SEATBELTS - CHILDREN - WINDOW - OUT
Please allow me this opportunity to deliver a quick public safety message. Before I get to my primary message, allow me to reiterate the often stated message in regard to flood waters - "Turn around, don't drown." Do not attempt to walk or drive through flood waters - the power of the current can be deceiving.
Moving on - the information below reflects what is known from the research about your best chance for survival if you are in a vehicle that goes into a body of water. Three college students from Dickinson lost their lives in November when their vehicle went into a pond because they didn't know what to do. Their deaths remind us how important it is to know what to do in the few crucial minutes you will have in such an incident (and minutes - in the plural - may be more than you get - plan for a minute to be safe). The Dickinson students frantically called for help on cell phones. If they would have known the below information they might have survived that tragic accident.
Remember four steps to survive such an incident: SEATBELTS - CHILDREN - WINDOW - OUT
First, take off your seatbelt.
Second, attend to children's seatbelts.
Third, get your window rolled down.
Fourth, get out.
As I stated, research has been done on this and other commonly utilized approaches to escape vehicles in the water. This approach offers the highest success rate - about 50%. Give yourself and your family a chance to survive in such an event - memorize these four steps - SEATBELTS - CHILDREN - WINDOW - OUT. They say a person needs to hear something multiple times to retain it, so keep repeating this to yourself - SEATBELTS - CHILDREN - WINDOW - OUT. You may not need it today, tomorrow or next year, but in the event you do I want you to remember it. Say it with me...SEATBELTS - CHILDREN - WINDOW - OUT.
Stay safe.
Day two hundred and fifty-two of the new forty - obla di obla da
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Posted by: madamgovnr on 3/14/2010 at 4:34 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: car submerged in water, safety
Mother Nature did not consult with me...
They say, "A watched pot never boils." If such were truly the case then perhaps a watched river never floods. Alas, we know better. Both the pot boils and the river floods in its own time as opposed to what we would prefer.
Things can change rapidly this time of year based on precipitation and melt. The flood predictions change with the new information. We went from an expected surge of five feet to more than ten feet in the seeming blink of an eye. An article in The Forum today is titled, "The Fight is Here"; indeed, it is.
I just got done saying to students on Thursday that it looked like we would be able to get back into the classroom after spring break for a couple of weeks before worrying about any interruptions. Today I am not quite so optimistic about that.
So much for my ability to control or predict Mother Nature's activities. In truth, Mother Nature doesn't even consult with me at all - she just does her own thing and completely ignores any synergy she might be able to glean from tapping into the girl power network. If she had bothered to consult with me or any of the local girl power this would be a much different situation I assure you. Flooding really puts a cramp in springtime activities, sensible minds could have perhaps convinced Mother Nature to be sensitive to the social calendars of others.
Let's face it...Mother Nature is a diva (perhaps you were thinking of another label?). She doesn't really care about what anyone else thinks or wants. She just does her own thing and who's to stop her? She is, after all, the mother of all mothers...and she has spoken. So, all we can do is prepare ourselves for the inevitable fight that will arrive at the time and place of her choosing.
I can tell you one thing...she isn't getting a Mother's Day card from anyone around here this year.
Day two hundred and fifty-one of the new forty - obla di obla da
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Posted by: madamgovnr on 3/13/2010 at 7:05 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: flood, flooding, mother nature
How old would you be?
Cheyenne and I had to run into Barnes and Noble today for a book and while waiting in line a magnet caught my eye. The magnet asked, "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?"
I love this question! I have been thinking about it ever since. At first I thought that I would surely be 21, but then I realized no...I know too much and have acquired too much self-confidence...no, I couldn't be 21.
Perhaps I would be closer to 29. At 29 you are older and wiser, but still young. Hmmm...still a bit too young I think..not old enough to understand the triumph of living through raising teenagers.
35 sounds good - beginning to hit the mid-life stride plus it is a woman's sexual primetime. Almost...but not quite right. I think I am a little beyond the romps of the mid-thirties.
But what about 40? I like 40...I can do 40 - in a "I know where I've been and I like where I am going" kind of way. It does seem like 40 is an age of revelation though and I think I have reveled all I need to - I've got this "me" thing down now.
I think I would have to ultimately say I am the new forty - I feel it and it fits me. Still young, but not too young. Older, but not too old. Confident in who I am and able to laugh at and appreciate who I have been during the journey. Even if I didn't know my age tomorrow, in my heart of hearts I would know that I am comfortably sitting in the beginning of a great decade...a decade where none of the moments should be wasted.
So...how old would you be?
Day two hundred and fifty of the new forty - obla di obla da
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Posted by: madamgovnr on 3/12/2010 at 7:25 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Tags: aging, internal age
Child number three in the birth order...
Cory - child number three in the birth order and quickly approaching age 22 - was over and being a smart ass yesterday and I told him if he didn't cut it out I would come over to where he was sitting and smack him.
He threatened to throw his water on me.
I told him that glass of water would not be enough to protect him.
He said, "It's enough to melt you."
Damn...he got his mother's wicked sense of humor. I couldn't help myself - I had to grin at that witty retort (but I coupled it with the evil twitching eye for good measure).
Ah, the irreverence of youth. I may be getting a bit slower as I get older, but no worries...I still have my flying monkeys. ;-)
Day two hundred and forty-nine of the new forty - obla di obla da
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Posted by: madamgovnr on 3/11/2010 at 6:07 AM | Comments (2) | Permalink
Tags: cory, flying monkeys, humor, kids
Spackle...
I am an excellent spackler. I learned this about myself in Kindred. Old houses with plaster walls have lots of spackling opportunities. Cracks and years of dings and dents beg for the attention of a spackler who pays attention to detail. You have to love those old houses, full of character and evidence of lives lived in them. No amount of spackle can change that.
I became a very skilled spackler over time - you could say I was spackling royalty - indeed, a veritable Queen of Spackling. To be an excellent spackler you have to be able to know just the right amount to apply - not too thick and not too thin - you have to be able to exercise impecable control. Plus, you have to possess strong technique. Smooth and steady with an even amount of pressure. I had it all back then - mad skills and the perfect canvas on which to display them.
I no longer live in an old house with plaster walls. No more character to find in every crack, ding and dent. Now I live in a relatively new house. I have had to segue my spackling talent to other areas. Recently I recognized that I had been redirecting my spackling talent toward my face.
I am not a big makeup wearer, but over time I have become quite a devotee of face lotions, creams and potions. I was going through my daily ritual a couple of weeks back and I realized that applying my standard trifecta of face lotion, cream and potion layers was very similar to spackling. I start with a potion (they actually call it a serum - but that is merely dressing it up a bit so they can charge more). The potion needs to be thinly applied with smooth and steady upward strokes. After the potion dries to the touch it is time for the lotion. The lotion has a different consistency than the potion - thick and creamy. The lotion requires a different amount of pressure and allows for less room for error. Finally, the cream is applied only in the eye and lip area very gently and the application must be thinner than the lotion, but thicker than the potion.
Three layers, three different applications - all of which require impecable control and strong technique. I surmise it is good I moved to a newer house without plaster walls as it was probably a good time to redirect my spackle talents. My face, like the old plaster house, requires fairly constant attention; undoubtedly, my laugh lines and wrinkles are not unlike the house's cracks, dings and dents. Perhaps my face evidences other qualities the old house in Kindred had - character and evidence of a live lived in it. Let's hope no amount of lotion, cream or potion can change that.
Day two hundred and forty-eight of the new forty - obla di obla da
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Posted by: madamgovnr on 3/10/2010 at 9:39 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink
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