E ... exactly. And then Coburn & Co. will complain that it wasn't fast enough or good enough ... try to blame Obama for the fact that it is impossible to undo all the damage in a few months ... and try to make political hay out of that too. That's the way they roll.
Linda ... California is full of democrats. So yes, they most likely would enjoy telling them just that.
Sometimes it makes me wish that the other side would give their own crap right back to them. You don't believe in it for others then you don't get any help. But if they would do that, and let people suffer for it, then I guess there would be no reason to trust or respect them either.
The FAA has a big training facility in OKC and lots of people stay in apartments in Moore when they are attending classes there. Hubby was out there during one tornado outbreak years ago. Trying to check on a couple of people who had training scheduled but, since training funds have been gutted, it may well be that nobody I know was there.
The devastation is horrible. I was happy to see that they have lowered the death numbers. Article said that they had counted many twice. I just cannot imagine climbing out of that rubble with everything gone. Those poor people.
Waving at my Canadian friends! So much attention to to your opinions is a backhanded compliment you know. Means you must matter. 
A little birthday cake for our favorite twisted sister. Happy Birthday Blue!
Happy Happy Birthday Blue!
Hi Sandy ... it's good to see you. Been thinking about you and wondering how you're doing.
hugs,
Bren
PS ... Gumby, your bungalo is so cute. I hope everything works out for you.
Happy Birthday, Blue!
Gumby ... I like your bungalow! Hope the inspection is OK. I've always wished I could do the inspection thing BEFORE I made an offer.
And a little very simplistic science re global warning. Warm air is the moist air. More warm, moist air meeting cold air = more snowfall. Hot, moist air is what gets to twisting as it is pushing up into the cold air higher up. So more hot, moist air = bigger and more violent thunderstorms, tornados and hurricanes. I'm no scientist, but to hear anybody say 'look at that snow, no global warming here' makes my eyes roll way up into the top of my head.
Speaking of storms. Having company Friday and it looks like today is going to be the least stormy day here to get my shopping done for a cook-out. Must.go.do.that
Hi Bren - thinking about you too! I'm doing well, things are stable right now (went through scan hell again last month) - wonderful to see picture of you and "other Bren" - hoping we'll see you (and the rest of the gals) up here this summer.....
Pip - the more we searched the more I realized that one of my criteria was everything on one floor - letrozole has simply played havoc with my knees - and they were no great shakes before I started it.... Though I would have liked having the airspace under us that a basement provides, we found that almost every home in the this area that had a basement also had a mold/mildew problem - so finally realized that a basement really wasn't going to be an option for us.
Happy Birthday,Blue!
GG - About that mold/mildew problem, that's why dehumidifiers were invented! I've only lived in one house without a basement and that was a 5-story townhouse in downtown Toronto. Fortunately, the A/C was on the roof so the upper stories were always cool in our hot summers. But basements also come in handy for storage so my packrat DH commandeered the garage. Our current house is a bungalow built on a mini-hill with basement walkout -- and oodles of storage room. DH, like nature, abhors a vacuum, however.........
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My late BIL was always very vocal about the U.S. taking over the "American" moniker. He always referred to our southern neighbours as United Statesians....always!
((((((Blue)))))) I know you stopped having birthdays several years ago but we all still wish you a happy one today!
Canadians are used to basements. I think they are regulation pretty much everywhere here. I asked my American nieces why they had so many storage lockers there and they said 'nobody there has basements to store things.'
Our new place has a huge storage area in basement and large 2 car garage. I am still purging things like we have no room. I simply can't move it all.
CFC (you've got to change your name again - you don't want to be named after an ozone destroyer, do you??? 
) Anyway - had we built (as we had originally planned, we would have had a basement and would definitely have included a dehumidifier - and will certainly run one in this house - as well as an air cleaner - those are mainstays with us!!! The problem is that if mold is already present (which it was) getting it back out is really difficult. I'm certainly going to miss having a basement. What you've got is EXACTLY what we were searching for but couldn't find. Unfortunately, housing prices are rising RAPIDLY in the Seattle/Tacoma area so we didn't feel we could take a chance on waiting much longer to find our version of perfection. 
So, though far from perfect, we'll get it to where we are comfortable. We plan on doing a lot of traveling once I retire, so mostly needed a good solid home base. We could end up living the rest of our lives here - we could end up moving elsewhere. The beauty of the future is the surprise inside 
.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLUE - hope it's the best one yet, and next year will be even better
We can ALL agree North Americans are all entitled to comment on anything we CHOOSE to comment about - can't imagine anyone being so picky as to even question that FACT. What a strange world that person must live in - so glad it's not on this planet - maybe anyone who doesn't get it, should go see ARGO.
RE: Palin - the senior managers of the McCain campaign have done many, MANY mea culpas about that. Acknowledging the lack of vetting, the despair they all felt, and the need to SHAKE UP THE RACE. Shades of Dan Quayle - but worse.
Speaking of basements (and the lack thereof), a couple of facts came to my attention while reading through the horrific devestation the tornadoes in OK have caused:
1. OK has more tornadoes than any other US state
2. The Moore town council voted to spend a few million dollars to upgrade its sports stadium, acknowledged now as one of the best in the state.
So my question is: Why have more dollars and attention been given to that facility, and not to constructing (digging) survival bunkers in the town's schools?
And bravo to the teachers who flung their bodies on top of as many pupils as they could to protect them from the destruction of their schools. Teachers: the most underpaid, underacknowledged professionals in the U.S., as well as being some of the very bravest (see Sandy Hook).
Happy Birthday Blue!!!
Hi Everyone,
Good question Carrot. Having a basement around here is pretty standard as we do get tornado warnings here too. No need for a basement on the west coast. Their big fears are earthquakes and fires. I must say I would rather worry about an earthquake than a tornado.
I feel so bad for the little children that were killed in the tornado. Just breaks my heart.
Blue ... I actually forgot how old I was. I've been telling everyone the wrong age! I made myself older than I am. What a goofball!
hugs,
Bren
PS ... Sandy ... sorry to hear you were in scan hell last month. Sure wish we could all get together again. Maybe we can plan ahead and schedule it for next year. Sure miss all my Canadian sisters.
I think next time the Republicans start painting teachers as the source of all evil that's destroying our country, someone should remind them of the teachers who saved students in OK. And don't forget Sandy Hook.
Happy Birthday Blue.
HL - I think we remember the same tornado outbreak. The one the leveled Xenia in 1974 also swept through Cincinnati.
The Arrogant Worms did a song about the USA people being called American even though the whole continent is the Americas.
Here it is : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29g57XTYgLE
In California, we call these sort of houses "bungalows:"
I would call GG's a Ranch style, though the defintion below might let in a ranch into the bungalow category, the Ranch style has an even lower pitched roof than a Bungalow and Bungalow always has a front porch. Bungalows often have an attic space that has some head room.
Definition of BUNGALOW
Kam - the house pictured above in Seattle/Tacoma would be called a Craftsman. No one around here refers to any house as a bungalow - which is also odd 
. I lusted after a Craftsman style, but alas, that wasn't what we found.
Happy Birthday Blue!
One of the advantages of the blue bands of serenity is that if you suppress someone, they can't PM you. No muss no fuss, no whinging by anyone just no PMs. Priceless.
I LOVE Craftsman bungalows! We lived in a Sears craftsman bungalow for a decade or so when I was growing up - I was waaay too young to appreciate it. French doors all over the house, beamed ceiling, stained glass windows over the bookcases that flanked the fireplace ... Sadly it has gone to wrack and ruin as the neighborhood declined. I think it is still inhabited, but so many houses in my old neighborhood have been demolished. :-(
I would call GG's new home a ranch, too. It looks very pleasant and I particularly like the breezeway-like affair between the house and the right-angle garage.
Basements - being from the Midwest, they are a requirement for me. No basement would be a dealbreaker for us - but I certainly get other kinds of requirements.
Alexandria, yes - that was a BAD tornado day all throughout southwestern Ohio!
Sandy, nice to see you posting! We miss you here!
L
I almost think I would call that a rambler, GG, though it seems to be a little deeper than a rambler. It does look like a typical Pacific Northwest city house. Is it in Sequim?
I've always wanted a house with a big front porch, like the ones I've seen on houses in the midwest. I don't think a lot of houses have big front porches here in Seattle because there's not a whole lot of "porch weather". When my husband and I go out for a drive, he can always tell which houses I'm going to say I like because they all have big front porches. My house doesn't have a porch at all. 
Mary
Morning all,
Wow you lot have been busy since yesterday. So sorry about the devastation in Oklahoma it is just shocking.
Firstly happy birthday Blue
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GG love your house, it would look at home here as would the Californian bungalow that Kam showed.
We live in a villa which is very like the old San Francisco houses but single storey, though you do get two storied ones. So we don't have a basement which means storage is limited.
Don't worry we have idiots in government here, biggest issue seems to be that our spy agency has been spying on residents. Main thing of the day is that education reviews will be announced today - have to close schools to balance the budget, who cares about children's education.
DD phoned this morning to say they have the required 3 months health insurance they require when they get to Canada and are very surprised at how cheap it was. They also have a house in Oakville which means they will be able to move in almost right away though they will need some furniture for the children.
Hope you have had/having a good day
