Wednesday Hodgepodge

It is once again time for the Hodgepodge.

1. Are you a risk taker? To what degree? 

I am definitely not a risk taker. The thought of taking a major risk causes me a lot of anxiety.

2. What's your favorite candy? Would you say you have a sweet tooth? 

I will eat pretty much anything that is not a sour candy but my 2 favorites are Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Milky Ways. I have a major sweet tooth. There are a lot of sugar lovers on both my mom and dad's sides so I come by it naturally.

3. Somewhere you've been recently that had you feeling 'like a kid in a candy store'? 

There is not anything that really comes to mind. I may need to remedy that.

4. What do you think is the most effective way to make a positive change in the world? 

To have empathy for others. To be kind to everyone you meet. 

5. Do you like surprises? 

Not really. I have already told my hubby that if my sister even hints at throwing me surprise party for me next year when I turn 50 he is to tell her absolutely not. I do have one surprise though that I love - Preston.

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

I find question #4 a bit ironic since I have been really struggling with things going on in this country. The cruelty and hatefulness of the president, his cronies and followers just boggles my mind. It is so hard to be an empath and highly sensitive person with all of the crap going on. Below if just one meme that wraps up how I feel except I think the wor=ds "might be" should be replaced with "are".

True Life Tuesday: The London Beer Flood

The London Beer Flood took place on October 17, 1814 at Meux & Company's Horse Shoe Brewery in London. The brewery was bought by Sir Henry Meux in 1809. He constructed a wooden vessel the was 22 feet tall and able to hold 18,000 imperial barrels. They only brewed porter which would be left in the vessels for up to a year to mature. Behind the brewery was a small cul-de-sac which was part of the St. Giles rookery, a decaying slum.

Around 4:30pm on the day in question the storehouse clerk, George Crick, noticed that one of the 700 pound iron bands around the vat had slipped. This would happen a few times per year so he was not overly concerned but still alerted his supervisor. The supervisor told him not to worry about it and to write a note to one of the partners, Mr. Young, to have it fixed. About an hour later Crick was standing on a platform about 30 feet from the vessel when it burst. The force knocked the stopper off of a neighboring vessel causing it to also lose its contents. Between 128,000 and 323,000 imperial gallons of porter ended up being released. The force of the flood destroyed the back wall of the brewery which was 22 feet high and 2-1/2 bricks thick. A wave about 15 feet high swept into the street. Two homes were destroyed and two others were damaged. Eight people, adults and children, were killed. All of the people in the brewery survived but three workmen did have to be pulled from the rubble. There were stories of people collecting the beer and drinking so much they died from alcohol poisoning but this was never mentioned in the newspapers. Watchmen at the brewery charged people to view the remains of the vats and several hundred people did so. Many of the deceased were laid out in a nearby yard where the public came to view them and donate money for the funerals. 

A corner's inquest was held on October 19, 1814. The inquest was led by George Hodgeson, the coroner for Middlesex. The jury returned a verdict that the victims lost their lives "casually, accidentally and and by misfortune." Meux & Company was not required to pay any compensation since the verdict was that this was an act of God. However, the costs to repair the building, rebuild the vats and the loss of the product almost led the company to bankruptcy. They were saved by a payment from Parliament. The brewery went back into business but was closed in 1921 when Meux & Company moved production to another brewery in Wandsworth. The Dominion Theater was eventually build on the site of the brewery. Meux & Company went into liquidation in 1961. Because of the accident wooden tanks were phased out and replaced with vessels lined with concrete. 

Monday Musings

As we wind up the month of October these are the things currently on my mind.

1) My routines are starting to slip away again. I did so well over the summer and the start of the school year but the last couple of weeks have been a struggle.

2) I do not know why this always comes as a surprise since it happens every year at this time.

3) I am really feeling down about how many people in our country can be so cruel and uncaring toward their fellow humans. Being an empath and highly sensitive person is extremely hard during these ridiculous times.

Here are the pictures for the week.

Riding the penny horse at Meijer.

Friday Funnies

I hope that everyone enjoys the last full weekend of October.

Three on Thursday

As another week comes to an end these are the things I am thankful for.

1) That I lasted until yesterday before I turned the heat on.

2) For hubby's new car.

3) That after 3 months I was finally able to get my Mounjarno prescription filled yesterday, 

Wednesday Hodgepodge

Once again it is Hodgepodge time! 

1. What do you like most about your family? 

I like that we genuinely like each other and get along. I love the inside jokes my husband, the boys and I share. 

2. What's something nice that's happened to you recently? 

It was raining this morning and I could not find the umbrella. The dad of a girl who Preston actually went to daycare with was walking back to his car and gave us his umbrella to use.

3. Do you like the color orange? Besides a pumpkin and an actual orange, what's something orange you love?

Orange is not one of my favorite colors. I love the orange tint to the sky at sunrise and sunset.

4.  What's something you have now you couldn't have imagined having five years ago? How does that make you feel? What's possible now because of it?

I have been trying to come up with something positive but the only thing that is coming to my mind is out of control diabetes. It makes me feel scared for the effects on my body and health moving forward.

5. Let's wrap this one up with an October this or that...

• pumpkin bread or apple cider donut
• cozy sweater or cozy hoodie
• apple picking or pumpkin picking
• scary movie or Hallmark movie
• hay ride or corn maze
• twinkle lights or candles
• autumn hike or autumn bonfire

 

Apple cider donut, cozy hoodie, pumpkin picking, scary movie, hay ride, twinkle lights, autumn bonfire

6. Insert your own random thought here.

We picked up hubby's "new" car on Monday. I feel much better knowing that he now has a reliable car that will handle the snow much better. The money we had to spend makes me a bit sad though especially so clase to Christmas. 

True Life Tuesday: The Highgate Vampire

On October 31, 1968 a group of young people visited Highgate Cemetery in London. The group vandalized the cemetery. The identities and motives of the group were never determined but most felt that they were interested in the occult and black magic. On February 6, 1970 a local man, David Farrant, wrote a letter to the Hampstead and Highgate Express stating that when he was passing the cemetery on December 24, 1969 he saw a gray figure he believed to be supernatural. He asked if others had seen something similar. By February 13th many people reported the they had seen many ghosts in the cemetery and adjoining Swain's Lake. The ghosts were described as a tall man in a hat, a cyclist, a woman in white, bells ringing and voices. 

One media report said that Farrant's was a vampire and the media ran with the story. On Friday March 13, 1970 an exorcism at the cemetery was broadcast on ITV. Mobs of "hunters" swarmed the walls and gates of the cemetery. On August 1, 1970 the charred and headless remains of a woman were found need a catacomb in the cemetery. The media reported that this was the work of local Satanists. In July 1974 Farrant was jailed for 4 years and 8 months for damaging memorials interfering with human remains. He blamed these on Satanists and said that he was innocent. He spent the rest of his life profiting off the story until he died in April 2019.