My week as a Bachelor

Let me tell you, it ain't gonna be pretty. Especially if it is like today.

Give me a 'B'!

Bed time dreams keep me sleeping longer than I needed to, but I still made it to church on time, which was important because I was lectoring, and had to read both readings. Whew! I really feel exposed when I am up there, especially with some of the words that pop in during those Old Testament readings. Today it was from Sirach and St Paul's Letter to the Collosians. Both dealt with the family, which is good being that today was the Feast of the Holy Family.

Give me an 'O'!

Ordinary things like watching football or blogging on the computer, were... uh ordinary. Yep, nothing to write home about, or even blog about, unless you want to read aout my upset tummy.

Give me a 'R'!

Reading books bring me great pleasure, so with an empty house and no distractions, (unless you count the four dogs and one cat as a distraction) you would think that I could catch up on my reading. Uh that would be a big negative there. Nope I wasted away doing busy work that amounted to nothing.

Give me an 'I'!

Insomnia is one of those things that I think I suffer from, not today! No sir, I promptly fell asleep and took a twenty minute nap, while watching a football game. Actually, because of said nap, I will now have a most difficult time falling asleep. I'll prove it and post here if I'm awake, and feel motivated. I will probably be awake, but doubt I wil be motivated to get out of a warm bed to type a few words to prove something to... I don't know. Okay? Okay.

Give me a 'N'!

No doubt that this post has become clear to everyone that is still awake. Can you see the little word I be spelling out. No family is here, so the house is quiet, and now I have to deal with it, all because a certain individual, that should remain nameless (JC) has denied letting me have his week off from work - what a jerk. How's that for some quick poetry?

Give me a 'G'!

Goodness this post is dragging on a lot longer than I thought it would. Oh my, I really think that Dave Thomas the founder of Wendy's fast food restaurants is rolling in his grave. These new commercials are just so STUPID! Singing cheeseburgers and men dressed up with the Wendy's hairdo - the official style evades me (PIGTAILS), I mean they just insult your intelligence, that's how bad they are.

What's that spell?

BORING!!!!!!

Had to add the exclamation marks, they are with each letter, afterall.

Yep, that's my day, and night, in a nutshell. I feel like going to bed and it is only 8:30. This feels like when I travel, and I'm in my own home. UGH!!

Jenni and kids, I hope that you are doing well, and I wish I was with you. I miss you and love you all very much, and I look forward to giving you all hugs and kisses when you get back.

100 Things

Here it is!! My 100th post, and what a fun trip it has been. I think. Anyway, to honor this accomplishment, I have come up with a list all about me.

I know you are excited, right?

100 Things about the Bug.

1. Born on October 12, 1967
2. Born in Orlando, Florida
3. Married to Jenni
4. Father of three boys ( 17, 13, 21mos.)
5. Father of three girls (10, 8, 5)
6. Is a Roman Catholic
7. LOVES Disney World. (going back in 2008!)
8. Is a MAJOR FAN and ADDICT of Diet Coke!
9. Teaches Sunday School to Kindergartners (12 years and running strong.)
10. Loves to write.
11. Loves to read.
12. Loves listening to a wide variety of music.
13. Thinks his wife is a saint.
14. Has a good relationship with his in-laws.
15. Rarely sees his parents or brothers, due to the fact that they live so far away from each other.
16. Has two dogs and one cat.
17. Has more computers that don't work, at home, than do.
18. Loves the movie "The Princess Bride"
19. Really enjoys the music by Rush.
20. The Denver Broncos are his favorite football team. Period.
21. Favorite Baseball team is the Cincinnati Reds, followed closely by the Colorado Rockies and the Chicago Cubs.
22. Favorite Hockey team is.... the Colorado Avalanche, followed closely by the Chicago Blackhawks.
23. Favorite basketball team - none, don't really care about the NBA, but will take a peek at the Denver Nuggets, on occasion.
24. Does not like eggplant
25. Loves Beef Stroganoff, especially when made by his lovely wife.
26. Loves Macaroni Salad - a family tradition, going WAY back. (I think)
27. Does not like changing cat litter, but loves his cat.
28. Likes pop music, but doesn't like to admit it.
29. Finds it amazing that he is on number 29 and has nothing more to say...
30. Thought of something... Likes to read Terry Brooks
31. and Stephen King
32. and Clive Cussler - after being recommended by his mother.
33. Likes Dry heat
34. Wonders why he feels like moving to Alabama - no dry heat there!
35. Loves getting Diet Coke as a gift.
36. Loves Snicker doodles.
37. Likes Science Fiction.
38. Likes his new iPod touch.
39. Does not have nice things to say about some people, and will keep it to himself.
40. Really hates petty spread sheet BS.
41. Probably gave away answer to number 39 - Oops!
42. Hates being away from his kids.
43. Hates hotel rooms when his kids aren't around.
44. Hates writing in the third person, and vows to change on the next item.
45. I think that hate is a very strong word, but I think it totally applies to the previous three entries.
46. I am a HUGE fan of Looney Tunes cartoons - okay, maybe not that huge, but I do enjoy Bugs Bunny and company every now and again.
47. I absolutely love the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and I plan on watching all three, extended, movies back-to-back-to-back. (Yes the family will be gone. :-( )
48. Thinks emoticons add, something, but not sure what.
49. I would love to take Jessie to see Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus, but cannot afford the tickets.
50. I am amazed that the "Achy-Breaky Heart" guy has quite the talented daughter. But hey, that's Hollywood, I guess.
51. I am in support of the Writer's from the WGA.
52. I am socially Conservative and tend to vote for the Republican Party.
53. I consider myself a Libertarian though.
54. Clarence Thomas is one of the most under-rated Justices on the US Supreme Court.
55. I like the new Cheerios snack mix --- maybe a little too much.
56. I have high cholesterol and have started a new drug.
57. I am Bi-Polar to some, Manic-Depressive to others and suffer from Anxiety to even more.
58. I take Paxil to control #57. It works, and my family appreciates it when I take it.
59. I'm thinking about going back to school for a Psychology degree. (What!!)
60. I am 60% through this and think it is funny, that I have said 31 other things since I couldn't think of anything else to say.
61. I prefer Borders over Barnes & Noble.
62. I like books.
63. I think I would like eBay a little too much, so I stay away.
64. I like Fanstory, but think that it isn't as helpful as it used to be. So, I haven't been there as much lately.
65. I tried to read Faulkner, once again, and failed, again. I will try to refrain from that for another 25 years, at least. Maybe then I will appreciate it, although I doubt it.
66. I am enjoying Kurt Vonnegut, so far. I think that Douglas Adams probably enjoyed him as well.
67. I enjoyed reading The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" by the aforementioned Mr. Adams.
68. I think that J.K. Rowling is an excellent writer, and I wish I was half as good (and half as wealthy!) as she.
69. I don't think that the Harry Potter books are evil or promote witchcraft.
70. I think that Dan Brown wrote two very quick and fascinating reads. Both full of Hooey, yet entertaining nonetheless.
71. I like to blog - but suspect I will learn to hate it, when the pressure of a new post EVERY DAY in 2008 starts to mount.
72. I like Tequila.
73. I like Corona Beer.
74. I like Starbucks Frappuccino's, but think that Starbucks is the spawn of Satan. I see a conflict there.
75. I love to snow ski.
76. I love the Rocky Mountains.
77. I pray for my family constantly.
78. I am insulted by GPS, but still enjoy not having to think - too much.
79. I love maps.
80. Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin are personal heroes of mine.
81. I think Global Warning is real, but I seriously doubt it is man-made.
82. I think that all politicians should be fired, or at least, not paid as handsomely as they are for doing what they do.
83. I like soup.
84. I like good bread.
85. I like watching children learn new things.
86. I love watching my children grow up, and dread the day when they will move on.
87. I love the smell of rain as it approaches.
88. I would love to go to the moon, or at least in a spaceship.
89. I always wanted to be a Supreme Court Justice. And a pilot.
90. I am fascinated by people, and find watching them to be therapeutic.
91. I am quite intraverted, initially, then I can be quite annoying.
92. I can count to ten in four different languages.
93. I don't take too many things too seriously, especially work, which might explain....
94. I should explain #93, but I don't really want to waste that much space on it, here at least.
95. I think it is sad that more votes will be cast for American Idol contestants, than for the presidential candidates.
96. I think it is even more sad that people seem to care more about "Reality TV" than reality itself.
97. I don't like to shave, but Jenni and the kids like me to, plus it itches after a while.
98. I love my life and wouldn't change a thing, not even the bad parts.
99. I love my wife and children more than any other humans on this great big planet of ours.
100. A profound ending is probably required here, but I cannot think profoundly, so this is what you get: I enjoy watching the television show Stargate Sg-1

Pretty lame ending there, I know, but I had to stop it somewhere. Besides those of you that know me, know that no truer words were spoken with that last sentence. :-) Hope you all fill enlightened and maybe you even learned a thing, or two, about me. Now back to your regularly scheduled blog...

Can you believe it?

I just signed up for a new NaBloPoMo, only this one is for a whole year. Yep, 365 days of posting -except leap day, of course. Yep, taking a break one sixth of the way through makes sense, but I don't make the rules, I just play along. Can we do it?

Sure, why not.

See you in 2008! or tomorrow (maybe)

Simvastatin 40 mg

That's my crutch for, at least, the next three months. Why? Because I am a gluttonous pig apparently and I eat all the bad stuff. That'll teach me.

Truth be told, I could have avoided this if I had only started doing that exercise thingy (walking daily), and eating a more sensible meal than Ramen noodles and Cheeseburgers. Or something like that. Anyway, let's see what it is that the Bug will be ingesting for the next ninety days - along with his Paxil, mind you.

"This medicine is a(n) film-coated pink round-shaped tablet imprinted with A on one sideand 03 on the other side. Add info: BICONVEX."

What the heck? I guess they try to fit as much info as they can into that tiny little box. :-)

Other fun facts:

I must take one tablet by mouth one time daily. ~ I can think of no better way.

Common Uses: This medicine is a HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor or "statin" used in comnbination with a low-cholesterol and low-fat diet to lower cholesterol (LDL) and triglyceride levels and to raise good cholesterol (HDL) levels in your blood. ~ Sounds fascinating doesn't it? I guess I should quit eating those cheeseburgers for sure now.

DO NOT DRINK LARGE AMOUNTS OF GRAPEFRUIT JUICE (greater than 1 quart daily) or eat large quantities of grapefruit while taking this medicine. ~ I have no idea why, but I am sure that Google or Wikipedia do!! (ED : Next research project, I'm sure.)

Okay, now I am getting to the point in my blog entry, where I have lost all control of the colors and fonts....

So if the color is screwy, blame the editor. (What!) Not my editor (Oh, okay), but Bloggers. They apparently like to see me suffer my way through all of this nonsense. Not the high cholesterol, but the color changes, that aren't intentional. Makes sense?

Me neither.

Back to the drug... The fun stuff, "possible side affects" you know that part where when you listen to the commercial you wonder if it is all worth it. Anyway, here are mine:

SIDE EFFECTS that may occur while taking this medicine include constipation, diarrhea or stomach upset. ~ Now call me crazy, but doesn't that seem weird that this drug can cause either constipation or diarrhea? Both conditions have an upset stomach involved, so what does this warning actually tell me? Not much, really.

Other tidbits I should remember.... I can't be pregnant, and if I suspect I am pregnant then I should consult my physician. ~ I'll be calling more than a physician if I suspect myself to be pregnant, that's for sure!

I also need to contact my physician for the following: unusual skin or hair changes (such as discoloration, severe dryness, hair loss, or changes to nails). I should also be on the lookout for muscle aches, pains, tenderness, or weakness, especially if associated with unusual tiredness and a fever; yellowing of skin or eyes; dark urine; change in the amount of urine; stomach pain; ongoing nausea or vomiting; blurred vision; or unusual bleeding or bruising. ~ Do tell me what usual bleeding and bruising are.

Now the absolute BEST part is the paragraph that begins "The information in this monograph is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precaustions, drug interactions, or adverse effects." Sounds to me like someone went to "Lawyer School."

Oh well.... So how have you been?

Only 3 'Til 100!

“Christmas casts its glow upon us, as it does every year. And it reminds us that we need not feel lonely because we are loved, loved with the greatest love there has ever been or ever will be.” ~Ronald Reagan

Wow, almost to 100 blog entries, what can I say other than....

Don't really know. I'm not really speechless, just don't have anything to say. Other than look for a fabulous entry come number 100! Either it will be a list of 100 things about me....

Or...

A blog entry that is exactly 100 words.

Pretty cool, right?

“He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.” ~Roy L. Smith

Now knowing how lazy I am and can be, I would be looking for the 100 words if I were you. :-)

Not much else, so... I will leave now.

Bye-bye!

“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” ~Charles Dickens

This Cracked Me Up!

I can sort of relate even...

December 1st

TO: ALL EMPLOYEES - I'm happy to inform you that the company Christmas Party will takeplace on December 23rd at Luigi's Open Pit Barbecue. There will belots of spiked eggnog and a small band playing traditional carols.Feel free to sing along! And don't be surprised if our CEO shows updressed as Santa Claus to light the Christmas tree! Exchange ofgifts among employees can be done at that time. No gift should beover $10.Merry Christmas to you and your family.Patty LewisHuman Resources Director

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December 2nd

TO: ALL EMPLOYEES - In no way was yesterday's memo intended to exclude our Jewishemployees. We recognize that Hanukkah is an important holiday thatoften coincides with Christmas (though unfortunately not thisyear). However, from now on we're calling it our "Holiday Party."The same policy applies to employees who are celebrating Kwanzaa atthis time. There will be no Christmas tree and no Christmas carolssung. Happy Holidays to you and your family.

Patty LewisHuman Resources Director

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December 3rd

TO: ALL EMPLOYEES - Regarding the anonymous note I received from a member of AlcoholicsAnonymous requesting a non-drinking table, I'm happy to accommodatethis request. However, don't forget, if I put a sign on the tablethat reads, "AA Only," you won't be anonymous anymore. In addition,forget about the gifts exchange. No gifts will be allowed since theunion members feel that $10 is too much money.

Patty LewisHuman Researchers Director

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December 7th

TO: ALL EMPLOYEES - I've arranged for members of Overeaters Anonymous to sit farthestfrom the dessert buffet and pregnant women closest to therestrooms. All Gay men are allowed to sit with each other. Lesbians do nothave to sit with the gay men; each will have their own table. Yes,there will be a flower arrangement for the gay men's table. Happynow?

Patty LewisHuman Racehorses Director

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December 9th

TO: ALL EMPLOYEES - People, people -- nothing sinister was intended by wanting our CEOto play Santa Claus! Even if the anagram of "Santa" does happen tobe "Satan," there is no evil connotation to our own "little man ina red suit."

Patty LewisHuman Ratraces

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December 10th

TO: ALL EMPLOYEES - Vegetarians --I've had it with you people!! We're going to holdthis party at Luigi's Open Pit, whether you like it or not. You canjust sit at the table farthest from the "grill of death," as youput it, and you'll get salad bar only, including hydroponictomatoes. But, you know, tomatoes have feelings, too. They screamwhen you slice them. I've heard them scream. I'm hearing them rightnow...Ha! I hope you all have a rotten holiday!Drive drunk and die, you hear me?

Patty Lewis

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December 14thTO: ALL EMPLOYEES - I'm sure I speak for all of us in wishing Patty Lewis a speedyrecovery from her stress-related illness. I'll continue to forwardyour cards to her at the sanitarium. In the meantime, managementhas decided to cancel our Holiday Party and give everyone theafternoon of the 23rd off with full pay.Happy Holidays!

Terri Bishop

Acting Human Resources Director

See how insane this time of year can be for some people? What is supposed to be a time of love and joy, just turns into a nightmare for people trying to please everyone. Guess what?

Ain't gonna happen.

Merry Christmas!

A Day in My Life, Part Duex!

I think that I can think straight, once again. Where was I?

Oh yeah, so JC is bitching about the inappropriateness of the Christmas Party invitation, and is getting beat up by a customer (lucky him).

Meanwhile, back at sanity central, I continue to complain about JC's whiny attitude and take a poll (unscientific of course) about the letter, and surprise! surprise! surprise! No one is offended. Sheesh. To his credit he did apologize later.

Back to the 'Whiny Brigade' - "What do you mean I won't get overtime pay until after I work forty hours?!" Do I really need to go into the law with these people? Well, no because they don't get it, all they think is that they are getting screwed somehow. Guess what your are employed "at will" yours and the company's, so if you don't like it.... C - Ya!

Lunch wasn't too bad, and best of all free! Can't beat free, don't you know?

Jenni then sent me the picture that is on the previous post, with the caption of 'your future dil??!!? What the heck is a dil? Well, that is Jenni's joke about Andy's obsession with the young lady on the left. Don't know the one on the right, and I'm afraid to find out, I think.

Scary, eh?

Figured it was worthy of two posts, we're so proud. No really we are, but not as proud as she is, since it is on her facebook.

Oh to be a kid again.... what pain, what anxiety, what the heck am I going to do with my life, why am I so angry, FU world!

On second thought, I'll pass.

I've been thinking, and before you run away screaming let me finish, about my 100th post. Yes, can you believe it "Bug Tries Again" is almost 100 posts old. So what do I do? I really have no idea, and I will not do a Meme of the number 100 - too boring. A list of one hundred things about me, could bore you to tears. Anyway, I hope to have a fantastic 100th post, after all, it is my first blog to reach this point - out of five (I think).

Anyway, I love that word I think.... I should finish up working and get set to head home. More at a later time, and don't forget...

Be careful out there.

A Day in My Life...

Let me tell you how my day has been going...

Got up at 12:26AM and freaked out! Why? Well not because it was 12:26AM, that's for sure. Rather it was because I didn't know that it was 12:26AM. Does that make sense? No? Then let me explain...

I have Adoration on Thursdays at 3:00AM, so when I woke up at 12:26AM, without knowing what time it actually was, I freaked. Then I got my lazy butt off of the coach and stumbled to bed.

When my alarm went off at 2:30, I promptly hit snooze.


Then it went off at 2:35 --- snooze again.


2:40, snooze; 2:45, I turned off the alarm and started to snooze myself.

At 2:55AM, I decided to freak again, because I had to be at the church in five minutes... Oh yeah, I also had to bathe myself and all that jazz.

3:20AM, I was up front and personal with Jesus. I stayed past four, as well, figured it was worth it.

On the way to work, I got hungry. Yep, hunger pains at 4:25AM does happen. I had no money though, but I did have a need to bring doughnuts in for a shop meeting - problem solved.

Work is, well a PITA and work. Petty whining here, petty whining there, petty whining EVERYWHERE!

Funny thing was that JC was TO'd because he got a crappy raise. (join the club, bub!) And he was giving me crap over this...

In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it 'Christmas' and went to church; the Jews called it 'Hanukkah' and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say 'Merry Christmas!' or 'Happy Hanukkah!' or (to the atheists) 'Look out for the wall!' ~Dave Barry


You are cordially invited to attend the PITA Christmas Party

Location: The Warehouse(yes, that great big space outside our lab walls - don't forget your safety glasses)

Date: 21 December 2007

Time: 11:00 - 2:00 (ish)

Menu: Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue and a little something from Augustino's.

When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs? ~G.K. Chesterton

Festivities to include Eating, Caroling (admin volunteered to lead us in song), maybe even a little 'Holiday Trivial Pursuit.'

We cannot forget the gift-giving "big guy" in Jeff's office that we must all visit before we leave the party.

Come one and come all, and dash away, dash away all...



I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. ~Charles Dickens

Anyway, JC thinks that it is quite offensive, to get this, Atheists!!! WTF?!

So he and I, mostly I, share a few F-bombs, because I personally think that he is being ridiculous and I told him to send everyone that complained about it my way. GUess what? No one came by, no one complained and everyone seemed to enjoy it actually.

I don't get this - personal note here by the way - I add the colors to the letter, and now I have to.... ARGGhhh! I have no idea, but this is bothering me to the point of moving on to a part two.

Screw it! Part two coming up!

Some Words for Thought

“The liberty enjoyed by the people of these states of worshiping Almighty God agreeably to their conscience, is not only among the choicest of their blessings, but also of their rights.” ~George Washington

“The Christmas season is upon us, which means it’s that special time of year for the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State to make sure no wayward city council will allow a whiff of frankincense on government property. They must send out direct-mail fundraising letters asking ‘Help Us Crush a Creche at Christmas!’ The Christmas season is also that time of year when the business world implores us to consider the material as more important than the spiritual, all in the spirit of ‘the holidays.’ So we celebrate the arrival on Christmas Day of iPods and DVDs... Then again, maybe this is precisely the kind of seasonal silliness that causes the Christian faithful to shut out the noise and contemplate the real nativity scene and its eternal promise.” ~Brent Bozell

“As we approach the major holiday across the world that celebrates and worships the birth of Christ and everything that symbolizes, I think something like this needs to be said: Merry Christmas to all of America’s liberals and to every citizen across the land who doesn’t share my view of the world. And Happy Hanukah and, yes, Kwanza too if you go there. If you despise Christmas and you’re way too secular for all of this, then just more power to you... But we are considerably fortunate to live in a country where this fundamental freedom is allowed us all. It is nothing short of a blessing.” ~Jeffrey Lord

And Finally....

“The first Christmas was a time of family joy for Joseph and Mary and the child Jesus. Although they had made a long journey to reach Bethlehem and were lodged in humble surroundings, they knew that the child Mary bore was a gift not to them alone, but to all mankind. The shepherds who gathered around the manger, and the wise men who traveled from the East to honor the King of Kings, knew that the star above Bethlehem was a guide not only for the pilgrims of that day, but for those in every age seeking the peace which passes understanding. An early American hymn sang of the Christ-child that ‘this richest babe comes poor in being, more pearled within than to the seeing.’ More than any gift or toy, ornament or tree, let us resolve that this Christmas shall be, like that first Christmas, a celebration of interior treasures.” ~Ronald Reagan

Insanity

The world is out of it's f-ing mind. At least this whack job in Australia is... Because having more than two kids will "save" the planet. Actually, I think what will save the planet is a big strip of duct tape over your mouth to shut your stupidity up!

* coming down from whatever just pissed me off. Don't bother going to the link, it will only make you angry.

Have a nice day!!

I tried

but I cannot edit/fix the fact that some words were cut off on the previous post, sorry. So, I figured that I can post them here, and if you really care, you will know where they are.

So that wasn't too bad, I guess. Although I did have to turn my filter on for my searches. Especially when I was going to use my dog Zoe's name. Nothing like having a bunch of naked lady pictures show up on the monitor at 6:30 in the morning.Anyway, there you have it, and if you are seeing this, it means that Blogger doesn't mind the format, etc... since I am doing this via Google Docs.

Hope that helps the confusion... no, really, I do. :-)

A Meme by ME(me)!

Okay, I have seen this a couple of times in the blogosphere, so I of course had to try it. It is a photo meme, whatever that means, which is basically a pictorial presentation of me. Doesn't that sound exciting? Anyway, the way you do this is to answer questions, using images from Google. For example, I would put in the age at my next birthday (41) and then pick a picture from the first page of choices that Google gives me. Sounds simple enough, but then again....

So, without further delay, I present .... ME!

1. Age at my next birthday

2. City where I was born.

3. City where I live

4.Favorite Color

5.Favorite Animals

6. Favorite Food

7. Favorite Food, part 2

8. Favorite Food, part 3

9 Favorite Food, okay I'm kidding... Favorite Objects

10. Favorite Place

11. Place I'd like to travel to, where I haven't been

12. Place I'd like to revisit

13.Name of Past Pet

14.Favorite Historical Figure

Okay, I cheated and picked two (sue me!), besides did you see the food selections above?

15. My first name

16. My first job

17. Bad Habit

18. Grandmother's name

19.College Major

20. What I want to be when I grow up

So that wasn't too bad, I guess. Although I did have to turn my filter on for my searches. Especially when I was going to use my dog Zoe's name. Nothing like having a bunch of naked lady pictures show up on the monitor at 6:30 in the morning.Anyway, there you have it, and if you are seeing this, it means that Blogger doesn't mind the format, etc... since I am doing this via Google Docs.

Bye-bye

Interesting?

We'll see.

I have an Uncle that likes to send out emails, all kinds of emails, some days I get half a dozen of them from him. Some have been repeated, and every now and again I get one that I haven't seen before. Now the reason I am writing about this is because, I really don't know, other than to pose a question for anyone that is viewing these airwaves - which actually have nothing to do with air or waves, but we'll save that for a better time like if I ever get drunk again! Anyway, I am going to now copy two of the emails I got from him, and I think I will write more after that to explain myself (Bug you gotta lot of 'splaining to do! )

The Cherokee Indian youth's rite of passage.

His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is required to sit
on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own.

The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man!

Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.

We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, our Heavenly Father is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us. When trouble comes all we have to do is reach out to Him.
If you liked this story, pass it on. If not, you took off your blindfold before dawn...

Next...

WARNING ON BEER
After reading - don't forget to watch the video at the end!!!

Police are warning all men who frequent clubs, parties and local pubs to be alert and stay cautious when offered a drink from any woman. Many females use a date rape drug on the market called 'Beer.'

The drug is found in liquid form and is available anywhere. It comes in bottles, cans, or from taps and in large 'kegs'. Beer is used by female sexual predators at parties and bars to persuade their male victims to go home and sleep with them. A woman needs only to get a guy to consume a few units of Beer and then simply ask him home for no strings attached sex.

Men are rendered helpless against this approach. After several beers, men will often succumb to the desires to sleep with horrific looking women to whom they would never normally be attracted. After drinking beer, men often awaken with only hazy memories of exactly what happened to them the night before, often with just a vague feeling that 'something bad' occurred.

At other times these unfortunate men are swindled out of their life's savings, in a familiar scam known as 'a relationship'. In extreme cases, the female may even be shrewd enough to entrap the unsuspecting male into a longer term form of servitude and punishment referred to as 'marriage.' Men are much more susceptible to this scam after beer is administered and sex is offered by the predatory females.

Please! Forward this warning to every male you know. If you fall victim to this 'Beer' scam and the women administering it, there are male support groups where you can discuss the details of your shocking encounter with similarly victimized men. For the support group nearest you, just look up 'Golf Courses' in the phone book.

For a video to see how beer works click here:

Beer Demo

Now, what do you make of these two, obviosly different emails? What kind of man is my uncle? Is he the God-fearing and loving man from the first email? Or, is he the shallow, chauvinistic pig from the second? Truth be told, I really don't know since I haven't seen the man in thirty years, but don't you want to know? Maybe?

I always try to select which emails to forward and to whom I forward them to. For instance, I have another uncle, the above uncle's younest brother, who is only three years older than me (yes imagine the generation gap, just inside that immediate family). He actually sent out an email requesting that any emails with any kind of religious connotations, not be sent to him. So, I respect that. Actually, I try not to forward too many emails his way anyway but that is not the point. Just because I'm an isolationist... Actually, I'm not really, that is a topic that I should explore in greater detail at another time - if I can. :-)

Anyway, happy Thursday to you! Just spent an hour with Jesus and I feel great! I also feel tired, but I will get over it.

Now, I should get to work, don't you think?

More later...

Do You Hulu?

I do.

Aren't I special? Actually Hulu.com is a pretty cool web site if you like watching old teleivision shows, and some new ones. I imbedded the show 'The Office' over on the family site. I am thinking of imbedding 'WKRP in Cincinnati' on this site - the one with the turkeys - Classic!

Oh there are also those current shows that I miss because of work, etc... Pretty cool if you ask me.

Oh well, I should go home now -- I have a play to edit. :-)

Snow!!!

Yea, the first 'big' snow of the seaason! We got about five inches, I would guess maybe more of the beautiful white powder! Gotta love it!

Okay, I know, not everyone loves snow and truth be told, I will be cursing the stuff come February, maybe even January if the meds don't work. :-) Let's put it this way, on a scale of 1 to 10, January rates a -3. I hate January, hate it, hate it, hate it.

Lucky for us, it is still December, so all is still calm and bright... A song in the making, no doubt. :-)

I think that this has happened before, but I completely forgot what I was going to write, and write about. Is senility prominent in people my age? Don't think so, but something is up, for sure. Back to snow talk....

Snow (Hey Oh) by the Red Hot Chilipeppers is a great song. At least in my humble opinion.

EL was so excited about the snow, and driving in the snow, and getting whitewashed that it was very hard to figure out how old she really was. Kind of cool, when you think about it. I mean how many people get excited about driving in this stuff? Or shoveling it? Or getting buried in it by your roomates?

Yes, we did send her for her "random drug test" right after that, but...

I find it amazing how fast the time goes the closer we get to the end of a year. Especially when planning a social calendar... dinner over there, dinner over here, to gift, or not to gift. These are not only the questions that come up during this time of year, but also the things that we have to deal with.

More later...

Good Thing

That I don't have to blog every day anymore, because I really didn't feel like doing any writing yesterday, so I didn't.

I see that I left you all hanging with my adventure through "Weather Land" on Saturday. Well tough, it isn't as memorable anymore, mostly because I can't remember it. :-)

So I will write about other stuff. Fair enough? Hope so, because that is what I am going to do.

PITA was, how do I say this? Boring. Why? Well let me tell you a story...

"Network is down, completely and we can't do crap."

Not a 'Hello,' or a 'How was your weekend?' Or even a 'Boy those Broncos sucked bad yesterday!'

So yes our network went down sometime from when I left on Saturday evening (Ed: Don't you have a story about that?) and when I arrived thhis morning. Hold on....

That is weird. My text here has turned green-ish, like what is on the blog, I must investigate further. That's better, but how will it all look? Let me check.

Okay, not better, so I will have to deal with this color while I type, or... move on to the next post, or something simliar.

Anyway, I get greeted by the above when I get in and have to immediately tell everyone not to panic, it will be okay and to keep working through it... These are grownups, I believe.

"But I can't work without my computer!" Uh, yes you can because all of your jobs do not require a computer to complete them. Granted you cannot process equipment because of the lack of computer network generation crap, but you can work and just fill out your paperwork, the next day that the network is up.

My big issue was, of course, coming here and writing all about it. I apparently surf the web way, way, way too much. Because I was extremely bored out of my mind. I did get a game of RISK in though. Great now the italics have taken over....

More next time... Maybe!

Welcome to December!

December 1, 2007 a weird weather day, to say the least. We had some pretty cold weather (about 15 degrees F), some very windy weather (gusts over 40MPH), some sleet, some snow, a little bit of rain, a lot of rain... All we needed was some sunshine and we would have had the whole gamut.

I, of course, was at work for most of it, except when it was about 20 degrees with 40MPH gusts, and sleet. That was the time I chose to leave the office - I have a great knack for timing, don't you think? Now after scraping an eighth of an inch of ice off of my car in that crap, I next had to get some gas, because I sure the heck wasn't going to get stuck running out of gas in that weather.

Too distracted to finish, so... I will now go and bathe myself, or is it shower myself, and maybe try again later.

If not, see you next time.

See what I did?

Now all I have to do is get it to my side bar and I'll be done. Yea!

The End (director's cut)

Hello again, hello.

So today we took the kids, five of six at least, to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. We left the house around 7:45 and got there at 9:15. Yep, an hour and a half to drive, roughly 45 miles. Gotta love the big city and all them perty little cars, don't cha?

So we get there, and run into someone that is bragging about getting the kids up and ready by six. Yes, I said six. Give me a break, who cares, and why do you want to go through all of that crap anyway, because you know that they will be rather whiny at some point. Oh no, not my kids. Okay, good for you, now excuse me while I ignore your braggard butt.

Maybe I was really that crabby, or maybe I made most of that up in my little mind, you will just have to leave it at that. :-)

First exhibit, The Evolving Planet a cool little history lesson about the natural evolution of the planet and how there are six mass extinction periods throughout the planets history, number six being right now. Trying to scare us a bit, don't you think? Anyway, guess what we found out? There was global warming way back in them thar prehistoric times --- who knew that there were so many SUVs back then!? So, if you want to see some pretty cool stuff, and get preached about how we humans are ruining, just ruining, this beautiful blue planet of ours, go see this exhibit.

Next up, potty break! Katie had to go, then so did Maggie and Jessie, and Jenni. Danny wanted to follow them, and did, only to get rejected and sent back out with us boys. :-)

Next we saw something on Life in the Pacific--eh! It was okay, I guess. Although the fun was watching Jenni change Danny's poopy diaper in record time, before a group of school kids came through. Amazing stuff, let me tell you. I guess he really did have to go, maybe we should start thinking Toilet training.... naw, too early still.

Next we went to some Indian hut for stargazing (Editor's note: There was a trip to the underground where we all got shrunk down to less than an inch in height and saw the world as the bugs do, before lunch. Apparently the author of this piece either didn't enjoy it, or just forgot about it, we are not sure, but we felt that it was important to add our three cents at this point. We leave you now for the rest of this tale...) I wanted to go and se the map exhibit, and the kids wanted to see Egypt. Truth be told Katie and Maggie wanted to come with me to see the maps -- I told them it would be boring for them --- which cost extra, so Jenni put her foot down on that one. I saw the map exhibit alone. It was really cool though, not the alone part, the maps that they had in there. They had this 'book' of maps, where the book was easily six feet - if not more - tall. Really cool.

After we got back together, the girls took me through the Egypt exhibit, while Jenni and Benjy stayed with Danny - who was sleeping. I enjoyed that exhibit very much, but we did do a pretty abbreviated tour. We did see a winter hat inside a sarcophugus(sp?), which seemed to be out of place, if you ask me.

After that Danny woke up and we decided to hit the road for the trip back. Danny was not having fun and was crying... a lot! Benjy was getting frustrated with Danny's crying, I was getting frustrated with the traffic. The girls were fighting. Jenni was gasping everytime a car came near. Oh and Andy's girlfriend Rachael, called and tried to talk Jenni out of keeping Andy grounded for the night - not going to work sister!

Two hours later...

We're home! Yikes, what an ugly ride that was. Stop and go, and stop and go, and stop, and go....
I, of course, did my best to give everyone whiplash. :-0 Oy!

After we get back Andy comes home from work, tries one or two ore times to get a chance to go out --- no such luck! I'll have to share that story, if I haven't already, sometime. Anyway, Jenni and I then did go out do some Christmas shopping - bought tons and TONS of stuff! Then we went to Sweet Tomatoes (I had never been there before) and had some soup and salad, actually it was salad then soup, and we relaxed a bit before we came home to find Danny awake and the rest of the kids asleep.

Nice.

That's a wrap for the extended version. If I have more, and I always do, I will add it later - which I don't always do.

Good night - it's gonna be a cold one!

The End

of NaBloPoMo is here. Now, since this is last minute, it will probably be short. Also, not sure what clock we're going off of but it is currently 10:40pm here, so I made the deadline!!

Now, what to write about? Lots actually, but I don't know if I can in my current condition.... the condition of having to go #2! Eww!! Hey, it happens.

Short and sweet, got up, got dresssed, drove to Chicago, saw the Field Museum of Natural History, got back in car, drove home, took Jenni Christmas shopping -- bought tons of stuff!, went to a late dinner at Sweet Tomatoes, came home, put Danny to bed (yep, at 10:30!), because the babysitters (A & B) were asleep, hopped on computer, here I am!

Nice.

Longer version will fill in any and all gaps, but I have to go and take care of something, right now!!

C - Ya!

I Don't Know What To Write!

Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!!!!

Maybe it's because I am braindead from getting up at 2:30 this morning, after finally falling asleep around 11-ish.

Maybe it's because I am dreading the fact that I need to stand in a Christmas tree lot, in very cold weather. Granted in a couple of months we will be looking forward to temps like these, but it just isn't the same coming from warmer temps to colder temps as it is from colder to cold.... Do you understand what I am saying to you?

I'm not going to try to explain, because I don't think that I can at this point.

Hey, only one more day of NaBloPoMo!! Woo Hoo!!! I shall make it for sure. Unless, of course, the dinosaur exhibit at the museum comes to life and just ruins my day. :-0 Hey it could happen, right?

PITA is PITA is PITA... You would think that JC would have learned how to motivate these guys by now. Instead he sends out meeting notices to talk about the disappointing numbers from this past month. Never mind the fact that we still don' have P.O.s from 3/4 of the work we do... Oh well, one never learns when one thinks they know it all already, right?

Reminds me.... It's Quote Time!!! I wonder which fascinating quote I shall pick today.... let's see:

“A truth that’s told with bad intent, beats all the lies you can invent.” ~William Blake

How about them apples? Not sure what it all means, but I can guess.

Okay, I'm back - miss me? Just took a little break and took a look at myself in the mirror. Okay, that isn't why I took the break, sheesh. I have a large ego, but that's just crazy! Anyway, while looking in the mirror, I noticed something... I look tired. Not quite old yet, but definitely tired. What does that mean? Well, I did mention getting up at 2:30 remember, and that was sixteen hours ago. Maybe that has something to do with it, or could the PITA be getting to me? Naw, that's crazy!

Or is it?

Okay, I was going to leave it at that, but it just didn't feel right. Someone might read more into it than what I intended. Of course, it was a great dramatic-end-of-a-chapter kind of moment, wasn't it? Oh well. Who likes their job all the time anyway, right? It's not like I hate my job all the time or anything like that. It was funny when JC came and asked if everything was alright, saying I didn't look happy, or something like that. Maybe more of me is showing than I thought, I better work on that!

Yikes! Look at the time! I told Andy that I would be at the tree lot around seven... of course, I also told him to not be mad if I get there at eight. :-)

Sneaky, aren't I?

Things to Ponder?

"If a man is standing in the middle of the forest speaking and there is no woman around to hear him...is he still wrong?"

Now what kind of idiotic masochist would say something like that? I mean that is just asking for trouble, must be why there is no name associated with it. I will tell you where I got it from though. I got it from one of those widgets, I think that's what they are called, called 'Things to Ponder' that gives me new 'ponders' every fifteen minutes, or so. I haven't actually timed the refresh rate, but it doesn't really matter anyway, right?

I guess our audit went through with colors, haven't heard whether they were flying or not. Did hear an appropriate description of my current career path, as being a "geek-fest." Yep, that would be us, more or less. Just remember Bill Gates was/is a geek as well.

Oh well, just thought I would share that tidbit of info with you all. Happy now?

Politics!!

Yep, everybody's favorite subject... NOT!!

Pat Sajak has a few words he would like to share, an now he can. So, if you want to know what Mr. Sajak has to say about celebrity endorsements of politicians, you can go there, now or then.

Just having some fun with hyperlinks, at least I think that is what I am having fun with. Who knows, really, right?

Surely not me.

Want to see what horrifies animal activists? Some times people care more about animals than fellow people. What a shame. Of course that's just being selfish.

Right now we are trying to simplify things for everyone here at work, by coming up with play by play or step by step, whatever it takes to make things easier around here. Of course, we have a group of stodgy old folks that don't take to well to change. Oh well. Maybe this will make them consider retirement a little sooner. :-)

Oh well, I'm bored of writing this right now, so I will leave you with a quote....

“It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.” ~Voltaire

So put your hat on that!

New Word!!!

And it has to be the absolute best one I have EVER heard, are you ready...


ASSITUDE

That is the word that my loving wife calls my bad moods. Or, at least what she will call them from now on. Just in case anyone cares -- this word is now officially trademarked to us! That's right, don't you forget that if you want to use it. Of course for a small fee....

Anyway, I am at home now, see how fast that word works? And I am not taking a nap (told ya!) Apparently I will also be taking my daughter Katie to her girl scouts meeting (news to me). I am assuming that I will going back to work soon-ish. Be it after I pick up Benjy at six, or sooner, then head home, then... who knows? Maybe I'll just pass out and not worry about anything until tomorrow. :-)

SICK?!?!

No, it's not something cool, more than likely, it's a cold. That sucks. What should I expect though after spending several hours (about 7 of them) out in the cold, and four of them screaming my head off. Okay, so I only screamed a few times - but for a good reason, mind you, not like what Chester does with Linkin Park. Of course, if I could do that and make lots of money, I would. I digress.

Anyway, people all around me think that I look sick, and sound sick, I am a little more on the crabby side (yes, I took my meds!), and I have to blow my nose every 79 seconds. Maybe I am getting sick. I really don't feel like it, but... The sick person is always the last to know, right? Anyway, so now I am stuck in a quandary. Do I go home and try to take a nap, or do I tough it out and stay at work? As much as I think I would like a nap, I doubt if I would actually sleep. No, it has nothing to do with the kids, it has something to do with my, for lack of a better term, biological clock. If it is daylight outside, I am less apt to sleep, believe it or not. Now there are some occasions where that theory is blown right out the window, like when I get winded while getting a twinkie or something. Seriously though, I don't believe that I will get a nap in, if I go home, and if I do I will probably be awakened before it would help and be more of a crab, then.

The second part just plays with my greed, pure and simple. You see, if I stay for as long as I was planning, I will collect two more hours of overtime pay, and I can always use more money. Who couldn't, right? It seems like the more I make, the more I spend, so what's the answer to that problem? Make less? Who knows. Now, if I stay all day, I will be tired and I will be a little more edgy/crabby, however knowing my history, I think that this might be the better choice, because I am more of an ass if I get woken up early, and...

Sorry, about that. There was a dramatic pause for those of you not paying attention.

Anyway, I just remembered that I have Progresso Chicken Noodle Soup, so all is good now. I also took a couple of decogestants, figuring that it can't hurt either.

More later...

Here they are...

I know they aren't the greatest, but this is what comes from a Cell Phone camera...

Here is a picture from when we first walked into the stadium, I wish I would have taken one from outside, so that you could see the difference from the ugly appearance on the outside (it looks like a UFO crash-landed in the middle of the old Soldier Field. Inside though, it is very nice.

This is a shot from behind the North endzone, where Mister Devin Hester decided to make a couple of historic returns. The first one, off of a punt, he ran under the tunnel approximately from where the first picture was taken. Obviously, we weren't in the tunnel itself, but the people sitting in those seats saw him running right at them.Next up is a picture from our seats, while the teams were warming up before the game. The Broncos are in white, and the Bears were in Navy, although I think that in this picture there were more Broncos on the field than Bears. This kid that was sitting behind us had gone down to try an get an autograph, but ended up getting a football instead. Brandon Stokely, from the Broncos (#14) came right up to the kid and gave him the football. That was pretty cool of Stokely to do that, and I bet he has a new fan for life. I know that I appreciate him more, and I'm not even the kid's father.Here is the young man that made all of these pictures possible. No not the inventor of the cell phone camera, but my son Andy!! Yea!! Okay, my voice is cracking a little bit because I was in full holler last night. Maybe a little Brandy will help. :-) Actually, as you can tell, we were a bit bundled up for the occasion. The thermometer on the big screen said it was thirty-nine degrees, with a wind chill of thirty-one, so I guess we shouldn't be too whiny, right? Besides there were some morons out there without their shirts on - thankfully, no pictures of them to share.This is some game "action." Okay, it's actually Denver in an offensive huddle, while the Bears defense gets ready to do some defending. If I remember correctly, this is where the Broncos coughed up the ball and gave the Bears great field position... but they blew it and fumbled the ball away themselves leading to a Broncos touchdown later. So, I 'technically' took the picture before a big Broncos scoring drive, right?Again, I want to thank the academy... oops, sorry wrong speech. Thanks again to Andy! Even though the Broncos lost, I still had a GREAT time!!

A New Day

Yes sir, all better now.

Came into work this morning expecting the worst - got it. Actually it wasn't too bad, just everyone dressed up in Bears gear, and singing that flipping song.

"Bear Down Chicago Bears..."

Oh well, like I said last night, it was a fun experience, despite the outcome, and I got the chance to spend some one-on-one time with Andy, so no matter what the game was a worthwhile experience. He even got to see Hester return, not one, but two punt/kickoff's for touchdowns. I think I said that already, but... I'm in a repetitive mood. If I can figure out how to email the pictures I took from the game, and if they are good, I will post them. Be forewarned, they came from a camera phone.

More later!

Woe is Me..

Broncos lost to the Bears today, 37-34 in OT. The only good thing about the game was spending the time with Andy, and seeing the Broncos dominate.... of course then they had to let the Bears back in it. Oh well. "Tis just a game afterall, right? Of course, I think that the New England Patriots are going to win everything anyway. Although Philadelphia is giving them a challenge tonight. As we speak, it is 31-28 New England, so we'll see if they can come back.

Ugh.

Oh well, I'm tired and want to go to bed now. :-)

Happy Saturday!

“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding one’s self in the ranks of the insane.” ~Marcus Aurelius

I think that I am going to start adding quotes to the beginning of my posts from now on. Why? Don't know really, just thought that it might show you what I find to be profound thoughts of the great and not-so great people of our past. How's that sound?

Anyway, here it is Saturday and I am where? You got it, work! I must really love my job, you say? Well, parts of it I do enjoy. Coming in on Saturday's is not one of them. Alas, I am greedy and have plenty of mouths to feed at home, and barring any major announcement, I need to work the overtime. I wonder when that money ship is expected to come in? Doesn't matter rally, though. Why? Because then I'll be bitching about a whole new bunch of problems, and I would probably lose the desire to share these thoughts with you all. No great loss, I'm sure, but since I am doing right this second, what I want to do a lot more of, then ... Well you can see how it would be a bad thing. Now, if I were to be earning 'buckets of money' doing this, I would probably complain a lot less. :-)

"If it is to be it is up to me." -- Ten profound words from somebody that I don't know, saw it posted on a blackboard somewhere in high school, probably on Mr. Gorce's board, always liked his classes. Didn't like Beowulf, but that's just me I am sure. :-)

Read an article today about people that are sterilizing themselves, because it is selfish of them to have children and increase their "carbon footprint." Give me a break. I mean this whole 'going green' crap is getting kind of crazy. I mean, I believe that when Mt. St. Helen's blew it's top, it left a larger 'footprint' then everyone on earth for a whole year did. Besides, I don't see Nobel Peace Prize winner Albert Gore changing much of his 'footprint' unless it is from his bloated size, due to his bloated ego, in receiving a "peace prize" for creating a chaotic world where people are worried about how many carbons they are emitting.... Check back in thirty years, or so, when Global Cooling will be all the rage again. This is just some bitter scientist's excuse for not being able to prove or disprove the presence of God!

Anyway, to the people that want to sterilize themselves to decrease their 'footprint,' I know of another way in which you can accomplish that, and that would be the ultimate bit of selfishness by taking themselves out of the picture. I'll keep it at that, but if you need a better clue, do like Jim Jones and drink the Kool-aid. Morons. Oh well, the world would probably be better without their kids anyway. I know, I know, I am a mean son of a gun, aren't I?

Next...

Have a great day! I'm going to try to improve mine. :-)

Black Friday!!

You know the day when all the retailers say they finally made some money for the year. It is also the day where normal sane people brave the weather and stand in line for a chance to get a "door-buster" - that special deal that will NEVER happen again - you know the one where the last week before Christmas you can find it for less than the DB price.

Who the heck would go through all of that?

Me. And I was solo. Go figure, right. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE to spend money on Jenni and the kids whenever I get the chance. I just don't usually do it at five in the morning. As it turns out, I had only one store to go to and one item to look for/purchase. That was Jenni's Christmas present.

By the way, if you are keeping score at home, this is the first time that I have been told what to buy her for Christmas in our married life. So, after fifteen years of wedded bliss, I no longer have to choose. Cool? We'll see. :-)

So here I am in the 20 degree weather - you just knew that it was going to be cold, didn't you? At least it wasn't snowing or worse, windy. As I said, I'm standing in line with all the other "idiots" waiting to buy Jenni a Garmin GPS unit for $128 - great deal, I guess, for something that retails normally at over $200. Personally, I would have chosen one with more "bells and whistles" (like Australian accents!), but Jenni wisely reminded me that we don't need all of that, and well there is the whole, how much would we use it issue.

Okay, I'm standing outside, in line, at 4:35am, with about 120 people in front of me. What do you think the odds are of my getting the Garmin? Yep. So, Jenni might be getting more "bells and whistles" anyway.

Hold that thought.... I'm on a mission for Jenni... be back in a few...

Okay, I'm back after an unsuccessful search of the attic for some missing decorations. Gonna have to find them, or else. :-)

Another observation I made while waiting in line. Approximately five minutes before the doors to the store opened, people started appearing near the entrance. This lady in front of me was going on and on, saying "no they didn't, no they didn't just do that!" Ma'am, yes they just did, and there really isn't anything you or I can do about it, so...

I moseyed my way on through the 'chaos' of a Black Friday. Got back to where the Garmin's are supposed to be, and I think I saw one customer walk away with two of the GPS devices (probably on eBay as we speak), and I only saw one more after that.

Three.

They had three? Unbelievable. Who am I kidding, it actually is quite believable. So I left the store and called Jenni to tell her the bad news - I think she's okay with it, but if I would have got up sooner....

Doubt it, really I do.

I did go back in and picked up a couple of items - can't mention them here though, don't want to ruin any surprises. :-)

At 9, me, Andy and Benjy were at the Boy Scout tree lot. Yep, it's that time of the year when we get to sell Christmas Trees to the fine citizens of Batavia. A tradition that has been going on for more than sixty years. Wow! Who knew? Anyway, I listen to the message left last night, regarding start time, etc.. and heard "tomorrow morning at 8..." Ah crap! We thought it was supposed to be nine. Oh well, we did get there in time to unload the tree though. Always a fun experience, although some of them there scouts need to get a little stronger work ethic. They all wanted to be on the truck, until they realized that they would have to do some work. What? We have to do what? No way, dude. I just want to be on top of the trees - look at me!! Okay, all fine and good, now give me a tree, please.

After three hours at the lot, Andy and I made our 'escape' and headed home. Benjy stayed and helped for another hour - and got some pizza, so not all bad. Benjy and I were back at the lot at five to work our shift. In four hours, the boys sold three trees. Slow night, I guess. But Benjy got an extra $42 into his scout account because of our efforts, so not too bad for him, or us, because that will help pay for upcoming scouting events.

Told you about the misadventures of some of our Christmas decorations already, so... I shall bid you all a good night, and fill you in on more of my exciting life!

Words of Wisdom

From a Founding Father for Thanksgiving.



"It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of
Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits,
and humbly to implore his protection and favors."
-- George Washington (Thanksgiving Proclamation, 3 October 1789)


Have a great day!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

A time for Turkey...Okay, not that Turkey, but this turkey. The bird that Benjamin Franklin wanted to be our national bird, which would make all of our Thanksgiving dinners illegal. :-) Can't kill and eat the national bird, after all. No matter how you like your turkey and all of the toppings, or whatever else they are..... sorry, had some serious brain freeze going on there. Give me a break, it's early.

What is your favorite part of Thanksgiving? Is it the turkey, the stuffing, the yams, oh there is so much to choose from. Except maybe mince-meat pie.... Although I think that is more of a Christmas pie. Pumpkin pie is the pie of choice for this holiday, with whipped cream.. yum. Now I'm hungry.

This turkey is making a statement for the other white meat. :-) Don't worry mister turkey, I'll have plenty of ham as well. I need to stop talking about food, getting hungrier by the minute.

Now this is the best part of Thanksgiving for me... my family. I thank God every day for blessing me with my wonderful family. I don't know what I would do without them, and I cherish every minute spent together with them.

From my family to yours,

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Birding with Grandpa!

Actually with Great Grandpa!

And Uncle Alan, yes that uncle with all of the bird photo's. It was an educational experience for all. Too bad the weather wasn't better, but what do you expect for this time of year? The kids and Jenni met Grandpa and Uncle Alan to do a little bird watching. I believe they were on the lookout for an owl of some sort.... Ah yes, the screech owl. No that isn't a reference to Danny. (Stop that!)
This is a cute picture of Danny and Jessie (see he likes you!!), it looks like they are in a bird next or something. I really don't know since I was here... at work. :-(
Have a Happy Pre-Thanksgiving Day!!

How Do I Do It?

No really, I want the answer and I want it now?

How do I continue to come to this place day after day, spending countless hours doing a job that has become increasingly more boring with every passing minute, hour, day, week and month.

Ugh.

I don't know what to do. I don't know what I want to do. It is quite a quandry, and I don't like it. There really isn't much of a challenge here. I mean to be honest some of my kindergarteners behave better than the people I work with and they're five or six years old. So you would think that I would have a good example of this, but I don't. Why? Because I am just so tired of it and numb to it all that I cannot formulate anything to say about it.

It's all "she said," "she said," "he said," "I didn't do it," "it was them," "it wasn't me...."

You know what, just shut up and do your job, please.

Then I have someone that I need to apparently babysit. EL likes to be liked, and likes to try and impress everyone with their acumen when it comes to the job. The problem is EL doesn't like to take the time to do the job correctly, like checking serial numbers, and all that other stuff. So EL gets to stay on 100% checks for, life it appears, because EL doesn't want to invest in taking the time to do the job correctly.

Then there is the lying, and sticking with the lie even when EL knows that EL has been caught in the lie. Kind of like the five year old that tries to pull one over on Mom and Dad, never realizing that Mom and Dad were five once as well. Oh well, I really don't want to go any further with EL, who is some need of growing up and to quit trying to be someone that EL isn't.

Did I mention that the Broncos won last night? -- Whoo Hoo!!!!

I posted this picture on the family site, liked it so much over there, I'm posting it here as well. Thanks again to Allears.net for the pics. They are cool.

With that I will say, good night, until next time... who knows maybe that will be later tonight if ATT fix my darn internet problem - oh I am sure that they will claim that there isn't anything wrong on their end, but we all know better now, don't we. :-)

5-5

And in first place! Yep, the Broncos ended up winning the game last night 34-20. Of course if you look at just the stat sheet you would think that the Titans won the game, dominated the game in fact. My guess is that Denver was in a more or less prevent defense scheme, since they were up by 14 early and often.

Next up... The Chicago Bears! I'll be there, thanks to Andy getting me tickets for the game. Hopefully they will do well and win this game also. That'd be cool. Chicago is a team that has played sporadically this season and I'm not sure which team will show up. I do like the team that Denver has brought to the table the past couple of weeks though. The offense is finally clicking, and without a lot of their star/key players.

Like I said we'll see.

Are you ready for some football?

Well yeah.

Especially with the Broncos playing the Titans tonight on ESPN. Unfortunately, I am too dirt-ass poor to pay for cable, that I will not be able to enjoy the game. C'est la vie!

Look at me speaking, er writing, in French.

Anyway, as much as I would love to watch the game, only so I can become the animal that I really am, when the Bronc's screw up, I can't. So, if my computer is working properly - by that I mean my internet connection, I will more than likely be sitting in front of the screen watching the Gamecast on ESPN.com or Yahoo.com, whichever one shows the Broncos winning, of course.

I have probably jinxed them, so they'll lose by eighty now. Ugh - it has been one of those seasons. I was so excited about them going to SuperBowl XLII this year. Alas, it looks like New England will be going 19-0 and taking all of the fun out of it. Oh well. It is just a game, right?

The Dynamo are the champions of the MLS for the second year-in-a-row, whoo hoo!

Who are the Dynamo, and what sport do they play?

Ahyes, those of you that don't follow the MLS don't realize who the Dynamo are. The are a great soccer team from Houston Texas. So there, now you know.

The Queen and Prince Phillip have been married for sixty years!! Wow! She's been the Queen for fifty-five of them. Congrats go out to Queen Elizabeth II, God Save the Queen, indeed.

I'm in charge at work this week, since the BOSS decided to take off today instead of tomorrow, or Wednesday like he originally planned.

Party Time!!

Not much else really, other than the computer/internet not working so good at home. I guess I'll have to bring a backup for tonight. :-) Shhh, don't tell.

See ya later!