My Adventure: Glenn Beck rally, #2

My Adventures with no bathrooms

We arrived at the Smithsonian metro station about noon. I neglected to tell you in yesterday's post that while those huge crowds were waiting in those long lines, the Metro employees LOCKED THE BATHROOMS. They said with a crowd that large it was a "security threat". I was so furious, and I am still furious. It was a very big hardship for me and for everyone else to HOLD IT for 5 hours. I could sue someone, I am so mad.

Anyway, we got to the Smithsonian metro station, and the bathrooms there were locked too. So we had to walk almost to the Washington monument before we found portapotties provided by the Beck rally.

My Adventures Being So Late and So Far from the Loudspeakers

We got past the WAshington monument about noon, and the rally had started at the Lincoln memorial at 10 am. The area between the Wash. Mon. and the WWII Memorial was crowded with people walking and talking, there were no loudspeakers there so no one was sitting there to listen. Along the outskirts of that area were trees, we sat under the trees but we could barely hear the speakers when they would say a phrase or two with emphasis, but for the most part, we couldn't hear anything.

We walked forward to the WWII Memorial, but the press of people was so tight we could not get halfway past it. I could hear the loudspeakers at that place, but couldn't see past the heads of the people around me. I so much wanted to see the visual image of the thousands of people, that I handed my digital camera up to a man who was sitting on the top of one of the pillars of the WWII Memorial, and had him take a panoramic movie for me.

The crowds were standing so closely together that it was claustrophobic, and it was sunny, I couldn't stay there very long and I made my way back to sit under a tree. I felt badly that I wasn't able to see or hear but I was thankful to be part of the experience.

After all the speakers were done and the last song played, the crowd came flooding out in our direction. As is our habit after 4th of July fireworks, we sat there and let the other people go. I knew my mother was way up front, she had come with her sister at 6 am so she had a good spot. I had to wait an hour before the flood of people was lessened enough to try to walk to her. With the blessing of having cell phones, we found each other about an hour later, thats how far I was from the Lincoln Memorial, and still having to swim through the crowds like salmon going upstream.





First photo: On my way forward to find my mom, I am standing in the section between the WWII Memorial and the reflecting pool. On the right of the photo, you can see a row of three Jumbotron movie screens which the crowd in that area would have been watching during the rally. My mom was sitting beside the very front one.



Second photo: Finally found my mom, who had been very close to the front. We are standing in front of one of those big Jumbotron movie screens. You can see the steps of the Lincoln Memorial right below it.

My Adventure: Glenn Beck rally, #1

First picture: The line inside the parking garage.

Second picture: AFter standing in line half an hour, looking back toward the parking garage.

Third picture: Standing in that exact same spot, except moved to the other side of the sidewalk and pointing the camera in the opposite direction, to show how much farther we have to go to get to the overpass across the freeway and into the metro station. And this is only ONE of the FOUR LINES that were going into that metro station.


My Adventure getting on the train
On Thursday I was invited by Anne and Frank G. to travel to Washington D.C. to go to the Glenn Beck rally. Victoria K. and her two daughters Jessica and Mikayla also came. We left Friday, spent the night in Oak Hill, VA (not Herndon as I had written here previously), and left at 7 a.m. for what should have been a 15 minute drive to the Vienna VA metro station.

Wow, were we wrong! Traffic was horrendous! We saw so many cars with conservative bumper stickers, etc. that made us suspect that much of the traffic jam was made up of people going to the rally. And on that road, we were all converging on the Vienna metro station.

When we finally got into the parking areas, vehicles were parked in every conceivable illegal area, on the grass, and we worried the parking was all gone. Someone directed us to a farther multi-level parking lot, and we got a parking spot, and started standing in line at 8:15 am. We stood in that line until 11:30, when we finally got on the train and took the 30 minute train ride to the Smithsonian subway stop. We arrived at 12 noon, two hours late for the event which ran from 10 am- 1 pm.

Note: On our side of the freeway, there were two similar lines coming from two different directions converging on the overpass across the freeway. We did not know until we got inside the building that there were another two lines coming from the other side of the building. So what you are seeing in my pictures is only one line out of the four lines waiting at that subway station.

(And please note, we saw the Al Sharpton march when it marched past us after the Glenn Beck rally, their group was not as big as ONE of these lines. So don't believe it if you read it was huge. It wasn't.)

There are lots of different estimates of the size of the crowd at the rally.

If you look at these pictures of the Vienna metro station, I am thinking there were at least 2500 people in each of the 4 lines leading into the station in these pictures. And then you have to count the people that were in the lines before we got there at 8:15 am, and the people that kept coming after we got on the trains (because there were still lines behind us.)
There had to be 10,000 people at one time, so if you times that by at least two (because at the very minimum the line replaced itself every 2 hours) there were 20,000 who got on the trains from that station alone.

In the article below, this guy has the right idea (and pictures of that same Vienna metro station, PLUS pictures of how crowded the trains were which we had to ride.) His estimate of attendees is more than 1.5 million, with another half a million who couldn’t get there, and I have to agree with him.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/08/was_the_restoring_honor_rally.html

The point of this is that DC is only capable of accommodating a finite number of people within any single day, and that maximum was attained on 8-28.   My estimate is that at least one-third of the people waiting in the Metro station lines and stranded on the highways could not have made it there by 1:30 pm when the event ended.  If the maximum number of attendees possible at a DC rally is about 1.5 million, then there were that many at the Beck rally and perhaps another half million who tried to attend but failed.  My estimate might be flawed, but there is no way to accurately determine how many people may have attended the event if they had better access to the city.

Well-Roundedness versus Specialization

Got back from Washington D.C. last night at 12:30. Don't have time to write about the Glenn Beck event now, and this pre-loaded post came up already so I'm just going to leave it. Tomorrow I will write all about our grand adventure!



I was looking around at a few websites and blogs about preparedness. One of them had this quote:

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

--Robert Heinlein

Wow! I don't measure up too well.

But when times get tough, we will be thankful for every skill we have. The latest skill I have been trying to learn has been vegetable gardening. And I have to say, I am better at it after these two summers than I ever was before. So I know that if we take one skill at a time and try to master it, we can do it.

And maybe if we all learn different skills from each other, we can BARTER. That would work too.

Gone to see Glenn Beck!

You'll never believe it! On Thursday Anne and Frank invited me to drive to Washington D.C. with them, and today we will be at the big Glenn Beck rally at the Lincoln Memorial! I had no idea I would be doing this, I was expecting a quiet weekend at home. Will tell you all about it when I get back.

My Other Blog, Mystery Solved!

In case you don't know, I have another blog just for Emergency Preparedness. I've had it for a couple of months, and, as is my habit, I put a lot of posts on at once and tell it when to post them (for example "Aug. 25 at 8:00 a.m."). It has been driving me crazy because everytime I tell it to post a blog, it just sits there. I kept wondering why the new posts never posted when I told them to.

It took me forever, but I went poking around in the settings today and found out it was set on Pacific Time! No wonder nothing posted when I thought it would. It was posting 3 hours later. Duh!


APOLOGIES:
I know there has been too much on this blog about Emergency Preparedness, I have been trying to put less stuff on this blog about that subject, but it keeps slipping in here too. I hope in the future to keep that subject more confined to the other blog.


Here are all the things I posted this week on the other blog: http://GottaWannaNeedaGettaPrepared.blogspot.com/

8-17- Cannery price list.

8-19 Chart for substituting powdered milk and powdered eggs in recipes.

8-20 A video on cooking with a solar oven.

8-22 How to use a FoodSaver.

8-23 "In Case of Disaster", an article from the New Era.

8-24 Announcing our Relief Society meeting, Thurs. Sept. 9, 7 pm. "Family Communication Plan" by Phyllis B. of the Cary 1st Ward. Green Level is invited too.

8-25 A video about using a FoodSaver. Also, Wheat Grinder prices.

8-26 Food Storage Pep Talk. Also, who wants to do the 7-day challenge with me?


This Sunday, Aug. 29, I will be giving a powerpoint presentation during the combined Relief Society/Priesthood meeting on Food Storage.

Using a Food Saver by Wendy Dewitt

Okay, after I buy the large pressure canner, and the solar oven, now I have to buy a FoodSaver. This is amazing!

Video #8- FoodSaver
http://www.danielsparkward.com/fsv8.aspx

First Day of School

Wayne has been really sick with a stuffy head cold for several days. I wish he would feel better.

Zac started his junior year today.

Here are some more of those great pictures of Tara at the abandoned factory (click on photos to make them bigger.)

One Child Left at Home, One Day til School Starts

Now it is just the three of us living here: Wayne, me and Zac. That is a weird feeling. I think it means trouble for Zac, because now when we see a mess we will know who made it.

Tara and Bryce are still driving across the country today.

I am really impressed with the photos that Rachel took of Tara, and of the excellent way she edited them. Here are some more of my favorites. (Click on the photos to make them bigger.)

Bryce and Tara leaving to BYU!

We're busy today getting Tara and Bryce out the door, they are driving for the next 3 days out to Provo.

Last week, Rachel took Tara out to an abandoned factory and took about 300 photos of her (using Rachel's fancy new expensive camera). Here are a couple of my favorites. I'll post more later. (Click on photos to make them bigger.)

Our Duty to Pray for Gifts of the Spirit

President George Q. Cannon, of the First Presidency, urged us to seek for the gifts of the Spirit. He said:

"How many of you...are seeking for these gifts that God has promised to bestow? How many of you, when you bow before your Heavenly Father in your family circle or in your secret places, contend for these gifts to be bestowed upon you? How many of you ask the Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, to manifest Himself to you through these powers and these gifts?...

"If any of us are imperfect, it is our duty to pray for the gift that will make us perfect. Have I imperfections? I am full of them. What is my duty: To pray to God to give me the gifts that will correct these imperfections. If I am an angry man, it is my duty to pray for charity, which suffereth long and is kind. Am I an envious man? It is my duty to seek for charity, which envieth not. So with all the gifts of the Gospel. They are intended for this purpose.

No man ought to say, 'Oh, I cannot help this; it is my nature.' He is not justified in it, for the reason that God has promised to give strength to correct these things, and to give gifts that will eradicate them." (Millenial Star, 16 April 1894, p. 260)

Hymns into Exercise Music

My friend from college has arranged and recorded exercise music from LDS hymns. It is being featured as a new release on the site: Positive Music and Downloads. Her music is already being used as the exercise music at the Provo MTC.

This would be especially useful to buy for a missionary, so they have some great aerobic music for their morning workouts.

http://www.positivemusicanddownloads.com/

Click on Shop by Artist, then click on Jolene Taylor, AerobicWorkoutMusic.

Solar Oven Cooking by Wendy Dewitt

My next purchase is going to be a solar oven. She has convinced me that I need one.

Video #7- Solar Oven Cooking
http://www.danielsparkward.com/fsv7.aspx

Not My Type of Quilting

I just saw a book review of a new quilting book:

Marsha McCloskey’s “Feathered Star Quilt Blocks” books #1 and #2.

The tag line on both books is "Really Hard Blocks That Take a Long Time to Make".

This is the exact opposite of my idea of fun.


If you want to buy one, you can get a copy of Feathered Star Quilt Blocks I and Feathered Star Quilt Blocks II along with Marsha’s rulers from Feathered Star Productions.


To change the subject, here is a funny bumper sticker: "Pray for Obama Psalms 109:8"

Sprouting Success, and Unidentified Vegetables

I posted awhile back about how my alfalfa seeds were not sprouting so I threw them away. Come to find out, those were some other kinds of sprouting seeds, not alfalfa. Nevertheless, they were still dead. (The can was labelled "Sprouting seeds 1996", I just assumed they were alfalfa seeds.)

When I finally found a can under the bed labelled "Alfalfa sprouting seeds 2009" and opened it, they were a completely different shape and size. I think the first can was mung beans or something weird like that.

To make alfalfa sprouts, you can use a variety of types of containers, but I bought a sprouting tray. The instructions were to soak the seeds for 12-24 hours, then spread them in the tray. Water them four times a day and drain the water off. Don't put them in direct sunlight.

Exactly 3 days after I first touched them, the sprouts were small and already delicious. Exactly 4 days after I first touched them, the sprouts were probably the right length, and delicious. Then I put them in the fridge. Maybe I could have let them grow one more day, but I didn't.

I am definitely a fan of alfalfa sprouts.

Now I have a weird story about my garden.

I had a can of 1996 garden seeds. I opened it last month, and planted various seeds. I was expecting nothing to grow, but lots of things did. The problem was, the water washed the seeds around and they sprouted in different places than where I had labelled them.

So I have 4-5 big plants that I really don't know what they are. I think they are cucumber vines. But the fruit was looking the size and shape of limes or kiwi fruits, and today when I looked at it, one looks like it is becoming a melon! I am completely baffled, since I didn't plant anything labelled "melons". I am wondering if the seed packets were labelled wrong.

Tara got Young Women in Excellence award

(If you can't tell, in that second photo Tara is holding a butterfly on her hand.)

We were very proud of Tara that she earned her Young Women in Excellence Award on Sunday.

About two years ago, she had it almost done, and then the Church added the "Virtue" value and she got mired down and didn't do it. I am so thankful she finally persevered.

Big Devils, Little Devils

The following fable was related by Elder George A. Smith, who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve:

"A man, traveling through the country, came to a large city, very rich and splendid; he looked at it and said to his guide, 'This must be a very righteous people, for I can only see but one little devil in this great city.' The guide replied, 'You do not understand, sir; this city is so perfectly given up to wickedness, corruption, degradation, and abomination of every kind that it only requires one devil to keep them all in subjection.'

"Traveling on a little further he came to a rugged path and saw an old man trying to get up the hill side, surrounded by seven great, big, coarse looking devils. 'Why,' says the traveller, 'this must be a tremendously wicked old man, only see how many devils there are around him!' 'This,' replied the guide, 'is the only righteous man in the country and there are seven of the biggest devils trying to turn him out of his path and they all cannot do it." (in Deseret News, 11 Nov. 1857, 7:287).

I dislike the search engine on LDS.org, and so it is easier for me to search this blog than find things on there. When I find good talks about Emergency Preparedness in the Ensign I am going to share them here.

Marvin K. Gardner, “When Disaster Strikes: Latter-day Saints Talk about Preparedness,” Ensign, Jan 1982, 67

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=c07eaeca0ea6b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

Pressure Canning Meat by Wendy Dewitt

This was one of the most interesting videos by Wendy Dewitt. She explains how easy, simple, and cost-effective it is to use a pressure cooker for canning meat. She is so persuasive that I really plan on buying a big pressure cooker soon. I really think I could do this!

She said that she bottled 150 pounds of chicken in 12 hours in one crazy marathon day. But she said you can easily do 50 pounds in one day.

She buys used pressure canners on ebay.

Video #6
http://www.danielsparkward.com/fsv6.aspx

Dangerous Light in Ceiling Fan

Zac, Monte, and Wayne worked on his Eagle project again on Thursday night. Little by little it is getting closer to finished.

I was happy to see that Gretchen didn't win this week on Project Runway. That woman drives me up the wall. Too smug. Too self assured. Too delusional--she believes everyone looks up to her.

Seth came over a week ago and took apart Zac's ceiling fan. The light fixture has been going bonkers for years. First it made sparking noises, then everytime Zac turned it on the lightbulbs would go "pop" and burn out. So we just turned off the lights and only used the fan.

Seth took it all apart and found out the wires to the lights had been rubbed by the twirling fan. The wire casing was completely rubbed away, and then the wire was shorting out and sparking inside the fixture. You can see the burned places.

Its a good thing we quit using it.

Now he has rewired it and put it all back together safely. It makes me wonder how many other ceiling fans have the wires touching the rotating part.

Amazing Travel Stories, Women in the 1800's

I learned the most astonishing facts from this book, "No Place for a Lady- Tales of Adventurous Women Travelers" written by Barbara Hodgson. She took quotes from the many first-person travelogues which were written by women in the 1800's.

Here is the story of a bad hotel:

In a New South Wales hostel, Louisa Anne Meredith found sheets so black that"half a dozen unwashed chimney sweeps occupying the same bed for a fortnight could not have left evidences of a darker hue". After much grumbling, the hostess gave her a set of cleaner ones...then the maid came back "If you please, ma'am, Missus wants them sheets you pulled off your bed, for a gentleman as is just come in!"- Louisa Anne Meredith, author of Notes and Sketches of New South Wales (1844)

These women did not believe in packing light:

Alexine Tinne and her mother, Harriet Tinne set off in 1862 to explore the Nile, etc. They left Cairo on Jan. 1862 with servants, guards, maids, and "a horse, a donkey, five dogs, heaps of baggage, including camera equipment and food for a year." After leaving the boat, they travelled overland with "102 camels and numerous donkeys to carry their gear."

Katherine Petherick had packed a piano, which had been manufactured in two parts for easy transport (travelling from Cairo to Khartoum 1861).

Some unusual wedding customs (YIKES!):

1864, Olympe d'Audouard travelled to Egypt. Her book "Les Mysteres de l'Egypte devoiles" 1866. Audouard attended a Coptic wedding, realized the customs were rather different from what she expected, so when asked if she'd like to stay for the post-marriage rites, she readily agreed and watched with a mixture of horror and fascination as the husband entered the bridal chamber and, in the presence of a score of women, including herself and her maid, ceremoniously deprived his new wife of her virginity....

Pest control for boats:

Harriet Martineau wrote "Eastern Life, Present and Past" 1848. She cruised up the Nile in a boat, at this time boats were often sunk before the trip commenced. The sinking was to kill bugs infesting the boats....

I was dumbfounded by the following story. Okay, maybe I understand the sewing, but why the ironing and starching?

On board, Harriet Martineau and her friend Mrs. Yates, occupied themselves by sewing and ironing...This was so diverting that Martineau recommended that a lady think of "putting up a pair of flat-irons among her baggage. If she can also starch, it will add much to her comfort."

All in all, a very eye-opening book. I just love to read the strange-but-true.


Also, I read this great article today in the Telegraph. " The Stunning Decline of Barack Obama: Ten Key Reasons why the Obama Presidency is in Meltdown". Leave it to the Brits to tell it like it is.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100050412/the-stunning-decline-of-barack-obama-10-key-reasons-why-the-obama-presidency-is-in-meltdown/

The Second Coming- YouTube

Words from the prophets and apostles about preparing for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqaesQ2EE8w&feature=related

Narrow Rolling Can storage

Here is a great idea for storing cans only one can wide, filling the height and width of a wall.

http://www.kirkhams.org/Canned%20Food%20Rotator%20brochure%206-1-06.pdf

Where to Store It All by Wendy Dewitt

Wendy Dewitt teaches about food storage, and how to rotate your food.


Video #5- Where to Store It All
http://www.danielsparkward.com/fsv5.aspx


I was a little bit proud, because I use a somewhat similar system for rotating my food storage. When I buy canned goods, I write the year on them with a magic marker, and put them upstairs in the closets. Then on a regular basis (every few months), I inventory and look at all the foods in all their storage spots (under the beds, tops of closets, etc.) and take the oldest ones and put them into the kitchen pantries (I have 2 pantries.)

With Friends Like These

First of all, I want to say how much I have hated the two "winning" outfits that designer Gretchen has made in the first two episodes of "Project Runway". During each show, her outfit has been one of the ones I wanted to be kicked off, and instead THE JUDGES LOVED IT! I about croaked.

But I was very happy when they kicked off icky Jason and crybaby Nicholas. So I did have some satisfaction that the judges agreed with me on those.

On to my next topic...

My mom gave all her kids the game "Spinner" many years ago. Rachel just found it for sale on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Puremco-Spinner-Game-Wild-Dominoes/dp/B000BBSA0U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1280880541&sr=8-1. So we are excited that it is still in production.

And my last topic....

Over a month ago, we went to the Cary 2nd ward to see Janette give a talk. It just so happened to be Father's Day, so the Primary children got to perform a song. We were sitting with Seth and with Isaac's family when the little kids started walking to the front of the chapel.

Elizabeth was sitting near me, so I said, "Elizabeth, its time to go up to sing."

She said loudly, "NO! I DON'T WANT TO SING!"

I said, "Don't you want to go up there? All your friends are going up."

She answered, (even more loudly), "NO! SOME OF THOSE FRIENDS ARE UGLY, AND I HATE THEM!"

We decided that it was wise to give up after that.