “EWWWWWWWWWWWW!” I must be getting old or wise or jaded or something.  When I saw the article in The Forum titled – Site to find ‘sugar daddies’ popular with college students – my immediate thought was the candy.

I was such a huge fan of that candy when I was a kid and upon reading the story headline I was excited to see that a resurgence in interest was occurring.  Unfortunately, that wasn’t the kind of candy the article was talking about.

The article was about Sugar Daddies in the human, big checkbook-wielding form.  But the site referenced in the article also has Sugar Mommies listed who are willing to sink money into a Sugar Baby (which isn’t, the sugar babies candy that I have adored for years).

The site – SeekingArrangement.com – says it isn’t a site that allows solicitation of prostitution.  It fancies itself as something between a dating site and a place where like-minded folks make contractual agreements.  I realized when I started reading the article on this that at some juncture – in the relatively recent past - I had become an old fogie.  Or perhaps that is too harsh an assessment – at least the “old” part.

Sorry, sugar people…I am not buying that these transactions – even if technically legal – are the way of the future.  There has to be more to relationships than a trade of stuff for “companionship” – even when the parameters are agreed upon at the outset.

Forget about the creepiness factor of young people willing to sell off a piece of themselves to older folks for a monetary benefit (and no I do not view this as the same as May-December relationships where there is an attraction and sex, but not a contract).  My biggest issues with this type of site are: 1) the potential to cannibalize the poor (the attractive, willing to contract the pleasure of their company – poor); and, 2) the potential for the really creepy people in the world (who have plenty of money) to draw naive younger folks into things that could be dangerous.

Of course there have been such arrangements in the world for hundreds of years, but there has never been an attempt to normalize and de-stigmatize them like this type of site does.  This site just feels ishy to me.  And it sullies the name of some really good candy.

Yes…tis’ true…my days as a fogie (a “new to the game” fogie) – have officially arrived.  My relationship with sugar is all about the unhealthy white food product and I think I am better for it.  Give me the old fashioned relationships any day – relationships which may or may not include folks of different ages and may or may not have gifts involved…relationships that were not initiated by a functional arrangement that involves money.   Those are the ones that will get you through the rough patches that money cannot. ;-)

Nine hundred and thirty-nine of the new forty – obla di obla da

Ms. C

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Crashed computers and Grandma Lil – perhaps it is half true.

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Ms. C

My NDSU laptop froze up unceremoniously yesterday.  When I had to shut it off and restart it, I was a bit put-out and irritated.  Then I learned - after about a dozen attempts to restart it that ended in what my friend calls the “blue screen of death” – that my computer would not be restarting for me at all.  Suddenly, my life – my written life – passed before my eyes; and, my anxiety level went from about a 2 (which was what being a bit put-out and irritated had me at) to a solid 8.  I have to tell you folks, the blood drained out of my face at the notion that all I had on that computer was inaccessible to me.

Students have told me for years that they were unable to turn in assignments on time because their computers had died and they couldn’t access anything.  Truth be told, I always believed those claims to be somewhat spurious.  I put that excuse in the category with Grandma Lil who passed away five times over the time I had them in classes…highly unlikely, but too difficult or awkward to prove untrue.

Yet, yesterday I have to admit that I felt like the universe was teaching me a lesson on the realities of computer usage…the realities of one’s intellectual life being stored on a memory card that was made for fifty cents in a factory in China.  Immediately I knew that I should have known better.  I should have been more religious about backing things up on an external hard drive.  I should have sent more things as attachments to my email box for storage purposes.  I know the importance of redundancy when it comes to these type of things, but somewhere along the line I grew lackadaisical and allowed myself to trust the fortitude of the fifty cent chip.  Arrrggghh!!!!  What was I thinking?

The bottom line is – I wasn’t (thinking that is).  I posted my frustration about this situation on Facebook and one of my emergency management colleagues queried, “Aren’t you in the disaster recovery business?”  Touché.  I am also in the business of risk management.  Let’s hope the recovery process goes better than my management of the risk did.

So now I’ve got anxiety that will endure long after I discover whether or not I will ever be able to revisit the files on my NDSU laptop.  But anxiety is okay if it means that it keeps me alert to the potential for catastrophic failure of a system that is far from impervious (which the systems analyst in me knows – all systems are far from impervious).  And of course there is the added benefit for students that I will be a lot more likely to believe them when they say their computer died and they cannot access anything.  But as for Grandma Lil’s numerous passings – I’ll reserve the right to believe that when I experience it myself.  I may have died many figurative deaths in my lifetime, but as far funerals go - I have had none.  But note students, upon my first funeral I give you all permission to turn in your assignments late.

Day nine hundred and thirty-eight of the new forty – obla di obla da

Ms. C

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