Wondering how bright it will get.

No, I am not talking about me getting any bright ideas. . .  But, there will be a comet visiting us near the end of this year (2013) and some are predicting that it will be the brightest comet anyone alive today has seen.  Well, we will see.  Mother Nature has a way of screwing up mans' predictions just to prove that she can. (I first told you about this comet back on my blog http://dizzydick.blogspot.com/2012/11/wondering-about-christmas-comet.html )  I remember some past comets that didn't live up to their predictions, but I did at least get to see a good view of Kohoutek when it came around the sun.  It did have nice tails.  Yes, I said tails, plural.  Comets have a dust trail that lays directly behind them, opposite their direction of travel.  They also have an ionized tail that lays along a line pointing out from the center of the sun.  When they are out in deep space, they are just a ball of ice and rock.  It is the sun that brings them to life.

Back in the old days, people believed that they were omens of something bad to come.  Well, they have given me a stiff neck from looking up for long periods of time, but they could do a lot of damage if one hit the Earth.  Unless something drastically changes its trajectory, this one, comet ISON (C/2012 S1) will not come close to us unlike asteroid Apophis, which passed between the Earth and the moon.  It, however, should give us a great show.  I am sure as the date of its arrival gets close, I will remind you again.  Now, you all  have a great day today, you hear?

Wondering if it will be a happy new year.

I definitely want to wish you and yours a very happy and joyous 2013.  I hope I get to put some miles on the motor-home this year.  Didn't put very many on it in 2013, the longest trip was to Inks Lake State Park.  See these three old blog postings for that outing:

http://dizzydick.blogspot.com/2012/10/wandering-to-inks-lake-state-park.html

http://dizzydick.blogspot.com/2012/10/wandering-around-inks-lake-state-park.html

http://dizzydick.blogspot.com/2012/10/wandering-home-yesterday.html

I tried to go to bed at 22:30 last night, but the fireworks in the neighborhood and the shaking dog kept me awake, so I turned on the TV and watched the celebration going on in Houston.  Even though it rained a couple hours earlier, there was an enormous crowd there and they also had a parade of art cars.  They were really neat.  Some people have quite the imagination.

It quieted down around 00:30 so I tried to get some sleep.  Had thoughts of maybe sleeping in some this morning but my dogs stayed on their schedule and got up before 07:00.  So, since I was up already, I started my new year out with a big breakfast.  I had a large bowl of oatmeal with almond butter, butter, plain yogurt and sweetened with agave.  Now I am so full I can hardly move.  Well, at least I didn't make any new years resolution so I don't have any to break this year.  Even if I did, at my age, I wouldn't remember them anyway.  Now, I insist that you all have a great day and an even greater year, you hear!!!

Wondering how bad my dog will shake.

My oldest dog has always been deathly afraid of anything that goes bang.  I told you about how she reacts to thunder back on this old blog posting: http://dizzydick.blogspot.com/2012/10/wondering-how-much-and-when-it-will-rain.html  Well, she may get a double whammy tonight.  Being New Years Eve, the neighbors put off a lot of fireworks and I believe the weather man said that there is also a chance of some storms moving in.  So, I am afraid that there will be "a lot of shakin going on" here tonight.  Remember that old Jerry Lee Lewis song?  I guess after tonight, things should get back to normal.  I like normal, but some people think normal is boring.  I do not believe in being bored.  Boredom is a preventable emotion and my normal is definitely not boring.  Any emotion that can be prevented and is useless, should never be allowed to happen.

My son talked me in to getting on facebook.  He said it was a great way to keep in contact with my friends and family.  So I joined.  Funny how some people I know found me so quick.  How did that happen?  I think I will like it but not sure yet.  Will pass judgement after a bit of time elapses.  I have left it open to the public but will make it private soon.  That reminds me, I guess I should check it today.  There are still things I don't understand about it, but I will learn. . . maybe.  Now you all have a great day and don't party to hardy tonight, but if you do, don't keep me awake.  Have a great New Year, you hear. 

Wondering about dangerous wild things.

There are a lot of creatures, both great and small, that can cause you harm.  Some are mean and really want to hurt you, others hurt you by accident, and some have to use you for food.  Let me take these in reverse order.  Bacteria, viruses, mosquitoes, and in some cases large creatures like killer whales, big cats, bears, alligators, and I have heard of a python eating a small child, can and will eat you.  There are microbes of all kinds trying to devour you right now.  We just can't escape the danger, but most of us just ignore it.  Except when it comes to huge, exotic creatures; they seem to scare us the most and they are usually the least of your worries.  When you go to bed tonight the chance of being eaten by a huge predator is almost nil, but the chance of being feasted on by very small (some unseen) predators is quite high.  In fact, it is guaranteed.

I suppose that you think that your vehicle is immune from these predators.  Well, you are wrong.  Down in Florida the vultures are attacking vehicles and eating all the rubber weather stripping off any that they can find.  Now, I know some of us drive old vehicles, but this is getting ridiculous!  Buzzards and vultures following our vehicles around waiting to attack while they are sleeping.  Really bad!!!  Don't believe me?  Here is a link to the news article: http://www.wildflorida.com/articles/Vultures_attack_cars_in_Florida.php  OK, stay away from those car eating vultures and look up every now and then to see if any are following you.  I got real nervous the other day when there were so many vultures in one of my dead trees that I thought they would make the limbs fall off, and they were all LOOKING AT ME!!!!  Well, they left the next day, so now you all have to worry about them coming to your house (grin).  Now have a great day, you hear?

Wondering if I am normal.

Dang!!!  Since I got older (No, I didn't admit to being old, just older) I have noticed some changes to my body.  Like when my hands get cold they start to itch.  Yep, and I got itches in other places.  The places that don't itch hurt.  I am not sure which is worse.  What is worse is that I can itch and hurt at the same time.  Now, you know, it takes a lot of skill to do two completely different things at one time.

I also forget things.  My wife read my blog yesterday and said I wrote one just like it awhile back.  Shucks, I didn't remember that, so I went back in my blog history and dang if she wasn't right.  Take a look back at my old blog: http://dizzydick.blogspot.com/2011/10/wondering-about-some-traffic-signs.html  

Same sign, different refrigerator.  When am I ever going to learn that my wife is always right and I am always wrong?  So, I will say that I am sorry for posting two blogs about the same subject, even though they were over a year apart.  I should have known.  Now, you all have a great day and stay warm and well, you hear?

Wondering about traffic signs.

Everyone of us who drives a vehicle or rides in one has to watch for and obey the traffic signs.  Like "slow":

And if going slow doesn't work than there is "stop".

And then there is a sign that makes you go the wrong way:

And then, just when you want to find a spot to park, there are those "no parking" signs.  They seem to show up in the most unexpected places just where you want park.

Hey, you say, that doesn't look like a parking area, right?  Well it is. Here is a better picture of the sign:

This is the door of our refrigerator and that is where I found this sign!!  Let me explain.  We have well water here and I just love the taste of it but my wife doesn't.  She has this pitcher that has a water filter built into it.  It is called a PUR pitcher.  This is the spot where she keeps it so she has cold water to drink.  Sometimes I put things in that spot when the pitcher is not there, thus the sign.  It isn't that we don't communicate, it is just that I have a poor memory.  (That is the best excuse I can come up with now.)  Now you all have a great day and I hope all your parking spaces will be reserved.

Coloring my wife's doodles.

My wife likes to doodle.  According to Wikipedia, "a doodle is an unfocused drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied.  Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or my just be abstract shapes."  OK, that is the definition, but what my wife does is a little beyond that.  I told you before she (and once in awhile I do too) makes cards to send every weekday to my aunt in a nursing home in Pennsylvania.  She often decorates the envelopes with what she calls doodles.  Yesterday, she got the idea to color these doodles, so she had two cards already made up with doodles all over them and gave one to me to color and kept one to color. I figured that it would only take a short time but we both spent almost all day and into the evening on this project.  Now I appreciate what she does every day a lot more since I helped out on these cards.  Here is a picture of the two cards with a typical decorated envelope:

Remember that my wife did all the doodles and I just colored one of them.  Do you want to guess which one I did and which one my wife did?  Just thought you would like to see them.  Now you all have a great day today, you hear?