Breaking News!!

I was out for a walk about an hour ago and I heard a few sirens, which isn't all that unusual. I was just headed for the house when I noticed that two fire trucks were up the road at the neighbor's house. That was the entire local fire department!

Our neighbor to the south likes to rebuild and customize classic automobiles. He was driving this nice black something-or-other(sorry to disappoint any enthusiasts with my lack of knowledge here) that he drives quite frequntly. When he got near the house of our neighbor to the north, his car caught fire.

Nobody was hurt, except the car. They put the fire out, coasted her down the hill to Neighbor South's driveway, and pushed her into the garage.

Hopefully, that is all the excitement for tonight.

Crazy Drivers

A post on Mike D.'s blog got me thinking about rude and/or crazy drivers. I happen to know one. He can't stand people who drive too fast, drive too slowly, cut him off only to turn a few blocks ahead, slow down way before they need to turn, and the usual: no turn indicator, practically stop in the middle of the road, won't stay in their own lane, refuse to yield to merging traffic, etc. He'll swear, honk, and sometime swerve at drivers who tick him off. He's likely to provoke road rage as retaliation.

It's funny how he doesn't like people who drive too fast, as he drives too fast himself. One time he got into a race with his sister. They were racing on the highway, taking turns passing each other. He says his father and grandfather used to race each other home from church. What a wonderful example they set.

He is actually a very good driver, just not a very safe one. Hopefully he'll grow up before he meets someone like himself on the road.

Tricks Babies Do

My 5 1/2 month-old has perfected a trick whereby carrots can go into and out of her mouth simultaneously. This makes for a very messy(and very orange) baby. She also insists on sucking her thumb between spoonfuls. Maybe I should invent a feeding smock. Otherwise, we'll be starting a new baby fashion trend of one orange sleeve.

When it gets a little warmer, I suppose I could feed her without her clothes. She is washable, after all.

Fun With Words

I got this in an email:

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Cheeshead Mantra

It's really fascinating the way people talk. Language varies greatly from one region to another and every region has it's quirks.

For instance, the local chant: ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. It seems that everyone around here says this. Is it a Wisconsin thing? Is it the mantra of the Cheesehead?

At first, it seemed to be something uttered when searching for the right words. Then I heard people using it in the middle of their sentences. It's Wisconsin's version of the "like" phenomena that hit California. You can make "um" every other word of your speech and still sound normal. We should put it in the state motto. "Wisconsin: Um, cheese!"

Does your state or community have it's very own chant?