Smith & Wesson S&W 9″ Tanto Fixed Blade Boot Knife with Sheath

For whatever reason, I love tanto blades. I guess they remind me of some sort of ninja sword or what not. But I really love that they’re so easy to sharpen. Curved blades are fun, they work, just like every other knife out htere. But for whatever reason I can never seem to get the sharpening down as well as I can when the blade is straight. And forget serrations. I hate them too. They’re neat, they can be intimidating. But seriously… buying extra tools just to sharpen a couple of teeth? Meh. Not worth it.

If you want you can check these links out too. I like most of these knives on this page here: Survival Knives, or maybe if big or large knives aren’t your thing, you would go for regular Pocket Knives. I personally like most of the S&W ones, and Cold Steel too. They’re on my wish list as well.

Mary Poppins was always one of my favorite movies when I was growing up. I really love all the magic and fantastical stuff about it. No wonder kids wish that Mary Poppins were their nanny! She’s just so fun and nice! Well, I never even had a nanny but I used to dream about having a nanny just like Mary Poppins. That was if Mary Poppins was taken, of course.

Well I heard that the Mary Poppins play is going on a tour so I looked online to try and find some tickets for the family to go and see it. While I was looking, I came across the site http://hearingaids.miracle-ear.com/. I’ve wondered for a while if I need some hearing aids, so I set up a hearing aid appointment.

I’m so excited about going and seeing the play! I’m sure that it’s going ot be downright magical. I just hope that it also lives up to my expectations, which are pretty high because I’ve seen the movie so many times and I’m such a big fan.

You know when you say that you have nothing to wear? Well I don’t think that I ever realized how true that was until I had to start putting together my outfit for Fashion’s Night Out last week.

After all the planning and looking online for things that I wanted to go to during part of it, I hadn’t thought much about what I was actually going to wear to it! While I was online looking up some ideas about what I should wear, I ran across some info on internet and cable packages. I showed it to my husband and after that we decided to change over our current package to one of the ones we saw on there.

I ended up dressing up an LBD that’s work appropriate with a few extra accessories and some exciting shoes that I don’t normally wear to the office. I think I may have worried more about what I was wearing than besides on my wedding day. I could even argue I was more worried about how I was going to look for Alexander Wang on Fashion’s Night Out.

“If I put my Bacardi in the freezer and we measured it’s temperature to be 25 degrees F, and I put it in my glass with ice cubes made of water, would the alcohol melt the ice cubes? If not, would the ice have the opposite desired effect and actually warm up my drink?

Post your thoughts on this and let us know. My gut instinct says that the alcohol would melt the ice due to a chemical reaction rather than a temperature one. And I do also think that at the same time the ice would have the opposite desired effect and warm it up.

Image: Suat Eman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

1. Goggles. The kind that are like ski goggles, but not for skiing.
2. Baclava. Something light weight and breathable, preferably 100% polyester. This would keep the sand out of your mouth and ears during a sand storm.
3. My guitar. There are a lot of people out here that would have loved to have a guitar to use. And I would welcome the opportunity to learn from them as well.
4. Less stuff. There isnt any need for me to bring my hoodie. A simple light weight jacket would work just fine. Only bring essentials
5. Bahraini Plug Adapter. I know they are only like .50cents, but I have 3 now. I should have remembered to bring one.
6. Extra Cash. When you first get here it is good to have some extra cash around so you can buy miscellaneous things. I would have liked to purchase a bicycle, as it’s faster (sometimes) to ride than to wait for other people to get in the van and then wait through traffic. A bike would be what the extra cash is for.
7. Sleeping bag. While sleeping in a real bed is nice (when staying at the Villas) knowing that ANYTHING could have gone on in your bed is disturbing. Sleeping bags would help solve this problem and keeps you cozy when your room mates what to set the AC to 34 degrees.

Which is what I’m upset about now. Since I’ve been back to the USA for about 2 months now, every restaurant we’ve eaten at it seems as though as long as we’re ordering food or dessert the waiter/waitress is more than happy to keep serving you. But as soon as that bill drops on your table (whether or not you actually asked for it) it would seem that’s their way of saying to you “Okay, I’ve done my bit, now get out of my table so I can serve more people!!”

Which is totally wrong as far as I’m concerned. I have always grown up with the idea that customers, not the waitstaff or business, is important. I can understand that right now the economy is hurting and people need their money just to survive. However, only faking politeness and proper customer service will only hurt business in the future.

Case in point, tonight we ate at a Denny’s, when we had almost finished eating the waitress asked if we wanted to have dessert, which we didn’t. She dropped the check and that was the end of her “duties” to us. Even though we have drinks (and free refills!) To me, if I’ve got people who just finished and want to stay and talk awhile, the chances of my tips going up increase if I continue to service them. 

I felt totally ignored, and in a way disrespected, by the way we were ‘outcast’ towards the end of our meal.

Lip service and ‘face value’ only go so far. I feel that if anyone wants to make it far in this world we have to start caring about each other. If your job is customer service, you need to service the customers. If your job is cooking, cook with love as though you were making it for your mother or family to eat. If your job is bussing tables, clean them as though you would want to sit there in your Sunday’s best.

Simple, and small things go a very long way in this world. It doesn’t make one bit of difference if you do something really big ONCE. It matters so much that you do the little things, ALWAYS.

Here’ a quote you can put on a bumper sticker (I did), and yes I came up with it!

“Excellence is not measured by the amplitude of your efforts, but rather, by the frequency.” – Ryan Barnes
(Give quote props where quote props are due people!) 

So I got an Android phone… and this is a quickly taken photo.

………I had come down the stack with presents to give,
And to see inside just who might perhaps live.
I looked all about, a strange sight did I see,
No tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.

No stockings were hung, shined boots close at hand,
On the bulkhead hung pictures of a far distant land.
They had medals and badges and awards of all kind,
And a sober thought came into my mind.

For this place was different, so dark and so dreary,
I had found the house of a Sailor, once I saw clearly.
A Sailor lay sleeping, silent and alone,
Curled up in a rack and dreaming of home.

The face was so gentle, the room squared away,
This was the United States Sailor today.
This was the hero I saw on TV,
Defending our country so we could be free.

I realized the families that I would visit this night,
Owed their lives to these Sailors lay willing to fight.
Soon ’round the world, the children would play,
And grownups would celebrate on Christmas Day.

They all enjoyed freedom each day of the year,
Because of the Sailor, like the one lying here.
I couldn’t help wonder how many lay alone,
On a cold Christmas Eve on a sea, far from home.

The very thought brought a tear to my eye,
I dropped to my knees and started to cry.
The Sailor awakened and I heard a calm voice,
“Santa, don’t cry, this life is my choice.”

“Defending the seas all days of the year,
So others may live and be free with no fear.”
I thought for a moment, what a difficult road,
To live a life guided by honor and code.

After all, it’s Christmas Eve and the ship’s underway!
But freedom isn’t free and it’s sailors who pay.
The Sailor says to our country “Be free and sleep tight,
No harm will come, not on my watch and not on this night.

The Sailor rolled over and drifted to sleep,
I couldn’t control it, I continued to weep.
I kept watch for hours, so silent, so still,
I watched as the Sailor shivered from the night’s cold chill.

I didn’t want to leave on that cold dark night,
This guardian of honor so willing to fight.
The Sailor rolled over and with a voice strong and sure,
Commanded, “Carry on Santa, It’s Christmas, and All is Secure!”