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17546. judithathome - 11/17/2005 7:23:44 PM MsNo, he would think the same of you!! Just have to settle for dinner on Monday, I guess. ;-)
Magos, they say dog's years equal 7 of human's lives so he'd be 119, I guess. Hope I look and feel as good as he does at that age...ha! 17547. alistairconnor - 11/18/2005 11:10:01 AM The trouble I had in getting to Alcobendas
Checked in at 6.45 on Wednesday morning, at Lyon St Exupéry airport. Fine so far...
The trouble starts when I put my kangaroo pouch through the scanner. Would you mind opening that sir? Not one, but two sharp knives (an Opinel and a Laguiole). What the hell was I thinking? I wasn't.
I don't want to walk away from these two fine artifacts. My colleague generously offers to check his bag -- we each only had carry-on luggage - and puts my knives in it. So we're good to go.
On the plane, a regional 50-seater, they announce that there is fog in Madrid, there will be a short delay before takeoff, but the weather is clearing. After an hour, they kick us off the plane, and we sit in transit for.... two hours or so.
Back on the bus to go out to the plane again, they announce that we will take off OK... but no guarantee of being able to land in Madrid. If not, we'll be diverted to Valencia. Hey, that's only 400 km away... hire a car, and we could be in Madrid by... 5 or 6pm. Not bad for an overnight business trip eh? I suppose that's why they didn't tell us earlier... they don't want people backing out.
In the event, we are able to land, and we reach our final destination in Alcobendas, an industrial suburb of Madrid, a mere three and a half hours late.
The return was also somewhat eventful, but mercifully shorter. 17548. Macnas - 11/18/2005 1:43:04 PM Laguiole, nice knife, wouldn't mind one myself. I have an Opinel already. 17549. judithathome - 11/18/2005 7:12:50 PM How long does it take new rechargable batteries to charge when you put them in your phone? My house phone died and I schlepped out to the drugstore for new batteries for it and it seems like it is taking a long time for them to charge up...I got the kind that match the old ones...nickel triple As for phones and camera equipment. 17550. Ms. No - 11/18/2005 7:49:49 PM I think it's 12 hours, Jude. 17551. judithathome - 11/18/2005 9:49:36 PM Yeah....Keoni just delivered that bad news, too. Damn! 17552. thoughtful - 11/19/2005 12:14:47 AM I'm reading a book of trivia now and picking up all sorts of oddball facts. Like the horse race where the horse won though lying down. Apparently he fell near the finish line and landed with his nose over the line and the jockey still on his back and the 2nd horse hadn't come in yet, so he won.
Or that the first apple pie was made in france not america and russian dressing is american not russian.
Or that there are parts of wisconsin further east than parts of florida
Or that Juneau is the only state capital you can't drive to
Or that Gerald Ford was not his original name, but it was leslie king.
Or that Smithson who gave us the smithsonian was never in america. 17553. judithathome - 11/19/2005 9:31:37 PM Keoni made it home and he brought me mana pua which is a steamed bun with pork in it and some pork hash which is like a steamed dim sum.
He was so glad to get back home and needless to say, Klaus and I were more than glad to have him do so! 17554. arkymalarky - 11/20/2005 2:03:46 AM Good for y'all! 17555. Ulgine Barrows - 11/20/2005 9:19:30 AM Back to the brouhaha about pets vs farm animals
17556. Ulgine Barrows - 11/20/2005 9:41:14 AM Pelle..
'Perhaps this has to do with my farm background. The good farmer loves his animals and tries to give them as good a life as possible. But when the time comes to send them to slaughter he is not sentimental about it. It is part of the cycle.'
Yes, that is so correct. 17557. Magoseph - 11/20/2005 8:56:12 PM Hi, Ulgine! 17558. Magoseph - 11/21/2005 5:28:12 PM Did you watch Imus this morning, thoughtful? If you did, was Imus really upset that Charles didn't invite him for Thanksgiving, or were they pretending having a spat? 17559. judithathome - 11/21/2005 6:55:48 PM Yesterday on our way to the movie, we made a wrong turn and ended up in a neighborhood of apartment buildings with a long street cutting through...it had a grassy median with trees and was very lovely. Imagine my surprise at seeing a dead cat in the median with a BUZZARD feasting on its carcus! In the middle of surburia...a huge buzzard! 17560. Jenerator - 11/21/2005 7:33:22 PM Judith,
A year ago spring break, my husband and I went down to the Hill Country for a week long stay at the Guadalupe River Ranch (great place!) Anyway, we decided to take one of the many hikes the place offered and the one we chose went through the gorge. We had been hiking for about two hours when we hit a difficult place to climb.
It was beautiful and my husband who was about ten feet ahead of me suggested I pose by a striking rock feature. I climbed back up and then made my way toward the rock.
As I approached it, a violent shaking in the trees surrounding us started. Then a loud popping noise and a shrill bird cry.
I froze in panic.
Down swooped a HUGE Turkey vulture and it propped itself above me on a tree branch in attack formation --
Its head was pointed down at me like an arrow and its wings were spread out.
My husband yelled, "Jen, you must be near its nest. Run!"
I tell you, I jumped down an entire waterfall in seconds. I think I levitated!
Anyway, the vulture was po'd at me, but thankfully stayed in the tree.
They are hideous creatures! 17561. thoughtful - 11/21/2005 7:56:36 PM Certainly not attractive up close
but very graceful in flight
they do play an important if unpleasant role in the ecological balance.
They were rarely seen in our area around the turn of the last century, yet have made a successful comeback. They are now regular features of our southern new england sky. 17562. Jenerator - 11/21/2005 8:35:01 PM Hmmmmmmmm. If that's a turkey vulture, then I was given the wrong name by one of the rangers.
The vulture that wanted to hurt me was enormous and had a long neck with a white/grey beak that was curved. It's feather were black and it had a white collar.
???
Anyone see a vulture like this? 17563. Jenerator - 11/21/2005 8:41:57 PM This is similar to what I saw, but it was a lot bigger. 17564. judithathome - 11/21/2005 9:18:07 PM Mine looked like the one Thoughtful posted but its head wasn't as red...more mauve-ish.
Whatever, if I had seen one like you did, Jen, I'd have been freaked, too! 17565. thoughtful - 11/21/2005 9:55:15 PM The immature ones have lighter-colored heads:
They get redder as they age.
It could also have been a different type of vulture.
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