Monkey Musings Daily Open Discussion #9 11/19 - 1/23/2008

[MuffyBee]

Dear Santa,
Please bring 2NJ a maid.  She's been stuck in the bathroom for two years now and she needs a break.
Love,
You most favorite monkey helper in the whole wide world. 

I've wondered if 2NJ is having a secret affair with the Tidy Bowl man...

[Jerry from Ohio]

  Oh Muffy  that was too cute I can see  2NJ  going out on a date in that Lil Row Boat  LOL  :+)   Jerry


link=topic=2363.msg300250#msg300250 date=1195604820]

Dear Santa,
Please bring 2NJ a maid.  She's been stuck in the bathroom for two years now and she needs a break.
Love,
You most favorite monkey helper in the whole wide world. 

I've wondered if 2NJ is having a secret affair with the Tidy Bowl man...
[/quote]

[crazybabyborg]

Dear Santa,
Please bring 2NJ a maid.  She's been stuck in the bathroom for two years now and she needs a break.
Love,
You most favorite monkey helper in the whole wide world. 

I've wondered if 2NJ is having a secret affair with the Tidy Bowl man...

My evil twin has been whispering rumours of the affair for a long time now, but since you've broken the story about 2NJ and TidyBowl Man (both incognito names to protect their secret), here they are. See it with your own eyes! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3msNv0NAjM

[crazybabyborg]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING MONKEYS!!!!

[mrs. red]

Hey y'all....

thanks so much CBB for the Avi... and Klaas, for changing me for me...

I would be so lost without y'all.....

Peaches, I am hoping thatyou have platlets glalore, and I have kept you in my prayers....

Work is still kind of stinky busy but after we get back from the Holiday - it should be better....

gosh, I am so grateful to all of you... otherwise I would never know what is happening in the world...

[Lala'sMom]

Dear Santa,
Please bring the Mrs. a set of pearls...I think someone forgot last year.  Sometimes you have to take matters in your own hands...hint, hint.  A girl can never have too many pearls. 

Signed,
Your most favorite monkey helper...that needs new muffs (because someone sat on them).

[klaasend]

TODAYS UPDATE:

[crazybabyborg]

GORGEOUS tree, Klaas!!!! 

Dear Santa Baby,
Please bring Mrs. Red something that I would love for Christmas!  Last year, I got her pearls because I was caught looking for a picture of what she wanted from Red, and it was thought I was "wishful" shopping. So, since Mrs. Red has impeccable taste, I want what she's having! 

PS
Lala's has plans to hoard all the monkey gifts under the tree, so put mine under my pillow, unless it's a swimming pool, and if you bring me that, just leave me a float by the bed! 

The Very Very GOOD twin sister!!
CBB

[mrs. red]

Lala's, CBB and Klaas... y'all are really good Santa's helpers....

Klaas, this year's tree is the best yet!  It's gorgeous!  I wonder if we could buy sets of 4?   

[mrs. red]

MY internet is being mean.... I will see y'all later....


Prayers for Peaches...

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

[crazybabyborg]

Mrs. Red! Have you found yourself on the tree? Toward the top on the left side............you've been on the tree for a long time, it just took a while to get your avatar dressed! 

[Lala'sMom]

GORGEOUS tree, Klaas!!!! 

Dear Santa Baby,
Please bring Mrs. Red something that I would love for Christmas!  Last year, I got her pearls because I was caught looking for a picture of what she wanted from Red, and it was thought I was "wishful" shopping. So, since Mrs. Red has impeccable taste, I want what she's having! 

PS
Lala's has plans to hoard all the monkey gifts under the tree, so put mine under my pillow, unless it's a swimming pool, and if you bring me that, just leave me a float by the bed! 

The Very Very GOOD twin sister!!
CBB

Santa, I don't have CBB on the list yet...you know the "list"?  She's not always the good twin sister...sometimes she's the evil twin in disguise...better check closely.

[mrs. red]

CBB, I did find myself... the tree is gorgeous...

OK for real, my internet connection is squirrely... so I am going to get out of here...

HUGS TO Everyone - HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

[IBE]

<a href="http://[color=green][b]Happy Thanksgiving All!![/b][/color]" target="_blank">http://[color=green][b]Happy Thanksgiving All!![/b][/color]</a>

Have a fun, safe, non-overexertion one. Peaches will have several extra plates of platlets

Starting tomorrow I will be back to see you all more often. Love IBE

PS Klaas... I like CBB's Christmas avatar on the other thread that she designed for me.. may it be put on the tree too??? Will we be able to buy tshirts, et al again? I could use another big stein.

[IBE]

that white space is not the mashed potatoes!

It was supposed to flash "Happy Thanksgiving"

[ldstlou]

TODAYS UPDATE:

Klaas!! TOO CUTE!!!

[ldstlou]

Good Morning Monkeys!!!!

OK...my brother and his wife are ccoking this year..HOORAY!!!
I only have to bring the green bean casserole 
and pies..DOUBLE HOORAY!! lol

So my little guy only has a half days of school today so we are going to be baking  Christmas cookies!! TRIPLE HOORAY!!

If you have any scrumptious recipes please post them!!
Also making a big pot of potato soup!! There goes the 10 lbs I just lost!! lol

[crazybabyborg]

<a href="http://[color=green][b]Happy Thanksgiving All!![/b][/color]" target="_blank">http://[color=green][b]Happy Thanksgiving All!![/b][/color]</a>

Have a fun, safe, non-overexertion one. Peaches will have several extra plates of platlets

Starting tomorrow I will be back to see you all more often. Love IBE

PS Klaas... I like CBB's Christmas avatar on the other thread that she designed for me.. may it be put on the tree too??? Will we be able to buy tshirts, et al again? I could use another big stein.

You're there. IBE! You're almost dead center, just above MsVada's cat in the hammock! 

[klaasend]

http://www.koat.com/news/14656204/detail.html

KOAT.com
Evacuations Begin For Ojo Peak Fire

POSTED: 10:46 pm MST November 20, 2007
UPDATED: 3:57 am MST November 21, 2007


MOUNTAINAIR, N.M. -- Firefighters began evacuating homes in Torrance County early Wednesday morning because of a growing brush fire. Voluntary evacuations are now in place for people living in homes in the Game Road area near Mountainair.

The Ojo Peak Fire is burning on the southern end of the Manzano Mountain Wilderness northwest of the Pine Shadow trailhead. It has charred an estimated 250 acres in rough, rocky terrain and the flames have begun to creep closer to homes.

The Red Cross has set up a shelter to help displaced families at Mountainair High School. Red Cross officials say they have prepared enough space for 300 families to stay.

Heavy smoke from the wildfire burning in the Manzano Mountains had forced state officials to close Manzano Mountains State Park Tuesday. The park is not in immediate danger, but officials say it will remain closed until further notice.

Crews from around central New Mexico are battling the blaze. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

[klaasend]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,312384,00.html



Scientists Uncover Fossil of Biggest Bug Ever at 8 Feet Long
Wednesday, November 21, 2007


LONDON —

This was a bug you couldn't swat and definitely couldn't step on.

British scientists have stumbled across a fossilized claw, part of an ancient sea scorpion, that is of such large proportion it would make the entire creature the biggest bug ever.

How big? Bigger than you, and at 8 feet long as big as some Smart cars.

The discovery in 390-million-year-old rocks suggests that spiders, insects, crabs and similar creatures were far larger in the past than previously thought, said Simon Braddy, a University of Bristol paleontologist and one of the study's three authors.

"This is an amazing discovery," he said Tuesday.

"We have known for some time that the fossil record yields monster millipedes, super-sized scorpions, colossal cockroaches, and jumbo dragonflies. But we never realized until now just how big some of these ancient creepy-crawlies were," he said.

The research found a type of sea scorpion that was almost half a yard longer than previous estimates and the largest one ever to have evolved.

The study, published online Tuesday in the Royal Society's journal Biology Letters, means that before this sea scorpion became extinct it was much longer than today's average man is tall.

Prof. Jeorg W. Schneider, a paleontologist at Freiberg Mining Academy in southeastern Germany, said the study provides valuable new information about "the last of the giant scorpions."

Schneider, who was not involved in the study, said these scorpions "were dominant for millions of years because they didn't have natural enemies. Eventually they were wiped out by large fish with jaws and teeth."

Braddy's partner paleontologist Markus Poschmann found the claw fossil several years ago in a quarry near Prum, Germany, that probably had once been an ancient estuary or swamp.

"I was loosening pieces of rock with a hammer and chisel when I suddenly realized there was a dark patch of organic matter on a freshly removed slab. After some cleaning I could identify this as a small part of a large claw," said Poschmann, another author of the study.

"Although I did not know if it was more complete or not, I decided to try and get it out. The pieces had to be cleaned separately, dried, and then glued back together. It was then put into a white plaster jacket to stabilize it," he said.

Eurypterids, or ancient sea scorpions, are believed to be the extinct aquatic ancestors of today's scorpions and possibly all arachnids, a class of joint-legged, invertebrate animals, including spiders, scorpions, mites and ticks.

Braddy said the fossil was from a Jaekelopterus Rhenaniae, a kind of scorpion that lived only in Germany for about 10 million years, about 400 million years ago.

He said some geologists believe that gigantic sea scorpions evolved due to higher levels of oxygen in the atmosphere in the past. Others suspect they evolved in an "arms race" alongside their likely prey, fish that had armor on their outer bodies.

Braddy said the sea scorpions also were cannibals that fought and ate one other, so it helped to be as big as they could be.

"The competition between this scorpion and its prey was probably like a nuclear standoff, an effort to have the biggest weapon," he said. "Hundreds of millions of years ago, these sea scorpions had the upper hand over vertebrates — backboned animals like ourselves."

That competition ended long ago.

But the next time you swat a fly, or squish a spider at home, Braddy said, try to "think about the insects that lived long ago. You wouldn't want to swat one of those."