Cool clear water, water. . .

See? If we had music on this blog you'd be listening to The Sons of The Pioneers right now. Just use your imagination and maybe hum along.

So last night some of the Team H.O.P.E. ladies and I went to Chase Field (local ball field. Used to be called Bank One Ballpark and everyone called it Bob) to accept donations for the cause. We had bottles of clear cool water as a thank you for folks that donated. And mercy, did they donate! Folks are just basically good and kind. What is always difficult is that at any sort of BC event you run into people who have lost a loved one to Breast Cancer and sometimes when they are sharing their stories it's difficult not to cry. I tell you, I'm so incredibly grateful to still have my grandma and my mom and my moms sisters.

So we received just over $300.00 last night in donations and got to chat with lots of nice people. Especially the nice Phoenix Police Officers. And a very sweet and understanding gentleman from Chase Field. (Who is hopefully not reading Thursday's post)

Apparently someone called the police to complain about our presence. We were set up in such a way that we were not blocking traffic, we were at a corner that had several ticket re-sellers (is 'scalpers' a derogatory term? Should have asked one of them last night - they were nice guys and donated to the cause) but no food or drink vendors. We thought we were okay but apparently one of the regular water vendors complained.

So the very polite and very kind Phoenix Police officers came over to our table and asked us several questions. The words 'permit' and 'permission' were used quite a bit. I guess if you are on actual Chase Property you need permission from Chase. Which is a concept I agree with - I am a believer in Private Property rights. But I hadn't realized we were on Chase property, I thought we were on Public Property, which it turns out would have still been breaking a rule - just a different one. (Notice how nicely I'm refraining here from making snide comments about the whole concept of publicly purchased private property!)

So the police officers rather than running us out of town on the light rail actually started calling people in the different departments of the City and then at Chase to see if we could stay. The final verdict was we could stay that evening but next time we need to get proper permission. Which we will. Thank you Phoenix Police and thank you Chase Field!

Now - because this was a Team H.O.P.E. thing you know there was a certain amount of tackiness involved. The theme Jeannie came up with for our not selling but accepting donations and giving away water?

Yeah, it would be easier to type water sale but that wouldn't be prudent at this juncture! Anyway - the name? Jugs for Jugs! And yes, we had three sizes of water A, B, and C.

Now folks are walking past our table on the way to the game. We had a bright pink sign (I should have brought my camera!) that said what we were doing but not all folks are going to stop and read the sign. So a certain amount of carnival style barking is required.

"Hello, we're accepting donations for the three day walk for breast cancer. We have cold water as a thank you for any donations"

Dosen't look too long in print but it is a mouthful when you are trying to reach people walking by. So sometimes our delivery got a bit mangled. Especially when Kristine called out to someone,

"Want breast water?"

Breast water? I'm thinking we are going to be harassing her for a very long time for that one. Not that Jeannie will escape teasing.

At one point when the police officers were first speaking with us Jeannie offered them each a bottle of water if they didn't make us move. Kristine and Denise quickly esplained to her that that would be bribery (granted the very slightest form of bribery. I believe that most cops can not be bought - and I'm thinking that cops who could be bought would want more than a bottle of cool clear water) I do wish we could have given them some water - they wear these hot black uniforms with all this heavy equipment and are out there protecting people and it seems like a bottle of water would be a small kindness and not a bribe.

Oh, and when I used the word 'hot' to describe their uniforms I meant in the temperature sense - not as an adjective like sexy. Although. . . . .

So we will keep y'all posted about when we will be doing this again! And we have another public appearence event that is going to be soooo much fun, we're just in the process of pinning down the proper permissions!

Have a great Weekend!

Oh, PS

The pictures I post on the blog that aren't pictures of us or of Pink Ribbon Products that we are reviewing all have some meaning or reason.

We will give a free bottle of Team H.O.P.E. water to the first person who correctly explains the picture on Thursday's post.

You can still post comments (click on the underlined word, comments under this post) even if you do not have a Google account. Just post as anonymous and then put your name in the body of your comment)

Meet Some Team H.O.P.E. Ladies Friday Night

Miss Jeannie said I’m not allowed to air my opinions about public funds paying for ball fields that cost $414 million. Okay.

I guess she has a point; that’s not what we’re here to talk about. It’s just difficult for me to look at these big sports temples and know some of my money went to pay for them simply because the owners convinced the legislators (and in some cases the public) that professional sports are vital to our desert valley. (Unlike, say, school librarians who are being given the axe in Mesa even as we speak) But again, not the point of today’s post.

The point is that if you are going to be in Downtown Phoenix Friday night, possibly attending the ball game, you can meet some of the Team H.O.P.E. ladies. We will be accepting donations and signing autographs (with our Pink Ribbon Sharpies)

People who donate will receive a bottle of Artesian Spring Water! Which, if left unopened, you are allowed to bring into Chase Field.

I don’t know where exactly we will be (Oh dear. As I have the official title of Logistics Lady, I wonder if it was supposed to be my job to determine our location. Probably ought to check into that!!)

We should be easy to find – we’ll be the loud ladies in Pink.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are playing the Washington Nationals. Someone told me these are baseball teams, so maybe now would be a good time to discuss the “Save Second Base” controversies.

Or maybe not. Just the facts ma’am.

Chase Field.

Friday May 30^th.

5:30 til we run out of water.

Look for Pink!

Thank you and have a wonderful day!

Pink Ribbon Sharpie Product Review!

Many years ago in offices across this land there was a tidal wave of fax humor. Crude drawings of Lucy and Snoopy engaged in questionable behavior, polish jokes, beer better than women lists, and all manner of crude, juvenile, often misogynist humor. Thank goodness email put a stop to that!

One of the pieces of fax humor that survived to become an email staple is the MSDS of women. Many folks work in professions where they have never seen a genuine MSDS. So a brief explanation before we proceed.

MSDS stands for material safety data sheet. They are informational pages required by OSHA [Occupational Safety & Health Administration] which is a division of DOL [Department of Labor]

Basically an MSDS will tell workers what exactly the solvent they are using will do to them when they accidentally splash it on themselves, and/or gives guidance to the firefighters and hazmat teams when the worker spills a vat of something off the loading lock. MSDS’s are not intended for consumer use – they are information for the people working with large quantities of a given substance all day long.

Back to the parody MSDS regarding women. Here is one of the more common ones to get forwarded about the ethersphere:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

                 MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEET

        Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Substance:            Woman

Chemical System:      Wo

Manufacturer:         God

Typical Size:         Average weight 115 lbs.; specimens can vary

                      from 90 to over 200 lbs.

Occurrence:           Large quantities found in urban areas and

                      shopping malls.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES:

--------------------

1.    Surface Tension--soft and warm.

2.    Exposed surfaces usually covered with a painted film.

3.    Boils at nothing.

4.    Freezes without reason.

5.    Melts with special reason.

6.    Flavor initially sweet, becomes bitter if used incorrectly.

7.    Found in various states of purity ~  

        from virgin metal to common ore.

8.    Yields to pressure applied to specific points.

9.    Sometimes enlarges alarmingly with age.

10.   Even brief linking with male substance can cause substance to

      reproduce with marked physical and mental changes.

CHEMICAL PROPERTIES:

--------------------

1.    Has affinity for gold, silver, and precious stones.

2.    Absorbs great quantities of expensive substances.

3.    Highly volatile for reasons not clearly understood.

4.    Insoluble in liquids, but activity greatly increased by
    saturation in alcohol.

5.    Most powerful money-reducing agent known 

COMMON USES:

------------

1.    Highly ornamental.

2.    Relatively brief exposure can aid relaxation.

3.    Pleasurable companion until legally owned.

SUBSTANCE VERIFICATION:

-----------------------

1.    Pure specimen turns bright pink when observed in natural state.

2.    Turns green when compared to superior specimen.

HAZZARDS:

---------

1.      Highly dangerous except when in experienced hands.

2.      May explode spontaneously without cause.

3.      Illegal to possess more than one specimen at a time.

4.      Avoid specimen contact with plastic credit cards.

Since one would not know where exactly to begin taking offense we’ll just roll our eyes and move along. Okay, I admit it - the "common ore" line did make me smile.

Whilst looking about the ‘Net for information on MSDS’s I found this site where you can create your own.

Create your own MSDS

Okay – we’re on the third page now, getting close to time to finally come to the point.

Our Pink Ribbon Sharpie Product Review!

A few months back I read a news story about an 8 year old public school student who was suspended for drawing on his clothing with a Sharpie Marker and then sniffing it. The article did not state which color sharpie he was using.

The parents were outraged, principal met with parents and reduced suspension to one day, maintained that sniffing sharpies was a form of drug use. Etc, etc. I had and have many opinions about this that I will keep to myself for the sake of brevity.

At the time that this incident hit the news I looked up Sharpies to find out what exactly is in them. There on the Sharpie website you can access their MSDS. Fascinating reading if you are into that sort of thing.

Pink Ribbon Sharpie MSDS

The most shocking thing to me reading this was that Sharpie is owned by Rubbermaid. So anyway, Sharpies are not drugs. They are also not considered Haz-Mat. (Hazardous Materials, requiring special handling or labeling)

Therefore we can discuss and review the Pink Ribbon Sharpie Marker without worry!

In their own words:

· Sharpie will donate ten cents from the sale of each special Pink Ribbon Sharpie marker to City of Hope for breast cancer research, treatment and education.*

· Special Sharpie Pink Ribbon logo on barrel.

· Permanent on most surfaces.

· Fade- and water-resistant ink encourages multiple project uses.

· Quick drying, AP Certified Nontoxic formula.

· Sharpie Pink Ribbon permanent marker available with pink ink.

* Up to $50,000. Ends Dec. 31st 2008.

The Pink Ribbon Sharpie is a pink marker, which I dearly hope does not come as a shock to anyone. The pink of the cap and interior shaft is your basic bubblegum pink. Fresh bubblegum if that makes a difference. The exterior shaft is the same dingy gray color of all Sharpie Markers.

There is a pink ribbon printed on the shaft that is a darker color – probably what one would call magenta. There is tiny little raised lettering on the cap that says “made in U.S.A.” I hope that means the entire marker is made in the US and not just the caps, that would be tacky!

The ink is pink, which I imagine they did so that it would rhyme nicely. The pink ink is darker than highlighter pink but still relatively pale. It shows up nicely on white paper. Is a bit harder to read when labeling CD’s.

According to the folks at HOW MUCH IS INSIDE? the most common use of Sharpie Markers is labeling CD’s. They have determined that one can label 968 CD’s with one Sharpie Marker.

Because I do not have the budget of Consumer Reports or the particular brand of insanity of the “how much is inside” guy I am going to assume that my Pink Ribbon Sharpie will last as long as their black sharpie.

For journalistic integrity I did try to find out how much ink is in a sharpie. I’m sure the information is out there somewhere but I couldn’t find it. The HOW MUCH? Guy did cut open his sharpie to determine that the ink-bearing components weigh 3.7 grams.

I’m not cutting up my pretty Pink Ribbon Sharpie Marker! And my scale does not measure grams, let alone fractions of grams. I don’t want to say I’m suspicious of young college guys who own scales that measure grams but. . . .

So should you buy a Pink Ribbon Sharpie Marker? If you want a nice pink marker, absolutely!

If you don’t need a marker but want to join the fight against cancer, maybe just write a check to City of Hope!

And of course you are always encouraged to donate online to Team H.O.P.E.

or to Simply the Breast

Prologue: I was at a WW meeting the other day and noticed that someone has graffitied all over the trash receptacle in pink marker. I sincerely hope it wasn’t the Pink Ribbon Sharpie Marker. At the risk of sounding like a republican; graffiti is not Art and is not a valid form of self expression ~ it is vandalism!

Have a wonderful, law-abiding, non-toxic day!