We had a wonderful, yet tireing weekend campi...
August 25, 2003 by Seraph in Cortez
We had a wonderful, yet tireing weekend camping in central Oregon with Mom, Sadie, Jenny, Destin and Jordan. I think 2 two year olds may have left us all a little frazzled!
I think Dick would have been proud of us. We actually managed several Dutch Oven meals and the coffee was ready both days by 7:30 a.m.
After two nights listening to cows and cyotes Isa and Robbie went to the library today to pick up books on these wild and woolly animals!
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As the power outage shuts down the North East...
August 15, 2003 by Seraph in Cortez
As the power outage shuts down the North East I thought this news bit from the internet might be worth posting. These were suggestions the Iraqi's had in resonse to the power outage:
Here is a top 10 list compiled on the streets of Baghdad:
—10: SLEEP ON THE ROOF. Without power — and hence without air conditioning — Iraqis have taken to climbing up stairs in the hot nights. Some install metal bed frames on rooftops, while others simply stretch out on thin mattresses. “We sleep on the roof,” said Hadia Zeydan Khalaf, 38, wearing a black head-to-toe abaya in the hot sun. “It’s cooler there.”
—9: SIT IN THE SHADE. Many Iraqis go outside when the power’s off. “We sit in the shade,” said George Ruweid, 27, playing cards with friends on the sidewalk. Of the U.S. blackout, he said: “I hope it lasts for 20 years. Let them feel our suffering.”
—8: HEAD FOR THE WATER. “We go to the river, just like in the old days,” said Saleh Moayet, 53. Several people said they had seen American beaches on television, and suggested they might be a good place to sit out the blackout. “They have so many beautiful beaches,” said Hamid Khelil, 44. “They should go where it isn’t so hot.”
—7: SHOWER FREQUENTLY. “I take showers all day,” said Raed Ali, 33. “Before I go up to the roof to sleep, I take a shower and I’m cooler.”
—6: BUY BLOCKS OF ICE. When refrigerators shut down, there’s no better way to keep food cool. Mohammed Abdul Zahara, 24, sells about 20 a day from a roadside table. “When it’s hot people buy a lot of ice,” he said.
—5: CHECK FOR BITTER-ENDERS. “They should go to the power stations and see what the problem is,” suggested Ahmed Abdul Hussein, 21. “Maybe there are followers of Saddam Hussein who are sabotaging their power stations. That’s what happens here.”
—4: GET A GENERATOR. Abbas Abdul al-Amir, 53, has one of a long row of shops selling generators in Baghdad’s Karadah shopping street. When the power goes out, sales go up. “I sell about 30 generators a day,” he said. “When the shutdown lasts I can sell even more.”
—3: CALL IN THE IRAQIS. Some suggested the Americans ask the Iraqis how to get the power going again. “Let them take experts from Iraq,” said Alaa Hussein, 32, waiting in a long line for gas because there was no electricity for the pumps. “Our experts have a lot of experience in these matters.”
—2: USE FOUL LANGUAGE. “When the power goes out, I curse everybody,” said Emad Helawi, a 63-year-old accountant. “I curse God. I curse Saddam Hussein. And I curse the Americans.”
—And the No. 1 suggestion among Iraqis for Americans suffering without power: TAKE TO THE STREETS. Some said demonstrations can be effective in persuading authorities to turn on the switch. “We held protests. After that we had fewer blackouts,” Ahmed Abdul Hussein said without even a hint of sarcasm. “I’d suggest Americans go out and demonstrate.”
Robbie and I have yet to fully understand the American thought process, in that people were going right back to work this morning in New York. Wouldn't the outage have been the perfect excuse to not call in to work(as the phones and answering machines were probably down) and take the kids to the beach?! I guess they can all die happy knowing that they at least made it to the office one more day of this year.
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