Open Blog - Weekend

Jump for joy!

What's on the Menu!

Well it is that time of the year and I thought that I would start to share with you some of my Christmas Cookie recipes. I know two people can tell you about the cookies that I make and they are Drew and Daddy Orbs. I thought I would start out with one of my favorites to make because it is one that I really like.

                                                        Holiday Bars

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup sugar
1-12 ounce bag chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
16 maraschino cherries
16 spearmint leaves

Mix butter and sugar together very well, then add vanilla and egg. Then add baking soda and flour and mix well add chocolate chips and mix add chopped walnuts. Spray cookie sheet and press out the dough on the cookie sheet bake at 350 oven for 25-30 minutes.

While that is baking cut spearmint leaves in half then turn them side ways and cut them in half again. You should have four pieces of each spearmint leave place them a side. Then drain the cherries and cut them in half and place them a side.

When you bring the cookie out of the oven take to pieces of the spearmint leave and make a V out of it and then place a half piece of the cherry in the middle to make a holly. Make it evenly to use all of your spearmint leaves and cherries. Then when it cools cut it evenly around your hollies to get the bars. You will get 32 bars.

I hope everyone enjoys this recipe.

                                            

Four for Fridays

Hello everyone and welcome back to Four for Fridays! Except for a few bumps, this week has been rolling on along... Kind of quickly, if you ask me.  Anyways, your questions...

1) What is your favorite kind of Christmas decoration?

2) Are you finished with your Thanksgiving leftovers, yet?

3) What cartoon character do you identify yourself with?

4) Would you want to view Earth from outer space?

Enjoy your weekend!

Open Blog - Friday

Have a good day.

"The Most Amazing View Of The Earth You’ll Ever See"

Alltime10s Thursdays

Open Blog - Thursday

Thank you to my friends, too.

Christmas Decorations 2014!

Yes it is that time already with everyone out shopping and decorating their homes with all the beautiful decorations and light. So that only means one thing I am out there in the cold taking pictures of all the beautiful home with the decorations and lights.

Before I show you my first set of Christmas pictures I have a little story about this house to tell you. On the way home Saturday from Richard Bong State Recreational Area we went through Kansasville on Hwy 11 to stop and take some Christmas pictures and this man was still setting some decorations up and he was really nice and moved out of the was for the pictures. After taking some pictures the man came up to the car and said he was putting more up to stop by anytime to take more pictures of what we didn't get and we could park in his driveway to get out of the car and walk around his yard to take the pictures. The man said he is retired and he does this for his wife and  the ladies at the bank are asking him when he was going to get the decorations up. So I let the man know why I was talking the pictures and gave him one of the cards I have for the JTI's site so he can look our site up and see the pictures of his decorations on here. He was so glad I told him about the reason I was taking the pictures and giving him the card and he said he was going to look our site up. Here are pictures of the house-

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my still-stuffed pilgrims!  How are you?  It looks like the cold is here to stay.  Mumble, grumble, gripe, and groan.  It’s time to put on my winter face, which consists mostly of a frown.  I betcha we get another crazy, cold winter.  Let’s go for the record, whatever it is.  More ice, cold, snow.  We can do it!

At least there’s good news in Packerland.  Last week, the Green Bay Packers took down the New England Patriots.  Next up is the Atlanta Falcons on Monday, December 8, 7:30 PM at Lambeau Field.  Pulverize them, Pack.

In the Irregular Football League, we’re already into our quarterfinals.  The Screaming Psychics still have a fighting chance.  I predict that we’ll come from behind and be the champions.

The hustle and bustle of this time of year can get on the nerves of some people.  Personally, I’ve already had it with Christmas music wherever I go.  And it seems that wherever I go, I invariably hear “Jingle Bell Rock” by one of a half dozen different artists.  It is embedded into my mind for the rest of the month, I know.  My brain will be mush by the New Year.

I’ve been out shopping a couple of times, and the crowds were generally well behaved.  As I understand it, by opening on Thanksgiving night, most of the rowdies were gone by Black Friday.  Yes, you still get the occasional elbow in the gut, or someone steps on your toes, but it’s not like Armageddon.

Now there’s an answer to the burning question, “Do people just forget how to drive on snow?” -  http://www.thenorthwestern.com/story/news/local/2014/11/29/people-just-forget-drive-snow/19666759/ The answer is being provided by UW-Whitewater psychology professor David Havas.  The answer? Yup.  I watch this happen every year and just shake my head.

They say that driverless cars will take care of all of our driving needs.  I know that Google and some automakers are conducting tests on driverless cars.  They sound spooky to me.  I think that artificial driving is still well in our future.  The skills are too complex for a machine to master (for now).  I think it’d be neat to hop into my driverless car and say, “Milwaukee,” while I read the newspaper, watch TV, work online, whatever.

That’s it for this week, my loving dears.  Keep your eyes peeled for icy spots.  Slow down around school buses.  Bask in the radiance of the season.

Contact: MadameZoltar@jtirregulars.com

I love you all,

Madame Zoltar® 

"Man puts on two stones after drinking 300 cans of coke"

Pffft! Amateur.

Open Blog - Wednesday

I can't wait.

Open Blog - Tuesday

I'd check her ID.

Open Blog - Monday

Here comes December, ready or not.

Open Blog - Weekend

Nothing.

"Black Friday 1983 vs. NOW - 'People' vs. Animals"

http://www.onpointpreparedness.net/

Any Black Friday injuries reported yet for this year?

Useless Information

 

Did you know:

 

When the Panama Canal was being built people were dying so fast, at an average of 500 per day from malaria and other diseases they ran out of graves.

 

So the French bought 55 gallon drums from Cuba, put the dead bodies in the barrels and sold them throughout Europe as medical cadavers which in turn helped pay for the digging of the canal.

Four for Fridays

Hello everyone and welcome back! It's my weekend off from work, therefore I'm finally am relaxing.... It's great! Anyways, your questions....

1) What are you the most thankful for Thanksgiving?

2) Do you shop on Black Friday?

3) What is your favorite part of your Thanksgiving meal?

4) How often do you watch the weather forecast?

Enjoy your weekend!

Open Blog - Black Friday

Shop till you drop.

Alltime10s Thursdays

Open Blog - Thanksgiving

Be thankful.

Wish me luck!

This lady had me laughing, I can only imagine

what this is going to be like to tackle, wish me luck!

UPDATED 
This one is mine, I'm surprised I did ok!
I think I tried making the cavity too open, it kept sagging, I had to go outside and hold it til it cooled enough to hold it's own til I could stuff it - 

 

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my Chilly Willies.  How are you?  I’m not dreaming of a white Thanksgiving, but I think we have no choice.  Last year, it wasn’t until December before winter unleashed its fury upon us.  The winter solstice is a month away.  This is supposed to be fall weather.  Tell that to the Buffalo residents who received up to 7 feet of snow.  What do you do in 7 feet of snow?  What can you do?  The people must be burrowing tunnels like hamsters.

Our vaunted and god-like Green Bay Packers beat the snot out of the Minnesota Vikings this past week.  Expect more of the same this week when the Packers take on the New England Patriots on Sunday, November 30, 7:25 3.25 PM (thank you, Ms. OKIE), at Lambeau Field.  Massacre them, Packers!

In the Irregular Football League, my Screaming Psychics are still near the bottom of the heap.  I guess that’s what I get for cutting their pay just before the holidays.  Start winning and we’ll start making some money.

Of course, I must say Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!  Most of you ladies have spent days in preparation for this.  God bless us all and don’t forget to count your blessings.  Turkey and all that are a great part of the tradition, but don’t forget to say, “Thank you.”

There’s just the three of us this year, so I’m not cooking a big bird, just a 10 pounder.  That’s still plenty to get us stuffed and thankful. 

Here’s a personal admission: I can’t stand all of the Christmas music wherever I go.  I find it tedious and tiresome to hear the same old songs over and over.  I think stores and restaurants should go with their regular music programming and then intersperse Christmas songs here and there.  We know what time of the year it is.  We don’t need constant reminders from dunning songs. 

Can we talk?  What about Bill Cosby?  Yes or no?

And what about Black Friday, which is becoming Black Thanksgiving evening?  Are you partaking?  Soon, Black Friday will come right after Labor Day.

That’s it for this week, my loves.  I appreciate all of my readers.  We are all one.

Stay alert for winter conditions and drive safely.  As always, watch out for the children.

Love,

Madame Zoltar®

Open Blog - Wednesday

Why not what?

My 6th Week at the VA - Union Grove...

I ended up with a whole new dimension to my job as a Unit Coordinator out at the VA retirement home in Union Grove. Not only am I doing much better (though still room for improvement, trust me), I'm also my own receptionist for the building, and, as if that weren't a good enough in being multidimensioned tasks, I had a young man come in with home made Thanksgiving cards for the Veterans.

So, anyway, he introduces himself as being from Shepherd's College. He asks if I'd heard of that college. I said, as a matter of fact, no. Well, come to find out, it's an actual college in Union Grove, not too far from the VA. It's for special needs adults, and they take in those who need to learn anything from daily living skills to horticulture and culinary arts. Pretty cool.

Anyway, I typed up a nice letter from me on behalf of the veterans and staff. So now, I'm sharing their information in case you know people who could benefit from this college for those who may need extra help getting into the regular world.
Official Website: http://www.shepherdscollege.edu/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shepherdscollege
Twitter: https://twitter.com/shepherdscollge
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/shepherdscollge/

And of course, my favorite type of site, Blogger: http://shepherdscollegeblog.blogspot.com/
Please check them out, I feel like I am some sort of Ambassador. Pretty neat.

To my friends here with the Irregulars, have a very happy Thanksgiving!

Open Blog - Tuesday

Don't eat yellow snow.

"Letter That Inspired Kerouac's 'On the Road' Found"

By JOHN ROGERS Associated Press 

"It's been called the letter that launched a literary genre -- 16,000 amphetamine-fueled, stream-of-consciousness words written by Neal Cassady to his friend Jack Kerouac in 1950.

"Upon reading them, Kerouac scrapped an early draft of 'On The Road' and, during a three-week writing binge, revised his novel into a style similar to Cassady's, one that would become known as Beat literature.

"The letter, Kerouac said shortly before his death, would have transformed his counterculture muse Cassady into a towering literary figure, if only it hadn't been lost.

"Turns out it wasn't, says Joe Maddalena, whose Southern California auction house Profiles in History is putting the letter up for sale Dec. 17. It was just misplaced, for 60-some years."

Read more:  http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/letter-inspired-kerouacs-road-found-27117311

I know this doesn't mean anything to most of you, but it's wonderful news to me.

I love you, Jack.

Open Blog - Monday

Have a good one.

"JCB GT - The fastest digger on EARTH"

Another world record smashed.

For My Dear Friends KK and BeeJay

Open Blog - Weekend

Yay!

"Epic World-Record Truck Jump by EMC and Lotus F1 Team"

Damn!

This is for Madame Zoltar!

Yes Madame Z we have a special one just for you. I was wondering is this the Ex Mr. Zoltar? If so we know where he is and I will let you know. A family member has found his so you can start to get your child support again for Junior. Here is a picture of him-

Four for Fridays

Hello everyone and welcome back! It has been a tough week for me.... It's a wonder that I'm surviving it. Looking forward to leaving the madness behind and getting some rest, Anyways, your questions...

1) What subject are you better at, math or English?

2) What are your plans for Thanksgiving?

3) What is the farthest you have traveled to spend Thanksgiving with?

4) Who is the funniest person you know?

Enjoy your weekend!

Open Blog - Friday

Smile away, you chubby-cheeked chubby cheeks.

"Deontay Wilder fights a fan for getting 5,000 Likes on Facebook"

Laugh out loud.

"Mother says girl shot in head 'winning the battle'"

From The Journal Times.com:

By Scott Anderson

"MILWAUKEE — Four-year-old Ja’Nyela Marsh-Highshaw is awake and even communicating after suffering a gunshot wound to her head on Nov. 5.

“'They’re calling it a miracle,' mother Janikka Marsh said from the intensive care unit at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee on Wednesday evening, Nov. 19. 'Her neurosurgeon said she’s winning the battle.'

"Ja’Nyela was smiling, using sign language and breathing on her own. Her medically induced coma ended Saturday, Nov. 15, and her feeding and breathing tubes had been removed on Tuesday, Nov. 18.

“'It’s been trying,' Marsh said. 'It’s been a test of faith and I hope we both pass.'”

Read more:  http://journaltimes.com/news/local/mother-says-girl-shot-in-head-winning-the-battle/article_cd4d62db-ff6f-519d-b830-40c29190c2d5.html


God bless Ja’Nyela.  What a nightmare.  A 4-year-old is sitting on grandpa's lap when bullets rip through the house, one of them striking her in the head.

What the hell is the matter with us?  Why do monsters keep popping up all over the place?

Unfortunately, the 5-year-old girl shot in the head in Milwaukee didn't make it.

I don't want to be part of this world.

Alltime10s Thursdays

Open Blog - Thursday

Groan.

Seeing In the Infrared: The Seek Thermal Camera

I have neglected this blog for a while, but vow to do better! And I have a really fun entry today.

Infrared cameras have been around a long time but have always been very expensive. Even a low cost Flir camera starts at about $1000. I have had the opportunity to borrow infrared cameras for work and have always enjoyed playing with them and wanted one for myself.

Earlier this year, Seek Thermal announced a new camera that attaches to your cell phone (both Android and IOS) for $200. It looked promising and I decided to take a chance and order one from Amazon. 

The first thing I will say it it took a while. They were overwhelmed with orders and it was backordered for several weeks. Part of the reason I ordered from Amazon is they won't charge you credit card until the product ships (some people complained they ordered from Seek directly and their credit cards were immediately charged even though the camera was backordered). 

My camera finally arrived on Monday. I downloaded the app for my cell phone (free), plugged in the camera and it took right off giving me infrared images. As you can imagine, the first thing you do is take a selfie.

You can clearly see warmer and cooler parts of my face. It's hard to take a selfie since the camera points away from you! The resolution of the camera is pretty low...only about 32,000 pixels (compare to many megapixels for modern cameras). However, that is normal for infrared cameras to have a much lower resolution and some of the entry level Flilr cameras have resolutions of under 5,000 pixels (such as the Flir E4 which starts at $995) so I would say they are doing pretty good for the price point.

When I got home, of course the cats were instantly the subject of pics. They both have cold noses.

A picture of my television and entertainment center. I believe you can tell where the LCDs are located behind the screen from the heat signature. The big heat source beneath the television is my stereo receiver and the DVR is on the shelf below that.

I went outside. The camera works in the dark of course since it detects infrared instead of visible light. You can tell the difference between the lower level of my townhouse which is exposed brick versus the second story that has siding.

Last night I went to Jersey Mike's subs here in Tucson since I didn't have time to go home for dinner. Couldn't resist snapping a photo of the grill. I believe that is meat for cheesesteaks on the grill. Looks like the one on the left will be done first!

I have been playing with it. I have managed to see footprints in the infrared and can tell if someone has been sitting in a chair recently. You can also use the camera to measure temperatures of objects. I have used this feature but not done any testing to see how accurate the readings are. 

Two minor issues with the camera. I find that if you bump the camera while it is plugged in, it is easy to jostle it enough for the software to lose contact with it. It always finds the camera again quickly so that is not a major issue. The second issue is a software nag. When you plug the camera in, a pop up window appears and asks if you want to allow the phone to access the camera. There is a little box you can check that says always allow this connection. I check that box but it always shows up again and asks the same question every time I connect the camera. Hopefully this will be fixed in a future software release. 

The camera will record video as well. However, the refresh rate is only 9Hz so the video will not be very smooth. Again, I have found this true even with the $1000 (or more) IR cameras so you have to pony up a pretty penny to get around this!

Overall, my first impressions are positive andI hope to play with it for a long time! I will take it with me when observing/photographing outside so I have something to entertain myself with while my camera clicks away.

The other issues I should mention is with the iPhone version. According to Seek's facebook page, Apple has not approved it for use with the iPhone so shipments of the iPhone model are on hold currently and people waiting for that version are not happy. It looks like they are almost caught up with the backlog of orders for the Android version.

You definitely can't beat the price...this is the first time a decent IR camera has been available at this cost and I look forward to seeing what people can do with it!

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog. 

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my frozen delights!  How are you?  I almost went back into the house when I first left and felt the temperature and winds today.  My Lord, I’m not ready for this.  Below zero wind chills in November – ack.  Someone sober up Mother Nature or tip the planet in the right direction or plug the hole in the ozone or whatever, but set things right.  Everyone use your ice dispensers to send ice to the artic and sub arctic where the ice packs are melting.  They should set up snow making machines there and not turn them off until things are right.

Our glorious and vaunted Green Bay Packers dismantled the Philadelphia Eagles last week.  Now they face the hated Minnesota Vikings, this Sunday, November23, at noon, at Vikings Stadium, covered by FOX.  (I haven’t had the location right for a number of these.  Better double-check with THB.)  May the Packers pound the Minnesota Vikings into dust.

In the Irregular Football League, Mr. OrbsCorbs’ Orbliterators continue to duke it out with my Screaming Psychics for last place.  The Half- Astrophysicists continue to dominate the league.  (Personally, I think Mr. hale-bopp has scientist friends working on his team.  They break it all down to numbers, and then feed those into a supercomputer and out pops a list for his roster.)

Did you hear that Charles Manson (80) and some 26-year-old idiot are supposed to get married?  They took out a marriage license.  Serial killer Manson never should have been allowed to live this long.  In days of yore, he would be drawn and quartered buy four horses, one attached to each appendage, pulling in opposite directions.  A serial killer.  A woman 54 years his younger.

Instead, what we get is another media circus in the carnival of life.  Insult after insult to our intelligence.  Maybe they can get Manson a TV show.  Everyone gets rich!  Hurray!

Tsk, tsk, so sorry for my outburst there.  What’s happened to our country?

Hey, don’t be a dickhead when driving in the winter.  Clean all of your windows of snow.  Your exterior lights, too.  Slow down when driving.  Allow yourself extra time.  Be extra vigilant for kids playing in the snow.

Thank you all for reading my blog today.  I think it’s supposed to warm up as the week progresses.  Ha, ha, ha!  We’ll probably get a polar vortex and a foot of snow.

Stay warm, my dears.  I love you all,

Madame Zoltar®

Open Blog - Wednesday

Whatever floats your boat.

"Fucking Okies, I swear….."

http://knuckledraggin.com/2014/11/fucking-okies-ill-bet-money/

Now, don't go taking things too seriously, OKIE.  I saw the heading and picture and immediately thought of you and your barnyard neighbors. 

Chistmas Jingle

Cold is relevant!

It is 52 degrees right now in Southwest Florida.  To me, this is the equivalent of your ten degree days!  On top of that, there is WIND!  Add, a bit of rain and it is just plain miserable!  I'm frozen!

Now, if I were smart, I'd hang around here for a day or so and the temps would nice again.  You know, about 78 degrees, approaching the low 80s by the weekend.  Nope, we are heading to SC where the low was 19 degrees this morning.  Average for the next week will be in the 40s.  Oh, heavenly days, what were we thinking!

What's on the Menu!

I know I have not posted any recipes in a long time I am so sorry about that. I was suppose to get a couple from my mom when she came down to Milwaukee last week to help me out yes she forgot again. I found one that sounds so good from a magazine that came in the mail. It is my daughters magazine too. I picked this recipe because of the cold weather we are having. Here is the recipe-

                                              Asian Chicken Noodle Bowl

1- medium onion
2- carrots peeled, sliced in coin shape
3- garlic cloves chopped
2 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs cut in cubes
1-20 ounce can of pineapple in juice
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vinager
1/4 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1- red pepper chopped
1/4 lb snow peas sliced
4 cups cooked rice noodles
1/3 cup toasted almonds

Drain pineapple and keep 1/4 cup of juice. Put onion, carrots, garlic, chicken in slow cooker. Mix pineapple juice, cornstarch, sugar vinegar, ketchup and soy sauce together very well and cover over chicken. Cook on low for six hours. The last thirty minutes add red peppers, snow peas and pineapple. Serve with cooked rice and toasted almonds.

I am going to try this I hope if anyone else tries this they will share how it was. 

Open Blog - Tuesday

Someone needs an attitude adjustment.

"Man who bungee jumped at Sheboygan flagpole sentenced to jail"

From JSOnline:

By Bruce Vielmetti of the Journal Sentinel 

 
"A man who bungee jumped off the top of a crane near the worlds' highest flagpole at Acuity insurance company in Sheboygan — a Fourth of July stunt later posted on YouTube — was sentenced Monday to 30 days in the Sheboygan County jail.

 "Nicholas Propson, 26, of Maribel pleaded no contest to a charge of criminal entry to a construction site. In addition to the jail term, Sheboygan County Circuit Judge Angela Sutkiewicz ordered Propson to pay $3,406 in restitution, the cost of recertifying the cranes as safe.

 "Video shows Propson atop the 138-foot high crane on the campus of Acuity Insurance. He tells the camera the stunt is a happy birthday gift to America, then says, 'God bless America, God bless our troops' before leaping.

"Propson was part of a team of people involved in setting up the stunt, according to District Attorney Joe DeCecco. The only other person identified, Benjamin Shibler, 33, also of Maribel, faces the same charge as Propson, and is scheduled for trial next month."

Read more:  http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/man-who-bungee-jumped-at-sheboygan-flagpole-sentenced-to-jail-b99392138z1-282954971.html


God bless America!

VASELINE......

This is what old people do for entertainment when they can't golf anymore!

Click here to watch Raiding Bird Feeder

This is scream to watch.....SER.

Testing Helmets

Oh my, this is something the Chicago Bears would do. And Congrats to them, they finally won a game yesterday after the throttling they received last week from the Pac.

Testing football helmets in 1912

Open Blog - Monday

Thanks for the reassurance.