Phenomenal

Pappa Bear and I were hanging out on a Friday night recently, walking across the parking lot to grab a bite to eat at the The Blue Ox, before heading to the theater to watch Iron Man 2, and he randomly came up with this line:

"I put the 'minimal' in Phenominal."

But I think what he meant was, he puts the "Fun" in "Funomenal."

What do you think?

Cheers -
Victoria

Splink!

A few months ago, Pappa Bear and I decided that we needed to come up with a new word, something to describe what happens when we sit down at the computer with the intention of looking for something in particular, and then, several hours and dozens of sites later, come out of our daze and realize we never did find what we were looking for because we followed a link from the first search results onto a completely different topic... and from that topic, another link, to another site and topic... and another, and another... kind of like a slinky falling down a long flight of stairs.

So in honor of this, we coined a new word: Splink!

Let's compare it to a Slinky:

Wiki:
Slinky: a toy consisting of a helical spring that can travel down stairs end-over-end as it stretches and reforms itself with the aid of gravity and its own momentum.

Vicki:
Splinking: a web-surfing activity consisting of a tendency to follow tangentially related hyperlinks away from the topic or site of original interest, causing one to travel from one internet site to another, as the splinker’s thoughts stretch and reform themselves with the aid of distraction and their own momentum.

Latin – from the words Split + Link

Verb: Splinking
Past Tense: Splinked
Noun: Splinker
Plural: Splinks

Example: “What did you do all afternoon on the computer?” “Well, I went looking for brass doornobs, and then I splinked all over the place, ending up watching American Idol try-outs on YouTube.”

You've all done it. Admit it. But now, you have a word for this behavior. And anything you can identify, well, you can explain to your therapist.

Ooh - that reminds me, I need to go lookup up the average amount of rainfall that is needed to grow good Orchardgrass...

Happy Splinking!

Saving Batman

I Saved Batman Today

It’s not every day you get to save a superhero. But today, I was the heroine that saved Batman.

Let me explain.

I was on the dock down at the lake near my house, loading my kayak onto my portage wheels, strapping it down good in preparation for the walk back up to my house. I wasn’t really paying any attention to anything except getting those straps on right – you really don’t want the wheels to come loose when you’re hauling your very beloved carbon-composite kayak up a hill to your house half a mile away.

Well, you don’t really want your wheels to come loose under any circumstance I would imagine. But back to the dock.

I’m still not sure what it was that made me look around today – maybe the garbled noise that sounded like someone talking under water. I thought I could just make out a voice saying “Hbeleblep Mebepebeeeee….” or something like that.

So I stood up and looked around. I didn’t see anything at first. I scanned the water near the shoreline. That’s when I caught sight of him – Batman was drowning!



I didn’t waste any time after I spotted him. I was down off that dock lickety-split. I don’t know what sound a heroine makes when she moves super-fast, but I bet it sounds a lot like “lickety-split.”

I could just barely reach his foot without getting my own foot wet (always best to keep your feet dry in a rescue if at all possible), but finally I got a hold of it and began to lift him up.

Well, after I stopped to take a couple of pictures of course. Otherwise, who’d ever believe I rescued Batman?





His predicament appeared to be caused by a load of sand and gravel trapped in his cape, keeping him under the water. I suspect the Joker had a hand in this. Note to self: When performing Feats of Superhuman Bat Strength, Beware the Cape.



After dislodging all the debris holding him down, Batman was then able to struggle through the weeds and get himself back to shore.



He seemed relieved to be back on dry land again.



I was hoping Christian Bales might take off his costume and give his heroine a proper “thank-you” for rescuing him.

But, alas, no such luck.

E2 Emu Ranch

A trip to visit Beth at E2 Emu Ranch, Shafer, MN today, in order to see the baby emu chicks while they're still in the striped bowling pin phase. Too cute!

Cheers -
Victoria

Ride 'em Cowboy

Sign seen at Peterson's Country Mill in North Branch, MN:

Customer Service with a Smile

Recently I spent 3 months living at the Holiday Inn Express in Brighton, CO while I worked at Platte Valley Hospital. The staff at this hotel were incredibly friendly and accommodating. During my stay I had to ask the Maint. department to fix my shower head. Not only did they complete the task efficiently and effectively (no dirty footprints in the shower even!), Brent left me a hand-drawn note which left me smiling.

If you're ever in Brighton, check out this hotel. Tell Kitty or Kathy or Dawn or Krystyn or Nathan that I sent you.

Cheers -

Hot Chic

Last night Kelly was going to stop and pick up some groceries on his way home from work, and he needed the list of what we were out of at home. So I typed it into my iPhone and e-mailed it to him.

A little while later, he texted me back wondering where to pick up the "hot chic." Apparently the spell check on my phone had changed it from "hot choc" to "hot chic."