respublica

Ferdie turned green

No sooner did I start cutting the backyard today than Ferdie decided to roll in the freshly mowed section. The grass was long, thick and lush. And full of spring Chlorophyll.

He turned green.

I mean really really green.

Glow in the dark green. Which lead to a trip to the seminary fountain for a swim and a toweling off. Most of the green came off, but his head still has some residual color.

Kindergarten boys at a birthday party

Want to experience what it's like to be in the same area as a dozen 5 and 6 year old boys at a birthday party? Here's a view of what happened when Christian opened his presents at his 6th birthday party this afternoon.

 

And the winner is...Red Bud Illinois

Someone in Red Bud Illinois had one of 3 winning tickets from last night's big Mega Bucks lottery drawing. It was purchased at the Moto Mart in that town south and east of St Louis and local radio people are suggesting ways the Motor Mart people can use their portion (15%). Some think they can get new pumps, others think they can update the inside.

Interesting. How out of date is that Moto Mart?

Fixing things

I've spent almost as much time on the internet today looking up reasons why one appliance or machine isn't working right than I have actually doing things.

I can understand when an older thing begins to sputter, but it's more frustrating when a new thing won't do what it's supposed to do.

For instance I started cutting grass today and the mower kept slowing down and then stopping. After some research, it could just be that the grass is too long and too thick for the power of the mower. It also could be the carburator or the air filter or the gas cap on too tight or too loose. It's electic start so it can't be the spark plug.

Then the most frustrating is the two month old Keurig coffee maker. It just will not make two cups in a row without having to turn the power off and pull the plug. We have to pull the plug. After reading scores of reviews I've learned others have the same issue. It seems the water hose must get air in it after one cup and then will not pump water into the chamber for the second cup. Why unplugging makes this work again I do not know.

One funny suggestion for stopping this problem was to leave the machine on and then lift the water reservoir up and inch or two and then slam it back into position hard and fast.  Ha. We'll give this a try in the morning since more than one reviewer found this gets the water pump going again.

 

 

 

Mega Bucks frenzy

There is a lottery ticket craze going on this week, the Mega Bucks game with tickets sold in 42 states and and the District of Columbia is currently at 540 million dollars. The odds of winning are 176 million to 1.

Lot's of daydreaming today among those holding tickets, I'd wager.

But winning the lottery is not all it's cracked up to be, we've all heard stories about the mess former big winners get into. But let me tell you a personal story about how winning a lottery can change not only a winner, but how it changes those close to him/her.

Back in the day when I was teaching at a local high school, I had a small general math class. About halfway through the school year we found ourselves going through a chapter on 'odds'. I decided that a good way to demonstrate odds was not rolling dice a certain number of times to see how often 6's came up, but to use the Illinois lottery scratch off cards. I purchased one of the dollar cards and saw that the game figured the odds of winning were 1 in 4 and miraculously the class had 8 students so it divided perfectly.

I brought 8 scratch off cards in the same game to class and spent the first part of the class going over what we'd do if someone actually one the huge prize. We talked about greed and unselfishness. We tossed around ideas and decided most of it would go to the school and other charities. The excitement to get going scratching off their cards got more palpable as the time went on. And as time went on they went from being charitable in their thinking to totally materialist and selfish.

Finally I gave them the go ahead to scratch off their cards. Whoosh. Out came pennies and off came the black coating. As it turned out there were two winners, exactly 4-1 odds. That struck me as fantastic, finding the odds as written worked out perfectly.

The two winners held a 2 dollar card and a 'free' card and those 2 students were fist bumping the air while the others sat back resentful and actually jealous. Why them? Why them? One of the winners, the two dollar guy, was the shyest person in the class, someone who never said one word to anyone. Suddenly he was smiling and gloating. The others were in almost physical pain, they'd so begun to count their winnings and their spending.

I learned that the thought of big winnings changed people in a heartbeat and did not like what I saw among even the nicest of kids. It's a lesson I carry with me even today when I listen to the excitement of the 540 million dollar lottery payout. I will not buy a ticket.

Early spring brings out the worst

One more thing to raise the anxiety level if the incessant politics isn't enough.  Seems the early spring with its warm air has brought out some of nature's pests earlier than usual, especially mosquitoes and...ick...snakes. Both of these species have been biting Missourians in fairly high numbers this spring.

Now we have to think twice about taking a walk in the beautifully bloomed woodlands. And believe me, anyone tells me that snakes are out and biting, I'm out of there.

Five! One!

KSDK Channel 5 in St. Louis will be at Christ Community Lutheran School (CCLS) in Webster Groves today filming the Kindergarteners doing the Five One hand motions. 

As our grandson Christian is in that kindergarten, we're sort of excited to see how this all works out. The station normally broadcasts the school kids at the end of the 5 o'clock news program. 

Tune in!

Well darn. I guess they don't broadcast the kids the day the film them.

Fire at the Wilson School

Around 2 last night the MAtH woke up smelling smoke. That's a benefit of having windows open these days, you notice things going on outside. So he got up thinking something on the campus might be on fire, and thought so especially after looking out and seeing smoke covering the Sieck Hall parking lot.

When it didn't appear to be a campus building, he got in the car, followed the smoke and ended up at The Wilson School on Demun a couple blocks north of the Kaldi's/Jimmy's, Sasha's area. Turns out it was a 3 alarm fire in the gym part of the building. At this point in time we haven't heard what the cause of the fire was, but it happened during the school's spring break week.

A week ago the Clayton Board of Aldermen approved the schools plans for a renovation, but it isn't clear at this point if work had begun while students were on break.

Good report from Fox 2 News this morning with a look at the neighborhood and school.

And KSDK Channel 5

 

New Richmond Heights business

Michael's craft store will soon be operating in the former Borders Bookstore located in the area down from Whole Foods. There is nothing like Michael's in this area so they should do well.

Best commercials

Are there better commercials running right now than those from Lowes?  They make me look up from a book or ipad and watch.  Don't stop doing what you're doing.  People dancing, gardening, remodeling.  I love it. The music is always catchy.

Then there's the Coloring Book commercial where people cut paper covered walls and doors to reveal windows stairs and even a dog door.

Then the "It's time to go outside" ad.

Paint without cans

If there is one problem with these great commercials, it's that there is no particular product featured or Lowes for that matter til the end.  But they are my favorite ads, ads which I always watch from beginning to end.