Firefox V3.0 not playing nice with Blogger

UPDATE: It appears that the problem has been fixed, please look to my widgets on the right for EntreCard. I also deleted my temp files and cookies and rebooted my computer and this seems to have helped. If my widgets disappear, please comment to let me know, but I believe everything is working ok now. Thank you!

For some reason the new Firefox Update to V3.0 is messing with my blogger account, so I am reposting my EntreCard widget within this post. It appears that if you are not viewing my blog in Firefox, you cannot "see" the widgets to the right of my post. If someone could comment and confirms this I would appreciate it.

Special thanks to Renz at Live the Life of A Dreamer who notified my of the problem.


Lola's Diner
©2008

Who is my neighbor?/No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

California Court: Would Be Good Samaritan Can Be Sued

The term Good Samaritan comes from "from the parable told by Jesus in the Bible about a Samaritan (a man from a country called Samaria) who helps out a Jewish man who is ambushed by theives and left to die." "According to the story, a man asked "Who is my neighbor?" and the moral of the parable is that everyone is really your neighbor (meaning you should help anyone you see in need). "

What on earth is our world coming to when a Good Samaritan can be sued for trying to help someone in danger?

Let's take this a step further, what on earth is our world coming to when you sue a FRIEND for being a Good Samaritan and coming to your aid?

Whatever happened to being grateful that you're alive? Whatever happened to saying 'THANK YOU for saving my life"?

I realize completely that Ms. Van Horn is upset at having been paralyized by this terrible accident and probably wants to blame someone for her current condition, but to blame your friend? To blame your friend and then sue her?

What is this going to do for the future of Good Samaritanism? I don't know about you, but if I wrecked my car and myself and members of my family are trapped, I'm going to want help immediately to get out if there is a possibility of fire. Conversely, if I come upon a car wreck and smell gas, I'm going to want to help rescue those trapped if I can.

What is this world coming to? Do we all have to carry waivers with us wherever we go so that if we come upon a wreck and want to provide assistance that we require the victim to sign a waiver of liability that says they will not sue us if they become injured in some way because of our rescue efforts?

Who is my neighbor?

Lola's Diner
©2008

Blogojevich will fight, fight, fight

Transcript of Governor Blagojevich's Statement to the Media Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune.

Blagojevich "I will fight, I will fight, I will fight. Until I take my last breath. I have done nothing wrong." "Now I'm dying to answer these charges, I am dying to show you how innocent I am."

Is he serious?

He quoted Rudyard Kipling? Excuse me, but I don't think Rudyard Kipling had politicians in mind when he wrote the poem "If" that Blagojevich quotes from. I would ask that Blagojevich look at the first line of the second paragraph of that same poem that says:

"And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream -- and not make dreams your master, If you can think -- and not make thoughts your aim."

I think the problem here for Blagojevich is that he has made his dreams his master. Wouldn't you say?

The FBI have him on tape for cryin out loud. Media reports have him or his attorney's questioning the legality of the FBI's wiretaps. Ummmm, regardless if the wiretaps were legal, don't the tapes imply that he is NOT innocent, that he broke the law? I'm not saying the FBI wiretaps were illegal, but let's play 'what if' for a moment.

'If' the wiretaps were illegal then:
1. He didn't say those things?
2. He didn't swear worse than most truckers?
3. He didn't try to sell President Elect Obama's Senate seat?

So, 'IF' the wiretaps were illegal, then he is innocent?

Former Illinois Treasurer Judy Barr Topinka was on WGN 720am radio earlier this week and made allegations that while she was in office people came to her office to complain that Blagojevich wouldn't take an appointment with them unless they dropped $10,000. She was his former opponent for Governor, I'm curious to know why she now has the urge to come forward. The media is reporting that the FBI has been investigating Blagojevich for the last 5 years. The timing of his arrest is quite interesting, don't you think?

Blagojevich "But I have on my side the most powerful ally there is, and it's the truth. And besides, I have the personal knowledge that I have not done anything wrong."

(Note to self: The most powerul ally is the truth.)

Well as long as he has "personal knowledge" that he has not done anything wrong.

What was the FBI thinking?

Drop those charges, he has "personal knowledge" of his innocence!

Gift Bags

Tonight I made up 8 gift bags for the kids to bring to school tomorrow. Each bag contains a jar of homemade jam. Strawberry, Blueberry or Bluebarb (Blueberry Rhubarb). (I'm going to be so sad to see those cute little jars go.)

Now I don't know why I bothered to do this tonight. (Ahem, it is last minute as usual.) Friday is the last day of school before winter break, however we are supposed to be getting the mother of all blizzards tonight. Television stations already were announcing school closings even before the snow started falling. Apparently the weathermen are freakin everyone out.

So now that I've gone ahead and got the bags ready, I'm sure tomorrow will be a snow day.

I don't know about you, but I'm not 'prepared' to have my kids home an 'extra' day. Heck, I'm not even 'prepared' to have them home the whole school break.

My son was planning on going to the movies after they got out of school early Friday and have his buddies come over to play video games afterward. Now that he's seen the weather report on television he wants to move up everything up. He even called one of his buddies in an effort to get him to get it arranged with his parents. He doesn't understand that if there isn't school, it's for a REASON. It's because the roads aren't clear and it's unsafe to drive. If it isn't safe to take the bus to school, why is it safe to have me schlep you and your buddies to the movies?

Arggggggggghhhhhhhh.

Morning update:
My daughter's school bus company called and said the 4 other children on her bus called off today and they were predicting a minimum of a 2 1/2 hour bus ride to school, who knows about the ride home, what did I want to do. Hmmmmm, ah she's staying home, thank you. Tuesday night's storm had her ride home take 3 hours and 45 minutes. So I called the school and called her off.

My son's school website shows they are still open. I can't tell you how THRILLED he is. And I promised to drive him this morning. I'm even more thrilled. His goal this year is perfect attendance, and so far he has no absences, so he doesn't want to blow that, so I'm not getting the vigorous argument I normally would.

Blog Love Award

Many thanks to Liza at A Simple Life was kind enough to share some Blog Love. Sorry about the delay on getting this up on my site. Thank you so much!

Here are the rules:
1. Put the logo in your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who shared it with you.
3. Pass this award to your Blogger Friends
4. Add your link to the list of participants below
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

Blog Lovers: 1. Soul Anchor 2. Cookie’s Corner 3. Ane of Life According To Me 4. Tales of a Pinay Single Mommy 5. A Girl For All for Status 6. A Simple Life 7. Glue 4 Families 8. Our Simple Life 9. Lola’s Diner 10. YOU NEXT!

I’m passing this on to:

Soccer Mom

Definitely Maybe

Shaunispeaks

How on earth am I going to get these gifts wrapped?

As it stands now I have exactly ZERO presents wrapped. Zip, Zero, Zilch. Why is that? Because I always wait until the last minute. I procrastinate because I need that adrenalin rush. I can’t do it without it. I need that high I get from having less than 16 hours until Christmas morning, watching back to back to back Christmas movies, and drinking too much spiked eggnog.

Actually, this year I was going to start last Friday, then I lost my momentum and didn’t do a darn thing. Then I was going to start this coming Friday. (Fridays are good because I can stay up all night if I need to because Anastasia is away on her caregiver gig.) But then this happened Tuesday night:
Isn’t it lovely? (Ok, no need to critique the composition, and it is quite blurry. Have you ever tried to photograph your own thumb?)

Tuesday night after the snowfall Anastasia decides to take out the snow thrower and clear the driveway. She calls me out because she can’t start it. So being the dutiful wife, I slip on my shoes and coat and go give it a try. It’s electric start, so shouldn’t be a big deal. (Maybe that was my problem, perhaps I was a little bit too smug about it. I think maybe karma got me and it got me real good.)

It wasn’t starting. Then I remembered that the clutch lever (I think that’s what it’s called, it’s a spring loaded bar that has to be pulled toward the handle in order to start the snow thrower and keep it running, similar to a walk behind lawnmower) wasn’t pulled toward the handle. So I pulled it toward the handle and it seemed to lock in place. Then I fiddled with the power cord for the electric start and the throttle. Somehow in my maneuvering my left hand got near the handle at just the precise moment that the clutch lever springs released. I will admit to saying a lengthy string of obscenities that began with “A Christmas Story’s” classic “fudge”. Only not “fudge”. Then I progressed onto “Holy Mother of God” and so on. All the while I was swearing, I was jumping up and down. Don’t even ask me why, because I couldn’t tell you. It hurt like a motherf*****. And it still does.

Anastasia and my son did not come to my aid. They continued shoveling the driveway the old fashioned way. But I have to tell you they would be lying if they said they weren’t laughing their arses off. My son in particular enjoys laughing at people in pain. (So does my daughter, but she was inside lounging watching television while everyone else worked.) Why do they laugh when someone hurts themselves? They did mention that a neighbor across the road heard me and hesitated and almost started to walk over. Apparently Anastasia and my son's lack of concern stopped him.

Anyway, now my thumbnail and the skin around it is a lovely shade of blue. My entire thumb is also very swollen. I almost wonder if I fractured it. If I even brush something up against it, I’m in a whole lot of pain.

So, how on earth am I going to get my gift wrapping done? I’m left handed, I can’t even write legibly at this point because I can’t grip a pen. But I can type. Not that many words require the use of the left thumb in typing. Thank goodness!

I can still blog!

I do have my priorities in order!

Drew Peterson Engaged?

"Drew Peterson Engaged to 23 Year Old"

Please excuse my shock and disbelief, Drew Peterson is engaged? Isn't he still married?

Seriously.

Isn't Drew Peterson the one who says his 4th wife Stacy is still alive? If what he says is true, isn't he jumping the gun a bit? He hasn't filed for divorce yet has he? I mean, the media would definitely let us know if they got wind of that right?

Isn't Drew Peterson still a 'person of interest' in Stacy's disappearance?

Isn't he a 'person of interest' in his 3rd wife's death?

Seriously.

Who would agree to marry this guy?

Really!

Even if you could get past the REASONS for his legal problems, he does have an awful lot of legal problems. I mean, a person IS innocent until proven guilty and all that.

Seriously, how could you get past the reasons for his legal problems?

Has she lived under a media free rock for the last year?

How many of you women out there could get past Drew Peterson's legal problems and the cloud of suspicion around him regarding his 3rd wife's death and the disappearance of his 4th wife?

Does this 23 year old have a death wish? Is she drawn to his celebrity? I don't know about you, but I can think of better quasi-celebrities.

What do you all think?

“The Greatest Gift” aka “It’s a Wonderful Life”

Sunday night my partner and I watched “It’s A Wonderful Life” for the first time this year. I’m sure we will watch it several more times by the end of this year’s holiday season.

We came up with some questions and observations.

First, when there was a run on the bank and George starts passing out his wedding gift money, the second guy that wants his money, says he’ll take $20 to get him by, and the next woman says she can get by on $20 also. That got Anastasia and I to thinking, what was that 1945 $20 equivalent to in 2008 money? I did find out online that a loaf of bread in 1945 costed $0.09. Today a loaf of bread costs about $2.99. What would that $20 be equivalent to in today's, 2008 terms?

We also observed that Uncle Billy had an affinity with animals. First the raven (Jimmy) latches onto his arm when he arrives after failing to make the $8,000 deposit. (What kind of money would that be today?) Then George follows him around town to retrace his steps and back to Uncle Billy’s house. When George leaves, a squirrel runs across Uncle Billy’s desk and up his arm. In all the probably hundreds of times I’ve watched this movie, I never noticed the squirrel until now. Apparently Uncle Billy had a “way” with animals.

Before George leaves Uncle Billy, he makes this speech "Where's that money you silly stupid old fool? Where's that money? Do you realize what this means? It means bankruptcy and scandal and prison. That's what it means. One of us is going to jail, well it's not gonna be me." Did you notice that scandal comes before prison? He’s worried about scandal more than prison. Things don’t change much do they?

My favorite line, Mary Bailey: “George, why must you torture the children!”

Anastasia’s favorite line, Annie: “I’ve been saving this for a divorce, if I ever got a husband.”

Malfeasance. How often do you hear that word today? I bet we could use that term to describe Blagojevich.

Some of the best lines of the movie:

Clarence: “You've been given a great gift, George: A chance to see what the world would be like without you.”

Clarence: “Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?”

Clarence: “You see, George, you really had a wonderful life. Don't you see what a mistake it would be to throw it away?”

When you watch this movie, do you ever think about if you were in George’s place? What would the world be like without you? (Your community, your family, your friends.) I know this is just a movie, but work with me here, think about your life for a moment. I don’t know about you, but when I try to think about any significant things that have happened in my life, I can’t point to any moments even close to the definitive moments in George’s life.

Saving his kid brother Harry from drowning in the pond. (Harry who later won the Congressional Medal of Honor for saving all the men on his transport during the war.)

Catching Mr. Gower’s mistake and saving that family from cyanide poisoning.

Keeping his father's business afloat, thus allowing the townspeople to get loans to own their own homes and making their town a community full of beautiful homes and prosperous family businesses.

Keeping Violet on the straight and narrow by loaning her money.

Even if I try and get real creative with my personal history, I can’t imagine ever making a mark on someone else’s life that would be so significant so as to make my existence so essential. To my knowledge I have never saved a life, either directly or indirectly. I've never saved a business, thus saving the reputation of a town and it's inhabitants. And I never prevented anyone from becoming a prostitute. About the only thing I can come up with is that my high school friend, Margaret, would have never come to visit me that weekend in Chicago when we went out drinking and she met her husband Jack. Then they would never had their daughter Megan. As far as I know Megan hasn’t done anything history changing, she's just a high school senior this year. (If she would have won the Nobel Peace Prize, I think I would have gotten an email or something.)

.

How about you? What if you had never been born? How would that change the lives of the people around you?

In closing….Clarence: “Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends.”

This movie has my vote for the best holiday movie ever.