Da Dang Norwegians

*And yes, I am related to those Norwegians.


One dark night outside a small town near Poulsbo,Washington, a fire started inside the local chemical plant and in a blink of an eye it exploded into massive flames.

The alarm went out to all the fire departments for miles around. When the volunteer fire fighters appeared on the scene, the chemical company president rushed to the fire chief and said, "All our secret formulas are in the vault in the center of the plant. They must be saved. I will give $50,000 to the fire department that brings them out intact."

But the roaring flames held the firefighters off. Soon more fire departments had to be called in as the situation became desperate.

As the firemen arrived, the president shouted out that the offer was now $100,000 to the fire department who could bring out the company's secret files.

From the distance, a lone siren was heard as another fire truck came into sight. It was the nearby Norwegian rural towns hip volunteer fire company composed mainly of Norwegians over the age of 65. To everyone's amazement, that little run-down fire engine roared right past all the newer sleek engines that were parked outside the plant.

Without even slowing down it drove straight into the middle of the inferno.

Outside, the other firemen watched as the Norwegian old timers jumped off right in the middle of the fire and fought it back on all sides.

It was a performance and effort never seen before.

Within a short time, the Norske old timers had extinguished the fire and had saved the secret formulas.

The grateful chemical company president announced that for such a superhuman feat he was upping the reward to $200,000, and walked over to personally thank each of the brave fire fighters.

The local TV news reporter rushed in to capture the event on film, asking their chief, "What are you going to do with all that money?"

"Vell," said Ole Larsen, the 70-year-old fire chief, "Da first thing ve gonna do is fix da brakes on dat focking truck!"

My Time of Day

You Are Sunrise

You enjoy living a slow, fulfilling life. You enjoy living every moment, no matter how ordinary. You are a person of reflection and meditation. You start and end every day by looking inward. Caring and giving, you enjoy making people happy. You're often cooking for friends or buying them gifts. All in all, you know how to love life for what it is - not for how it should be.

What Time Of Day Are You?

*** Just a note: I am not the cooking for friends or gift-giving type--unless it is a more cerebral gift. But I have learned to live a more mellow life these last four years.

50 Facts

Don at Sideon's Sanctuary tagged me with this meme. If you want some good reading go to his blog.

1. Before I was born, my father was sent to fight a large fire in Canada. We lived around Bella Coola at the time. My father was not given a choice. The authorities picked you and you and you. My father was one of the yous. My mother was worried that he would miss my birth, but he arrived about a day before I was born.

2. I was born on a small reservation hospital near Bella Coola, British Columbia, Canada. I was the only white baby born there. My mother was in labor 23 hours. She was very upset that I was not born on her best friend's birthday. I was born fifteen minutes after midnight.

3. When I came home from the hospital (more like a clinic), my mother wrapped me in a blanket, put me in a basket, and set my on the stereo. She would play opera and classical music when I cried. I still love these types of music.

4. I started to walk at the age of 8 months and talked at 12 months. My playmates thought that I was 3 years old, so they would push me down. I learned to get up and walk away, which has helped me time and time again.

5. I was writing before I could read. When we left San Francisco, I gave all my friends notes. The friends were paperboys that worked with my parents. They had to ask me to read them. I was so proud. I learned to read at six and I have never quit.

6. By the time I was six, I had lived in Canada, Idaho, California, and Utah. I still have itchy feet.

7. I hope this isn't too boring. I saw my first television program at my grandparent's house. My parents decided not to own a TV. They finally bought one after most of their children left home.

8. I did see the first steps on the moon. I remember that I was bored out of my mind because we had been watching for hours and hours. The first step on the moon, I was sitting in the bathroom reading. I came out when I heard my parents and grandparents yelling "you shouldn't miss this."

9. We always had music. My mother took care of children during the day. She spent the money on a baby grand piano. She still has it.

10. I wanted to learn to play the violin. The summer we left Salt Lake City, I signed up for classes without my parents' permission. They were angry, but finally agreed because the lessons and violin would not cost them anything. I learned to pluck the violin. Those lessons were the last ones that I ever had.

11. I dreamed of being a ballerina. When I left home, my first class in college was a ballet class. Unfortunately I learned why girls start so young. I enjoyed the classes, but I would never be good enough.

12. I love to dance. It has been awhile. But in my prime, I learned ballroom, square dance, and folk dance. Folk dancing is a really good workout.

13. I went on a mission to South Africa. I met some great people. I wore some funny underwear. I found out that what I was teaching was not what I thought I was teaching. I had read the Bible three times before I went. I was not happy that we were taught to use partial scripture to support our positions. It didn't feel right.

14. When I was at BYU in the early 80's, I auditioned for a vocal teacher. It was about $300 extra dollars. I was very surprised when I was allowed to work with one of the professors who took very few students. Now I wish that I had continued. He wanted to get me into the Opera program. But I left because I was burned out. I was working two jobs and was trying to go to college.

15. I joined the U.S. Navy in 1988. My career in the Navy lasted six years. I was a CTM (electronics maintenance). It was my ability to understand electronics and other technical terms, etc that brought my self-confidence to a higher level. You see, my parents took me out of school after the seventh grade. I became housekeeper, babysitter, bottlewasher, and diaper changer until I left home.

16. I met my husband in the navy. Great things come from service to your Land.

17. I was told that I would never write anything good in an English class in the 1980's.

18. I went back to college in 1998. (UMUC) University of Maryland University College European Extension (Germany).

19. My professors at UMUC were amazed at my writing ability. I want to thank in particular Dr. Atkins. She was my writing instructor and my English literature professor. I learned a lot about how literature is constructed.

20. While I was at UMUC, I sent my poetry to various poetry journals in England and the U.S. It was published. It was my first time and I was very excited.

21. I wrote essays for the Stars and Stripes, a military newspaper in Europe.

22. I passed my first element for an Amatuer Radio licence in 1986. I passed my last element (Extra) in 2006. Callsign: KB7BZE

23. I first worked in MARS (Military Afiliated Radio Systems) in Pensacola, Florida on Corry Station. At the time, I was going to "A" school for CTM (Cryptologic Technician Maintenance).

24. When we moved here, my husband persuaded me to go back into the MARS program. Call sign: NNN0KPW

25. I am the oldest of nine children.

26. My youngest sister is a Down Syndrome child.

27. When I was in the Navy, I lived in Florida, Japan, and Panama.

28. We loved the birds in Panama. We saw toucans, parrots, hummingbirds and crows. Hummingbirds are called "Picos flores" (I think I spelled that right.), which means flower pickers. Also, the Indians believe that hummingbirds are reincarnated souls of Aztec warriors. They are quite the little fighters.

29. The crows in Panama like to imitate the sounds around them. The crows in our neighborhood would sit on the powerlines and sound like cement drills. It would really irritate our cat.

30. Before I became ill, I attracted cats. I had one large black cat jump on my lap, put his arms around my neck, and softly bite my ear. The owners couldn't get the cat off my lap.

31. Since I have become ill, dogs are now my best friends. I have told stories of Herky, a Jack Russel Terrier. He would guard my sleep. We would call him, my little terrierist.

32. The dogs in my area love to get petted. (Oh yes, I track 'em down too)

33. We have a two bird socks, one bird feeder, two suet feeders, and a table filled with thistles, suet, peanuts, cracked seed, and sunflower seeds. On the floor of our balcony is tons of shells.

34. The summer of 2005, our apartments were getting a stucco uplift on the outside. This cat would climb on the scaffolding into our apartment. I was still tired then, so the cat would climb into my bed with me. He came to visit all day and then he would disappear at night. I think he lived in an apartment next to us. At the end of the summer, he was gone.

35. I went into the hospital in January 2003. For two weeks, I vomitted every three to four hours. The ER doctors thought I had mental problems. At the time, I lost all mental capacity. My husband had to advocate. Finally, after a blood test I was put in ICU. The head nurse told me that I didn't have long to live.

36. I was transferred to a German teaching hospital in Homburg with a kidney care unit. I was there 4 1/2 weeks. They saved my life with plasmapheriesis, dialysis, and finally cytoxan and prednisone.

37. My conversational German wasn't good, but got me through the 4 1/2 weeks. Only my doctors and a physical therapist spoke English to me. I had to learn "where's the toilet," (zu toiletten), and other phrases to survive. I did OK. It was a good thing that I understood non-verbal communication. ;-)

38. The first year of cytoxan and prednisone, I was terrified that I had lost my ability to write.

39. My Ennegram type is 5.

40. I have Wegener's Granulomatosis with kidney involvement. When I started to have red-eyes and joint pain, I thought I had RA (Rhuematoid Arthritis). Unfortunately, I was wrong.

41. Luckily, my disease can be put in remission with chemo-therapy and prednisone. Unfortunately, it cannot be cured.

42. INTP

43. Wegeners.net has a lot of scared individuals learning about Wegeners for the first time. It has helped me to talk to them. I can truthfully say that I have been there. Hang on. It does get better. And, learn your limitations.

44. I am 5'8". This has been the heaviest that I have ever been--all due to prednisone. This steroid causes fat to form on the belly, back, and face. It makes you hungry. Since I have been weaning off this drug, my hunger pains have vanished. I have lost some weight, but because of where the fat forms, I have a hard time getting rid of it. BUT, prednisone is a wonder drug for my condition. My doctor assured me that I would probably be on this drug for the rest of my life.

45. It is better to be fat, than to be a good looking corpse. (Thank you hubby) This is my new mantra.

46. Last year I had surgery for a breast tumor. Thankfully, it was NOT cancer.

47. Currently, I am writing a Hazard Mitigation Proposal. Technical writing makes me want to write creatively. :-)

48. This life and death struggle has changed my priorities. I have learned to cook better. --no pre-prepared food. I have learned about supplements like Omega 3. Testimonial: it lowered my inflammation markers. And, I have learned to isolate myself from disease i.e. children and adults. I have eliminated much of the stress in my life. (Stress causes flares. Flares are reoccurances of the disease).

49. My husband is the jokester in the family. I am way too serious. He makes me laugh every day.

50. Joseph Campbell is my hero. I try to read one of his books every year. I have a fascination with Coyote, Odin, and other mythic creatures. I own a pair of tarot cards and rune stones.


So here are the fifty facts. I found that I just nibbled the surface of my younger life. I also skirted my spirituality issues. Sometimes certain things are too private to divulge.

Busy, Busy, and Busy

The last few days I have been putting together the Nevada Hazard Mitigation Proposal. It has been a lot of work.

We had to take the old proposal and rip it apart. Now we have to interest various agencies, organizations, and the private sector in identifying and finding solutions to the natural hazards in our communities. It is a far cry from fiction writing, but I have been enjoying the process.

On another topic, we were hit with a lot of snow yesterday. We had at least two or more inches on the roads. It is supposed to be even colder (in the teens) today. So I am bundling up even more than usual. I look like a snow woman.

I am an Empress

Thank you Don from Sideon's Sanctuary.

You are The Empress

Beauty, happiness, pleasure, success, luxury, dissipation.

The Empress is associated with Venus, the feminine planet, so it represents,
beauty, charm, pleasure, luxury, and delight. You may be good at home
decorating, art or anything to do with making things beautiful.

The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

2007 Resolutions

I admit that I am goal oriented. When I first started writing my goals, I decided that I wanted to travel the world. This goal led me to the U.S. Navy. I learned that major goals are essential. But even more essential was the steps to attain my goal.

For instance, I decided that I wanted to go to college. I achieved that goal in the early 80's; however, I did not finish a degree. When I went to college the second time I made the goal of getting a degree. And yes, I accomplished that goal.

So here goes... my 2007 Resolutions...

Technical Goals

1. Finish my requirements for MARS NMO2
2. Study and pass one element of the GROL

Writing Goals

1. Finish first draft of Conjure Man
2. Finish first draft of three books
3. Edit Shira

Professional Goals

1. Mitigation Proposal
2. Find an agent

Physical Goals

1. Exercise 3-5x per week
2. Stay healthy


Now to make it easier and less overwhelming, I cut these goals into monthly and weekly goals.

How do you accomplish your goals?

Happy New Year 2007

Found at Big Foto