Dreaming of a white Christmas (still)

I'm listenting to Star 102.1 (Kansas City's Christmas Station) which plays Christmas music from the day after Thanksgiving through Christmas day, was just playing "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" - but as I look out the window at the 60+ degree day, I can't help but think it's beginning to feel a lot like...spring. Except of course that everything is still dead, no flowers, no greenery, and, naturally, no snow (it used to snow in NE Kansas when I was a kid, now we get maybe two decent snows a year) everything is just brown and dead.

Its quite depressing actually. I miss the white Christmases we had while living in Colorado and Alaska (of course, in Alaska, we also had white Halloweens - not so good). I can fully empathize with the bloke what wrote the song "I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas." I dream of that every year now. The unseasonably warm weather does make it rather difficult to 'get into' the Christmas season.

Sure, my house is lit up like the Griswold's, and the radios in the house, at work and in the car are all tuned to 102.1 so I get my fill of wonderful Christmas carols. But the warm weather. If I wanted warm Christmases, I would move to Texas or Arizona or some other southern state where that kind of stuff is expected. I guess, if I want a white Christmas, I'll have to move back to the mountains or up north, I think Minnesota has snow, and Montana.

I dunno, I'm just ramblin'.

As always, thanks for visiting!

Tech Tags: White Christmas Kansas City Star 102.1 Christmas music Kansas snow lack of snow warm

The new arrival

Just before the ice storm we had a couple of weeks ago there appeared on our back porch a cat. Well, kind of a cross between a cat and a kitten. Probably about nine or ten months old. Of course, against my feelings, the wife and kids actually fed the thing. Now, I'm not a mean person, but I detest cats. They claw things up, you have to empty their litter boxes, they don't come when you call them. In general, cats are much more high maintenance than dogs.

Well, it appeared the cat was living in a hollow tree on the side of our house and when the ice storm came, and I didn't want to do it, but with three kids with big watery eyes, and their mother all plotting against me, the cat was brought into the house. For the first few nights it slept with my middle boy because the dog and other cat weren't terribly happy about having a new contestant for affection. The dog I could understand, but why in the world would the cat be bothered? It's not like cats are friendly to begin with and this cat hides 90% of the time anyway.

Long story short, we have a new cat, it has been given the name Chicago because it bears four white socks (get it, Chicago White Sox? - pretty clever, huh?).

Thanks for visiting!

Religious Quiz

Okay, over at the Evolution blog, he had this really neat quiz regarding where one falls in relation to the religions of the world.

The Belief-O-Matic quiz is actually here. My results are below:

1. Orthodox Quaker (100%) - they do have good oats though!
2. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (88%)
3. Islam (86%) - who new I was as much a muslim as a Catholic?
4. Orthodox Judaism (86%)
5. Eastern Orthodox (86%)
6. Roman Catholic (86%)
7. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (81%)
8. Sikhism (76%)
9. Reform Judaism (75%)
10. Liberal Quakers (74%)
11. Seventh Day Adventist (71%)
12. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (67%)
13. Bah?'? Faith (67%)
14. Unitarian Universalism (63%)
15. Jehovah's Witness (59%)
16. Hinduism (58%)
17. Jainism (49%)
18. Mahayana Buddhism (48%)
19. Theravada Buddhism (46%)
20. New Age (36%)
21. Neo-Pagan (34%)
22. Secular Humanism (32%)
23. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (30%)
24. Taoism (30%)
25. Scientology (29%)
26. New Thought (29%)
27. Nontheist (23%)

Sammy 4 Prez?

I read in the Topeka Capital Journal that Sam Brownback is looking into running for president. I hope he does a good job in the races. I don't know how far he'll get if people haven't forgotten his amnesty for illegal aliens push earlier this year. But it would be nice. It's been far too long since we had a good, down-to-earth, God-fearing midwesterner in the White House.

You know you're from kansas

LadyGunn posted some pretty funny stuff about being from Kansas here:
LadyGunn: You Know You're From Kansas If...

Other places of interest

I have several other blogs, they are updated as my schedule permits, but at least a couple of times a week.  You can get there via the following links:

Adventures In C#
Bigsibling
At The Top Of My Lungs
C# Follies

Tecnorati

I just found this place to claim your blogs. I don't know what it does for certain, but I'm putting my blogs up here so that maybe more people will read.

Technorati Profile

The Iceman is here

Typical of Kansas weather, we skipped fall this year and went straight from summer to winter. Last week on Thanksgiving day we had near 80F temperatures. Today it is about 25F. Yesterday about noon it started raining a bit, misting mostly. But as the afternoon trudged on, the temps dropped rapidly and the rain began to freeze. By the time I left work, the cars in the parking lot were covered in an opaque blanket of ice.

The thing I hate most about rain, sleet, freezing rain and snow is that it simply kills the miles per gallon in my little Honda Insight. I commute 130 miles round-trip to work each day so in 2001 I bought a Honda Insight. It's not the most comfortable car in the work, it only seats two, and the road noise is extremely noticable. But I have a lifetime average of 58 MPG. On modestly temperate days I get in the low 70's for MPG travelling to and from work. Granted, I figured out last year that if I drove 55-60 MPH, I could get that great mileage. I read at InsightCentral.net that some people get in the upper 70's - lower 80's by travelling at 45 MPH. I just can't see that the extra 5 - 6 MPG is worth the extra time it would take to get home after work. As it is, if I travel 55-60 MPH, I get in the lower 70's and upper 60's. If I travel 70-75 MPH, the MPG drops to the upper 50's. That is significant enough to take the exra time.

Where was I? Oh yeah, the inclement weather plays heck with my MPG. Yesterday morning I did 68 coming into work. When I got home the MPG was down to 51. That was average for the whole day, which means I probably got around 40 MPG on the trip home. But it still beats the 18 MPG I was getting in the Grand Cherokee I had before I bought the Insight. Sadly, I read that Honda will cease production of the Insight after the 2007 model year. This is sad because my little car now has 160K miles on it and unless there is another extremely high MPG vehicle like the Insight, I don't see that it is worth the money to buy another hybrid vehicle since most get in the mid 40's for MPG which I could get with a diesel rabbit. Heck I could get mid 30's with a diesel Dodge Ram truck.

What is so special about Charlie Brown?

Last night on ABC I watched with my daughter "A Charlie Brown Christmas." The boys were in study hall, they had the option to take an early study hall and watch the program, but declined.

I had been looking forward to seeing it this season, as I do every season. Of all of the Christmas specials, this one is my favorite. I hadn't thought of why that was until the receptionist at work yesterday asked me why. That started me thinking.

What struck me was that for starters the show is pre-PC, and also that it rails against the commercialization of Christmas and tries to get to the meaning of Christmas. After watching it last night, it seems to me that Charlie Brown didn't really understand Christmas, but he knew - instictively maybe - that it was more than presents and lights and pink aluminum Christmas trees.

In a fit of frustration as he tries to direct the Christmas play at the school, he shouts out if anyone can tell him what Christmas is. In response Linus (who I always think will be a minister when he grows up) says:

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Although the show is billed as being about a boy who searches for the meaning of Christmas, I don't really believe that is what it is about. Everyone, I don't care who you are or what faith you subscribe too, knows the "meaning of Christmas." It signifies the day that Jesus was born. What I think Charlie is really looking for, and eventually finds, is the heart of Christmas. The things that people do to try and live up to the last line in Linus' speech, "...and on earth peace, good will toward men."