Top of Mt Everest

Feeling like you're on top of the world?
Check out... this link!
May take a second or two to load... but well worth it.

Empty Trap

Rats!... I mean Mice!
Weird how I was disappointed not to see a mouse in the trap.
I guess deep down inside I'm not convinced that it is over.
I'll keep my eyes open.
If I see any new mouse poo-doo around, I may have to switch to new tactics...
heh heh heh
:)

Got Another One!!!

'SNAP' went the trap.
'SNAP' went the neck.
Mouse number 2 is down for the count!
I can't tell whether this little critter was the parent, sibling or child...
since they are all about the same size.
:)
Dog food was the bait.
A tasty morsel had he got one millimeter further.
Shall we try for 3?

Mouse in the House

Actually, it wasn't in the house... it was in the garage.
Since my wife doesn't read this blog [yet] I can freely say there was a mouse in our house.
She would freak if she knew.
She hates meeses to pieces.
She would NOT venture into the garage if she knew a tiny rodent was lurking around and possibly watching her every move.

Truth is, it was sneaking into our dog food bin.
I wouldn't have known except for when we reached the bottom of the bin... I spotted a little tiny piece of mouse poo-doo.
I knew what it was instantly and set a simple squash-your-head-off trap.
PETA go soak your head.
The trap worked like it was supposed to.
:)
I've used the sticky traps in the past, but different brands make different 'sticky' stuff and mice have escaped... leaving some fur and poo-doo.
The whole idea of being stuck there with their face in a dollop of peanut butter causes them to wet themselves.

I reset the trap just in case he's got a family or some smoking buddies.

Chapped Lip Faux Pas

Cold weather tends to dry out my lips - nothing new here.
YET... when it comes to chapped lips...
Two things I've observed really crack me up.

One is the little kid that licks his/her lips... the skin for an inch around their mouth turns bright red and gets an even worse chap which they continue to lick.
One kid I saw had a chapped face as far as her tongue could reach - from nose to tip of chin and just as wide.
I nearly laughed out loud as the kid stood there coating her lips with saliva every few seconds.
Poor thing.
I can't say they didn't teach her correctly... my kid did it once this winter too and I was always reminding him to use the Carmex.

Second thing that cracks me up happened to me just today.
Here's the scenario:
Chapped lips.
Carmex in my pocket but not being used often enough.
My lip had a little flake of skin flapping up and irritating me.
So I reached up and got a gorilla grip on the little flap and pulled.
I literally filleted my lip.
The flap opened up what I believe was an artery and hurt so bad I yelped.
The stinging and bleeding lasted a good 10 minutes... and did I learn my lesson?
No.
I do this every winter 2 or 3 times.

Take my advice.
Keep some lip balm on ya... and use it.
And when you get tempted to tug at that little irritating flap of chap... DON'T!
Instead... pull out a few nose hairs or pour lemon juice on a hang nail... There is no blood loss and you recover quicker!
:)

A conversation I heard

[Mother who lost her child] "No one cares."
[Policeman at scene] "That's not true... Almost no one."

Back from Brussels!!!!

What an incredible trip.
I can't possibly tell you all that happened, but can say it went incredibly well.
highlights are:
- we rode every possible type of transportation [train, tram, metro-subway, taxi, bus, etc.] all ON-TIME! no delays.
- dogs were everywhere [on leash] and the people did NOT clean up the doo doo. the rain washes it away in an hour or so.
- they brought their animals INTO the restaurants - a cat [not on leash] sat next to me for lunch one day
- it was drizzly and cold the whole time and even snowed for two days
- the people don't think that God is relevant
- people were all speaking French... it was great to use my high school psudo-language!
- i ate pate for the whole week and found out the last day it was goose-liver.
- there is a statue i town that is a MAJOR sight-seeing monument - it's a little statue of a kid peeing.
- Chinese tourists all stand 4 meters apart when they are in public squares and 4 inches apart when they are walking as a group
- the beer is the best in the world
- people don't sleep there - i had lunch with a lady that gets up at 7, work by 8, home at 6, bars until 2... then does it all over again - daily.
- computer keyboards are all mixed up... i was paying by the minute at the internet cafe and had to pick&peck
- Brussels is a gorgeous city despite everything being damp with a constant mist.
- waffles are for sale all over the place... they call them geoffs [pronounced go-fffff].
- there is NO normal coffee there... it's espresso or nothing. if you order American coffee' they fill a cup with milk and add one t-spoon of espresso!
- brussel sprouts are NOT from brussels
- they sell french fries in every single cafe... but don't have any ketchup. typical dipping medium is mayonnaise or hot-spice cheese.
-the currency exchange rate hurt my wallet... 1.29% ouch. hand 'em a 50 [USD] and you get back 38 euro with change. :(

If I think of any more, I will let you know.
:)

Brussels Belgium

I can't believe it's here already... and for those who don't know yet... I'm flying to Brussels tomorrow.
One week walking the streets and talking to everyone willing to talk.

It's a survey trip.
We're looking for a good location to start a church.
A christian church that follows the teachings of Jesus.
Seems that according to the lastest survey...
there are only 1% Christians in Brussels.
That's really low for Christ's sake!!!
Apparently all the cathedrals are now museums.


We're NOT going to build anything either.
The church is the people... not the building.
It won't be just another sit-in-the-pew and get preached at church... but a real church.
Probably in someone's flat or a regular meeting in a cafe.

A place where people actually reach out and help each other,
where people see others as more important than themselves.
You know... what church was meant to be.

There are people out there that are at the end of their ropes, that think noone cares and they don't know where to turn next.
There are also people out there that seem to have it all, but are missing the big picture altogether.
[WHOEVER DIES WITH THE MOST TOYS STILL DIES]
Well... I would hope this new church would be a light for them in their darkness and not just meet their spiritual needs... but the physical ones they are dealing with also.

Here's a link to a webcam in the heart of the city - Grand-Place in Brussels.
You may see me there!!!!