Fort Building

So the kid down the street is building a tree fort. I think that a lot of kids find fort building instinctual. They naturally know how and they 'just want to'. It reminded me of the time I met one of my best friends...
It was back in Grade One, the year after kindergarten, and nobody knew anybody yet. We were in the library for the scheduled class visit. Ancient Mrs Hudson was teaching us how to check out books using slips of paper and rubber stamps. While I've always liked books and enjoyed reading, I was eyeing up the multi-coloured vinyl foam cubes that were underneath all the book shelves. Actually meant to be used as stools for story-time or whatever, I got the idea that they would stack pretty well. At the exact same time, this other kid in my class had the same compulsion. We started to amass a huge reserve of these blocks and started to build a considerable sized fort in the corner. It was just starting to take shape (which was vaguely igloo-like) and quite a few other kids decided that this was pretty cool. They started to supply us with steady shipments of blocks while we could concentrate on the architecture. It was pretty awesome really but no matter how old your librarian is, eventually someone in authority is going to see a large building project in a place that is supposed to be quiet.
I ended up getting in trouble but I also made a good friend with someone that I still know today.

Tornado Battleship

So about 4 years ago, when I was at work, there was a tornado that came off the sea and went through the CBD. Pieces of destroyed buildings flew everywhere and some large chunks even came through our roof. The path of the tornado hit the building next door on its path into the city.
I'm still working at the same place and quite recently, another tornado came to town. This one damaged buildings about two addresses away on the other side of us. As I look around right now at the scaffolding up and repairmen making things normal again, it makes me think that this feels like a giant game of Battleship. My workplace is a ship, the white pegs are near-misses and maybe that there is a red peg getting warmed up.

If, after reading this, you feel like a game of Battleship, here is a place where you can play it online.

Stuffed animals in car windows

So maybe I'm missing the point, but I don't seem to understand the reasoning behind the concept of putting herds of stuffed animals in the rear window of a car.
(Is a group of stuffed animals a herd? or flock? or pack? Does it depend on what type of animals they are? But what if they are more than one type, all mixed up? A portable easy-care zoo. Or an ark! Maybe there should be two of each type in case of heavy rain.)