Funeral

Wednesday we buried a very beloved brother and brother-in-law. He was 82 and had put up a good fight but his lungs and heart finally gave out. He had a great sense of humor and could keep you laughing. He was a feed salesman and a good one. Also raised hogs so he knew all about the feed business first hand. Was a farmer when he was young. We are all going to miss him a lot as he was one of a kind. God threw away the mold when he made him. He's in Heaven now walking streets of gold so we are happy for him.

Court Blocks Rule Allowing Guns in Parks

A federal judge blocked a federal rule allowing people to carry concealed, loaded guns in national parks and wildlife refuges. The decision was made by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. It halts a change in regulations issued in the last days of the Bush administration and orders further review. She set an April 20 deadline for the Interior Department to review the rule and indicate its course of action in response to the injunction.

The rule took effect January ll,2009. It allowed visitors to carry a loaded gun into a park or wildlife refuge as long as the person had a permit for a concealed weapon. Also the state where the park or refuge was located must allow concealed firearms. Previously, guns in parks had been severely restricted.

Cape Canaveral, Spacewalk

On Thursday, the spacewalking astronauts installed the last set of solar wings at the international space station. This accomplished the top job of shuttle Discovery's mission. Richard Arnold II and Steven Swanson struggled with some cable connections, but managed to hook everything up. Now the next milestone will be today. They will unfurl the folded up solar wings. Sure hope they work fine.

Sciatic Nerve

Have you ever had a problem with your sciatic nerve? Well, it is no fun. It can give you pain clear down your leg to your toes and it doesn't let up. My husband has been having quite a time with the sciatic nerve in his left leg. Presently, he is doing stretching exercises to see if that will help.

It can be quite miserable because it bothers him to sit in a hard chair for any length of time at all. It also starts bothering him about 5 miles down the road whenever we go anywhere. Many have suggested seeing a chiropractor but he hasn't decided yet if he wants to do that. Some people have great results from them, while others don't. Guess we will just have to wait and see if the exercises work for him.

Gloria Estefan Tour

Gloria Estefan has announced her hits tour through Latin America. The seven time Grammy winner, Gloria Estefan, has performed to many packed arenas worldwide in a career spanning more than two decades. Now for the first time she is taking her greatest hits tour to South America. She plans to open in Uruguay on April 9. She embarks on a tour with stops in Peru, Chile, Argentina and Ecuador. She is a native of Cuba and told a news conference that getting back to Latin America brings her full circle. She said she will include older hits and newer ballads. I am sure the concerts will be enjoyed by all her fans.

Asteroid Buzzes the Earth

Did you know that an asteroid about the size of one that blasted Siberia a century ago just buzzed the Earth? It was about 48,800 miles from Earth when it zipped past early Monday. It is named 2009 DD45. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory reported the near miss. That is about a fifth of the distance to the moon, and is just twice as high as the obits of some telecommunications satellites.

Astronomer, Timothy Spahr of the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics said that was pretty darn close. However, it was not as close as a tiny meteroid 2004 FU162, which came within 4,000 miles in 2004.

The space rock measured between 69 feet and 154 feet in diameter. The Planetary Society said that made it about the same size as the asteroid that exploded over Siberian in l908 and leveled more than 800 square miles of forest. They started tracking it in late February and Spahr knew within an hour of that discovery that it would pose no threat to Earth.

Last year, the asteroid 2008 TC3 harmlessly burned up in Earth's atmosphere over Africa 19 hours after it was discovered. The next time an object will get closer to Eath will be in 2029 when an 885 foot asteroid called 9942 Apophis comes within 20,000 miles.

Snowfall

First we had pouring rain this morning and there are big lakes in the fields already. The ground is frozen so it can't soak in. Now we have snow flakes the size of nickels and the ground is getting white in no time already. At least at this time of the year it will melt away much faster at the first sign of sunshine. It is a very gray day today.

We got to church and had a special service and sure glad it held off till we got home. We drive about 10 miles and if the rain had frozen, the roads would have been treacherous. Only about 13 more days till the first day of Spring.

Weather or Not

Finally,it is 50 degrees out and the snow is really melting now. Everything is puddles of water but we have lots more snow left. Had some good days to stay in and catch up on stuff like Income Taxes. Got those done and filed.

The sun is shining and the wind is from the southwest and blowing in some warm air for a change. It may even get rid of the snow on the north side of the garage. It is always shaded there part of the time and gets quite slick. I guess I better get going and get the mail.

NASA Space Shuttle Launch

NASA is aiming to launch the space shuttle Discovery next month after repeated delays caused by critical valves. Wednesday shuttle managers said they hope to launch on March 12, a full month after the original launch date of February 12. It is better though, to be safe than sorry. Everything should be working 100% before they launch. We don't want any more disasters and deaths. If the shuttle isn't flying by March 13 or 14, it will have to wait until April to make way for a Russian Soyuz rocket that is supposed to blast off with a fresh crew for the international space station.

Sports Gifts

I have one son who is really into sports. It would be nice to get him a birthday, Father's Day or Christmas present that is really different. In looking for sports gifts I found this website. You can get afghans and blankets with photos of your favorite sports team on them. Not only that but you can get beach towels and even pillows with sports photos on them. I know he would love any of these gifts and they are open from 9 to 9 EST, 7 days a week so it is easy to order.

Students Elect Man as Homecoming Queen

This is hilarious, I think. At George Mason University, students have elected a drag queen as homecoming queen. Ryan Allen, a student said he entered the contest as a joke. He beat out two women for the title at the 30,000 student school in suburban Washington, D.C. Allen, who is gay and performs in drag at nightclubs considers the victory one of his happiest moments and proof the school celebrates its diverse student body.