Hectic

hec·tic  

/ˈhektik/

Adjective Full of frantic activity. Relating to or denoting a regularly recurrent fever typically accompanying tuberculosis.

Synonyms feverish - febrile

While I took a few days off to visit with my Sister-in-law as she was visiting from Cincinnati to see my daughter graduate from Occidental College over the weekend, I can attest that that those days were not as hectic as both Saturday and Sunday in Eagle Rock.  

We finally managed to get packed for our overnight stay, get the dog delivered to the kennel, get the cat fed for two days and get out of Santa Barbara by about noon. I also had tools on board to do a repair at my daughter's house.  Soooo, I had to do the repair, then find our hotel check-in and change clothes for dinner, and then meet for dinner.  We arranged to have dinner with one of Tori's roommates' families, as well- so there were fourteen of us.  Finding the restaurant was easy, but finding parking was another story.

Meanwhile, we scored an outdoor table in the restaurant's patio.  The service and food was exemplary!  It was a great time for all that attended.  Then we were invited to visit a local college bar, which we did.  I felt a bit out of place, after a bit, and we left.  We planned to get up early the next day to try to get some shady seats at the ceremony. 

We got up at 5:45 (it wasn't still dark).  We got cleaned up, ready, checked out- after eating muffins with cold dark liquid (from the hotel) that smelled like coffee.

When we arrived, the seats we hoped to get were occupied.  Even though the ceremony didn't start until 9:00, the Greek theater was filling up quickly- luckily the sun was still hidden behind a thick cloud covering.  Certainly, just as the band fired up for the pre-graduates to begin filing into the stadium, the sun exploded upon us brightly, kicking up the temperature by at least twenty degrees.

The glee club sang, the speakers spoke, then the degrees were handed out and as my daughter's name was called- it felt like the blood was draining out of my head.  The occasion finally hit home.

While circumnavigating the thousands of spectators and families and after many pictures and lunch, we faced the traffic once more to get home and drifted about pensively accepting my daughter's new title - "The Graduate".

The Chicken Gun
Too funny not to share! Sometimes it does take a rocket scientist!

Scientists at NASA built a gun specifically to launch standard 4 pound dead chickens at the windshields of airliners, military jets and the space shuttle, all traveling at maximum velocity. The idea is to simulate the frequent incidents of collisions with airborne fowl to test the strength of the windshields.

British engineers heard about the gun and were eager to test it on the windshields of their new high speed trains. Arrangements were made, and a gun was sent to the British engineers.

When the gun was fired, the engineers stood shocked as the chicken hurled out of the barrel, crashed into the shatterproof shield, smashed it to smithereens, blasted through the control console, snapped the engineer's back-rest in two, and embedded itself in the back wall of the cabin, like an arrow shot from a bow.

The horrified Brits sent NASA the disastrous results of the experiment, along with the designs of the windshield and begged the U.S. scientists for suggestions.

NASA responded with a one-line memo --

"Defrost the chicken." (True Story)
 

Headlines from the Year 2029

- Ozone created by electric cars now killing millions in the seventh largest country in the world, Mexifornia ( formerly California).

- White minorities still trying to have English recognized as Mexifornia's third language.

- Spotted Owl plague threatens northwestern United States crops and livestock.

- Baby conceived naturally. Scientists stumped.

- Last remaining Fundamentalist Muslim dies in the American Territory of the Middle East (formerly known as Iraq , Afghanistan , Syria and Lebanon ).

- Iran still closed off; physicists estimate it will take at least 10 more years before radioactivity decreases to safe levels.

- Postal Service raises price of first class stamp to $17.89 and reduces mail delivery to Wednesdays only.

- 85-year $75.8 billion study: Diet and Exercise is the key to weight loss.

- Supreme Court rules punishment of criminals violates their civil rights.

- New federal law requires that all nail clippers, screwdrivers, fly swatters and rolled-up newspapers must be registered by January 2036.

- IRS sets lowest tax rate at 75 percent.

- Florida voters still having trouble with voting machines.