Ike and his visit to Indiana

First, I want to post a short follow up on the events of 9/11/01. I've been trying to get back here and just haven't had time. One of the other things that stood out at that time was 5 or 6 days later. Each day after 9/11 was filled with watching TV and checking stories online. It seemed I couldn't get enough info to justify this horrendous act. One day, on the way home, I decide to just run through McDonald's and grab some fast food. I had placed my order and was sitting in the drive-thru line waiting for my turn when suddenly I realize I hear a plane! It was thousands of feet in the air but it was the first plane I had seen or heard since the attacks and I couldn't help leaning my head out the window and just staring at it. Then I looked around and everyone was looking up at the sky just watching that plane. It was a sign, a symbol, that America wasn't destroyed nor intimidated. Patriotic pride ran rampart in that small mid-American town as people smiled, talked to strangers and began to look toward the future again. It was another surreal moment that I will remember forever. On to Ike...Texas sure got hit bad. Death toll not near as bad as Katrina (Thank God) but lots of damage and some areas are completely destroyed. I hate that some residents in the danger zone didn't heed the warnings from the NWS and get out! Was amazed when Ike got to land-locked Indiana he was still throwing a powerful punch. We had gusts of 50-60 mph winds at our house and some areas reported 80-85 mph winds. Ike still had some rain but it was nothing compared to the wind. The house shook and rattled. The bedroom doors shifted back and forth from the pressure, we could hear the aluminum eaves popping but none were blown out. The wind went on and on for hours. There was twice when the gusts came through that I thought I was going to have to grab the grandkids and get to the basement. It was like a tornado was coming but it was just wind. We had one tree that got the top blown off of it. Unfortunately it wasn't one of them we need to take down but oh well! At least we had no damage.

Here's something I got in an email from my Dad:

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW, BUT PROBABLY DON'T:

1. Money isn't made out of paper; it's made out of cotton.

2. The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp (marijuana) paper.

3. The dot over the letter 'i' is called a 'tittle'.

4. A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.

5. Susan Lucci is the daughter of Phyllis Diller.

6. 40% of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.

7. 315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.

8. The 'spot' on 7UP comes from its inventor, who had red eyes. He wa s albino.

9. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents, daily.

10. Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine are brother and sister.

11. Chocolate affects a dog's heart and nervous system; a few ounces will kill a small-sized dog

12. Orcas (killer whales) kill sharks by torpedoing up into the shark's stomach from underneath, causing the shark to explode.

13. Most lipstick contains fish scales (eeww).

14. Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear pants.

15. Ketchup was sold in the 1830's as medicine.

16. Upper- and lower-case letters are named 'upper' and 'lower' because in the time when all original print had to be set in individual letters, the Upper case' letters were stored in the case on top of the case that stored the smaller, 'lower case' letters.

17. Leonardo Da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time, hence, multi-tasking was invented.

18. Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of wood.

19. There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.

20. The name Wendy was made up for the book Peter Pan; there was never a recorded Wendy before!

21. There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with: orange, purple, and silver!

22. Leonardo Da Vinci invented scissors. Also, it took him 10 years to paint Mona Lisa's lips.

23. A tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion will make it instantly go mad and sting itself to death.

24. The mask used by Michael Myers in the original 'Halloween' was a Captain Kirk's mask painted white.

25. If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar (good to know.)

26. By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand (and you thought this list was completely useless.)

27. The phrase 'rule of thumb' is derived from an old English law, which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.

28. The first product Motorola started to develop was a record player for automobiles. At that time, the most known player on the market was the Victrola, so they called themselves Motorola.

29. Celery has negative calories! It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with. It's the same with apples.

30. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying!

31. The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher.

32. Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from Public Libraries.

33. Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space because passing wind in a space suit damages it. I NEED TO REMEMBER THIS.

34. George Carlin said it best about Martha Stewart. 'Boy, I feel a lot safer now that she's behind bars. O. J. Simpson and Kobe Bryant are still walking around; Osama Bin Laden too, but they take the ONE woman in America willing to cook, clean, and work in the yard, and they haul her off to jail.'

Ok, some of this I did already know lol but some of it was new! :) It still doesn't say what happened to the Cent key on the keyboard!! :P

Until next post....