'666' Road Sign Thefts Bedeviling Roadways

By WAYNE PARRY

"BARNEGAT, N.J. - Is the Garden State Parkway the highway to hell? Or is the New Jersey Turnpike the road to damnation? Someone keeps stealing the metal signs at mile marker 66.6 along the heavily traveled toll roads, and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority is having a devil of a time keeping up with the thefts.

"It's been happening all over the country, particularly on roads with names like Route 666. Officials aren't sure if the thefts are being committed by religious zealots upset about the number's association in the Bible with the devil, by Satanic scavenger hunters, or by college students who think a '666' sign would look cool in their dorm room.

"Joe Orlando, a spokesman for the Authority, said officials have no idea who is taking the signs.

....[edited]....

"Within the past two years, 66.6 mile marker signs have been stolen at least four or five times from the Turnpike and Parkway, he [Orlando] said.

"Given the symbolism of the number and the fact that it is obviously done in the middle of night, and in the middle of nowhere, I can safely say that I'm not eager to meet the rocket scientists doing it," Orlando added. "

***

I just thought that last paragraph was hysterically funny. You can read the entire article here.

7 Favorites

1. Watching music videos with my younger sibs - I actually forgot how much I enjoyed this until today. But we finally got our parents out of the house and now we're watching country music videos and some rock videos.

2. The community sweatshirt - it smells like everyone in my house. Mainly because it was my dad's but me and the younger sibs will pass it back and forth, each one taking a turn wearing it. (Maybe I could write a best-seller about a traveling sweatshirt?!)

3. The Stand by Michael W. Smith - I love this song. It has one chorus repeated over and over again. You know how some songs ruin the chorus by having verses? Not this one.

4. Taylor Swift's New Video - OHMIGOODNESS! It's just so romantic!

5. My new web template - I finally found it and I love it. I think it's going to work out quite well. Now, if I could just come up with great content. ;-)

6. Spoken For by Mercy Me - just sooooo beautiful! I'll have to post the lyrics soon.

7. Naley - I love watching One Tree Hill just for the Nathan and Haley storyline. My favorite eps were when they were dating (particularly the ep where Nathan took drugs) or when Haley just returned from her tour (Like You Like An Arsonist).

Rewriting the Story

Yesterday, I realized I was bitter.

Someone said something the other day and I had to bite my tongue to hold back an unkind response. I don't even remember what this person said, all I remember is stopping when I realized what I almost said. I was becoming bitter, the thought made me sick.

The day before I'd been through some old letters from an estranged family member. In the letters, I could see their bitterness and hatred toward other members of their family.
I was surprised but it made me realize that the estranged family member's behavior was a direct result of their years' of anger.

When someone hurts or abuses us, it's natural to feel anger. It's human and understandable.
Yet bitterness is little more than anger left unchecked in our hearts.

After a time of anger, we are to move on, to move forward with our lives. However, some people continue to live the past. They continually pick open the scabs that are growing on their tender wounds, reliving the hurt again and again.

Bitterness sets in.

It takes root subtly, but-make no mistake-it does take root. And like the weed it is, it slowly begins to drain the life from us. Bitterness saps our energy and resources.

I don't know about you but I refuse to be bitter. I refuse to look at the past. Instead, I will hold my head high and look to the future. I will acknowledge the past for what it is--the past. It is not my present and it is not my future.

Yesterday, I realized I was bitter. Today, I started rewriting the story.

Sports, Wine and Other Yucky Things...

My dad doesn't have a son to share sports with. He does however have four daughters--none of them interested in sports.

This evening when the younger sibs were sentenced to sit on opposite ends of the couch for fighting, my dad saw his opportunity. Plopping down between them, he flipped on sports. He's been giving them little bits of trivia on Peyton Manning, baseball, football and some classic game he watched a few hundred years ago.

I normally don't delight to see my younger sibs tortured in this fashion but they've been arguing and yelling at each other for over an hour. Never mind that most of their arguments weren't logical. (No one should have to tell you that you have clean clothes in your room that need to be put away. You go in your room, see the clothes and put them away.)

Today, at Wal-mart a ton of wine bottles spilled over the floor and broke open. I wasn't there when it actually happened but I was there while they were cleaning it up. Let me tell you...wine has an awful odor to it. You can actually smell the soured fruit. Bleh.

AA doesn't have to worry about ever seeing me. I'm not gonna take that first sip. Bleh...

In other news, I'm still looking for a web template for my magazine. I found one but it was too complicated to work with. It would be different if this were a one time deal, but I'll be working with the same template multiple times.

I'm hoping to have the site up around November first but I'm not sure that's going to work out. Mainly because I still need a decent template.

It's one of those things that I'll know when I see it. It's just a gut feeling that says "yep, this is the right one". Kind of like naming a character.

Anyway, I just downloaded two or three templates and I have to go see if I can use any of them. One has a dog on the front page and I have to figure out if I can scrap that image. :-)

Always There

I love this quote:

"When we feel that no one understands us, that there is no one we can trust, that we need someone who will always be there, we can turn to the Lord, even in our despair, in our disappointment, and also later in our gratitude."~Wendy L. Watson

Signature

I've a great new signature. I'd say it was easy but I've been working for the past two hours on it. I'll have to go back and revise it soon. I still think it's a bit too...big.

But here's to figuring this whole thing out! :-)

Insanity...

I'm not sure who's bright idea it was that my younger sister take guitar class. All I know is that they had better watch their back as should younger sib's guitar teacher.

I'm not normally on the edge of sanity, but hearing the same two chords (repeated over and over) kind of brings a person to that place during the course of two days. While I tried to read my spooky Sci-fi novel last night, while I try to research newsletters today and even now while I try to blog, I hear younger sib strumming the guitar chords--all two of them she knows.

Younger sib is delighted. "We're learning to play 'Sweet Home Alabama'," She chirps at suppertime every night, making me wish she lived in Alabama. Or me. Or the guitar teacher who has only taught her two darn chords.

I have never looked forward to an event in my younger sibs' lives as much as I do younger sib's guitar classes. Mainly because she'll learn a new chord...so she can then choose how to best annoy me with only three chords...

And if I don't blog for a while, I probably moved to Alabama.

Something Gross

Want to see something truly gross?

This is my finger after I slammed it in the bathroom door. The black spot is from where the evil doctor burned a hole in the fingernail to allow the blood pooling in my fingertip to escape.

The evil doctor insisted as she came toward me with the flaming tool that it "wouldn't hurt".

SHE LIED.

It's A Clear World After All...

My glasses came back today and guess what? The world is supposed to be clear. Who would have thought?

Certainly not me.

It's incredible. I never knew there were so many different details in the world around me. It's amazing the things you never notice until one day you put on a pair of glasses and your entire world goes clear!

I am just so tickled. Plus, I look cute in them. :-)

Friendship Test

The results are in: I passed the latest friendship test. It was an unexpected test but I still passed. In fact, my friend asked me if I'd ever considered becoming a counselor. :-)

Anyway, off to the library today and I need to be getting ready. Not blogging. :-)