Any Beaders here? I bought some lampwork sqirrels intending to

hang them on a necklace as pendants. The problem it that the hole runs vertically head to tail and is too wide for a head pin. I'm afraid if i use a cap bead to secure the head pin, it will look like the squirrel is, well, pooping. Any ideas? Anyone ever use glue to secure the head pin inside the bead?

Anyone here in a choir, chorus? Any pet peeves?

Mine: Arrangements of religious music that sound like the end of Act 1 showstopper of a Broadway musical. Mind you, I like Broadway musicals. It's just that the hymn that ends on a crescendo of "gloria, gloria, gloria, Gloooooooria to the Looooooooord!" has become rather a cliche, IMO!

Ahem......My Christmas Gift to MFM!

What would baby Jesus eat? Pope supports breast-feeding in public

Source: La Stampa via NBC

“I said to her: madam, I think the child’s hungry.”

“Yes, it’s probably time…” she replied.

“Please give it something to eat!” I said.

“She was shy and didn’t want to breast-feed in public, while the Pope was passing. I wish to say the same to humanity: give people something to eat! That woman had milk to give to her child; we have enough food in the world to feed everyone.”

Read more: http://www.today.com/moms/what-would-baby-jesus-eat-pope-supports-breast-feeding-public-2D11765613

A Lyme disease warning for dog owners:

We left the dogs in good shape Saturday morning, came home Sunday evening and one dog was so weak he couldn't bark or raise his head. God bless our vets - they opened up the office and checked him out right then and there and started him on antibiotics. He's in good shape now ( and the sound of a dog rooting in the kitchen garbage can never sounded so sweet!)

The takeaway is that Lyme disease can hit dogs, and it hits hard and fast. If we'd waited until Monday morning, i don't think he would have made it.

Good advice for all of us:

How to Survive End-of-Year Binge Drinking

Parties and gathering celebrating Christmas and the end of the year fill up people's calendars in December, but the pressure to consume vast amounts of alcohol with friends, family members and coworkers can take its toll.

The first principle is not to drain glasses of beer or liquor on an empty stomach. There is a tendency to encourage people to drink quickly in Korea's drinking culture, such as by downing jaeger bombs or shots of soju mixed with beer. But chugging down drinks rapidly accelerates the onset of inebriation and usually leads to a longer and more painful hangover.

If such drinking rituals cannot be avoided, at least make sure you head to the party after lining your stomach with some food to help it better manage the alcohol. A light meal, rice porridge or soup is recommended, but even a cup of milk will help.

Meanwhile, nibbling on snacks like peanuts, seaweed, fruit or whatever is at hand will slow down the speed at which the body absorbs all the alcohol, meaning you will be able to enjoy the social gathering longer.

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2013/12/13/2013121300591.html


Keep that seaweed handy!

So - Seattle Children's Hospital is upset that it is being dropped by some insurance companies -

Left off many networks, Seattle Children’s sues

People buying insurance through the exchange may not realize that the pediatric hospital is not in the health plan’s network of providers, Children’s officials say.

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2021968776_acachildrenssuitxml.html





Maybe this has something to do with it:

Revenues Compensation
SEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL WA $707,928,519 Thomas Hansen - CEO $1,209,562 $1,209,562

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2011/September/28/Chart-CEO-Pay-Packages.aspx

Why are there forty three different formats for user names to be

combined at random with 27 formats of passwords? Why are passwords hidden as a series of dots so i can't tell if I've made a typing error or put in the wrong word? Why do I have to sign in to order a simple box of chocolates, or a book, or whatever? Why do companies expect me to remember my password when I only order from them once a year?

Four Iceland bank executives jailed

Former CEO Hreidar Mar Sigurdsson was given a five-and-a-half sentence and former chairman Sigurdur Einarsson was sentenced to five years.

Magnus Gudmundsson, the head of the Luxembourg unit, and the bank’s second-largest shareholder, Olafur Olafsson, both were sentenced to three-and-a-half years.

They were indicted in February 2012 by Iceland's Special Prosecutor investigating the nation’s economic collapse.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/1212/492500-four-iceland-bank-executives-jailed/

Snowmegedon does exist:

Every year it snows in places that have cold spells rather than a continuously cold winter. And every year people talk about how "people don't know how to drive here" or "3" shuts down the city"

Let me tell you a little secret: People in Buffalo or Upstate New York are no better at driving in 3" of wet snow than people anywhere else. Here is our big secret:



It's called a snow plow. We pay taxes to buy a fleet of these things and pay people to drive them around on all our roads 24/7 when it is snowing. Typically, any road in my county is down to bare pavement within 2-24 hours of the last snow fall, depending on how heavy it is.

We also inconvenience ourselves by putting various parking bans in place November thru April in order to keep the roads clear so the plows can get through.

Face it, you have a lot of days in your town where the temperature is above freezing. But how many times the last few years has it snowed where you live? (Florida, sit down, I'm not talking to you!)

I maintain that people in the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes snow belts and New England face a natural disaster each winter, but no one notices because we've built in the infrastructure to handle it.