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Post away!

[Lemurian]

Dad plays best prank ever on teenage son. Rain Price will never forget the first day of his sophomore year of high school. On the bus, packed with classmates from his suburban Utah school, Rain peered out the window, mortified. "The school bus for the first time ever came down our street this year," explains Rain’s dad, Dale, to Utah’s Daily Herald. "This was [my son’s] first year on the bus. My wife came running in the room and suggested we go wave at him to embarrass him.” And so began Dale’s hazing ritual that continued every day for the rest of his son's school year. The first day may have been the most shocking for Rain, but in the days to follow, the surprises kept coming. Since the fall, Dale has waved at his son in 180 different outlandish costumes. The second day of school he wore a football helmet and jersey, and in the months that followed he opened the front door dressed as a blushing bride, a superhero, a Star Trek fan, Michael Jackson, and a giant chicken. One day he even lugged an old toilet bowl onto the street and sat on it reading a newspaper, stopping to wave as the bus rolled by. Over time, Rain's most humbling moment became his most anticipated. "The first day of high school...it was really embarrassing," Rain tells the Herald. "But the last couple of months it has turned into more entertainment." The father of three, a stay-at-home dad, raided the family’s Halloween costume collection, borrowed outfits from neighbors, and managed to spend under $50 over the year to make his son’s bus ride the highlight of the day. To preserve the memories, his wife, Rochelle, photographed each day's outfit and posted it on their blog called waveatthebus.blogspot.com. Soon Rain’s friends weren’t the only ones anticipating Dale’s morning ritual. He’s become a local celebrity in their Utah suburb of American Fork and an international phenomenon in the blogosphere. With expectations high, Dale developed a system. When his son leaves to catch the bus at 7:10 A.M., he is dressed in the bare bones of his costume to keep his outfit a surprise. Then he’s got 4 minutes to transform, with accessories and props, into a renegade paintball player, a Star Wars character or Terry Potter (Harry’s distant relative). Sometimes his son, Riot, a second grader, joins in the fun. On day 26, he played Batman to his dad’s Robin. On the last day of school, Dale gave Rain a final send-off dressed as a "peg-leg" pirate, an alter-ego he's reinvented throughout the year, as a nod to his own prosthetic leg. It will likely be the end of the routine that made the Price family famous. Through it all, Rain, an honors student and a member of his high school marching band, has come to appreciate his dad’s efforts. “He is genetically predisposed to having a good sense of humor,” writes Rain's mom, Rochelle, on their blog. “And yes, he did laugh at the waves. If you look closely at some of the pictures, you’ll see that he and his friends were waving back.”

source--if you follow this link you can see pictures of some of the costumes

[quaist]

Good to hear that a few parents still take some effort in child-raising.

[sunnykerr]

I added the tags.

I think that's an awesome story. And it's so great to hear about a dad finding ways to stay involved like that.

I gotta say, though, Rain and Riot? I'm not sure dressing up to wave his son off is the most embarassing thing Dad has done to him.



But they look like a wonderful family.

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Woman stranded 6 days on remote B.C. beach

LINK

A Vancouver Island woman rescued from one of the most remote beaches on the West Coast nearly a week after she and her husband were shipwrecked is lucky to be alive, rescuers say.
Her 67-year-old husband is believed to have drowned during the ordeal.
Search and rescue officials say it was a stroke of luck that anyone even found the 62-year-old woman, who was tossed into Tian Bay when the skiff she and her partner were using overturned about May 31.

Graham Island, Haida Gwaii

The man and woman, who were both from Courtenay, B.C., had anchored their larger boat at Otard Bay about eight days ago. The next day, they decided to take their skiff to nearby Tian Bay, on the west coast of Haida Gwaii, according to Jeff Olsen of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre
"The next day, on the Monday, they went in their small aluminum launch with a small outboard, to go beachcombing," he said.
But the skiff overturned, and the couple weren't wearing lifejackets, despite their availability on the small boat. The woman managed to hold on to the boat and, as it drifted closer to shore, swim to the beach. Her partner didn't make it, she later said.
Once on the beach, which is just south of Fredrick Island on the west coast of Graham Island, the woman was unable to send out any sort of distress signal.
She survived six days on one granola bar, a banana, water from a stream, and a fire she lit with a disposable lighter. Officials describe the area as extremely isolated, with nothing but steep cliffs, surf-pounded beaches and thick rainforest right to the waterline.
Lucky fishing boat drops anchor
Then at 2:15 a.m. PT Sunday, a commercial fishing boat dropped anchor in Tian Bay, said Olsen.
"The fishing vessel reported what he thought was a flare," he said.
But it wasn't a flare.
"She had made a fire on the beach and was throwing embers and such so she would be spotted."
The coast guard was called in and found the woman in shock but walking and talking. She was airlifted by helicopter to the hospital in Queen Charlotte City, where she is reported to be recovering well.
"She had survived on the beach for six days and was in remarkable condition," he said, noting the area is so remote, there is little boat traffic. She was extremely lucky to be spotted, he said.
"There's not a lot of vessel traffic in the area, and if there is, they are not anywhere near the shoreline, typically," Olsen said.
"In another month or so there might have been a lodge boat from one of the local fishing lodges and stuff, but as it stands, it's pretty much 25 miles south of Langara Island on Haida Gwaii, so very isolated."
Search continues for man

Because the woman's partner is presumed to have drowned, RCMP are now handling the file, Olsen said.
They say a search is underway for the man, who is described as Caucasian, five feet 10 inches tall and 154 pounds. He was wearing a black leather jacket and hiking boots.
Police are working with the woman to determine exactly when the incident occurred and just how long she may have been waiting to be rescued.
The couple's names have not been released. Police have been in touch with their families.
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Not exactly an absolutely happy story but at least she made it.

[sunnykerr]

At least she made it. And, apparently, drowning is one of the least painful ways to die, though I don't suppose that'll cheer her up much.

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Least painful? I wonder how they know that? That's interesting.

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WSP escort ensures a safe bridge crossing for a family of geese

Three Washington State Patrol troopers were on an actual wild goose chase today along I-90.
WSDOT cameras caught the action as the troopers used their patrol cars to help guide a goose and her goslings along the shoulder of the interstate and prevent them from getting out into traffic.
Mike Murphy with WSDOT communications tells us the law enforcement escort began for the goose family on the east end of the East Channel Bridge in Bellevue and the geese ultimately exited at East Mercer Way on Mercer Island safe and sound.
While traffic was slowed for a time no drivers or geese ran afoul of the law.

http://LINK

This is the cutest thing ever!

[sunnykerr]

Least painful? I wonder how they know that?

I've seriously always wondered that myself. But it is what I have heard, and I've heard it several times as well.

And that video was super cute, although I'm surprised FOX News hasn't launch some sort of "this is a waste of police resources" rebuke.

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I am sure Fox news will issue a rebuttal later, but I love geese. These video totally warmed my icy heart.

[sunnykerr]

It was a sweet video.

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It's nice to see people nice to animals for a change.

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LINK

Plan launched at UN to ensure every baby is born HIV-free by 2015

World leaders launched a global plan Thursday with the goal of ensuring that every baby is born HIV-free by 2015 — and that their HIV mothers live to raise them.
The U.N. says nearly every minute a baby is born with the HIV virus. In 2009, that meant 370,000 children were infected with HIV, almost all in low- and middle-income countries, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa.
At the U.N.'s high-level meeting on AIDS, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined other leaders to launch the roadmap to achieve the goal of eliminating mother to child transmission of HIV in the next four years.
"We believe that by 2015 children everywhere can be born free of HIV and that their mothers can remain healthy," said Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, the U.N. agency fighting the disease. "This new global plan is realistic, it is achievable and it is driven by the most affected countries."
U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric Goosby called preventing new HIV infections in children a "smart investment."
"Working together, we can reverse this tide as we have done in the United States and they are very close to doing in Botswana," he said.
The plan — "Countdown to Zero" — was developed by team led by UNAIDS and the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which Goosby heads. The team included representatives from more than 30 countries and 50 organizations.
The plan includes ensuring that all pregnant women have access to quality lifesaving HIV prevention and treatment services for themselves and their children and that there are adequate financial resources and trained health staff to meet the goal.
In 2009, the U.N. said an estimated 42,000-60,000 pregnant women died because of HIV almost all of them in developing countries. In high-income countries the number of new HIV infections was virtually zero and the number of child and maternal deaths due to HIV was also almost zero.
Ban said the developed world has shown that "there is every reason to believe that we can save millions of lives across the developing world."
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton told the crowd of several hundred leaders, diplomats, AIDS activists and people living with HIV that "just 22 countries account for 90 per cent of pediatric infections."
He called for lower drug prices and strong political leadership to ensure that everyone works together to meet the goal.
The launch of the Global Plan, as it is known, sparked a number of new contributions: an additional $75 million from the U.S. on top of the approximately $300 million it already provides annually, $40 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, $20 million from Chevron and $15 million from Johnson & Johnson.
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I think this is good news if they can pull it off. Being born HIV positive just isn't right.

[sunnykerr]

Fortunately, they now have the medecines to attack the HIV virus so successfully that it can actually repress it. I would assume it only works in situations where the virus hasn't had the time yet to "take rootm," otherwise everyone with HIV would be lining up to take those medications.

I just know the medication exists. Of course, it then becomes a matter of physically and financially enabling its distribution.

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Well hopefully they will stick to this plan and things can get alot better.