How to Kill Cell Phone With Water

My cell phones and I have had an ongoing fascination with water. So I am trying to figure out the which way I have not attempted to kill a cell phone. The washing machine is the most common form of water based destruction with my cell phones. For reference the Samsungs we have did best in the washer. They came back from the water adventure relatively unscathed. The Nokia's (my favorite of my phones) do not do so well after its water adventures.

I have lost at least one phone by the toilet. I did have help from Meghan with that one. She dropped that phone in the toilet at Denny's. Alan has also managed to drop his phone in a toilet (right after we got new ones a little over two years ago). These were both Nokias and they did not recover.

Recently I dropped my phone in Nibbles' water bowl. This time the phone recovered but it took about a week or two to recover. (This was a Nokia)

Well yesterday I was a chaperon for Meghan's trip to the Indian River Lagoon. Well this was the ultimate water adventure for my cell phone. For this trip we went in waist deep in the water and since my cell phone was in the pocket of my shorts, it went on its greatest adventure and did not live to tell about it. This is water is brackish because the ocean water mixes with the river water at this point.

For those of you interested, we will probably go back sometime to take some awesome pictures. We saw lots of dolphins in the natural habitat but alas my cell phone was DOA and unable to take pictures to share.

Meghan's Award

The award Meghan received today turned out to be from the state for recognition of her score on the FCAT assessment test given this past March. Only two kids in Meghan's class received recognition for their testing and only about 20 students from the entire 4th grade. In order to receive the award certificate from the state you had to score a 5 on either the reading or the right portion. The possible score range is from 1 to 5 with a 5 being the best score. While a 4 is considered to be exceptional, the only scores that receive recognition are the 5s. Hopefully this will encourage these kids to continue to strive to do well and not but unnecessary stress. We are so proud of her and her accomplishments.

Unfortunately we did not get a picture of Meghan because with a last name that far down the alphabet she was one of the last called and was behind the drape on the stage:( We do have a picture outside her classroom but it is not very good because she was being very silly:) I will post it this weekend if it is not to ridiculous.

FCAT Award

Meghan is receiving an award tomorrow for her high scores on the FCAT last year school year. Unfortunately it is truck day for me and does not look like I will be able to attend. Alan will most likely make it and Mawmaw andPawpaw will definitely be there.

A Little High...?

Gas prices are constantly fluctuating and it enough to make you want to cry. With the recent hike due to IKE and the investigations that have been launch in our state over the hike, you would think that the station would be a little more careful about their signing for the price by the road. However, I would like to know who reads this sign and would seriously stop to get premium unleaded here? I realize that the price is probably $4.10 at the pump, but if you cannot get your signing right then you really do not need my business. And by the way both sides of the sign are the same.

Aren't We Cute?

Alan's class reunion is just a month away. How fun it has bee nthis week. We have gone through his photo albums and stuff from high school. Now in all fairness I did post a photo earlier of me in 1985 with a cheerleading team photo. So now it is his turn but to be really fair there is a picture of me at the about the same age. By were my glasses ugly.

Are You Freaking Kidding Me!!???

How is this for premeditation by the gas companies. On Thursday someone I work with called us to tell us that the gas station that a family member works for received an email from the cooperate headquarters informing them that the price of gas was going to go up $1 a gallon over the next three days because of hurricane IKE. By yesterday morning, this information was out around the state. Gas prices have gone up and many stations only had premium left by last night.

Now the reason for this increase in gas was because a refinery was going to be hit Houston. I find this part of the whole thing most disturbing. IKE had not even made landfall at this point and people were still evacuating. At the point this email came down to these stations, the refineries had only been shut down. Yesterday morning some stations were limiting your fill up to 10 gallons supposedly so that it would keep the prices from rising and keep people from panicking. However, by last night they had simply created the panic they gave lip service to trying to avoid. If I ran a business the way most of these gas companies run theirs I would be out of business and being investigated for business ethics at the very least.

Who Knew....

Who knew that going to the bank for the store would ever be a test of your ability to think quickly and react. The bank parking lot is apparently the latest place to test your defensive driving skills. I never knew this until today and due to my job description, I usually am in and out of the bank parking lot 3-4 times a week at least.

Fortunately even though I go for a commercial account, the bank has a drive through lane reserved exclusively for those accounts. This is where the "Fun" began. The vehicle in front of me was F-250 extended cab pick up. That was not such a bad thing but this guy was towing approximately a 16 ft trailer that had a wheel base wider than his truck. Loaded in his trailer where crab traps stacked as high as his truck and filled the entire entire trailer except at the end which had a tub. Now folks if you do not drive a large vehicle, let me assure you that going through here is a tight situation even in my Tahoe without towing extra baggage behind you. After he completed his business at the drive thru window, he tried to pull forward. Suddenly the guy figured out "oh, *!$*" I cannot drive thru, he threw his truck in reverse and began backing up. Fortunately today I was not fiddling with my ipod and was able to react quickly and back up before he mowed me down. The exceptional talent he demonstrated doing this brings to mind a line from an old country western song Give Me 40 Acres and I will turn this rig around. For those of that are mentally challenged - the lanes in the drive through at the bank are apparently not the same size. Yes, the guy tried to go out one of the other drive thru lanes after he finally managed to back his vehicle out. He almost took out one of the teller chutes before he realized that YES THEY ARE ALL THE SAME SIZE!!!!! At this point he was forced to back all the way back out to the entrance of the drive thru.

Of course this could not be the end of the adventures in driving in the bank parking lot. After I finished my business at the window, I pulled out. There is an area at the bank if there are two cars coming at the same time, one car must wait before the other can go around the corner. I stopped to wait for the approaching car to come around the corner. What did the blue hair lady in the approaching car do? She squeezed between me and a parked car to come up parallel to me on my right side.

The lesson from all this is the banks parking lot is a lot more dangerous than you think.

First Chair Honors

Violin at school resumed today. Meghan is one of two returning to the Advanced strings from last year and the only violin. As the only 4th grader in the strings program at the school ( the county does not allow 4th graders starting this year so even the beginning strings is only 5th graders and 6th graders), she retains that special status she has enjoyed the past two years in the school program. This year she also First chair honors.

The Tropics

Well we have dodged Hanna and it looks like Ike will be a miss aw well. Of course I would not have been adverse to parts of Ike as we have an audit this week. Oh well. I have spent the last week trying to get us ready for the audit. Hence there are not any pictures of Hanna sitting off our coast this past week.

I counting down the days until my day off. The reward I got this week for the Labor Day weekend was that I not only had to work the entire weekend, I only got one day off and 12-15 hour shifts. Somehow that just feels wrong. I would be fine about working the extra hours and having to work on the holiday except that as a person being paid salary, I do not receive holiday pay or extra pay for the extra effort. I will gripe a lot about working holidays in the next few months since we have Thanksgiving and Christmas coming. Maybe we will win the lottery and I can quit:)

Violin starts up after school for Meghan on Monday. The school system has changed the rules about what grade is allowed to participate in the school program. So now it is limited to 5th and 6th grade so once gain she will be the youngest in the program. She has one more year of being the only kid from her grade in the school strings program. The bad thing in all this is that she will have another year before she can participate in the all county thing sponsored by the school system.