len_mullen

The term raining cats and dogs derives from Victorian times when household pets, like cats and dogs, slept during the night on the eaves of houses. When it rained heavily, the water from the roof washed them off the eaves, and they came down with the torrent of water from the roofs of houses. As it appeared as though the cats and dogs had fallen with the rain, the term raining cats and dogs was born.

If you like that kind of stuff, you should plan a trip to the Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio. You can walk through the history of flight and learn about the very beginnings of the space program. They have a Navy branded UFO as well... You can even take a shuttle to Wright Patterson AFB and walk on the Presidential Aircraft and experimental aircraft. Admission is free, so you can visit for many hours over many days. National Museum of the USAF

This is my Prime Days spend... Seventh Generation Toilet Bowl Cleaner 32 oz, 8-Pack $11.58Sengled Smart Light Bulbs, Color Changing, Dimmable Alexa Light Bulb $5.99Kasa Smart Plug Mini with Energy Monitoring $7.49Planters Nuts & Chocolate M&M's Trail Mix (6 Oz. Pouches, Pack of 1) $1.70Blue Diamond Almonds Wasabi & Soy Sauce Flavored Snack Nuts, 16 Oz Resealable Bag $3.59Quilted Northern Ultra Plush Toilet Paper, 24 Supreme Rolls = 105 Regular Rolls $4.58All-new Fire HD 10 tablet, 10.1", 1080p Full HD, 32 GB, 2021 release $84.39 The TB cleaner was a S'n'S deal, the bulb and energy monitoring smart plug were Alexa deals. The TP was $0.19 per role. The tablet was 50% off. And who would not LOVE a pound of wasabi anything for $3.59? So 119.32 minus 5% via my Amazon Prime card = $113.35 I believe I win Prime Days!

What if Amazon, Walmart, and Target held a sale and no one showed up? Very little buzz about Prime Days. I bought two things -- one was for someone else (not a gift). I got $34.99 worth of crap from Amazon (Echo Dot 3rd Gen and Ring Video Doorbell Wired), $0 from Walmart, and $0 from Target.

PM Pam.

At this moment, EVERYONE in my home is wearing a GottaDeal T-Shirt (none from last year because Brad CHEATED me out of an EASY haiku win).

First, check the manual for the TCL Roku TV. All of mine support 'trick play' (pause, rewind, fast forward) if you plug in a 16GB USB stick. They can get guide data right out of the television feed which can be used to create a grid style electronic program guide. Very cool because 1. You do not need to pay for a service, 2. You don't have to worry about a vendor ending support for the product, and 3. You do not have to worry about privacy breaches since the television does not need to be on the internet. I would seriously consider a Tablo TV DVR with Lifetime. You can get a two tuner model for ~$100 most of the time. That would be great if you only watch two televisions at a time. The four tuner model goes for about $200. Add $20 if you want built in 1tb of storage and $180 more for Lifetime Guide Data Service (which includes features like series recordings and out-of-home streaming through Tablo Connect for network-connected Tablo DVRs and in-home streaming to secondary televisions for TV-connected Tablo DVRs). Get an inexpensive 4K FireTV Stick on Prime Days or watch for a deal on a Roku for that dumb tv. You are still only looking at a $400 investment for three sets. Tablo QUAD 1TB Over-The-Air DVR | Tablo (tablotv.com) Less than $400 if you do not need a Roku for the third set and you can probably go with a dual tuner model to bring your total investment under $300.

Channelmaster sells new TiVos these days... Set Top Boxes and DVR's | Channel Master People swear by Weaknees, but I have no first hand experience... TiVo Roamio OTA (Antenna ONLY!) with 1TB Drive and ALL-IN Service (Factory Refurbished) - TiVo Series5 Roamio - WeaKnees - the DVR Superstore Just one television on that antenna?

I have five TiVo Roamio OTA DVRs and I concur with Kanyon71. The thing with TiVo is that there is a monthly fee for service. Alternatively, you can pay a one time fee for Lifetime Service -- which is the lifetime of the box not the owner. You can watch a single TiVo on multiple sets by adding Minis on other TVs. I also have an Amazon Recast. With Prime Days fast approaching, you may want to look into the Recast. The Recast has no service fees, but only streams to Amazon devices. While I bought the Recast for my Echo Shows, I have a 4K FireTV stick on every tv in my home. I'm very happy with the Recast. If you do not have coax running from your antenna to every tv in your home, the Recast+FireTV option can save you a lot of time and money. The Recast only supports two concurrent streams AND you are limited to a single Recast per account. I have a SlingTV DVR. I set this up on my Roku TVs. Mostly, I use it to stream out of my home. The Recast and SlingTV DVRs have internal disks and an external connection for additional storage. Both integrate streaming services into their guide. I have a TabloTV DVR. This is probably the best whole house DVR for those not interested in streaming services. Like the TiVo, you can pay for their guide service (which includes remote viewing and other premium features) on a monthly, annual, or one time fee basis. You may want to hold on for an ATSC 3.0 DVR if local broadcasters are already supporting ATSC 3.0 or will be soon.

The important thing is to control the lights with a switch which does not rely on 'smart' tech so people who are less interested in the fun stuff can control things the traditional way.

You guys keep me busy. Been doing some reading. From what I have read, I have decided that Grade B Madagascar beans and Vodka are best for Vanilla Extract. I also learned that the FDA requires six beans per cup of alcohol to qualify as vanilla extract (anything less is simply flavored alcohol). 750ml is 3.17006463 cups. Multiply that by six beans specifies 19.02038778 beans per 750ml bottle of vodka. So I purchased 20 Grade B Madagascar Vanilla Beans for Extract, (5"-7") on Amazon. Listed at $34.99, on sale for $25.99, minus a $2 coupon, minus 5% for Subscribe-And-Save, minus 5% for using my Prime card, and minus $10 (to spend on Prime Days due to supporting Small Businesses), my OOP for the 20 highly rated beans was $11.56. The Smirnoff No.21 Premium Vodka 80 Proof (glass bottle) was $10.99. Yield should be about 25oz with a cost of $0.89/oz. 16 fl oz of McCormick All Natural Pure Vanilla Extract is $33.56 ($2.10/oz), so, unless I screw this up, it looks like I'm saving about 2/3 and it looks like I GottaDeal. Directions could not be simpler... Cut the vanilla beans in half lengthwise with scissors or a knife. Leave a bit intact at the end if desired. Put the beans in a 750ml bottle of vodka. Screw the cover on and give it a good shake. Place in a cool, dark place. Let sit for at least 2 months. The longer the vanilla sits, the stronger the flavor will be. While it's sitting, give the jar a shake every week, or as often as you can remember.Wish me luck!

Thank you VERY much! Any particular brand of rum?

Voice of experience? What size and type liquor would you put how much vanilla bean -- and where does one get these beans (I know where to get liquor)? I'm chomping at the bit!

I'm ambivalent. As long as employees are not punished for taking the holiday, I don't have a problem with those that choose to work. When I was a kid, I made a LOT of money working holidays and Sundays. I would imagine a lot of workers will be hurt by the loss of income. I don't go out much on BF these days. We used to stop at Walmart on the way home from Thanksgiving with the in-laws. I got a couple of phone deals that way.

Nice start!

We would share a very interesting kitchen

Not me, but check this out... Carcinogen found in some popular sunscreens and after-sun products including Neutrogena, tests show - CBS NewsValisure also reported that 14 sun care product lots with some of the highest contaminations are sold across four different popular brands — Neutrogena, Sun Bum, CVS Health and Fruit of the Earth. Not all of the aforementioned brands' products were found to contain benzene, and lists of products found to contain and not to contain benzene are included further down the page in Valisure's petition form. For example, Neutrogena's Ultra Sheer Weightless Sunscreen Spray, SPF 100+ and Ultra Sheer Weightless Sunscreen Spray, SPF 70 were among 14 products Valisure claims have some of the highest levels of benzene tested. But products like Neutrogena's Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunscreen Lotion SPF 30 and Oil-free Facial Moisturizer with Sunscreen SPF 15 were not found to contain the carcinogen. All of the samples tested have "contained up to three times the conditionally restricted FDA concentration limit of 2 parts per million" of benzene, according to Valisure's website.

Listening...

Amazon.com: Ring Video Doorbell Wired bundle with Echo Dot (Gen 3) - Charcoal: Amazon Devices $44.99 at checkout for Prime members. Also, from Woot via my Echo Show... BioBidet LW-1000 Luxury Bidet Seat (woot.com) Prime Days Start RIGHT NOW, RIGHT HERE!

You are welcome.

The photographer never expected his photograph to have such an impact, but it's really taken off. And not just for the general public. In the interview, Glick revealed that Viviane Ruch, the wife of the soldier whose grave the bird was resting on, was especially touched. Not only was she shocked to see the eagle watching over her husband's grave, but she also told Glick that she and her husband used to photograph eagles together before he died.

One year from today, I become pension eligible.

It's Gonna Be May!

Happy Patriots Day! from Battles of Lexington and Concord - HISTORY At dawn on April 19, some 700 British troops arrived in Lexington and came upon 77 militiamen gathered on the town green. A British major yelled, “Throw down your arms! Ye villains, ye rebels.” The heavily outnumbered militiamen had just been ordered by their commander to disperse when a shot rang out. To this day, no one knows which side fired first. Several British volleys were subsequently unleashed before order could be restored. When the smoke cleared, eight militiamen lay dead and nine were wounded, while only one Redcoat was injured. The British then continued into Concord to search for arms, not realizing that the vast majority had already been relocated. They decided to burn what little they found, and the fire got slightly out of control. Hundreds of militiamen occupying the high ground outside of Concord incorrectly thought the whole town would be torched. The militiamen hustled to Concord’s North Bridge, which was being defended by a contingent of British soldiers. The British fired first but fell back when the colonists returned the volley. This was the “shot heard ‘round the world” later immortalized by poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. After searching Concord for about four hours, the British prepared to return to Boston, located 18 miles away. By that time, almost 2,000 militiamen—known as minutemen for their ability to be ready on a moment’s notice—had descended to the area, and more were constantly arriving. At first, the militiamen simply followed the British column. Fighting started again soon after, however, with the militiamen firing at the British from behind trees, stone walls, houses and sheds. Before long, British troops were abandoning weapons, clothing and equipment in order to retreat faster. When the British column reached Lexington, it ran into an entire brigade of fresh Redcoats that had answered a call for reinforcements. But that did not stop the colonists from resuming their attack all the way through Menotomy (now Arlington) and Cambridge. The British, for their part, tried to keep the colonists at bay with flanking parties and canon fire. In the evening a contingent of newly arrived minutemen from Salem and Marblehead, Massachusetts, purportedly had a chance to cut off the Redcoats and perhaps finish them off. Instead, their commander ordered them not to attack, and the British were able to reach the safety of Charlestown Neck, where they had naval support. Paul Revere’s Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five: Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year. He said to his friend, — “If the British march By land or sea from the town to-night, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry-arch Of the North-Church-tower, as a signal-light, —One if by land, and two if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country-folk to be up and to arm.” Then he said good-night, and with muffled oar Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore, Just as the moon rose over the bay, Where swinging wide at her moorings lay The Somersett, British man-of-war: A phantom ship, with each mast and spar Across the moon, like a prison-bar, And a huge, black hulk, that was magnified By its own reflection in the tide. Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street Wanders and watches with eager ears, Till in the silence around him he hears The muster of men at the barrack-door, The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet, And the measured tread of the grenadiers Marching down to their boats on the shore. Then he climbed to the tower of the church, Up the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread, To the belfry-chamber overhead, And startled the pigeons from their perch On the sombre rafters, that round him made Masses and moving shapes of shade, —Up the light ladder, slender and tall, To the highest window in the wall, Where he paused to listen and look down A moment on the roofs of the town, And the moonlight flowing over all. Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead In their night-encampment on the hill, Wrapped in silence so deep and still, That he could hear, like a sentinel’s tread, The watchful night-wind, as it went Creeping along from tent to tent, And seeming to whisper, “All is well!” A moment only he feels the spell Of the place and the hour, the secret dread Of the lonely belfry and the dead; For suddenly all his thoughts are bent On a shadowy something far away, Where the river widens to meet the bay, —A line of black, that bends and floats On the rising tide, like a bridge of boats. Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride, Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride, On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere Now he patted his horse’s side, Now gazed on the landscape far and near, Then impetuous stamped the earth, And turned and tightened his saddle-girth; But mostly he watched with eager search The belfry-tower of the old North Church, As it rose above the graves on the hill, Lonely, and spectral, and sombre, and still. And lo! as he looks, on the belfry’s height, A glimmer, and then a gleam of light! He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns, But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight A second lamp in the belfry burns! A hurry of hoofs in a village-street, A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, And beneath from the pebbles, in passing, a spark Struck out by a steed that flies fearless and fleet: That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light, The fate of a nation was riding that night; And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight, Kindled the land into flame with its heat. It was twelve by the village-clock, When he crossed the bridge into Medford town. He heard the crowing of the cock, And the barking of the farmer’s dog, And felt the damp of the river-fog, That rises when the sun goes down. It was one by the village-clock, When he rode into Lexington. He saw the gilded weathercock Swim in the moonlight as he passed, And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare, Gaze at him with a spectral glare, As if they already stood aghast At the bloody work they would look upon. It was two by the village-clock, When he came to the bridge in Concord town. He heard the bleating of the flock, And the twitter of birds among the trees, And felt the breath of the morning-breeze Blowing over the meadows brown. And one was safe and asleep in his bed Who at the bridge would be first to fall, Who that day would be lying dead, Pierced by a British musket-ball. You know the rest. In the books you have read How the British regulars fired and fled, —How the farmers gave them ball for ball, From behind each fence and farmyard-wall, Chasing the red-coats down the lane, Then crossing the fields to emerge again Under the trees at the turn of the road, And only pausing to fire and load. So through the night rode Paul Revere; And so through the night went his cry of alarm To every Middlesex village and farm, —A cry of defiance, and not of fear, —A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door, And a word that shall echo forevermore! For, borne on the night-wind of the Past, Through all our history, to the last, In the hour of darkness and peril and need, The people will waken and listen to hear The hurrying hoof-beat of that steed, And the midnight-message of Paul Revere. When my youngest was a Boy Scout, we would camp in Acton April 18-19 then rally at Captain Issac Davis' farm for speeches, and march to the North Bridge where a park ranger of the National Park Service would describe the events of the day. Along the way, the kids would stop at historical sites and collect information required to complete a questionnaire. Successful completion of the questionnaire and hike earned each participant a commemorative medal... (You got nothing for carrying a young scout most of the six miles on your shoulders.) Every other year the Acton Minutemen accompanied the scouts on the march. Every year the residents of Actor lined the route as if we were some kind of parade. from Captain Isaac Davis (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) Isaac Davis was the captain of the Acton minute man company. He was the first colonial officer to die in the American Revolution, April 19, 1775. He was born February 23, 1745 to Ezekiel Davis and Mary Gibson. On October 24, 1764 he married Hannah Brown and the couple raised four children. He made his living as farmer and a blacksmith. According to their order in the line from a muster a few weeks prior, [the Acton Minutemen] formed up to the left of the Concord companies. However, for reasons which remain unknown and are still a source of heated debate among historians, Davis’ company was soon brought up on the right. Colonel Barrett, in overall command, then ordered the make-shift battalion to march upon the bridge but not to fire unless first fired upon. The column then wheeled off into column “by the right” and began the advance to North Bridge with Davis’ company in front. To march within range of the enemy’s guns and let them take the first shot requires enormous courage. Davis, accompanied by Major John Buttrick and Lt. Colonel Robinson marched in front with his men close behind. The Regulars fell back to the opposite shore and formed for action. Soon shots rang out from the British side and Luther Blanchard, the fifer for Davis’ company, cried out that he had been hit. Major Buttrick then shouted “Fire! For God’s sake fire!” The minute men returned the fire and British responded in kind. Captain Davis was shot through the chest and died instantly along with Abner Hosmer, a young private in the company.