Wherein I Nearly Lose My Sight and Preform Electrical Acts of Derring-do

La Keira and I painted the kitchen a lovely shade of grey yesterday.  Things went well and then I spent 5 hours painting the trim "Snowy Pine.'  I finished the last touch ups just as Moose walked in the door.  

Now we are just 2 small armchairs, a rug, a clever side table and a Dala horse away from realizing my decorating vision!

Moose began helping me move the fridge back to it's proper location when SPARK, FLASH, CLICK, Squeal, jump away.

Apparently, when we moved the fridge in the morning we had the power cord was beneath the fridge and we scraped off all of the insulation on the cord so that the copper wire was exposed.  As we were moving it back the exposed, live wire connected with the copper water pipe and Blamo!

We have a "new" refrigerator coming on Wednesday but this old fridge was meant to be my food storage/garage fridge.  I have been waiting a LONG time to have my refrigeration needs met and I was NOT going to let the dream die.

I spent the night worrying over the food in the fridge, whisking my meat supply over the Keira's Garage freezer and waiting for the appliance parts store to open in the morning.

In the morning I learned that the appliance parts store couldn't help me but Home Depot could.  That's correct, I could have solved this problem last night and slept soundly knowing that I wasn't going to lose this month's budgeted food supply.

Moose was still in bed when I left and I said to him "Don't go to work until I get back I will need your help with the fridge."

 I went to Home Depot and got supplies and detailed instructions and came home to find Moose had GONE TO WORK.

"Okay, I can do this myself, This will be a great blog post.  I will even take a before picture."  And I did.

"This is going to be a great post. Look, I even have wire strippers!"

I lined up the tools and supplies

Wire strippers, wire cutters, new cord, wire nuts, electrical tape

See how this is going to be great?

The gross wires coming from the fridge.  There was loads of lint and cat food back there.  I don't have a cat. EEEW!

I sat down, clipped of the cord and began stripping.  This is where it is all Moose's fault because if a strong man had been doing this the tragic event that followed would not have occurred. And then the wire cutters slipped off with all the force I had been applying to the cord and went INTO MY EYEBALL!

This is also where I am glad that I homeschool and that My 11 year old was home to assist me.
I screamed for Commander C while lying on the floor holding my eye and crying because I was A) in PAIN, B) So really mad at Moose and C) utterly defeated.  I just wanted to save the fridge and the food and now I was BLINDED!  He called Moose to let him know that I was dying on the floor and it was all HIS FAULT.  I managed to look out of my one good eye to see blood on my hands, "GREAT, I AM blind!"  Eventually I realized that I was crying and the tears didn't hurt so it might not be SO bad.  Commander C said that it wasn't so I mustered up the guts to look in the mirror.

After a few minutes of crying and a liberal dose of Arnica

It was all purple and bruised but I took some Arnica and in just a few minutes the bruising was all but gone.  My actual eye seems to be un-injured but the eye hurt for a few hours and now if I close my eyelid and touch my eye it still hurts.  I would like to thank my cheek for taking the brunt of the blow in order to save my eye.

I dispatched Commander C to the garage for some SAFETY GOGGLES and went back to work.  That food wasn't keeping itself cold (well actually it was but it can't keep that up forever.)

 Wires were stripped but there was a problem even though Home Depot Electrical Department Man said that they would the wires from the fridge cord did not match the green, white and black wires of the replacement cord.  There was a green cord but the other two wires were no color, just brown like the whole cord.  I called my Brother in law but while I waited for an answer I just guessed and did it.

If I did this wrong and Starlings is in danger, please, let me know.

I plugged it in and the power was on! But the compressor wasn't running and I was a bit worried and just when I was about to despair it kicked on.

I fixed my refrigerator.

Reagan: The Centenary

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."

-Ronald Reagan

100 years ago today a true warrior in the cause of freedom was born.  He is one of my heroes and my favorite president. I remember as a child being so proud of him as our president.  I still cry when I hear him speak.

Saturday Night Cinema

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Starring: John Wayne, James Stewart
Directed By: John Ford
Date: 1962

This film has some interesting themes on statesmanship and citizenship. Stoddard is a reluctant statesman yet he does his duty. There is also a question about the rule of law and what is right and what keeps you alive when there is no law.

The set is very minimal, almost campy but it works leaving you to focus on the characters and story rather than be distracted by the set. Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne are two of the best hands down and this film is easy to watch even if the leading lady they are scrapping over is a little abrasive.

I think this is one of Boss Moss' favorite films.

6 out of 7 thimbles

Samurai Mom Goes to Washington *Edit*

You might remember how I went to a Washington County Town Hall meeting with Congressman David Wu a while back.

A new video has been edited with different footage from the other camera in the room. The audio is much better.

Congressman Wu meets Samurai Mom from WashCoGOP Oregon on Vimeo.

Samurai Mom Goes to Washington

...or to the Sherwood Town Hall meeting with Congressman Wu to be precise. The questions were not pre-screened.

Near the end of the meeting I was called on. I reminded the Congressman that he had not answered the gentleman's question about whether or not he had read the "cap and trade" bill before he voted on it. I also reminded him that he had not answered the lady's question as to whether he would commit to reading the health care bill before voting on it. I then said that I would like to know if he read any of the bills passed recently that spent gigantic amounts of money and that I would like to know if he would to commit to reading all future bills before voting on them. Then I said
"As someone that votes and sends you to congress I expect you to read every bill before voting. If you cannot do so or don't have the time I expect you to abstain or vote "no." If you can't do that, if you think that that is to much of a work load then maybe this isn't the job for you."

Wild applause from the audience.

He insisted that he had kept all of his campaign promises over the top of people yelling "Answer her question!" He did not, and I am still waiting for a satisfactory response, Congressman.

I was lucky that he called on me, I owe it all to my youthful and demure appearance Appearances can be deceiving as Congressman Wu found out. He went right back to asking questions of the frail looking elderly who were angry but a little more reserved and less pointed.

After the meeting was over I was congratulated many (20?) times, had my hand shaken repeatedly, was called a patriot and was accused of being just 18!

There were oh, so many other things I wanted to chastise him for but this one is what fit with the meeting. I am amazed that the thoughts came out so calmly, clearly and in order. I didn't lose my head and I didn't call anyone names! I was so angry but I don't think I gave that away in my voice.
The beauty of what I said is that it runs across the board. EVERY voter wants their congressmen to read bills before voting on them. No one but congresspeople think that not reading bills before passing legislation is OK. I realize that it is probably impossible to read every word of every bill. That just makes my point; the bills are too long, too complex, too full of pork and there are too many of them. If people refuse to support a bill until they have read it thoroughly then eventually the "way it is" will change!

As we heard tonight, Congressman David Wu has repeatedly refused to commit to reading bills before voting on them.

***This video will be active shortly, as it turns out it remembered it fairly well, and honestly, people did yell for him to answer my question.***

Weezer is King

Yesterday I was expected to and I fully planned to give an account of the Weezer concert and how Moose scored us awesome tickets. I planned to tell about how we were walking to dinner we saw the trucks
that carry all of the concert stuff, and then just around the corner we saw the actual buses that carry rock stars of which I did not take a picture because Moose made me bring our old camera and there is a reason we bought a new one.
I planned to post about how dinner at The Greek Cuisina was not what we remembered and though the calamari was still huge delicious pieces of octopus, the fried batter around it tasted like fried grease and the dolmathes that I remember being so yummy made me want to throw up, so....I guess remembering food that you once ate while pregnant as the most delicious meal you ever had is just setting you up for disappointment.
I planned to post about how we got to the concert after the first act but unfortunately in time to see the second act, Angels and Airwaves. They were competent musicians but the tone and tempo if the songs did not seem to be suited to Weezer fans and the singer was weird. I mean weird. He was dancing and mostly prancing about the stage in a floating weird leg hovering manner and his hands did weird things. We saw a lot of his back side - doesn't he know that you aren't really supposed to show your back to the audience? All the while he was describing themselves as a punk rock band which really did not jive with the interpretive dance and sappy songs, but it did jive with his salty language. He sounded like such an idiot. There were two teenage girls however who couldn't afford good tickets that really, really loved this band. They screamed and jumped the entire set. They were more fun to watch than the band.
I was going to post about how Weezer finally came out and they were rockin', and we had a great time. I was going to post about how "King" may have been the best song of the night. Rivers called it a "Fresh Jam." and jumped on a re-bounder. I was going to post about the 4 adorable men sitting behind me. These men must have been at or near 40 years old, they came together just as Weezer started. They were big tall men and they sang along and danced to every song. It just tickled me to look back and see them having such a great time. I fully intended to get a picture of them but these guys were intimidating and when the moment came I chickened out.
I was going to post about how Rivers wore holes in the knees of his track suit, and how if I were his mother that would make me so mad.
I imagine a conversation something like this:
Weezer Mom: "Rivers, you wore holes in you knees again!"
Rivers: "Sorry Mom, but wailing on the guitar like a rock star is hard on the knees."
Weezer Mom: " I don't care what all the other rock stars are doing don't you know these matching track suits cost money?"
Rivers: " Mom, I am a rock star I can buy more track suits."
Weezer Mom: "I don't care if you have more money than Saudi Arabia, this is wasteful."
Rivers: "Mom, the fans love it when I wear holes in the knees."
Weezer Mom: " I don't care what the fans think. Next time you shred just do it on your feet. Do you hear me? Now get back out there and sign various parts of people's anatomy. Here is a sharpie. I have to get to work hemming these track pants into shorts for you to wear."

I planned to post all of those things but instead I went to visit a friend in the Hospital and then on the way home I was almost rear ended. I didn't think it was a big deal but Commander C and Moose witnessed the incident (it was right in front our out house) and Moose was really upset - (the other car was going very fast and my wheels were turned into the oncoming traffic). He tried to chase the car and beat it up. Which really made me feel loved and protected.

After that I just felt quiet and a little shaken and just sat around all day long. I couldn't blog or even knit. So I just sat around.
I am grateful we said a family prayer yesterday morning pleading for protection.

A Better Anniversary

When I was expecting Boba Fett I lied to people. Everyone including complete strangers ask when your due date is and mine was September 11th. So instead of excited comments or information about who else had that birthday I got shocked looks and gasps. After a few weeks of that I started saying "September 10" and no one gave the date a second thought.

Based on these reactions I told my baby in utero he could NOT come on the 11th. Can you imagine having that reaction for your entire life? Well of course he did not come early and I even volunteered to be one day overdue if he would just wait. But no, I went into labor at midnight the night of the 10th. Boba Fett was born in my purple bedroom that morning, the second anniversary of 9-11.

Hardly anyone correlates Boba Fett's birthday to 9-11 now, sad murmurs about his date of birth are fairly infrequent. That handy numerical name helps people forget. They don't correlate 9-11 with the words September 11th as much anymore.
Now instead of remembering the weary, sleepless (Commander C was very ill that week), crying headaches, stunned faces and horror of September 2001, when I think of September 11th I think of the joy of my life, a little boy who came out looking a little mad and a lot like Elvis.

Happy Birthday, Boba Fett.
I love you,
Mom

Taking Care of Business

Well we are home now. I have spent the morning putting out fires literally and figuratively. I was driving through the neighborhood when I saw smoke coming from a neighbor's yard. I slowed down to see where it was coming from. (We are a little jumpy around here after a house was rendered uninhabitable from an unexplained fire.) I stopped the car and walked toward the house. I still couldn't tell. The smoke was white not like a house fire so I felt a little silly. I had to go into the open back yard of the next house to look over the fence. The yard was full of bark and right next to the house it was burning and flaming and melting a little plastic picnic table. I ran to the door and rang the bell 2 times but the house looked empty so I ran to Ann's house to call the fire department.

As she was talking to the dispatcher it occurred to me that I could probably put out the fire with the hose. It was not dangerous yet. So Jerem helped me get the house out and I sprayed through the fence on the flames. There were a few I couldn't reach and Jerem being much taller was able to put those out.

By the time the firemen arrived the flames were out and they soaked the rest with an extinguisher. They seemed remarkably unconcerned about the cause of the fire but did say it could have been smouldering a long time maybe even since the 4th of July.

I am glad I listened to the spirit on this one.