- mrsearnhardt88's Blog - Bakersfield.com

Update on my sister and her hubby...

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:51:09 PST

My oldest sister was in a really bad car accident in Phoenix on Wednesday. She is my new profile pic. She took a hit on the passenger side from a shuttle bus doing 45-50 mph. Shattered right side pelvis, fractured left side, injured vertebrae, internal injuries. Her husband was driving and was injured too.

This is an update from my niece last night:

Ok everyone we made it here to Phoenix and got an update on everything that is going on. To keep it short mom and Bill both had surgery today. Bill is out and doing ok. They had to stabilize his neck more than planned and went in from the back and side to fuse the disc. He made it through and will go in again tomorrow to go in from the front. He has no nerve damage as of now so things are looking good for him. Mom is still battling and as of now we probably wont be able to see her while we are here this visit. She went in to today to reconstruct her shattered pelvis and while doing this they hit a vein which caused more internal bleeding. They fixed a blood clot she had in her leg and couldn't touch her neck. They said they will attend to her neck later on down the road when her pelvis heels. She is not breathing on her own as of now because of all the pain. She is hanging in there but still not doing as well as I would like her to be. But I want to thank all of you for all the thoughts and prayers going out on mine and her behalf. I appreciate them and I will keep you all updated as time goes by. Thanks again.

And now for something completely different...

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:33:52 PST

The Holidays are rapidly approaching. I make absolute kick butt turkeys and such but I am constantly looking for improvement and new ideas. What are your kick butt turkey recipes? Side dishes? Dressing delights? Yummy desserts! Give up the info people! Let's do this!

Bloggers Christmas Wish List

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:28:14 PDT

I am going to start my Bloggers Christmas Wish List. Feel free to add to it!

1. New Tin Foil Hats for everyone! Our current ones have been taking a beating lately.

2. Restraining order for sagefever.

3. Flu shots for Cat and her litter.

4. A new extra strength wagon for Audrey.

5. More friends that rock for bakoblue.

6. Tomato beer for Ling.

7. Hugs and understanding for Vanityfair.

8. A winning season for the Condors!!!

9. For Motopoet- the Heisman Trophy for Ryan!

What's on your wish list???

Time is runnning out!!!

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:54:36 PDT

Only 4 more days of terror! Wednesday through Saturday are the last days for the Chamber Haunted House. This year is by far the best one yet! Sam Lynn Ballpark. Opens at 7:00 p.m. Get there early to avoid the long lines...

Kimi Peck has resurfaced...

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:29:11 PDT

So, has anyone cared enough to wonder what happened to our friend Kimi Peck? Looks like she won't be on her internet machine anytime soon!!!

http://www.kget.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=37221@kget.dayport.com&navCatId=5

Chamber Haunted House opens tonight!!!

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:56:16 PDT

The Chamber Haunted House officially opens tonight at 7:00!!! I walked through it yesterday in the daylight to get a good view. Awesome! This year is going to blow away anything else out there. Don't miss out! Spread the word people!!!

Come see Bakersfield's most horrifying tradition .....100% original ..I can almost guarantee you will not see a spin on Japanese Theater like Killer Kabuki (in 3/D) or a clothing sweat shop like Stitch and Needle anywhere in the nation.....

http://www.chamberhaunt.com

If you cant wait until the opening tonight, watch us once again on THE TRAVEL CHANNEL / AMERICAS SCARIEST HALLOWEEN ATTRACTIONS !...

Sam Lynn Ballpark parking lot. 7:00 p.m. Tonight!

Funny answering machine message

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:03:01 PDT

Some parents out there need to listen and absorb what this recording is saying...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C5Rnb7J3sU

5 Lessons in life to make you think...

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:25:27 PDT

Five (5) lessons to make you think about the way we treat people.

1 - First Important Lesson - Cleaning Lady..

During my second month of college, our professor
gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student
and had breezed through the questions until I read
the last one:

'What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?'

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the
cleaning woman several times.. She was tall,
dark-haired and in her 50's, but how would I know her name?

I handed in my paper, leaving the last question
blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if
the last question would count toward our quiz grade.

'Absolutely,' said the professor.. 'In your careers
you will meet many people. All are significant. They
deserve your attention and care, even if all you do
is smile and say 'hello.'

I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her
name was Dorothy.

2. - Second Important Lesson - Pickup in the Rain

One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American
woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway
trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had
broken down and she desperately needed a ride.
Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.
A young white man stopped to help her, generally
unheard of in those conflict-filled 60s.. The man
took her to safety, helped her get assistance and
put her into a taxicab.

She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his
address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a
knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a
giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A
special note was attached.

It read:
'Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway
the other night. The rain drenched not only my
clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along.
Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying
husband's bedside just before he passed away... God
bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving
others.

Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole.

3 - Third Important Lesson - Always remember those who serve.

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less,
a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and
sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.

'How much is an ice cream sundae?' he asked.

'Fifty cents,' replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled is hand out of his pocket and
studied the coins in it.

'Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?' he inquired.

By now more people were waiting for a table and the
waitress was growing impatient.

'Thirty-five cents,' she brusquely replied.

The little boy again counted his coins..

'I'll have the plain ice cream,' he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on
the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice
cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress
came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the
table... There, placed neatly beside the empty dish,
were two nickels and five pennies..

You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had
to have enough left to leave her a tip.

4 - Fourth Important Lesson. - The obstacle in Our Path.

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a
roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if
anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the
king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by
and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the
King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of
vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the
peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the
stone to the side of the road. After much pushing
and straining, he finally succeeded. After the
peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed
a purse lying in the road where the boulder had
been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note
from the King indicating that the gold was for the
person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The
peasant learned what many of us never understand!

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

5 - Fifth Important Lesson - Giving When it Counts...

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a
hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who
was suffering from a rare & serious disease.. Her only
chance of recovery appeared to be a blood
transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had
miraculously survived the same disease and had
developed the antibodies needed to combat the
illness. The doctor explained the situation to her
little brother, and asked the little boy if he would
be willing to give his blood to his sister.

I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a
deep breath and saying, 'Yes I'll do it if it will
save her..' As the transfusion progressed, he lay in
bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did,
seeing the color returning to her cheek. Then his
face grew pale and his smile faded.

He looked up at the doctor and asked with a
trembling voice, 'Will I start to die right away?'.

Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the
doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his
sister ALL of his blood in order to save her but he had chosen to save her anyway.

Funny musical interlude for your enjoyment!

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:50:05 PDT

This is an amusing little video parody my son sent me...

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=26508275

Remembering Eric Porter

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:18:36 PDT

For the past few months, ABC 23 has been following Eric Porter, the station's sales manager, who has been waging a courageous battle against a rare form of cancer. ABC 23 is very sad to report that Eric passed away in his sleep early Wednesday morning. When Eric's cancer had returned for the third time, he was ready for the fight. He approached ABC 23 with the idea of following him for the next six months, hoping to shed a positive light on battling cancer. Even though he is no longer with us today, his fighting spirit will continue to live on. If you ever came across Eric Porter, you couldn't help but be drawn to his bubbly personality and positive attitude.Having beat cancer twice before, Eric wanted to share his latest battle before an audience. "I want people to know that it is something that you can do, and that you can beat," said Porter. Eric really wanted to inform people of the treatment cancer patients can receive locally. So he let ABC 23 follow him while he went through treatment at the Comprehensive Blood and Cancer Center. "It's nice you can get up off of your couch right here in Bakersfield and come to the best place probably in the state of California and get treated," said Porter. Eric had his good days, and maybe some not so good. "There are days that are tough, there are moments that are tough. And you're not Superman everyday but the more good moments you could put together collectively the better you're going to be." said Porter. Sadly, Eric was admitted to the hospital two weeks ago with pneumonia, and passed away from its complications. He leaves behind his wife, Laura. Eric was just 40 years old.

There will be a memorial gathering for Eric this Saturday night. Contact me for information.

I'm over it...

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:04:17 PDT

Alright you guys. I have gotten to the point where b.com has become too much of a battleground. It used to be fun. Not so much anymore. Maybe I am just dealing with too much crap in my life. Everything is a fight. I'm tired and I am over it. I'm sure most of you don't care, but I have lost interest. It just seems like everything that is said is taken as a personal attack. Maybe I have had too much July 3rd libation but seriously. Not fun anymore.

Lance Cpl. Joshua Whittle buried today

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:05:08 PDT

As we speak, MD's life and service is being honored. The funeral service was this morning at 10:00. I would imagine that the procession is under way taking him to Riverside National Cemetery for burial at 1:00. Please keep this young man's family and friends in your prayers today.

There's a photo gallery in the link below of his return if you are interested.

http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_12580103

My daughter's Marine friend killed in Afghanistan

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:34:44 PDT

It's been a sad week at my house. My daughter's friend Lance Cpl. Joshua R. Whittle, of Downey, Calif., died in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The 20 year old Marine stepped on a land mine...

Just so you all know, my daughter is a "Straight Edge" kid. So was "MD", that's his nickname. That means no smoking, no drinking at all. Clean living young people. Such a sad loss for his family and friends. My heart is completely broken for my daughter and MD's family and friends.

www.myfoxla.com/dpp/news/local/Local_Marine_killed_in_Afghanistan_20090609

Are women born this way???

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:29:14 PDT

This video is hilarious and way too cute!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywlkgmFVDNs

I'm old as dirt! How about you?

Fri, 29 May 2009 15:55:19 PDT

Someone asked the other day, 'What was your favorite fast food when you were growing up?'

'We didn't have fast food when I was growing up,' I informed him. 'All the food was slow.'

'C'mon, seriously. Where did you eat?'

'It was a place called 'at home,'' I explained!
'Mom cooked every day and when Dad got home from work, we sat down together at the dining room table, and if I didn't like what she put on my plate I was allowed to sit there until I did like it.'

By this time, the kid was laughing so hard I was afraid he was going to suffer serious internal damage, so I didn't tell him the part about how I had to have permission to leave the table. But here are some other things I would have told him about my childhood if I figured his system could have handled it :

Some parents NEVER owned their own house, never wore Levis , never set foot on a golf course, never traveled out of the country or never had a credit card. In their later years they had something called a revolving charge card. The card was good only at Sears Roebuck. Or maybe it was Sears & Roebuck. Either way, there is no Roebuck anymore. Maybe he died.

My parents never drove me to soccer practice. This was mostly because we never had heard of soccer. I had a bicycle that weighed probably 50 pounds, and only had one speed, (slow). We didn't have a television in our house until I was 15.

It was, of course, black and white, and the station went off the air at midnight, after playing the national anthem and a poem about God; it came back on the air at about 6 a...m. and there was usually a locally produced news and farm show on, featuring local people.

I was 13 before I tasted my first pizza, it was called 'pizza pie.'
When I bit into it, I burned the roof of my mouth and the cheese slid off, swung down, plastered itself against my chin and burned that, too. It's still the best pizza I ever had.

We didn't have a car until I was 4. It was an old black Dodge.

I never had a telephone in my room.
The only phone in the house was in the living room and it was on a party line. Before you could dial, you had to listen and make sure some people you didn't know weren't already using the line.

Pizzas were not delivered to our home. But milk was.

All newspapers were delivered by boys and all boys delivered newspapers --my brother delivered a newspaper, six days a week. It cost 7 cents a paper, of which he got to keep 2 cents. He had to get up at 6AM every morning. On Saturday, he had to collect the 42 cents from his customers. His favorite customers were the ones who gave him 50 cents and told him to keep the change. His least favorite customers w were the ones who seemed to never be home on collection day.

Movie stars kissed with their mouths shut. At least, they did in the movies. There were no movie ratings because all movies were responsibly produced for everyone to enjoy viewing, without profanity or violence or most anything offensive.

If you grew up in a generation before there was fast food, you may want to share some of these memories with your children or grandchildren. Just don't blame me if they bust a gut laughing.

Growing up isn't what it used to be, is it?

MEMORIES from a friend :

My Dad is cleaning out my grandmother's house (she died in December) and he brought me an old Royal Crown Cola bottle. In the bottle top was a stopper with a bunch of holes in it. I knew immediately what it was, but my daughter had no idea. She thought they had tried to make it a salt shaker or something. I knew it as the bottle that sat on the end of the ironing board to 'sprinkle' clothes with because we didn't have steam irons. Man, I am old.

How many do you remember?

Head lights dimmer switches on the floor.

Ignition switches on the dashboard.

Heaters mounted on the inside of the fire wall.

Real ice boxes.

Pant leg clips for bicycles without chain guards.

Soldering irons you heat on a gas burner.

Using hand signals for cars without turn signals.

Older Than Dirt Quiz :

Count all the ones that you remember not the ones you were told about

Ratings at the bottom

1 Blackjack chewing gum

2. Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water

3. Candy cigarettes

4. Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles

5. Coffee shops or diners with tableside juke boxes

6 . Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers

7. Party lines on the telephone

8.. Newsreels before the movie

9. P.F. Flyers

10. Butch wax

11. TV test patterns that came on at nigh t after the last show and were there until TV shows started again in the morning. (there were only 3 channels, if you were fortunate)

12. Peashooters

13. Howdy Doody

14. 45 RPM records

15. S& H greenstamps

16. Hi-fi's

17. Metal ice trays with lever

18. Mimeograph paper

19 Blue flashbulb

20.. Packard's

21. Roller skate keys

22.. Cork popguns

23. Drive-ins

24. Studebakers

25. Wash tub wringers

If you remembered 0-5 = You're still young
If you remembered 6-10 = You are getting older
If you remembered 11-15 = Don't tell your age,
If you remembered 16-25 = You're older than dirt!

I might be older than dirt but those memories are some of the best parts of my life.

Don't forget to pass this along!!

Especially to all your really OLD friends...

Question for cat lovers!

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:37:43 PDT

Help! I have been searching the internet for a home remedy for ear mites for my cat. Most of the information involves a Vet. Not that I am trying to avoid that but I can't afford that right now. Mineral oil seems to be the most popular thing to use the get the "debris" out of the ear but what about over-the-counter medications? Any suggestions from the cat lovers out there?

Corned Beef recipes

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 12:14:30 PDT

Does anyone have a good Corned Beef recipe? Any family recipes handed down or something you have come up with? I have one in my head that was how my mother cooked it with a little of my own input. She would cover the beef with mustard and cloves and smother it with brown sugar before she cooked it. Soooo good! Just wondering what else is out there.

Thought or ideas???

Help! Cats chewing on my Sago Palm...

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 11:13:40 PDT

I live in an upstairs apartment with a large balcony. I have several flower pots that I enjoy watering and taking care of. I guess it's my therapy! My question is I have a Sago Palm at the top of the stairs and my wonderful cats like to sit next to it and chew on the ends of the leaves. I did a little research and found out that Sagos are highly poisonous if animals ingest them. Does anyone have any suggestions for stopping them from gnawing on this plant? Obviously I could move it up higher but I think they would still get into it. Maybe a home remedy to spray on the leaves? Any ideas???

WHERE IS JEFF LEMUCCHI???

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:54:30 PST

Does anyone know what happened to Jeff Lemucchi? I was following my normal routine this morning, which is watching the morning news on FOX58 as I get ready for work, and I hear Jeff say it's his last day??? WHAT??? What happened? Does anyone know? He is the reason I watch that news show. I can look past the other "anchors", the director and production errors, and all the spelling issues on the scroll at the bottom of the screen, but I really enjoyed waking up to him each morning. Hope his wife doesn't see this and get the wrong idea! Did he leave by his own choice or was he pushed out for some lame reason? If anyone knows, please enlighten me with your wisdom!

Profile settings

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:45:03 PST

Does anyone know how to change your profile name on here? Is that possible?