bumping this down the page since the danger has ended

Gibby - I thought I was the only one with that problem. Anyone need 100+ unused rolls of wallpaper? (But Hon, they were on sale) 30 to 40 extra lampshades. (Never know when you'll need one) Over one ton (estimated) of rocks. Yes, rocks. How many unused picture frames do you need? Three or four dozen? As you may imagine DW is a 'collector' and is loathe to throw anything out. Most of this stuff is in my barn/workshop so it really isn't in the way but wow, I'd really like to clean it out someday. I guess she comes by it honestly. After DW's grandma died and we were cleaning out the place, I counted over 200 empty plastic hanging flower baskets neatly stacked in one of the sheds. LOL on the typed college papers! My 11 year old asked me what a typewriter was and how it worked. I found an antique manual typewriter at a thrift shop and got it for him for Christmas. He was astounded - He figures I went to college during the time the dinosaurs roamed the earth.

I wish I had read this 6 hours ago! I had a hankering for a burger... never thought of chili but today would have been perfect. Called a friend and we were going to go to Chili's or Red Robin and settled on Red Robin. Then my van wouldn't start - battery wasn't up to it. Surprised me because it had warmed up to a sweltering -9° and old "Vanna" always starts like the champ she is. So put the booster on there, fired it up. Had trouble keeping it running. I feared gasline freeze. Once running, I let it run for a while to charge the battery, maybe thaw the fuel line a bit and then thought I'd shut it off and make sure it'd start, and make sure the battery was holding a charge. It didn't. Booster back on. I was determined to get a burger so I was going with or without a charged battery. Started it up and got over there in time for an A1 Peppercorn burger and it was great. Wish I had thought about the chili burger! Oh, I took the booster/charger with me in case it wouldn't start. Parked close to an outdoor outlet, just in case, but Vanna fired up for me when I left. It hit me on the way home that in this frigid week, I was driving with the defroster on full, headlights on, rear window defroster and probably the radio too. So there's no way the alternator could keep up with charging that poor thing's battery! Didn't even think about that! So, now I'll keep it in mind. One of those DUH moments... Course now it's going up to about 30° over the weekend. Anyway, back to the topic. I like my chili THICK! None of this watery, soupy stuff for me, I want man-food. Something to sink my teeth into. So thick you don't use a spoon, use club crackers, bacon thins or chicken in a biscuit and scoop that stuff up and shovel it in. Not overly seasoned but it must have a bit of a zing, lots of meat, and yes, heresy to some but I want kidney beans! Occasionally some crusty garlic bread on the side, but normally, crackers. Just another thing I don't get anywhere near enough of lately!!! ;)

My funniest experience in an aircraft happened while I was stationed in Germany. The Air Force used to use a Kaman HH43 helicopter for an emergency responce crash vehicle. They had a huge 6ft diameter round metal pressure sphere that was loaded with firefighting foam which they carried on a hook under the helicopter. Two firemen were inside the helicopter with the Asbestos firesuites on. When an aircraft crashed they would fly in quickly and set the firebottle down and the firemen would jump out and grab the foam line, then the helicopter would hover over the burning aircraft using the downdraft to blow the flames back while the firemen laid down a path of foam till they could get to the aircraft and pull the crew out. One day my buddy, who was a crewchief on the helicopter called me and said they were going up on a training flight and asked if I would like to ride along, so off I went. As I boarded the helicopter I saw the pilot & co-pilot up front, my buddy, the crew chief, two firemen and another guy who worked at the base chapel that was coming along for the ride. We were all seated in the back while the helicopter just flew around in circles close to the base when suddenly we heard a radio call on our headphones. They had a crippled F4 Phantom coming in with an engine fire, so the pilot told us he had to go back and hook up the firebottle and while they were hooking it up I and the guy from the chapel would have to jump off. The chopper landed and while we were jumping off one of the ground crew hooked the cable on the lifting hook and the chopper took off again, but when it was about 50ft off the ground one of the firemen jumped out, bouncing off the ground from 50ft and broke his leg. I didn't have a clue as to why he just mysteriously jumped out, but later that afternoon while sitting in the NCO club my buddy the crew chief came in and he told me. It seems that while we were flying around the guy from the chapel had got airsick, but not wanting to appear like a whimp to the other guys onboard he didn't ask for a burp bag, instead, he had barfed in the firemens boot and while we were jumping off the firemen was pulling his boots on. By the time he realized that the guy had barfed in his boot he tore off after the guy without even thinking and jumped out....LOL