I'm pissed as hell! And you should be, too.

In watching the offshore drilling "accident" in the Gulf Coast during the last days I have come to a couple of realizations.

1.Our nation is a government of reaction and almost never prevention. Why are we waiting until something like this happens before we make sure that there are safety precautions in place to make sure it doesn't??????? Whah???

2. Oil and gas moguls seem to have virtually a free rein as long as their wallets are overflowing. Yeah yeah...I have no proof of any monetary gains of anyone....yadda yadda yadda.......I'm not even blaming them. Well...maybe a little. Recently, a moratorium was lifted on offshore drilling in several areas including the Atlantic and the Gulf.
President Obama, "If, in order to get that passed, we have to compromise in terms of a careful, well thought-out drilling strategy that was carefully circumscribed to avoid significant environmental damage -- I don't want to be so rigid that we can't get something done." Ummmm.....ooooops!

First, it was no leakage. Then it was maybe 10,000 gallons...oh wait! Maybe 40,000.......now we are up to 5,000 barrels. That doesn't sound as bad, right? WRONG. Why did the media start talking in terms of barrels so suddenly instead of gallons? A barrel of oil=about 42 gallons. We are talking AT LEAST 210,000 gallons a day. 11,000,000 gallons were spilled in the Exxon Valdez spill. In 53 days this # will be more than the Exxon Valdez spill. One report said it could take up to three months to drill a relief well. That is 90 days. 90x210,000 =18,900,000 gallons. But an estimate of these rates is 1,680,000 gallons already spilled? I frankly think so much damage has already been done at this point the Gulf and its wildlife will be ruined for a very long time. Not to mention those that make their living on the Gulf. The Exxon accident happened in 1989. In 2002 a study showed quite a bit of oil still remaining. You can read about it here. Who will help? Who can help? This is a negligent mistake of epic proportions, it is not an accident. If there are safeguards that our government wants in place now to keep this from happening on future drills then these safeguards should have already been in place.

OOOOoooook-lahoma where the wind comes sweepin down the plain..

And I thought things were only bigger in Texas! Silly me.

Do I ever have some eye candy!!!!

This is the newest member of the household. A Normandy wheel from Carson Cooper. I ordered her on my birthday and received her last weekend. This week I had a little time to try out a bit of cashmere/silk blend that I got from Skaska Designs when I made a whirlwind trip to the DFW Fiber Fest with Ceci. I had bought the cashmere planning on using it with a new Russian spindle....but I couldn't help myself and had to christen the new wheel with it. The wheel spins like a dream! I can't say enough about it. I have three whorls and two flyers to choose from as well as a single or double drive capability. The options makes my head spin and I think I will need a lot of time to experiment to find out what all this baby can do. For now I will content myself with a little gossamer.


Here you can see how the flyer is shaped so that the newly spun yarn does not rub against the wood. It is just one small example of the wonderful workmanship in this wheel. The proof is in the spinning, but she ain't too bad to look at. ;0)






This is a Bayerische Sock from Eunny Jang's old blog. I have started this sock a couple of times in different colors...but this color is the winner. I love the traveling twisted stitches and this color shows them well. There are almost 100 stitches per round. Ugh! I am working on both at once, so there is NO WAY I am ripping these out again.






One of the clarinet players in one of my groups.....my sentiments EXACTLY! I wish I could wear this shirt every day.



And a couple of locals in Lawton, Oklahoma. You wouldn't BELIEVE how loud these little guys are when protecting their babies from crazy tourists (that would be me). They are everywhere and these little ones were outside a Native American Museum in the park.



The school year is soon over and it can't get here soon enough. I think all of my students are as worn out as I am. Next week is TAKS testing so I get the week off......ahhh...well.....I am TAKING the week off. heh We will put it that way. Sanity break. Although it may be too late for me.....