There was no Wacky Wednesday yesterday, probably because I hadn’t caught up on my sleep since The Great Frozen Door Latch Fiasco. Nothing yesterday seemed all that wacky to me. But… if Monday came on Tuesday this week, then Wednesday can come on Thursday.

Yesterday was Bill Of Rights Day It was the 213th anniversary of the first 10 Amendments to the US Constitution — those wacky little afterthoughts that give us some of the freedoms we all seem to take way too much for granted. Like the first one, for example:

Amendment 1 – Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, Petition

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

This is the little addition to the Constitution that give me the freedom to write here about whatever I please — even if it’s to make derrogatory and derisive comments about Dubya and his neo-con wing-nut followers. And, if you are one of those, it give you the freedom to make derisive comments about me, too. And I find that very cool.

It means that I can blog in peace without expecting the Secret Service, CIA, FBI, or a handful of other letters, to show up on my doorstep and cart me away only to bury me in some deep dark hole where I will never be seen or heard from again, but wherein I will suffer a long and painful demise, simply because I made some remark that the Government saw as subversive.

It means that journalists can not be forced to reveal their sources.

It means that your faith is your business, and you can raise your children in that faith without fear of negative consequences from the government.

It means that your faith is your business, and I don’t have to worry about having my nose rubbed in it all the time.

It means that I can send my son to public school without fearing that his head will be stuffed with a lot of religious nonsense that I don’t agree with under the guise of teaching “science,” “sex education” or civics.

Well… OK, some of these statements are uphill battles, still.

In fact, a lot of them are.

A federal judge last week sentenced Rhode Island television reporter Jim Taricani to six months of house arrest for refusing to name the source of an FBI surveillance tape. Taricani broke no law by airing the tape, and the source voluntarily identified himself before the sentencing.

Reporters from The New York Times and Time magazine are appealing a contempt ruling and could each be jailed for up to 18 months for refusing to testify about their confidential sources in a probe into whether the Bush administration illegally leaked a covert CIA officer’s name to the media.

U.S. reporters have been held in contempt for refusing to disclose sources in stories about scientist Wen Ho Lee, who was suspected of espionage at the Los Alamos nuclear laboratory and later pleaded guilty to a less severe charge.

In April, U.S. marshals seized reporters’ tape recorders during public remarks by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and returned them only after Scalia’s comments were erased.

U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton declared his speech at Tufts University “off the record,” even though the event was open to the public.

In 11 of its last 12 free-speech rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected First Amendment claims.

A judge refused to delay a trial Tuesday when an attorney objected to his wearing a judicial robe with the Ten Commandments embroidered on the front in gold. Circuit Judge Ashley McKathan showed up Monday at his Covington County courtroom in southern Alabama wearing the robe. McKathan told The Associated Press that he believes the Ten Commandments represent the truth “and you can’t divorce the law from the truth. … The Ten Commandments can help a judge know the difference between right and wrong.”

A Texas school district was sued Wednesday for censorship after a third-grade student was prohibited from distributing candy canes with religious messages.

Don’t let the wing-nuts erode our basic liberties. Let’s keep the ones those whack-job Founding Fathers guaranteed us in the Bill Of Rights. When you see something that is contrary to these freedoms, exercise the one given you in the First Amendment and speak out!

Today Jack Bogdanski is in the midst of his second annual Buck-A-Hit day over at Jack Bog’s Blog. For every unique visit to his site, Jack and his family will give $1 to a charity that feeds or shelters needy people in Oregon.

So go over there and cost him big bucks! (But remember it’s “unique visits,” so more than one visit will not be counted!)

What fresh hell is this?

Listen up, poker playing spam jerk… This site will not allow your meaningless advertising to be posted to comments. You don’t even get moderated here. Got it? Your spam is not reaching any audience beyond my e-mail box, which informs me when your junk is deleted. And I do nothing but chuckle appreciatively as I delete each and every notification without even reading it.

Get over it and go away.

Have you ever just had one of those days? The kind where nothing at all goes right. The kind that go way beyond a bad hair day to the place where everything just merges into one big lump of ickness?

Well… OK… my day wasn’t quite that bad. Not quite.

The day, strangely enough, began around 11:15 pm last night. I was snuggled with one of the cats in my rocking chair in the family room, trying to keep my eyes open to watch a bit of the news. #1 Son paused in his homework to go out to the garage for something. When he came back inside, he called out “Mom! The door won’t shut!”

I can’t recall any time I’ve heard those words when it was a good thing.

True, the door from the house to the garage had been a little sticky lately. Just yesterday morning we’d had a discussion about squooshing a bit of wd40 into the lock. But when I finally got home yesterday, it was late, I wanted to watch Earthsea on the Sci Fi Channel, and I couldn’t find the wd40 in the garage.

The door, in retaliation, went from sticky to stuck. And the following conversation thus ensued:

Mom: Where’s the wd40?

#1 Son: In the garage.

Mom: Where in the garage?

#1 Son: I dunno. I’m sure I put it out there. Look on a shelf or something

Mom: I looked on a shelf. I looked on all the shelves. I looked everywhere. Is it in your room?

#1 Son: Dunno, mom. I think I put it back. It’s not in my room.

And that meant a trip to the store at 11:30 at night for wd40. When I returned, lubricant in hand, #1 Son met me at the door with our existing can of wd40.

It wasn’t in the garage. It was in his room.

Trying to feel thankful that the family now possessed probably more wd40 than we could reasonably expect to use for the rest of our lives, I also took the opportunity to mention (once again) that it’s easier to find things when one puts them away in their proper resting place. I was way too tired to make more of an issue of it that that.

At midnight I began squooshing the door lock with wd40.

1:30 am found me still at work on the door. By that time I had squooshed ad infinitum with no result, and was attempting to take the knobs off and remove the latch so that I could close the door. I could get the interior knob off, but the exterior knob was held firmly in place by the frozen latch. It refused to let go even when I left off squooshing in favor of prying with a screwdriver while swearing, and finally jiggling the latch and knob while pleading to both the lock and to any personal deity that cared to answer to please let go.

OK I said finally, I’m getting out the hammer and giving you a good whack.

Hammer in hand, I suddenly felt misgivings. I’d worked for 13 hours on Monday. It was 1:30 in the morning. I could barely keep my eyes open. I knew my judgement was not at its usual peak of perfection.

What if… what if whacking the latch with a hammer resulted in an even worse mess than the one I was in? What if I was forced to call in a locksmith and confess that I’d totally screwed up not only the latch, but maybe the whole door? What if, instead of costing the $100 or so for the locksmith, I had to spend a whole lot more to fix whatever damage might be caused by my well-meaning hammer blows?

I put the hammer away and joined the cats in bed.

Around 11:00 this morning, after my round of early meetings, I decided I might as well know the rest of the bad news and looked up “Locksmiths” in the yellow pages. But, I had the good fortune to call Precision Locksmith. And this was my conversation with the Nice Guy At Precision:

NGAP: How can I help you?

Mom: I’m having problems with my door lock. The latch seems to be frozen.

NGAP: Do you have a quickset lock? You probably do. Their most common point of failure is a frozen latch. We see it all the time. Just bring the latch in. We have replacements.

Mom: I can’t get it out of the door. The latch is stuck in the out position and won’t let go of the exterior knob.

NGAP: Just give it a good whack with a hammer.

Mom: OK… uh, are you sure it won’t cause more damage if I do that?

NGAP: No, ma’am, I’m never known that to happen. We could come out if you want, but really you can do this yourself.

OK… So, off I went, from downtown to Tigard. There was a brief stop at home to remove the interior doorknob, whack the latch a good one with my hammer (most common point of failure, take that!), pop off the exterior knob, remove the latch, and put the knobs back on so none of the pieces got lost. Then a quick dash across Beaverton to Precision Locksmith, where for the paltry sum of $7.50 I was able to acquire a replacement latch. Then back to Tigard to install the latch in the door with the knobs and make sure everything works right. Then back downtown for afternoon meetings. Whew.

But I’d really like to thank Precision Locksmith, because I fully expected to have to pay for a house call. They lost the $$$ for that, but they gained a public thankee and a lifelong customer!

OK… the day looks a little better now.

[ed 12/15/04 6:55 am PT] When returning home yesterday after a hard day’s work, there was not nearly enough appreciation from #1 son of the smooth action of the newly installed door latch. Even when I pointed it out and demonstrated how the door could now be closed with one finger. Sheesh. The children of today…

I wanted to have coffee yesterday with K, because it was her birthday, but she was otherwise occupied, so I spent yesterday afternoon felting to make the materials for the slippers I am making. The picture shows the results. (click to embiggen)

The brown felt is for the soles. I made it from some Shetland moorit top and the reddish-brown is the natural color. I felted only loosly because the felt will be sandwiched between the slipper lining and non-skid material on the outside. I wanted the loose felt, with lots of airspace for insulating warmth and a cushy feel for walking on. I’ve already cut the sole out.

For the slipper upper, I wanted to use some great Targee top because it’s so soft, but I didn’t have enough. So I decided use a grey Wensleydale cross top with a layer of Targee on the outside for softness. But when the felt dried, the Targee shrunk more and the Wensleydale released its natural waviness and sheen. I decided that I liked the look of the Wensleydale more, so that will be the outside.

I feel so lucky to live within driving distance of Woodland Wool Works!

I’m lining the slippers with a black, non-pilling velour. I’ll post a pic when they are finished.

But tonight I’ll be crocheting wreaths and candy canes as I don’t have much longer to get those finished. Crochet is good for watching TV, and tonight The Legend Of Earthsea starts on The Sci Fi Channel.

Yesterday we spent Christmas With The Trail Band at the Aladdin Theater, a family tradition for the last 8 years that for me marks the beginning of Christmas.

The Trail Band was formed by Marv Ross (late of Quarterflash) in 1991 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Oregon Trail. Originally performing music from the Oregon Trail, the 8 members of the band have since added a wide repertoire of both traditional music from around the world and original pieces. They have been performing the Christmas show for 11 years.

The Trail Band includes Lex Browning (guitar, violin, and mandolin), Mick Doherty (hammer dulcimer, string bass, electric bass), Phil Neuman (tuba, pennywhistle, recorders, flageolet, cornet, fluegelhorn), Gayle Neuman (violin, tenor horn, trombone, banjo, recorders), Marv Ross (guitar), Rindy Ross (also late of Quarterflash; reeds/woodwinds), musical director Cal Scott (cornet, mandolin, guitar, keyboards), and Dan Stueber (drums, percussion).

Every year the Christmas show includes several special guests: Linda Hornbuckle, who rocks the theater!, and comedian Scott Parker as Harold — a second-grader whose recitation of the Christmas story gets funnier every year. This year for the first time, the guest list included Hosein Salehi, who plays the santour (Persian hammer dulcimer) and his son, Bobak Salehi , who accompanies on tombak and daf (hand drums). The Salehis played three pieces in traditional Persian style to loud applause from the audience and vast amazed appreciation from those sitting next to me (# 1 Son and his girlfriend E, my brother J, sister-in-law L, and niece Z).

If you’ve never seen the Trail Band Christmas show, it’s not too late! There are still two shows scheduled for today, 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm. Tickets may still be available at the door. Go early, only street parking is available at the Aladdin.

Trail Band CDs, including 3 Christmas albums, can be purchased at the show or directly from their web site.

Mom’s take on Christmas With The Trail Band:

Our evening finished with mac & cheese, pork loin and jambalaya at Le Bistro Montage, topped off with key lime pie and bread pudding. Montage has been a family favorite for #1 Son and I since we discovered it several years ago, but it was a new experience for Z, J and L. Z is 6 this year and was particularly impressed with the foil-wrapped take-home, sculpted to look like swans, a crab, a kitten and a sword.

Mom’s take on Montage:

And a wonderful time was had by all.