Envy

See, the French have style. Even for radio transmitter sites! Pretty sure I saw this in a James Bond movie. Or was it Buck Rogers?

(More here, here and here [a monsterpower AM with 6-wire "open" coax to the towers] This is the "transmitter row" for Marseille, which slightly resembles Southern Indiana. An "aha" moment in terms of our local wineries.)

"Don't Tempt The Fates"

When I cleared the walk last night, I was hoping to stay ahead of the predicted snow -- a "dusting" today and plenty more by tomorrow night.

I tempted the fates. What did I get? This:A "dusting" of a couple of inches of snow!

And more on the way. Followed by several days of unusually cold weather.

...But at least I realized the deck was stacked against me. Network news reports from Egypt suggest a deep lack of getting it, as Authorized Journalists continue to cozy up to whatever scraps of the government they can find...and then send back shocked reports when the crowds rough 'em up. I wonder what will happen to the last few when the tide turns and their Official and/or hired guards melt away into the mob? (Tam disagrees with this and tells me Mubarik's agitators are the ones beating up journalists. She's citing sources, even. My comments were based on a single NBC report. --So, "not getting it" may be not realizing when it is time to get most assets out).

Book Update

Between Mom's surgery and the extreme weather, the stack of books I had ready to ship...never made it to the Post Office. The plan is to take them there tomorrow. I apologize for the delay.

Ice Station Roseholme

Tam hacked away at foot-thick ice a bit before mid-day to free up the tree-shaded the side gate; me, I was lazy, and waited until this evening to challenge the front walk. It had been salted before the ice fell and was salted on top today. I took a cheap hatchet and chopped outside the width of the walk to create a fault line, then attacked it with a shovel:("Before" photo here.) Took about a half-hour. How thick is that ice? Oh, 3 to 4 inches.... Whew! Most of the really big slabs shattered when heaved off to the side.

Excellent cheat: I ordered (Amazon next-day delivery: try it via Tam's link) "Yaktrax" slip-over-shoe traction thingies and they really, really work! Not spikes but steel coil springs wound around a stretchy plastic webbing.

Roseholme's Newest Resident

Isn't he a wonder?I put him next to the phone so he can take calls for us -- even the "rocketship" he's holding is actually a pen (a gift from Turk Turon!).

Ha! Find One Of These At Mal-Wart!

Amazon.com sells a genuine UFO detector.* Bit rich for my blood, I'll have to stick to the ol' "calibrated WTFWT?" method or naked eyes and the teeny hairs that stand up on the back of the neck.
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* How do we know? 'Cos it doesn't go off for fake ones!

The Missouri Underground

No, not a resistance movement, not strike forces from the Hollow Earth: Subtropolis, an enormous underground business complex. 'Cos there are lot of things better kept under climate-controlled conditions.

...Besides, some place needs to be on the front lines in the fight against invasions from Pellucidar. Might as well be in Missouri: we'll have 'em surrounded in advance!

Oldstream Media: Getting No Respect, Plenty Of Lumps

TV news crews and newspaper reporters used to go just about anywhere at any time, secure in the knowledge that They Were The Media and no one, nohow would mess with them.

It's a different world. The kid that grew up getting news (if any) off the Web and busting gumball machines for spare change, he's grown up. The Media doesn't mean a darned thing to him.

...And a couple of 'em robbed a KGO (TV) news crew the other day, beating the reporter and photographer and getting away with an expensive (and traceable) Panasonic P2 news camera. (How expensive? Think new car prices, a nice new car, especially with a good lens. And you don't even want to know what they get for the proprietary little P2 removable-recording-medium cards.)

Last week in Memphis, TN, another news crew was held up and the cameraman ended up in the hospital. Newsies? You're a pinata now!

In the olden days, "I'm with The News" was a golden key, a magic pass. These days? It's like flashing a roll of high-denomination bills in the wrong bar.

If You Are Reading This

This post originally said:

"(If You Are Reading this:) Roseholme Cottage lost power overnight. I have got to buy a genset big enough to run the furnace and fridge.
"OR
"I woke up, had to dig the car out of a huge big icedrift and didn't have time to post anything
"OR
"I was just lazy."

I'm certainly lazy enough to leave it. The front and back yards are littered with small, ice-broken limbs and the wind has howled off and on all night. My car looks okay out the window -- it might not even be too iced over.

I may try to get to the store, even. On the other hand, I have a winter storm-sized headache already.

Adventures Of Mom X

My phone started making the text-message "ding!" about 0500: Inattentive Rehab, Inc. had sent Mom to the nearest hospital (about a block away).

Nope, she hadn't slugged her roommate or arranged to have the TV go out the window; her heart rate had gone way up!

So they get her to St. Nearby, where the docs check her out and decide A) she will be staying until the weather is better and B) elevated heart rate was anxiety. Slowed right down once she was in a place with sufficient staff -- or at least staff sufficiently involved in the job.

You'd've been anxious, too. The issues I mentioned earlier and called the place about? They'd just shined me on and done nothing at all. Just as they did when my sister called before me and my brother called after. You don't do this; you do not ignore a patient who cannot even get out of bed unaided. That's way past the loud TV or too-hot room.

When my brother arrived at St. Nearby Hospital, Mom's asked him to find a different place for rehab.

There is another inpatient rehab place not too far away and my siblings and I will be checking it out very carefully. We may have to take shifts being there, just to keep 'em honest.

For now, Mom's in good hands.

Ice Storm & So On

I managed to drive home, 25 mph max through ice pellets like sand. No, more like kitty litter. Which beats freezing rain or even wet snow, but it's strange and treacherous, heaped and drifted, slowly solidifying on the side roads. Still, so much better than a coating of ice -- of which we did get a little earlier in the day. As long as it stays good and cold overnight, things might not be too bad. Might. Of course, the meteorologists of DOOM! DOOM! DOOM! promise a bit more of the same tomorrow.

They moved Mom to a rehab hospital today; I was stuck at work, a dozen miles away. :( Gonna call her next; she may be asleep. It was a lot of effort for her.

Update: So I call her. Mom X is not what you'd call a complainer; oh, given the right circumstances, she'll sigh and barely-tolerate annoying things in a way the clearly indicates This Is Wrong, but that's pretty typical Mom-ing. When it counts, she's a trouper.

...She picks up and there is a TV blaring; Mom asks, "Can you hear that?"
Yeah.
"I can't turn it down. I can't get my roommate to turn it down. I think she's asleep. The nurses are no help."
That's lousy, Mom.
"And it's like 85 in here. Plus I've been waiting for over a half-hour to get someone to answer the call button..."
(Bear in mind that at this point, she's still not walking without major help; so they really had ought not be ignoring that little help-me light unless there's huge major badness elsewhere).
You want me to come up there? No? Well, I'm callin' 'em.

I called 'em. Got the Chief Nurse in charge, who implied Mom's roomie was...problematic. She promised to Take Action and said she'd try to get one or other moved.

I'll be following up. Do they really want me riled at 'em? I can think of a whole lot of reasons why they shouldn't. I'm real persistent. Oh yeah. Plus I'll sic Tam on them.

Things That Should Not Be In Your Bug-Out Bag

The topic is on my mind; we all got the "Bring everything you'll need for two days away from home" memo this afternoon and, unusually, my Bug-Out Bag isn't packed.

(If you are seeing this, I either lost power overnight [Not yet! RJB, 7:02 am] or decided to go in early. Possibly even both).

So, what ought you not have in your bug-out bag?

Hand grenades
A jar of live eels
A live squid in a wicker basket
Hydrofluoric acid
Low-melting-point chocolate
A brown paper bag full of ice cubes
A grass skirt*
A shotgun in 10-ga or greater with barrel(s) 6" or shorter. There's just too much explaining when you have to get the broken wrist set.
Bar solder (2 lbs. or more)
Glass bottles of anything
A can of mercury
Raw meat
Socks with holes in them
Rodents of any sort (make 'em walk!)
Campaign literature
A lit candle

YMMV, but remember, pack safe! And pack light. It can be a long walk to the next bus stop.
Feel free to make your own suggestions for the list.
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* Unless bugging out in Hawaii, especially near tourists.