Myth Busted? Bullet Proof Water

Ever watched the show “Mythbusters“?  I catch it every once in awhile.  The mythbusters explore, and try to prove or debunk (bust, if you will) “myths”.  Some they prove, others they debunk.  I’ve always wanted them to take a look into a particular thing you see on TV and in movies.  That is how people who are being shot at and take refuge in water don’t get fatally wounded.

There was a part of me that thinks “hogwash”.  How can water be that bullet proof?  But then there was a part of me that thinks, “or CAN it?”.  I caught a recent episode of “Mythbusters” where they put this bullet proof water stunt to the test.

I was more than shocked at the results!

What did I learn?  If I’m ever being shot at, I’m looking for the nearest body of water!

Shooting into water at an angle of 23 degrees you need to only be two feet under and three feet away to survive being shot at, even by something as big as a .50 caliber weapon!  Most of the bullets would disintegrate into a handful of shrapnel on water impact and fall harmlessly to the bottom.  Have you ever SEEN a 50 caliber weapon?  Here’s one for your perusal!

Click HERE to see one of these impressive weapons!

As impressive as the gun is, take a gander at the ammunition!!!

Click HERE to see the size of these monster bullets!  The .50 caliber is on the left.

(FYI, the other bullets shown in this picture were also used in the experiment in their respective guns, and failed just like the .50 caliber).

The weapon that did the best, was the 9mm handgun.  Who knows why.  But even so, that bullet barely penetrated the ballistic gel and would not have caused much damage to the swimming fleeing individual who was the intended target.

Pretty amazing, really.  I wonder if it’s because of the surface tension of the water, or what!  Anyone out there know????

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“It’s All Downhill From Here…”

…”except for the uphill parts.”

This was something my brother said to all of us when we (Phil, his kids, and I) were hiking this past December.  I was reminded of that today while hiking with Vickie.

We had planned to hike yesterday, but the wind was absolutely ferocious so we decided to hike today instead.  Gooooood call.  Today was a gorgeous day for hiking.  Since this was our third outing, we decided to add in the “loop” portion of the Waldo Canyon trail.  As I previously wrote, this added an additional 3 1/2 miles to our currently 4 mile hike.

What I was unaware of was that it adds who knew just how much altitude to the hike as well!  About 1/2 mile into the loop I wasn’t so sure about it anymore!  I was huffing and puffing and really feeling the altitude.  I live at about 6,000 feet.  I was guessing we must have been hiking at 8,000 feet.  I got home and looked it up, and at the top it was 8,200 feet and my lungs felt every foot of that altitude gain, believe me!  Vickie kept telling me that just around the corner and we’d be going downhill.  She lied!  She told me that a number of times.  I finally had to ask if she knew what downhill meant.  We would have had a good laugh, but I couldn’t breathe. 

I would LOVE to show you pictures of what is to be seen from up there, but I haven’t felt that taking my camera is a priority yet.  I would have taken pictures of the red rock cobblestones, the ginormous boulder with the overhang you couldn’t pay me to sit under, the sandstone layers visible across a ravine which are reminiscent of Arizona and Utah, and the phenomenal views of Pikes Peak around every corner.  You’ll just have to imagine it for now.   Last week’s snow had turned to ice in many areas of the trail and some of the stretches of trail were pretty treacherous.  I am looking forward to doing the hike without the impedence of snow and ice.  I hear that there are wildflowers and blooming bushes that are to die for up there when things warm up. 

We crossed a stream a couple of times which I imagine ups the beauty ante in the spring as well.

I have posted before on the sensitive nature of my feet and how they blister very easily.  Well, today I got a couple of doozies.  Mind you, I was wearing hiking boots that I’ve been wearing, and wearing A LOT since I moved here 2 1/2 years ago!  Ouch.  I didn’t want to tell Vickie that my feet were dying since I was already having a hard time just breathing!  But I can whine to you folks, now, can’t I?  Just gotta remember to put band-aids in those spots next week.  Don’t want Vickie knowing just how much of a malingerer I am, afterall!

All in all, a very successful hike.  Each week shows marked improvement in stamina.  My goal for next week is to shave some time off the hike.  Oh, and to not die.  That’d be good, too.

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Tit For Tat – Photo Friday

Here’s my next entry in Lady Luck’s (of the blog “A Curious State of Affairs”) Photo Friday, and on Friday, actually, this time!    This Friday’s topic is “Tit for Tat”.

 Whenever I hear the word “tat”, I think of my nephew, Mitchell.  For years he couldn’t make the hard-C (or K, for that matter) sound.  So, kids were “tids”, and cats were “tats”.  He called his cousins “my tids”.  So cute.  He doesn’t do it anymore, but you know how it is, when little kids say funny things, those things often become part of the family vernacular.  And so it is with tids, and tats.  One of these days when he grows up I’m sure he’ll ask “why do you call my cousins “tids”, and why do you call cats “tats”?  We’ll tell him it’s because of him, and he’ll laugh because he won’t remember that he ever did.  My nephew Richard just shakes his head when we speak of “yogs” and “who did this to mes?”.  Thanks to my sister Whitney, the Pacific Ocean is “the oceanbath”.  I am the proud contributor of “girt” and “lellyaphont” for skirt and elephant, but thankfully only my mother uses THOSE anymore!

I tell you this so that I can share that I had to get beyond my instinctual response to the word “tat” so that I could participate in this meme in a way that had nothing to do with my own “tat”!

Which brings me to the actual subject matter of “Tit for Tat”…I know…FINALLY, you say! 

These are coasters crocheted for me by Brenda, a family friend.

My grandmomther (my mother’s mother) was an amazing crocheter (among other talents).  She crocheted using very small guage string.  To watch her, you would think she was tattting lace (Aha, the connection to today’s topic!).  She made amazing creations out of balls of inconsequential looking string.  She even crocheted KING SIZED bed coverings!  On a few of Brenda’s visits to “the ranch” where my grandmother lived, she had my grandmother teach her how to crochet.  I don’t know that my grandmomther passed along her talent to anyone else.  I’d already failed my attempts at knitting and counted cross-stitching, so I didn’t think crocheting would be something I’d excel at.  But Brenda sure did. 

As my siblings and cousins would marry, my grandmother would crochet them gifts.  At one point she realized she probably wouldn’t be around for all of our weddings so she made up gifts for those grandkids in advance.  When she died, those of us who had not yet wed received these boxes.  Mine is still packed away.  I was thinking about that box as I was contemplating my subject matter.  It’s been a long time since my grandmother passed away.  I wonder if she’d mind if I opened her gift and used it without waiting to get married! 

These little coasters from Brenda are the first gift of her crocheting I recieved from her.  She has continued to be a prolific crocheter, probably rivaling my grandmother’s talent.  She too, uses the fine guage string and turns it into gorgeous creations.  And it looks like she is tatting, too!  I chose these coasters to photograph as they were the most accesible of all of Brenda’s and my grandma’s creations at the moment. 

Click HERE to link to the “home” entry for Photo Friday.  Check out the other entries.  And don’t forget, you too can play! 

Next week’s topic is “Siesta”.

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Lady Luck’s New Meme – Photo Friday

Lady Luck of the blog “A Curious State of Affairs” has started a new weekly photography meme that I will be joining in!  Yay!!!!  The flagship topic for this new “Photo Friday”?  HAGGLE!

Leaving Sicily through Messina this past summer, I saw this quintessencially Sicilian gentleman pushing his cart of wares down the street.  I shot this picture through the bus window just before the bus pulled onto the ferry which would take us across the straight to Italy proper.  Not a great story about haggling, but I loved the picture and the feelings evoked when I look at it.

For a good haggling story, check out an older post of mine called “Drum For Sale“!  It’s about the procurement of a gorgeous drum on a roadside in Zambia.

Click HERE to check out the other participants work!  Links to each of the participants’ entries are in the comments! 

Next week’s topic is “Tit for Tat”.  You can play, too!

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Perfect Day, Snowwise That Is, and Jury Duty

My day started out badly!  I set my alarm clock for work before going to sleep last night.  But I set it as though I was working at 8:00, but in actuality today was a 7:00 day.  After hitting the snooze button a few times, I rolled over and started to do the math to figure out how many more times I could hit it before I absolutely HAD to be out of bed.  It dawned on me when I looked at the clock and saw it was 6:52 that I had to be at work in EIGHT minutes!  No shower THIS morning!  I leapt out of bed, threw on scrubs, brushed my teeth, washed my face, put in earrings, fed the cat (or did I?  maybe I didn’t!), and grabbed my lunch (that I had packed the night before, thank goodness!) and I was out the door.  Only to find that I needed to scrape all my windows.  Scraped ‘em and I was off to work!  I clocked in a 7:09.  And I didn’t speed!  That’s some sort of record!  But the day got better, because…….

When I got up this morning and headed out to work, the snow was lightly falling.  Big fluffly flakes falling out of motionless air.  It lightly snowed like this all day long!  There was about four inches of the powder collected in the shaded areas by the time I got home, but it didn’t stick to the roads, so driving was a pleasure in the snowy afternoon.  All day long I’d look out the windows and see the snow.  Brought me great joy!  (I wonder if I’ll ever tire of the snow…)  And I had a great day at work to top it off.  The snow has stopped now, but it’s dark out and I can’t see out my windows anyway.

And I have dutifully called in to see if I need to appear in the morning to serve jury duty.  My juror number is on “standby”, so I call in again tomorrow at 11:30 AM to find out if I need to go in later in the day.  I’d like to serve on a jury.  I’ve never done so.

The first time I was called to jury duty I was in Papua New Guinea.  My dad contacted the courts and told them such and I didn’t hear back from the courts again for YEARS!  When I got called again I actually made it as far as getting called out of the jury room and into a court room.  Only to find that the defense attorney for the case was my cousin.  A short chat with the judge later, and I was out the door and excused from the rest of my service.  The third time I was called I had to do the call the night before thing.  I cancelled a Christmas trip because I might have had to go in.  I called, and was excused from further duty that time.  (Missed a trip for nothing.)

So, this is my fourth attempt to do my civic duty, and so far it’s not looking so good for me! 

Besides, is a born-again Christian conservative nurse who loves America and the military and the police really the kind of juror attorneys are looking for???? 

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Rough Start!

Week one of my “quest” to get in shape for the Obstacle Course this summer is over.  Vickie had plans for today, so we decided to hike yesterday instead.  When my alarm clock went off in the morning, I just groaned.  I so very much did not want to get out of my nice warm bed and go out into the cold to go hiking. 

It’s been a very cold week here, topped off by a lovely snowstorm Friday night.  I got a few inches where I live, I imagined that Waldo Canyon got even more.  I wasn’t so sure about hiking in fresh snow.  Because of the cold I only managed to walk two days during the week, about two miles each day.

Anyhow I crawled out of bed and got dressed for the morning.  Long underwear, jeans, thick socks, hiking boots, a long sleeved shirt, a flannel shirt, a big hooded sweatshirt, a windbreaker, hat, and gloves.  Lots of layers!  I wasn’t sure I could bend my joints good enough through all the layers in order to be able to hike!  In my rush to get ready, I ran up the stairs to get a small wallet to carry only the essentials and missed my footing on the top stair.  I crashed headlong into the corner of a wall on my landing.  The wall caught my ear and I hit the area of my head behind my ear square on the edge.  Stars.  Lots of stars.  I grabbed my head and rolled on the floor praying that there wouldn’t be blood when I pulled them back.  I DID NOT want to be in the ER getting stitches.  Fortunately no blood, but I could already feel the lump forming.  Ouch.  Rough start to the morning!

It was about 10 degrees when we started our hike.  So cold it just sucked the air right out of my lungs.  I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to make it.  And hiking in fresh snow is like hiking in sand.  Easily twice the work.  Under the snow the path was icy, so there was a lot of stabilization and near falling going on throughout the hike.  BUT we did the full four miles, and we did it faster than last time.  I was surprised by that.  On the way back it had warmed up some so we could breathe easier and the views in the bright sunlight of the freshly snowed mountains was exquisite!

Part of our routine is to stop at Starbucks on the way home for a warm drink.  When we pulled up to pay at the window, we were informed that the car in front of us had already paid for our order!  Why, we wondered aloud to the lady at the window.  She shrugged and said she didn’t know, but it happened a lot.  Note to self:  pay it forward this way sometime.  What a wonderful and unexpected treat!

So, one week down, however many to go.  It looks to be warmer this coming week, so I can get out and walk more. 

Next week we’ll do the added 3 1/2 mile loop on our trail for a total of 7 miles.  I hope it’s not too slippery!  Hiking on slipperyness is HARD!

And while I survived my fall into the wall without needing stitches, I am having searing, electrical headaches superficially on that side of my head.  Fun.  Hope they don’t last much longer.  They HURT!

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Fuzzy, Opaque, Floating Globes

I’m stumped by what they are.  They have showed up in quite a number of my digital pictures.  I’ve asked around to see if anyone knows what causes them.  And I’ve started to look for them in the photos that others have taken and often find them floating about virtually unnoticeable, only now I notice them, cuz I’m looking for them!

These blobs are in pictures taken indoors and outdoors.  They are in pictures taken throughout the day (though the worst seem to be at dawn, at dusk, or in suboptimal light).  They show up whether a flash is used or not, though more so with the flash.  They are different in every picture.  They might show up in one picture and then in the very next picture when the conditions SEEM to be the same, they won’t be there.  It’s a mystery.

The worst theory I’ve heard is that they are spirits which have taken on the appearance of “orbs“. 

The best theory I’ve heard is that they are dust (or other) particles in the air reflecting light back to the camera.  BUT I get them when I don’t use a flash, and in postively non-dusty places, soooooo….  what ARE they??

Some pictures have literally hundreds of them, some only one, or two.

Do YOU get these??  Do you know what they are and how I can avoid them?

This is the worst picture I’ve taken when it comes to blobulosity:

So many blobs here that the picture looks washed out!

What do you think? 

(FYI, this picture was taken in Kansoka, Zambia, during our team banquet – summer of ’06)

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“Where’s Waldo?”

I have two regrets in regards to my summer involvment with Teen Missions…

1. I only ran the obstacle course at Boot Camp with my Zambia team once.
2. I never ran the obstacle course with my Sicily team.

The obstacle course (O.C.) is a rather grueling course which requires significant stamina and strength.  There are tire mountains to be climbed, tunnels to be crawled through, rope bridges to be gone over, rope ladders to be climbed, water to swing over on ropes, and among other things, a 12 foot wall to be scaled.  You run it every day before the sun is even up, even if it’s raining.  When I was a younger person going on and assistant leading teams, I ran the course every morning.  I loved it.  It was invigorating and exciting.

But then was when I was younger, and in shape.  I was able to finish the course the one time I ran it (though we ran out of time before I could get over the wall) with my Zambia team, but this past year I had injured my back and sprained my ankle before my kids even got to boot camp and I just couldn’t manage it, not even once.

This year my goal is to run it every day.  In order to be able to do that, I really need to get into shape so that I don’t kill myself!  I will have the advantage of coming from high altitude to sea level, which will help with stamina, but I have the disadvantage of having gained 40 pounds since I was in my teens and twenties.  The weight slows me down and aggravates my back, my knees, and my ankles (I’m kind of an orthopedic bad dream).  Sooooo, in order to reach that goal, the weight needs to come off.  Mind you, I really hate exercise.  I mean, REALLY.

Enter Vickie.  Vickie is a co-worker of mine.  Last year she had a goal to run The Ascent.  (In brief, The Ascent is a race up Pikes Peak).  So she got together with a friend and got in shape and did it!  In the process of getting in shape, she lost 25 pounds.  Over the holidays she put on some weight and was telling me that she was wanting to get back into shape again.  I shared with her my goal, and she decided that we could help motivate each other.

So, this morning we took our first hike in our collective goal reaching plan.  We hiked the Waldo Trail, well, part of it anyway.  We hiked up two miles and then headed back down.  I was dreading it.  But it wasn’t bad!  I was breathing hard and my heart was pounding, but we kept a good pace and it was BEAUTIFUL.  I was worried that I’d slow Vickie down, but I really didn’t.  Vickie has decided we’ll do the same hike for a couple more weeks, and then add the next three and a half miles to the hike.  After getting comfortable with the seven and a half mile hike we’ll move on to a more difficult trail and work up from there.  We’ll do this on Sunday mornings (I’m changing to the Saturday evening church service which I attended last night and loved).  I have very little self-motivation when it comes to this sort of thing, so having a hiking buddy to keep me doing it will be most helpful!

I’d like to lose at least 20 pounds before June and greatly increase my endurance.  And in the process it will be fun to explore more of this beautiful state in which I live.

I normally wouldn’t put something like this out into the public arena, but perhaps doing so will help to keep me on track.  So, please feel free to give me encouragement and to check in on my progress.  I hope to be able to report positively over the coming weeks and months!

Wish me luck! 

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The hardest part isn’t getting out of the boat…

Sometimes God asks us to do really difficult things. 

Consider Peter.  He and other disciples were in a boat on the sea of Galilee in the middle of a storm.  Their small fishing boat was being rocked and buffeted by winds and waves.  They were in fear for their lives, but the boat was their little enclave of relative safety from the maelstrom.  Fisherman don’t voluntarily leave their boats for the churning waters.  Do they?  Not usually. 

But then they see a figure walking towards them in the waves.  It was Jesus.

24 But the boat was now in the midst of the sea, distressed by the waves; for the wind was contrary.

 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came unto them, walking upon the sea.

 26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a ghost; and they cried out for fear.

 27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

 28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto the upon the waters.

 29 And he said, Come. And Peter went down from the boat, and walked upon the waters to come to Jesus.

 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me.

 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and took hold of him, and saith unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

 32 And when they were gone up into the boat, the wind ceased.  (Matthew 14:24-32 NIV)

Was it hard for Peter to step out of that boat when Jesus called him to?  I’m sure it must have been.  PEOPLE CAN’T WALK ON WATER.  I’m sure Peter was well aware of that. 

But getting out of the boat was the easy part.  Anyone can get out of a boat.  It’s the impossible tasks that follow getting out of the boat that are the hard part. 

Getting out of the boat takes bravery.

Walking on water takes faith and belief.

At times in our lives, God calls us to “get out of our boat”.  Some people do, some don’t.  God calls us out of our boats in order to do amazing things, impossible things, walk on water sorts of things, things that we simply could not do if not for Jesus.

When he calls you out of your boat, don’t be afraid.  Get out of the boat.  Then what?  Don’t look down.  Don’t look around.  Keep your eyes set on Jesus.  Don’t miss out on your opportunity to walk on water because you look down and see that you’ve been asked to do that what is for you the impossible. 

The end of the story has both Peter and Jesus back in the boat, and the winds are calmed.  We aren’t asked to do the impossible forever.  There is calm after the storm.

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Change….

I’m so tired of hearing the word “change” come out of this group of presidential candidates’ mouths.  “I love change”, “I’m bringing change”, “I’m making change”, “change is good”… nebulous blah blah BLAH. 

Whenever I hear one of them talk about making change, I see them wearing a yellow, red, and blue fez and working the counter at Hot Dog on a Stick in the mall … “forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty, seventy-five and twenty-five makes one dollar…”

It got me to thinking…

Can any of these candidates actually make change?  Now THAT’s something I’d really like to see!!

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Lisa and Richard Wooden(‘t) Pay Their Bills

Sigh.  I don’t know who these people are, but they apparently aren’t the kinds of people who pay their bills.  And I am the unlucky person who has their old phone number.

So I get calls, and lots of them, from various bill collectors.  The latest company to be calling me is I.C. Systems, Inc.  They called four times yesterday while I was at work.  This morning they called before 9:00 again, and woke me up…again.  I don’t usually answer calls I don’t recognize, but I started answering I.C. Sytems’ calls when home in order to request that they stop calling ALL THE TIME.  Four different operators, or operatives, or whatever you call them, have told me that they’ll take my number out of the database, and yet, still they call.  Maybe the lady today will follow through. 

Lisa and Richard, if you are out there, stop spending money.  And pay your old bills off, please. 

I need my sleep.

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And Just Like That, 2007 Becomes 2008

Is it just me?  Is it because I’m getting older?  Or does time seem like it’s speeding up to anyone else???

Today 2007 enters the realm of “memories”.  It was another amazing year for me.  Another amazingly good chapter in my life, for the most part.  There’s some punctuation in there that was amazing, too, but not in the sense that on the surface you’d call “good amazing”.  But here’s the way I look at it…without punctuation, you’re not sure when to pause and take a breath, or stop, before moving on to the next sentence.  Even though punctuation of life might be painful, or uncomfortable, it guides me.

Have you ever heard of the book “Eats, Shoots, And Leaves“?  The title comes from incorrectly punctuating the sentence about the Panda’s eating habits.  Which would be ”eats shoots and leaves”.  Punctuation matters.

I embrace my life’s punctuation.  I try to let my puncutation help my sentences make better sense, and to give greater meaning to my life’s paragraphs and chapters.

I’m looking forward to 2008.  Not because I’m glad to see 2007 leave, but because I’m looking forward to the gifts and blessings that 2008 will bring, punctuation and all.

May your 2008 be blessed and full.  And may your life not be overly punctuated!! 

Happy New Year!

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