There Goes The Neighborhood

A weak tropical storm formed Saturday off the Yucatan Peninsula and quickly made landfall at the Belize-Mexico border, dumping rain and kicking up surf.

The first named storm of the 2008 Atlantic Hurricane Season, Arthur was moving northwest across the Yucatan with maximum sustained winds near 40 mph (64 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The storm formed one day before the official start of the season June 1, hitting land near the Mexican port city of Chetumal and Belize's Corozal city. It dumped rain as far south as Belize City and kicked up strong surf on the popular tourist island of Ambergis Caye.

Tropical storm warnings were issued for Belize and Mexico's Caribbean coastline.

In the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, which includes the popular resort of Cancun, ports were closed and all water sports were banned. Residents and tourists were encouraged to take precautions in coastal areas, said state Civil Protection Director Carlos Rodriguez Hoy.

Ports were also closed on the islands of Cozumel and Isla Mujeres and in Chetumal.

Authorities expected rains of up to a little more than 1 inch (30 millimeters) due to the passing remnants of Arthur, Rodriguez said.

In northern Belize, the National Emergency Management Organization expected about 4 inches (102 millimeters) of rain and warned of possible flooding around the Azul Hondo River.

Rain and rough seas ruined vacations for tourists in Ambergis Caye.

"I just came to lay in the sun and get a nice tan, but so far there hasn't been any sunshine," said Debbie Fountaineau, a police officer from Lake Charles, Louisiana, who arrived on the island Thursday.

The storm was projected to weaken as it crosses the Yucatan before moving out into the Gulf of Mexico as a tropical depression early Sunday.

There was chance it could strengthen back into a tropical storm before hitting Mexico again south of Veracruz on Wednesday, said Jamie Rhome, a meteorologist with the Hurricane Center. It was not expected to become a hurricane.

At 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT), the center of the storm was located about 75 miles (120 kilometers) northwest of Belize City, and about 195 miles (314 kilometers) southwest of Cozumel, Mexico. It was moving to the west-northwest near 7 mph (11 kph).

The storm was expected to stay well away from the U.S. Gulf Coast.

*****

I guess that next trip to my old stomping grounds down that way will have to wait, phooey!

Question of the Day

Why is it that those devoid of mirth seek to deprive those that have mirth of it?

Stonehenge served as a burial ground

England's enigmatic Stonehenge served as a burial ground from its earliest beginnings and for several hundred years thereafter, new research indicates.

Dating of cremated remains shows burials took place as early as 3000 B.C., when the first ditches around the monument were being built, researchers said Thursday.

And those burials continued for at least 500 years, when the giant stones that mark the mysterious circle were being erected, they said.

"It's now clear that burials were a major component of Stonehenge in all its main stages," said Mike Parker Pearson, archaeology professor at the University of Sheffield in England and head of the Stonehenge Riverside Archaeological Project.

In the past many archaeologists had thought that burials at Stonehenge continued for only about a century, the researchers said.

"Stonehenge was a place of burial from its beginning to its zenith in the mid third millennium B.C. The cremation burial dating to Stonehenge's sarsen stones phase is likely just one of many from this later period of the monument's use and demonstrates that it was still very much a domain of the dead," Parker Pearson said in a statement.

The researchers also excavated homes nearby at Durrington Walls, which they said appeared to be seasonal homes related to Stonehenge.

"It's a quite extraordinary settlement, we've never seen anything like it before," Parker Pearson said. The village appeared to be a land of the living and Stonehenge a land of the ancestors, he said.

There were at least 300 and perhaps as many as 1,000 homes in the village, he said. The small homes were occupied in midwinter and midsummer.

The village also included a circle of wooden pillars, which the researchers have named the Southern Circle. It is oriented toward the midwinter sunrise, the opposite of Stonehenge, which is oriented to the midsummer sunrise.

The research was supported by the National Geographic Society, which discusses Stonehenge in its June magazine and will feature the new burial data on National Geographic Channel on Sunday.

The researchers said the earliest cremation burial was a small group of bones and teeth found in pits called the Aubrey Holes and dated to 3030-2880 B.C., about the time with the first ditch-and-bank monument was being built.

Remains from the surrounding ditch included an adult dated to 2930-2870 B.C., and the most recent cremation, Parker Pearson said, comes from the ditch's northern side and was of a 25-year-old woman. It dated to 2570-2340 B.C., around the time the first arrangements of large sarsen stones appeared at Stonehenge.

According to Parker Pearson's team, this is the first time any of the cremation burials from Stonehenge have been radiocarbon dated. The burials dated by the group were excavated in the 1950s and have been kept at the nearby Salisbury Museum.

In the 1920s an additional 49 cremation burials were dug up at Stonehenge, but all were reburied because they were thought to be of no scientific value, the researchers said.

They estimate that up to 240 people were buried within Stonehenge, all as cremation deposits.

Team member Andrew Chamberlain suggested that that the cremation burials represent the natural deaths of a single elite family and its descendants, perhaps a ruling dynasty.

A clue to this, he said, is the small number of burials in Stonehenge's earliest phase, a number that grows larger in subsequent centuries, as offspring would have multiplied.

Parker Pearson added: "I don't think it was the common people getting buried at Stonehenge - it was clearly a special place at that time. One has to assume anyone buried there had some good credentials."

The actual building and purpose of Stonehenge remain a mystery that has long drawn speculation from many sources.

And not all archaeologists agree with Parker Pearson's theory.

Indeed, the June issue of National Geographic Magazine quotes Mike Pitts, editor of the journal British Archaeology, as saying some details of the theory are problematic with gaps remaining to be filled. Uses of the landscape in the area for farming and grazing, for example, do not seem compatible with a ritualized place.

"The value of this interpretation is not just the idea of linking stones and ancestors, but that it works with the entire landscape," Pitts was quoted as saying.

Life's Helpful Hints

HOW TO GIVE THE CAT A BATH
(In TEN easy steps)

Step One: Lift both lids and place liquid soap in toilet.

Step Two: Locate cat and soothe cat as you transport him to toilet.

Step Three: Place cat into toilet closing both lids.

Step Four: Stand on toilet to prevent cat from exiting toilet prematurely.

Step Five: Allow ten minutes for cat to self agitate giving rise to the appropriate amount of suds.

Step Six: Flush Toilet three(3) times to complete cycle and form a powerful vaccum rinse.

Step Seven: Open door to exterior.

Step Eight: Stand as far away as possible from toilet.

Step Nine: Lift both toilet lids completely.

Step Ten: Allow the cat to rocket out of toilet and out the door where he will air dry.

This instructional guide was provided to you by Kaynine Press.

You Know and Only a

You know you are from the South if...

The men call it "glavantin" when they go out on Saturday night.

You do ok with 3 channels on a B&W TV.

You put ATV tires on the rear of your Poulan lawnmower so it wont get stuck mowing the barn pasture.

Your nickname has nothing to do with your real name or anything you did.

When picking huckleberries you put a joint of stove pipe on each leg to keep away the rattlesnakes.

You know that "mustard" is not only the yellow stuff you put on hot dogs, but that it is a type of green vegetable.

You know what a taw and an aggie and a cat's eye are.

You know what Jack rocks are and what a Jack leg mechanic is.

You know where the jumping-off place is and someone who has gone there.

You know what "wool gathering" means.

You know what "the short rows" are.

You know what it means when your ma is 'fixin to snatch a nappy knot in your behind'

Only a Southerner knows the difference between a "hissy fit" and a "caniption", and that you don't "have" them you "pitch" them.

Only a Southerner knows how many fish, collard greens, turnip greens, peas, beans, etc., constitutes a "mess" ... and we ain't givin' up our secrets to no Yankees.

Only a Southerner can point out the general direction of "yonder".

Only a Southeren knows exactly how long "directly" is - as in "Going to the store, be back directly".

Even Southern babies know that "Gimme some sugar" is not a request for the white granular sweet substance that sits in a pretty bowl in the middle of the table.

Only a Southerner knows when "by and by" is. They may not use the term but they know the concept well.

Every Southerner knows instinctively that the best gesture of solace for a neighbor who's got trouble is a plate of hot fried chicken and a big bowl of potato salad. If the neighbor's trouble is a real crisis they also know to add a large banana puddin'.

Every Southerner grows up knowing the difference between "right near" and "a far piece". They also know that "just down the road" can be one mile or twenty.

Only a Southerner both knows and understands the difference between a redneck, a good ol'boy, and po'white trash.

No true Southerner would assume the car with the flashing turn signal is actually going to make a turn.

Every Southerner knows "fixin'," can be used as a noun or a verb.

Southerners make friends while standing in lines. We don't do "qeues", we do "lines" and when we're "in line" we talk to everybody.

Only Southerners know grits come from corn and how to eat them.

Every Southerner knows that eggs, bacon, grits and iced tea are great together: that "red eye" gravy is a breakfast food and that fried green tomatoes are not.

When you hear someone say, "Well, I caught myself a'lookin'," you are honored to be in the presence of a genuine Southerner.

A true Southerner knows you don't scream obscenities at the little old lady that drives 30mph on the highway. Just just say "Bless her heart" and be on your way.

To all of you that are still having a hard time understanding this Southern stuff: "Bless your hearts." They are a'fixin' to have classes in how to understand the Language of the Gods.

For all those that were NOT born Southern, but have been here a long time need a sign for your front porch that reads, "I ain't originally from the South, but I got here as fast as I could!".

Things I've learned from living in the real world

A backache is Man's greatest labor-saving device.

Inside of every large problem the is a small problem struggling to get out.

Two lessons are to be learned from Bees; One - Not to be idle, Two - Not to get stung.

If you're leading a dog's life, please stay off the furniture.

In an arguement with even one woman, she has you outnumbered.

The most profound commentaries on the human condition are found on the restroom walls.

The raunchiest literary porn is found on the walls in the ladies room.

Do not complain about a fly in your soup because everyone will want one, too.

Peanut butter and chocolate really don't mix.

Humor is to life what shock absorbers are to a car.

If you think you're a person of influence, try ordering somebody else's dog around.

At 55, everything's starting to click for me - my elbows, my neck, my knees ...

The quickest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it back in your pocket.

Most times, with free advice, you get exactly what you paid for.

Some people get carried away with their own importance. The trouble is, it's never far enough.

Middle age is usually reckoned at between 40 - 60, or whenever a night on the town takes about 15 minutes.

If you find yourself in a hole, first thing to do is to stop digging.

In order to keep a true perspective of one's importance, everyone should have a dog that will totally worship him and a cat that will totally ignore him.

A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.

The last one out usually forgets to lock the door.

Pecans in the cemetary

On the outskirts of a small town, there was a big old pecan tree just inside the cemetary fence.
One day, two boys filled up a bucket full of nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the nuts.
"One for you, one for me. One for you and one for me, " said one boy. Several dropped and rolled down toward the fence.
Another boy came riding along the road on his bicycle.
As he passed, he thought he heard voices from inside the cemetary.
He slowed down to investigate.
Sure enough, he heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me."
He just knew what it was.
He jumped back on his bike and rode off.
Just around the bend he met an old man with a cane hobbling along.
"Come here quick," said the boy, "You won't believe what I heard! Satan and the Lord are down at the cemetary dividing up the souls."
The man said, "Beat it kid, can't you see it's hard for me to walk."
When the boy insisted, though, the man hobbled slowly to the cementary.
Standing by the fence they heard, "One for you, one for me ..."
The old man whispered, "Boy, you've been telling me the truth. Let's see if we can see the Lord."
Shaking with fear, they peered through the fence, yet we still unable to see anything.
The old man and the boy gripped the wrought iron fence tighter and tighter as they tried to get a glimpse of the Lord.
At last they heard, "One for you, one for me. OK ... that's all. Now let's go get those nuts by the fence and we'll be done."

They say the old man made it back to town a full two minutes ahead of the boy on the bike.

Waking Moments

Waking Moments

---

The trouble with life is that you're halfway through it before you figure out it's a do-it-yourself thing.

Aiming for the lowest common denominator sometimes causes division by zero.

The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys the same good things for the first time several times.

A couple of months in the lab can often save a couple of hours in the library.

When the last note is played, how will we know?

Some people are wise. Some people are otherwise.

When walking in the dark it is best to stop when your nose touches the wall.

Marsie-does and dosie-does and little lambsie-divies.

Remember it is ... pillage THEN burn!

Silence is the best answer when a woman asks you "Does this dress make me look fat?".

Plane on the highway - Pilot Injured

From the Newswire:

The pilot of a single-engine plane that crashed on Interstate 85 in central North Carolina is in critical condition at a local hospital.

The pilot, Richard Fuller of Durham, was the only one on board when the plane crashed Friday night. No other injuries were reported.

FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen says the Piper J3 Cub was made in 1947 and registered to Fuller.

The plane went down about 7 p.m. near an airport about 15 miles west of Durham. It wasn't immediately clear if the airplane was trying to reach the runway.

Durham County Sheriff's Capt. Ricky Buchanan says Fuller lives in a subdivision near the airport.

The FAA is investigating the cause of the crash.

The crash occurred near an unrelated tractor-trailer wreck earlier Friday that spilled diesel fuel.