CD3 this reminds of the time I had a pet Raccoon named Randy. One day I noticed a pink bubble (looked like someone had blown an bubble gum bubble) on his stomach. With all the hair on his belly, I couldn't tell what it was. And was afraid to look too closely, thinking maybe he had a hole in his belly and his intestines were sticking out. So I picked him up and took him to the vet. I walk in with him in my arms and the vet say's "wait a minute". So he goes to the med. closet gets out a bottle and a needle and comes back. Tells me to lay him on the table and he puts him to sleep before he will take charge. Well I leave him there and they call me later to tell me he is ready to be picked up. He is in a cage and they have wrapped the latch with a whole roll of adhesive tape to keep him from letting himself out. It seems that he had been trying to "mate" with his baby blankie and had irritated his male apparatus and caused the blister. Boy was my face red. Well, I contacted the Univ of Fl zoo and they had been wanting to find a male to go with their Female in the Raccoon Habitat, so everything worked out well. Glenda

After DS was born I only worked 4 days/wk, so had Fridays with him (and to run errands). He was in daycare onsite with DH so DH had all the "carpool" duties but DS's schedule was his schedule. After DD it went all to heck b/c she was always sick, crying, not eating at daycare so I took *lots* of time off, finally pulled her out, DH, my mom and I took turns watching her til I finally quit my job. Then started driving around just to get her to nap. And it hasn't stopped 5 yrs later! Sometimes I feel like the kids and I try to live our lives *between* car rides. DH just goes to work 4 days/wk (telecommutes 1 day), and other than Scouts on Tuesday nights, just stays home once he gets home. When I was working (and earning more than he was) and we only had 1 kid, we split the housework. Since I quit to be a SAHM, housework is my job. Except for occasions like when he decided to vacuum the FR while DD and I were at dance class on Saturday, and he ran the vacuum cleaner under the edge of the sofa bed or something and scratched it all up! He's ruined every vacuum I've ever owned, but since we don't have electric baseboard in this house (and he doesn't ever clean), I didn't think he'd scuff this one up. At least it's not all cut up like the old one was (he ruined that one for good when he used the carpet cleaning head to suck up water in the basement. The motor was OK - meant to be a wet vac - but the concrete ruined the plastic nozzle).

It is a very sad event, but shows that things can happen in a very short time. Drivers become complacent not realizing how much stopping distance they will need, and not paying attention to road hazards some diatance ahead. It was not stated how fast the trucker slowed - did he slow at a normal rate or slam on the brakes to quickly haul his rig down to 50 mph? Maybe he was punishing his "tailgater", a risky and illegal move. Not much detail is available, but from what little I can gather, it seems the school busses were surprised and "drove" into this accidnet scene. I have little faith that the team of 'experts' who will examine the scene long after it happened will be able to determine exactly what happened. They may be able to detect when one of the participants are lying. The investigators sorely need the eyes of third party witnesses, and none have been mentioned. Surely, someone else also saw this accident on this well travleled road. Where are they? Unfortunately, research has shown that witnesses can have problems in accurately describing what happened during such a traumatic event. This is where a trained observer is needed, one who can describe the scene without adding his prejudices to the story. It was a very unfortunate event and I am glad that most of the people did not get seriously injured. The potential for mayhem was great. Luck and pluck were on their side.

I rode the school bus for most of my high school years, even well into my senior year (before my family moved from a rural address to the big city). Oh, how I hated it. Our school district was small then, and I had to ride with ALL ages -- even kindergarten kids. One of the characters on the sitcom "Teachers" described the bus as smelling like "warm milk and bologna farts", and yes -- that was EXACTLY what the bus was like, but combined with the noxious odor of diesel wafting through the windows. I can't help but think back to my own experience every time I see a school bus, and my heart actually goes out to the driver, who has to put up with all the little hellions on board. Well, that's what my bus was comprised of. Maybe things are different these days and kids are more civilized. ;-)