Another Do A Good Deed Post

This one brought to you by Eagle Rare Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

They are doing a election, I guess, for what they call rare lives.  General everyday hero/soldier/police officer/charity sort of people.  Each one has their story up and you can vote on them.  I've read a few and they are pretty good.  So have a look.  The winner gets a reception and Eagle Rare donates $10,000 to their charity of choice.

A noteworthy one is Kathy Champion.  After 27 years in the Army, tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, she had her eyesight taken by a virus contracted in theater.  Her nominated charity is Paws for Patriots, which helps injured soldiers receive services dogs when they get home.  The linked page is a little bare, but search the rest of the site if you need a puppy fix.

Also, Letters for Lyrics and Let's Say Thanks are off to the left.  I hadn't realized how absurdly easy Let's Say Thanks is.  You can pick from pre-selected messages if you want. 

H/T Grim at Blackfive

Another Letters to the Troops Program

This one from Xerox

I'll be coming home for Christmas on the 15th.  It supposed to be in the 90's the day before I leave.  And the 30's when I get home.

Because I know everyone was wondering, the Ashes currently stands at England: 1, Australia: 0 and Draw: 1.  So Australia needs to win 2 of the next three tests to retake the trophy.  In the event of a tie, so either 1/1/3 or 2/2/1, England retains the trophy (they won last time around).  It's not looking too good for the Aussies.  England hasn't won the series on Australian soil since 1987 and dismantled Australia in Adelaide last weekend.  Won by 70 plus innings, which means they didn't have to go back to bat at the bottom of the second inning because they were already up 70.  And they declared in the first inning, which meant they put Australia back to bat despite Australia not having achieved 10 wickets.  This is a tactical decision by the captain usually.  England needed time to get the 10 wickets from Australia in the second inning to win the test.  So, up 300+ on the morning of the 4th day they stopped batting.  Had they kept going (they had only lost 5 wickets) they might have built a 500 run lead going into the last day.  But 10 wickets in a single day is uncommon, so the test would likely have been another draw.             

Sorry for no other updates this week.