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  • What I do for a living:
    Operating Engineer
  1. This the Ancient and true reason for the season.
  2. Right triceps tendon rupture (complete). Titanium anchor with fiberwire sutures, three holes drilled into end of elbow. One week in splint, two weeks in Bledsoe Brace with 10 degree flex, increased to 60 degrees for additional two weeks. Two months of rehab., out of work from July '06 till Nov. '06. Regained 80% strength & 85% movement. Not a very enjoyable vacation.
  3. If I'm not mistaken Moyers is a member of the nitwit's congregation. Soooo, I don't believe there is going to be any real hard hitting questions.
  4. Just a thought, but perhaps?
  5. Had an '82 that I let go of in '91.
  6. All the cuban cigars I've smoked had a triple cap.
  7. There are numerous quaint and charming tales regarding the origin of the Christmas tree tradition but in actuality, this custom has nothing at all to do with the birth or life of Jesus Christ. Since ancient times, evergreen trees have been revered as a representation of fertility, sexual potency and reproduction. For centuries, evergreens have played an important role in Winter celebrations. Carried into homes and adorned with apples and other fruits, they were set up as symbolic idols. Such decorations were intended as food offerings to the tree and may be where the modern custom of placing gifts beneath the Christmas tree originated. According to some sources, the Christmas tree is actually a throwback to "Yggdrasil," the Great Tree of Life mentioned in Norse mythology. Many pagan festivals used trees to honor their gods and spirits. In Northern Europe the Vikings considered the evergreen as symbol and a reminder that the darkness and cold of Winter would end and the green of Spring would return. The Druids of ancient England and France decorated oak trees with fruit and candles in honor of their gods at harvest time. For the Saturnalia ceremonies, Romans would decorate their trees with trinkets, candles and small pieces of metal. The modern custom of an indoor Christmas tree is thought to have originated in Germany. German Christians would bring trees into their homes to decorate. In some areas where evergreen trees were scarce, the families would build a Christmas pyramid...a simple wooden structure which would then be adorned with branches and candles. It is difficult to pinpoint the date that Christmas trees were first decorated in America. Some believe the tradition may have begun with the Moravians of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, who decorated trees in the very early 1800s. Another theory is that the first American Christmas tree was set up by Hessian soldiers at Trenton, New Jersey, in 1776. Certainly by the early 1800s, there were many decorated trees to be found throughout the United States but the term "Christmas tree" did come into common use until 1830. The tradition of a Christmas tree spread across America during the 1800s with the arrival of German immigrants. One of the first public displays of a Christmas tree was set up by German settlers in Pennsylvania at a time when many people still considered the tree to be a symbol of pagans. The Germans would bake fancy ornaments for their trees and then consume the decorations when the trees were taken down. After Christmas, these frugal people wouls strip the needles and then wrap the branches in cotton to extend the life of the tree for several Christmases to come. Fruits, nuts, flowers and lighted candles also adorned the first American Christmas trees, but only the strongest could support such a weight without drooping. Thus, German glassblowers began producing lightweight glass balls to replace heavier, natural decorations. These lights and decorations were representations of the joy and light of Christmas, with the star atop the tree symbolic of the "Star in the East." In England, royalty helped to popularize the notion of a Christmas tree by decorating the first at Windsor Castle in 1841. Prince Albert, husband and Consort of Queen Victoria, adorned this first English Christmas tree with candles, candies, fruits and gingerbread. Already a popular tradition in Germany...the country of Albert's birth...the Prince Consort suggested the idea as a reminder of his homeland. Ever ready to comply with her beloved husband's desires, Queen Victoria readily agreed. Although generally adverse to anything German in origin, the public held their Queen in such high regard that they had soon adopted the custom for themselves. The first written record of a Christmas tree is that of an anonymous Frenchman who was a visitor to Strasbourg, Germany, in 1601. He describes a Fir tree he had seen in a home upon which had been hung: "wafers and golden sugar-twists (Barley sugar), roses cut out of many-colored paper, apples, gold foil and sweets."
  8. I'd suggest reading Joseph Campbell's works. In the mean time.
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