Randomness

Editsound · 27 Jun 09 :: 04:01

The squirrels around our house are constantly dropping oranges on us (usually don't hit us) They take them up in the trees to eat them, then when they get startled or just try to move around they accidently drop them. Or they are just out to get us.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 27 Jun 09 :: 04:10

LOL! That's hilarious, Rick. I can't totally picture it. Have you ever seen the PBS specials Daylight Robbery & Daylight Robbery 2? They're UK imports about people trying to outsmart the squirrels that steal food from their bird feeders and their pets. These folks created all kinds of supposedly squirrel-proof gizmos that the squirrels inevitably defeated. Hysterically funny.

Here's a bunch of clips...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmQXu4cQRa0

TheCentralScrutinizer · 27 Jun 09 :: 04:33

Damn! I wish I'd know it was Take Your Dog To Work Day. I'm pretty sure I could've gotten the office property management company to agree to it. We're right next door to them and are kinda friendly with them. It might've cheered Dale up to bring Maggie in. She had a rough day. I would've loved to take Dixie in too.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/2 … 21443.html

Simon · 27 Jun 09 :: 16:31

I think i have problems.

I've now decided that i hate shopping because i hate seeing things i want, but don't get.

I have £2000 in the bank now not going anyway, so i'm not getting things because i can't afford them, i'm not getting things because it's not worth it. The amount of DVD's i've bought over the years, that havn't even been seen yet, as well as films which have only been seen once. I just don't see the point of getting them now, and i've even been thinking about selling my 400+ DVD's. It will really upset me to see them go, but i just don't see the point in having them.

I think i'm having a mid-life crisis at 19. I just don't care about anything anymore.

domesticelefant · 27 Jun 09 :: 17:34

I know that problem, Simon.

TeeJay · 27 Jun 09 :: 22:13

Oh shit. My friend Ralf might be seriously hurt. Apparently there was an accident today at some sort of Roman Festival in Xanthen, a flash hit a group of trees and injured people. I know of two people who were with Ralf who are in the hospital now. No one's heard from Ralf. Since I don't know his parents' first names or phone numbers, I have no one to contact who might know. They say one person is in critical condition. I pray to God that's not him. I hope tomorrow I'll know more. I only saw him last night when we went to the local planetarium together.

-TeeJay

Illinoisguy1 · 27 Jun 09 :: 22:41

Sounds like a lightning strike.

Standing under a tree in a thunderstorm is one of the worst things to do.

Even though I don't know your friend, I hope he's ok, or if he is injured that he will be ok in the end.

TeeJay · 27 Jun 09 :: 22:42

Thanks, Illinois. Yes, it was a lightning strike.

And I have an update: Diane, Andreas and Ralf (all guys from the Trekdinner) have all been located, they're all in different hospitals in the Xanthen area and none of them is in critical condition. Ralf had to have emergency surgery, but he's said to be in stable condition. I have the hospital number and I'm gonna call them tomorrow since it's going on 11 PM now. If possible, I might drive out there tomorrow to see him. I'm still rattled, hope I can sleep tonight.

-TeeJay

Illinoisguy1 · 27 Jun 09 :: 22:45

If he had to have surgery, I wonder if it had anything to do with burns. You can get some nasty burns from a lightning strike.

Editsound · 27 Jun 09 :: 23:03

I hope everything is okay. The words "emergency surgery" are always scary, but it is usually okay, especially if he is in stable condition.

TeeJay · 27 Jun 09 :: 23:25

It sounded more like a trauma sort of thing than a burn related injury (parts of the tree or something else might have hit him in the abdomen), I'll probably know more tomorrow. I don't know whether to believe in fate. I was actually invited to this trip but decided not to go. If I had gone, I might be lying in a hospital too tonight--or worse. Whoa. I don't even wanna think about that.

-TeeJay

TheCentralScrutinizer · 28 Jun 09 :: 00:28

Jesus, that's scary! Do keep us posted and stay away from trees! I don't wanna think about you being there either. I'll say a prayer for Ralf and the others.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 28 Jun 09 :: 06:34

OMG, y'all! Bodhi is so damn cute. He was not happy when his mommy left. He stayed by the door after she was gone until I took him back outside and showed him she wasn't there. He didn't want to come back inside. I had to draw him into the back yard so I could pin him in because he was so scared, I thought he might run into the street. Once I got him back in the house, he laid in a corner in the hallway for over an hour. I poured him up some dinner, but rather than eat his, he ate Dixie's. So I fed her on my bed. I let both of them back outside again for a while and he just wanted back in. He finally worked his way slowly back into my room where I hang out and went back under my computer chair where Lacey used to spend most of her lounging and dening time. He slept for a while and then got a little fidgety so we're onto the toys and chewies now. He's finally relaxed. What a sweetie. It's been raining so he got a little wet and muddy on one of his trips outside. I got a towel to dry him off and he just huddled up against me. He was cold and wet and nervous, but he trusts me now.

He's gonna need a ton of attention while he's here. But it'll be fun. It's not easy acclimating a street dog to living with people. He's pretty freaked out by my cat. Maynard's very dog-friendly and not scared of him, but he's barking at El Gato and that's not cool. So right now, they're just avoiding each other.

TeeJay · 28 Jun 09 :: 09:41

I just spoke with Ralf on the phone, he's doing okay under the circumstances and he can even go home tomorrow because the condition they suspected he might have hasn't been confirmed. He didn't say anything about surgery, so maybe he didn't have to have any after all and were only planning to do it. I'm gonna visit him in the hospital this afternoon. Phew, I'm relieved, I had a rough night filled with fitful dreams.

What's worse, though, is that my friend Diane wasn't so lucky. She was involved in the same accident, and she has severe burns and hasn't regained consciousness yet. They transferred her to another hospital yesterday, probably one that has a special unit. Wow. This is all really scary. Her brother Andreas was also hurt but not as badly and might be able to go home today. I really really hope everyone comes out of this okay.

-TeeJay

domesticelefant · 28 Jun 09 :: 10:06

That sounds scary, Tina. I hope everything will be okay.

magicalturkey · 28 Jun 09 :: 16:09

I'm sorry to hear that TJ. I hope your friends are ok.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 28 Jun 09 :: 19:07

Glad to hear about Ralf and Andreas. Sure hope things improve for Diane. Things just happen so fast, don't they?

TeeJay · 28 Jun 09 :: 22:37

I just came home from seeing Ralf. He's doing okay, under the circumstances. If the night stays uneventful, he'll be tranferred to the "normal" ward from the ICU tomorrow. Looks like he's gonna stay there for a few days at least since they found a hole in his kidney and he has some problems with his feet. This is all somehow amazing, because the flash of lightning seems to have gone through his body. He has a wound on his head (entry wound?) and one on each extremity where the lightning left his body. And yet, merely thinking about that, he's doing remarkably well. Apparently he also has busted eardrums, but that will also heal. Wow. He was really really lucky.

Andreas is doing okay too, unfortunately Diane is not. They woke her from the coma this morning, but she's not lucid. It could be any number of things: shock, temporary trauma, but the worst case scenario is that she stays that way. She also have severe burns on her arms and hands. The doctor Marc spoke to said her condition is currently stable and satisfactory, but that doesn't have to mean much. I really hope she comes out of this okay.

I'm gonna see Ralf again tomorrow after work. I met his parents too, who were at the hospital when we got there. They couldn't believe it either.

-TeeJay

TheCentralScrutinizer · 28 Jun 09 :: 23:10

That is really stunning. I've always been scared of lightning and now I'm even more scared. Yesterday, Dave and I dug the big dog cage out of my shed and we were cleaning it up for Bodhi. We had given it a little time to dry in the sun. It was kind of partly cloudy. And while we were putting it back together and drying off the few wet bits, a sudden storm blew up. Torrential rain, thunder and this HUGE lightning strike probably a quarter mile away. Freaked me out. We ran inside as fast as we could. And it was gone as suddenly as it hit. Lasted maybe 5 minutes. If that.

I think the weather's gone nuts. And Mother Nature's trying to punish us. I'm not even kidding about that.

Make sure you keep us posted.

TeeJay · 28 Jun 09 :: 23:32

So far I have learned two fundamental lessons from this:
1) Under any circumstances, do NOT stand close to trees or something very high if you're in a thunderstorm
2) The human body (especially the brain) has a remarkable capacity for staying alive and protecting itself

-TeeJay

TeeJay · 28 Jun 09 :: 23:49

What's even more scary, I just read a long German article about victims of lightning strikes. Most of them end up having weird and sometimes unexplainable secondary damage phenomena, like pain caused by fried nerve endings or loss of sensation (such as loss of feeling of cold on your skin) or even disorientation. Whoa. Ralf has enough problems as it is since he's allergic to multiple things and has constant asthma and neurodermatitis, as well as a busted knee from a motorcycle accident decades ago. He surely doesn't need this on top.

-TeeJay

BiggestChrisMarquetteFan · 29 Jun 09 :: 07:20

I'm really sorry to hear abour your friends, TJ, especially Diane. I hope their going to be okay.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 29 Jun 09 :: 15:19

Maybe one of them will develop psychic/healing powers like Dannion Brinkley. Hey, you never know. Dan got struck on two different occasions. One of them messed him up really, really bad. But when he recovered, he had a brand new gift, and a complete change of personality --- for the better.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 29 Jun 09 :: 16:17

Very elaborate new man made crop formation...

TheCentralScrutinizer · 29 Jun 09 :: 19:34

Here's how much ass a Monday can suck. I go to lunch, eat and go back to my car and the damn thing is just DEAD. Joe & Nicole were also out to lunch so they come by and give me a jump so I can get back to the office. But the damn thing won't hold a charge. It's one day before payday and I have NO MONEY. This year, because of the economy we're not getting the bonuses I've used the last several years to pay my quarterly car insurance. Without that money, I've been scraping bottom worse than I ever have in my life. I have no credit cards, no savings, nothing.

Right now I'm sitting here trying to figure out how in the hell I'm going to get a battery before tomorrow. Looks like I can't. So how do I get to work tomorrow? I am so totally SCREWED.

Chris Marquette Message Board

#3076 27 Jun 09 :: 04:01

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#3078 27 Jun 09 :: 04:33

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#3082 27 Jun 09 :: 22:41

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