At the FReeper Canteen!
C'mon and take a break ! Walk on over to the water cooler and lets chat. Post your thoughts, opinions, news of the day, rantings, ravings, pontificates, hypothesis, hyperboles, your soap box cause, your mantra, your baggage, your garbage, your blogging, your secrets, whatever you feel would make talk around the water cooler real interesting!
Please remember that The Canteen is here to support and entertain our troops and veterans and their families, and is family friendly.
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*Snow Joke, The Weather Channel*
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The Diary of a Snow Shoveler
December 8 - 6:00 PM. It started to snow. The first snow of the season and the wife and I took our tea and sat for hours by the window watching the huge soft flakes drift down from heaven. It looked like a Grandma Moses Print. So romantic we felt like newlyweds again. I love snow!
December 9 - We woke to a beautiful blanket of crystal white snow covering every inch of the landscape. What a fantastic sight! Can there be a more lovely place in the whole world? Moving here was the best idea I've ever had. Shoveled for the first time in years and felt like a boy again. I did both our driveway and the sidewalks. This afternoon the snowplow came along and covered up the sidewalks and closed in the driveway, so I got to shovel again. What a perfect life.
December 12 - The sun has melted all our lovely snow. Such a disappointment. My neighbor tells me not to worry, we'll definitely have a white Christmas. No snow on Christmas would be awful! Bob says we'll have so much snow by the end of winter, that I'll never want to see snow again. I don't think that's possible. Bob is such a nice man, I'm glad he's our neighbor.
December 14 - Snow lovely snow! 8" last night. The temperature dropped to -20. The cold makes everything sparkle so. The wind took my breath away, but I warmed up by shoveling the driveway and sidewalks. This is the life! The snowplow came back this afternoon and buried everything again. I didn't realize I would have to do quite this much shoveling, but I'll certainly get back in shape this way.
December 15 - 20 inches forecast. Sold my van and bought a 4x4 Blazer. Bought snow tires for the wife's car and 2 extra shovels. Stocked the freezer. The wife wants a wood stove in case the electricity goes out. I think that's silly. We aren't in Alaska, after all.
December 16 - Ice storm this morning. Fell on my butt on the ice in the driveway putting down salt. Hurt sooooo bad. The wife laughed for an hour, which I think was very cruel.
December 17 - Still way below freezing. Roads are too icy to go anywhere. Electricity was off for 5 hours. I had to pile the blankets on to stay warm. Nothing to do but stare at the wife and try not to irritate her. Guess I should've bought a wood stove, but won't admit it to her. God I hate it when she's right. I can't believe I'm freezing to death in my own living room.
December 20 - Electricity's back on, but had another 14" of the horrid stuff last night. More shoveling. Took all day. Stupid snowplow came by twice. Tried to find a neighbor kid to shovel, but they said they're too busy playing hockey. I think they're lying. Called the only hardware store around to see about buying a snow blower and they're out. Might have another shipment in March. I think they're lying. Bob says I have to shovel or the city will have it done and bill me. I think he's lying.
December 22 - Bob was right about a white Christmas because 13 more inches of the white stuff fell today, and it's so cold it probably won't melt till August. Took me 45 minutes to get all dressed up to go out to shovel and then I had to stop and help my wife. By the time I got back out there again I was too tired to shovel. Tried to hire Bob who has a plow on his truck for the rest of the winter; but he says he's too busy. I think the jerk is lying.
December 23 - Only 2" of snow today. And it warmed up to 0. The wife wanted me to decorate the front of the house this morning. What? Is she nuts!!!?? Why didn't she tell me to do that a month ago? She says she did but I think she's lying.
December 24 - 6". Snow packed so hard by snowplow, I broke the shovel. Thought I was having a heart attack. If I ever catch the idiot who drives that snowplow I'll drag him through the snow by his hair and beat him to death with my broken shovel. I know he hides around the corner and waits for me to finish shoveling and then he comes down the street at a 100 miles an hour and throws snow all over where I've just been! Tonight the wife wanted me to sing Christmas carols with her and open our presents, but I was too busy watching for that rotten snowplow.
December 25 - Merry -GROAN- Christmas! 20 more inches of the white slop tonight. Snowed in. The idea of shoveling makes my blood boil. I hate the snow! Then the snowplow driver came by asking for a donation and I hit him over the head with my shovel. The wife says I have a bad attitude. I think she's lost her mind. If I have to watch "It's A Wonderful Life" one more time, I'm going to stuff her into the microwave.
December 26 - Still snowed in. Why on earth did I ever move here? It was all HER idea. She's really getting on my nerves.
December 27 - Temperature dropped to -30 and the pipes froze, plumber came after 14 hours of waiting for him, he only charged me $1,400 to replace all my pipes.
December 28 - Warmed up to above -20. Still snowed in. THE WOMAN I MARRIED is driving me crazy!!!
December 29 - 10 more inches. Bob says I have to shovel the roof or it could cave in. That's the silliest thing I ever heard. How dumb does he think I am?
December 30 - Roof caved in. I beat up the snowplow driver! He is now suing me for a million dollars for the beating I gave him !!! The wife went home to her mother. 9" of new snow predicted.
December 31 - I set fire to what's left of the house. No more shoveling.
January 8 - Feel so good. I just love those little white pills they keep giving me. But wonder why I am tied to the bed?
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Army Nurse Corps Celebrates 110th Anniversary February 2, 2011
The Army Nurse Corps, on Feb. 2, 2011, celebrates its 110th anniversary and another chapter in its rich tradition of dedicated service. The theme for this year's celebration "Touching Lives for 110 Years" epitomizes the women and men of the Army Nurse Corps and is the essence of what Army nurses do every day.
What the Army Nurse Corps has done?
Men and women have served as Army nurses since 1775. The history of the Army Nurse Corps however, dates back to 1901 when Army nurses became a part of the Army Medical Department. Today, under the leadership of Maj. Gen. Patricia D. Horoho, deputy surgeon general and chief of the Army Nurse Corps, more than 9,000 Army nurses are on active duty, in the U.S. Army Reserve or National Guard in support of military and humanitarian missions in the U.S. and overseas. Horoho developed a four-year campaign plan with a 15-year blueprint to transform the Army Nurse Corps into a vibrant, relevant and flexible corps of the future. Leader Development, Warrior Care, Evidence Based Management and Human Capitol are the four strategic imperatives for the Army Nurse Corps.
What the Army Nurse Corps has planned for the future?
Capitalizing on a legacy and history of dedicated service, the Army Nurse Corps continues to learn from its historic past as it transforms for the future as part of the Army surgeon general's Culture of Trust initiative. The Army Nursing System of Care, an initiative first piloted at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital, Fort Campbell, Ky., is being rolled out at Madigan, Brooke and Womack Army Medical Centers and eventually to all Army military treatment facilities (MTF) over the next 12 months, to ensure that one standard of care exists for all patients at every Army MTF.
Why the Army Nurse Corps is this important to the Army?
The Army Nurse Corps has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Army since 1901, providing care and touching the lives of Soldiers and servicemembers, retirees and their family members. The Army Nurse Corps is driving change in support of the Army, Army medicine and the nursing profession. For the Army Nurse Corps, their motto says it all "Embrace the Past"- leverage our lessons learned; "Engage the Present"- achieve performance excellence; and "Envision the Future"- ensure organizational credibility and sustainability.
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*Newsreel - Japanse Sign Final Surrender*
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On This Day....
1488 - The Portuguese navigator Bartholomeu Diaz landed at Mossal Bay in the Cape, the first European known to have landed on the southern extremity of Africa.
1690 - The first paper money in America was issued by the Massachusetts colony. The currency was used to pay soldiers that were fighting in the war against Quebec.
1783 - Spain recognized the independence of the United States.
1809 - The territory of Illinois was created.
1815 - The world's first commercial cheese factory was established in Switzerland.
1862 - Thomas Edison printed the "Weekly Herald" and distributed it to train passengers traveling between Port Huron and Detroit, MI. It was the first time a newspaper had been printed on a train.
1869 - Edwin Booth opened his new theatre in New York City. The first production was "Romeo and Juliet".
1900 - In Frankfort, KY, gubernatorial candidate William Goebels died from an assasin's bullet wounds. On August 18, 1900, Ex-Sec. of State Caleb Powers was found guilt of conspiracy to murder Gov. Goebels.
1913 - The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It authorized the power to impose and collect income tax.
1916 - In Ottawa, Canada's original parliament buildings burned down.
1917 - The U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with Germany, which had announced a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.
1918 - The Twin Peaks Tunnel began service. It is the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet.
1927 - The Federal Radio Commission was created when U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signed a bill.
1941 - In Vichy, France, the Nazis used force to restore Pierre Laval to office.
1945 - Russia agreed to enter World War II against Japan.
1946 - The first issue of "Holiday" magazine appeared.
1947 - Percival Prattisbecame the first black news correspondent admitted to the House and Senate press gallery in Washington, DC. He worked for "Our World" in New York City.
1951 - Dick Button won the U.S. figure skating title for the sixth time.
1951 - The Tennessee Williams play, "The Rose Tattoo", opened on Broadway in New York.
1966 - The first rocket-assisted controlled landing on the Moon was made by the Soviet space vehicle Luna IX.
1969 - At the Palestinian National Congress in Cairo, Yasser Arafat was appointed leader of the PLO.
1972 - The first Winter Olympics in Asia were held at Sapporo, Japan.
1984 - Challenger 4 was launched as the tenth space shuttle mission.
1988 - The U.S. House of Representatives handed rejected U.S. President Reagan's request for at least $36.25 million in aid to the Nicaraguan Contras.
1989 - South African politician P.W. Botha unwillingly resigned both party leadership and the presidency after suffering a stroke.
1998 - Texas executed Karla Faye Tucker. She was the first woman executed in the U.S. since 1984.
1998 - In Italy, a U.S. Military plane hit a cable causing the death of 20 skiers on a lift.
2009 - Eric Holder was sworn in as attorney general. He was the first African-American to hold the post.
2010 - The Alberto Giacometti sculpture L'Homme qui marche sold for $103.7 million.
2011 - Residents of Chicago, Missouri, Texas, Maine, Virginia & many other states besieged by snow rose up with one voice & said....."ENOUGH ALREADY"!
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