Unexpected Inventions from Unexpected People

Henry David Thoreau, of all people, invented raisin bread when he tossed a handful into the dough he was baking while at Walden Pond. It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but the addition of the shriveled little grapes is said to have just stunned and scandalized the housewives of Concord, Massachusetts, who were used to doing their baking in a very particular manner. I bet their minds would be blown by cinnamon raisin bread.

Yikes it sounds like that oil leak in the Gulf is much, much worse than originally estimated.

Gulf oil spill 'five times' larger than estimated

The coast guard is now guessing that it's 5,000 barrels a day instead of 1,000. That's about a quarter-million gallons a day.

Is this the same leak that originally was thought not to exist?

Good luck Theo!

Now, I don't have the dirtiest mind in the world, but I have my doubts about that massager being for "hands".

I'm sure as hell not buying one as a Mother's Day gift!

Is this the same leak that originally was thought not to exist?

Probably. It's a story that's been steadily growing. It sounds like they are going to try to redirect the flow to collect it but it's never been tried at this depth. If that fails it'll be months before they can stop it.

Since I am staying home tomorrow, I am going to try to make slaw (use up some mayo and vinegar), muffins (can of pumpkin and baking supplies), jello, and probably get some beans going. I think I have a good shot of getting through the canned goods and most in the fridge/freezer, but there is stuff in the pantry that there is no way I will get through, like unopened bottles of syrup and unopened boxes of hot cereal. I am going to bag stuff up in triple ziplocks, not tell the movers, pack it myself and hope for the best.

I moved a whole box of pantry stuff, including all my spices from Sahadis. I wasn't going to chuck those. I can't remember how I packed them, but I'm sure I had plenty of opened stuff, as I had the spices and my labeled plastic tubs of different grains, etc. Honestly, if it was perfectly good, not liquid, and could survive a week in a truck, I packed it. I doubt I used Ziplocs, but I might have used a bunch of plastic bags. Just pack the box tightly so stuff can't shift around.

Is this the same leak that originally was thought not to exist?

I've heard that there are now two leaks -- the main one is spilling something like 40,000 barrels a day, and yesterday they announced that another one is spilling something like 5,000 barrels a day.

But I could be wrong. Just because I have the Weather Channel on at 6:00 a.m. doesn't mean I'm paying very close attention to it.

Good luck, Theo!

I'm sure many mothers would be happy to get a Hitachi magic wand as a gift....

God, I can't even process what's happening in the Gulf right now.

So I'ma whine about the temperature in my office instead. It's normally way too hot here, and it's supposed to be around 70 today so I decided to go bare-legged under my skirt. So of course today is the one day the AC seems to be working. Brrrr!

Today's Thursday, right? I'm not loving it.

I'm sure many mothers would be happy to get a Hitachi magic wand as a gift....

From their kids? So not ever going there.

Okay, now to find a presentation to update for the next meeting.