Free Chinese Relationship Roadmap!

That is what I got in my email today. I am just SO excited! No, really I am. This could be the answer to all my questions, I will never make a mistake in any of my relationships again. That's right. See what they offer:

Dear Astro Fan, (Okay, I like the Rockies, not the Astros!)

New from Astrology.com: Uncover the road to relationship bliss with your free sample Relationship Road Map! (Sorry folks, I eliminated the links. Actually, they didn't make it over when I copied this so... sorry.)Based on the time-tested techniques of Chinese astrology,(How long is time-tested?) you'll get clues to what twists and turns lie ahead for you in love and friendship, and discover how you can triumph over any astrological challenge. (Astrological challenge? Is that like a defunct spy satellite crashing to the ground and crushing all the life out of whatever it lands on. I wonder if I would get this in time to find out if I will be crushed by said satellite?)Try your free sample first,( I LOVE free sample day! I go to Sam's Club every Saturday, just for that reason.) then upgrade to the full-length version (I love Upgrades!!!) for an in-depth look at what element and animal signs make you tick. Order through this email and you'll save 25%! (As opposed to....)

Wow! Who knew I could get all of that, and more! Speaking of which, there was more... a post script no less. Wanna see? Sure you do.


P.S. Will 2008 be your year for love? Find out with a free sample Love in the New Year tarot reading! (Where do I sign up!!)

Pass it on! Forward this offer to a friend. (Consider it forwarded.)


Wow. Paris Hilton was just on George Lopez! That's just, uh, just...

Bye-bye

Thoughts and Maybe a Rant

Hey there, and welcome to the Blizzard of '08!

Okay, I haven't been near a window all day, but people keep calling me here at work to tell me how bad the roads are getting. So, I'll call it like I hear it. :-)

Locks of Love is a great non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to disadvantaged children, under the age of 18, that are suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. My daughter Jessica's school had, I think it was, The Hallmark Channel at their school last year to promote this cause. Several girls donated their hair - has to be at least 10 inches in length, and some were even on the special. Jessie didn't make it then, partly because she had recently had a haircut and her hair didn't get to the proper length in time. She was bummed, but determined.

Jessie is blessed with my hair. By that I mean, very thick. Of course when she is screaming about getting her hair brushed, well, it's not such a blessing. Anyway, she wanted to donate her hair, and today she did it! We are so proud!! And Jessie's neck is a little cold. Bad timing, I guess, but that's what they are taking their knitting class for, right? Scarves galore!

Jenni actually has made more posts than I today. I'm going to have to rectify that! Actually, I am glad that she is, and very proud of her taking the time to jot down a few words. Maybe she'll get to the point that she joins the "mommy blog" network. :-) She still lurks a lot, but I think she is warming up to the idea of a blog. I like the blog because I can vent, I can share, and I can be silly, while not hurting anyone. I think. :-)

My work laptop is dying a slow and painful (to me) death. Actually, I just looked at some stuff, and I HOPE that I will be able to defrag it. That may improve things a bit. Nothing worse than needing the computer for work, and not being able to use it for several hours.

I wish Congress would quit their bickering and settle on what dollar amount that they are going to send me. I'll spend it. Promise.

Have you donated yet? Time is running out, only fourteen more days to save someone's life.

Lost is back!! I hope I can get home in time to watch it. Otherwise I will have to watch it while I'm at work.

Eddie Slovik was executed for desertion on this day in history.

David Beckham won't be playing for England during their next friendly soccer match. He was hoping for his 100th cap, that will have to come on a later date.

How's that for the Bug Report? Okay, it's not has expansive as Matt Drudge's, but you didn't really come her for that anyway.

Have a nice evening.

Oh What a Day!!

I love days like this. They tend to challenge you as a human being and make you realize how lucky you really are.

Unfortunately, they also show that there are flaws in people and places that you would never expect.

Alas! I just love that word, and I'm not even sure what it means. I think.

It was Freaking' COLD this morning! Now normally I don't bitch and whine about the cold. Living here sixteen years I have found that there is always a week in January where the temperatures drop to places I would rather not see.

That was last week.

Yesterday it was near 50. This morning -5. That is nearly 55 degrees of difference in about 18 hours. Yikes!! No shorts today.

Of course there were no shorts today - it's a day of work and the frivolity that entails. Today, it was mostly work. Little Miss E. asked if she was getting fired on Friday. All I said was I don't know. That is being as honest as I can be. I know that the 'big guy' wants to let her go but, with him, you never know. Another mostly work item was/is the end of billing for the month.

Ugh, not much today, at least for now. Have to head home for 'family time!'

Once Upon a Midnight Dreary...

Today in 1845, Edgar Allan Poe released The Raven, in the New York Evening Mirror. A marvelous piece of work that stands the test of time. At least in literary circles.

The Raven tells the story, in the form of a narrative poem, of a young scholar lamenting the loss of his beloved Lenore. Oh, and he is visited by a talking Raven that makes the scholar a little loopy, to say the least. Of course is he really loopy or is he trapped in the shadow of.... something far more sinister. Hmmm.

Or maybe I am just pulling things out of my posterior? It has been a long time since I read The Raven, and may be a long time before I do it again. Although, I have to admit that my curiosity is a bit piqued at rereading it. I'll let you know.

Two things caught my eye today, as I perused the Internet news sections. Both interest me greatly, for different reasons. First we have this moron. Yep, go ahead and read it, or keep with me and I will spoil the surprise.

It seems that this esteemed archivist, esteemed is my word, decided to steal archives from work. Where did he work you say? Why would such a theft bother the Bug? Well, you see this archivist works with the New York State Library and stole various artifacts, sorry archives, like Davey Crockett almanacs, a four-page letter from Vice President John Calhoun written in 1823, and the 1865 railroad timetable for Abraham Lincoln's funeral train.

Why did he do this? To help pay for his daughter's $10,000 credit card bill. I kid you not. He even sounded rather cavalier about the whole thing, saying that he would steal archives whenever he needed the money, for remodeling his house, vacations, you name it. What a puddwhacker! He deserves the 25 year maximum sentence.

Next story that caught my eye was this one. The sky is falling, and it may be falling near you too. Especially if you live in North America, which I do. So that's just great, a huge chunk of a spy satellite is hurtling towards us as we speak. I imagine that it would be quick and painless, at least. I thought these things were supposed to burn up in the atmosphere? Sheesh. So everyone look to the sky towards the end of February and see if your future isn't going to be so bright. Actually, I guess it would be pretty bright right up until the....

Other stories, I am sharing with you this fine Tuesday evening, from the grand cabin of my workplace. The employee mentioned earlier, a few posts back. I think their days are numbered. We have a meeting on Friday at 5 to discuss the matter. Never a good sign.

Catherine, I really do not dislike my job, I just vent here on occasion to share with the world what I feel is an inordinate about of stupidity when it comes to some things. Heck, I have been accused of being inordinately stupid myself - especially when it comes to French. :-)

Diet Coke two-liters were on sale Five for $5, you know I got some of that! Same goes for Campbell's Chunky soups, they were on sale for ten for $10. I know can be trapped at work for several days and still not lose any weight!

Just got a call from the Mrs. and apparently the day that started out in the high 40's is now in the teens and dropping. Plus there is wind, snow and ice. Yea! Drive home should be an adventure, to say the least. i guess the weather dudes and dudettes weren't exaggerating, eh?

Oh well, better go then.

Music that was just playing for me:

Eagles of Death Metal: I Want You So Hard (Boys Bad News)

What the heck kind of group and title is that? Oh well, I like the song, so I guess it doesn't matter.

Have a great evening!!

Book Meme

This is for Jenni over at Miller Time...

Here are the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.


Okay, the nearest book of at least that length is.... Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

This is what I found after sentence number 5...
"He came back with the record's slipcase, which he handed to me. The record was called Cat House Piano. It was of unaccompanied piano by Meade Lux Lewis."

Not as earth-shattering or as noble as Jenni's choice, but it was the closest book, and one I am currently reading (been on a Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. kick for some reason).

Now I will give you a bonus Meme, and pick another book that is nearby.... Lisey's Story by Stephen King.

This is what I found for this book...
"That wakes her up most of the way,because it scares her. What is he saying? That he wants to break up?"

Wow, that is pretty lame as well. One more chance, this one comes from Skeleton Coast by Clive Cussler.

Sure to be some action, at least I hope so....
"'I can feel it.' Juan turned to his friend, catching his eye so there would be no misunderstanding. 'Do you remember what I told you just before we took on those two guys from NUMA headed for Hong Kong harbor?'"

A little better, with mostly dialogue. So which one do you think you are more apt to read? Any? All? None?

Now for the fun part, who do I tag?

Why no one, of course.

It's a freebie.

So enjoy.

Tootles.

Marriage is?

Marriage (Part I)

Typical macho man married typical good-looking lady, and


after the wedding, he laid down the following rules:

"I'll be home when I want, if I want and at what time
I want -- and I don't expect any hassle from you.
I expect a great dinner to be on the table unless
I tell you that I won't be home for dinner.
I'll go hunting, fishing, boozing, and card-playing
when I want with my old buddies, and don't you
give me a hard time about it.
Those are my rules. Any comments?"

His new bride said:
"No, that's fine with me. Just understand that there will be sex
here at seven o'clock every night...whether you're here or not."

(DARN SHE'S GOOD!)

************************************************

Marriage (Part II)


Husband and wife had a bitter quarrel on the day of their fortieth wedding anniversary!

The husband yells, "When you die, I'm getting you a headstone
that reads, 'Here Lies My Wife -- Cold As Ever'!"

"Yeah?" she replies. "When you die, I'm getting you a headstone
that reads, 'Here Lies My Husband -- Stiff At Last'!"

(HE ASKED FOR IT!)


******* **********************************

Marriage (Part III)


Husband (a doctor) and his wife are having a fight at the breakfast table.

Husband gets up in a rage and says, "And you are no
good in bed either," and storms out of the house.

After some time he realizes he was nasty and
decides to make amends and rings her up.

She comes to the phone after many rings, and the irritated husband says, "What took you so long to answer to the phone?"

She says, "I was in bed."

"In bed this early, doing what?"

"Getting a second opinion!"

(YEP, HE HAD THAT COMING , TOO!)

*****************************************

Marriage (Part IV)


A man has six children and is very proud of his achievement.

He is so proud of himself, that he starts calling his
wife," Mother of Six" in spite of her objections.

One night, they go to a party. The man decides that it IS time to go home and wants to find out if his wife is ready to leave as well. He shouts at the top of his voice, "Shall we go home Mother of Six?"

His wife, irritated by her husband's lack of discretion,
shouts right back, "Any time you're ready, Father of Four."

(RIGHT ON, LADY!)

****************** ***********************

THE SILENT TREATMENT
;
A man and his wife were having some problems at home
and were giving each other the silent treatment.

Suddenly the man realized that the next day he would need his wife
to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight.

Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece
of paper,"Please wake me at 5:00 AM ." He left it where he knew she would find it.

The next morning the man woke up, only to discover it
was 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight.

Furious, he was about to go to see why his wife hadn't wakened him when he
noticed a piece of paper by the bed. The paper said, "It is 5:00 AM . Wake up."

Men are not equipped for these kinds of contests.

I Need a Better Title...

Now how about this?

I went to the trouble of finding six people to tag, all because Laura had tagged me. Little did I know that I would be caught in a whirlwind of Infinite Regression. Did I get that one right? Who knows? I'll let Aristotle take it from here:

“Some hold that, owing to the necessity of knowing the primary premisses, there is no scientific knowledge. Others think there is, but that all truths are demonstrable. Neither doctrine is either true or a necessary deduction from the premisses. The first school, assuming that there is no way of knowing other than by demonstration, maintain that an infinite regress is involved, on the ground that if behind the prior stands no primary, we could not know the posterior through the prior (wherein they are right, for one cannot traverse an infinite series): if on the other hand – they say – the series terminates and there are primary premisses, yet these are unknowable because incapable of demonstration, which according to them is the only form of knowledge. And since thus one cannot know the primary premisses, knowledge of the conclusions which follow from them is not pure scientific knowledge nor properly knowing at all, but rests on the mere supposition that the premisses are true. The other party agree with them as regards knowing, holding that it is only possible by demonstration, but they see no difficulty in holding that all truths are demonstrated, on the ground that demonstration may be circular and reciprocal.
Our own doctrine is that not all knowledge is demonstrative: on the contrary, knowledge of the immediate premisses is independent of demonstration. (The necessity of this is obvious; for since we must know the prior premisses from which the demonstration is drawn, and since the regress must end in immediate truths, those truths must be indemonstrable.) Such, then, is our doctrine, and in addition we maintain that besides scientific knowledge there is its originative source which enables us to recognize the definitions.”~ Aristotle, Posterior Analytics (Book 1, Part 3

How's that sound Kalynne? Isn't Wikipedia great?

Okay, so now I will answer my second tag in as many hours... I will also follow the fine example set by The Philosopher-Mom and tag only one person - she will find out at the end of this Meme!

FIVE(MORE) RANDOM THINGS ABOUT ME:

1. I prefer to take NyQuil, regular, only when I am really sick AND it has to be in conjunction with some Chicken Noodle soup AND then I wrap myself up in a cozy comforter and sleep for eight to ten hours straight. I think this is a cure for all my colds, and will try to use it, whenever I can. ( Ed: Can't get any more random than that, now can you?)
2. Whenever I read a Terry Brooks novel, I hear the song Don't Fear the Reaper, by Blue Oyster Cult, in my head. I think this comes from one of the characters in - I think it was the third book Elf Song of Shanarra, but could have been the second Elf Stones of Shanarra - had a character named, The Reaper. Now I'm going to have to read them all over again. (Ed: This is not going well, and I thought the #2 flushing was bad...)
3. I have voices in my head that sometimes show up as "Editors" and apparently they change colors as well. (Ed: We like to be versatile, besides that yellow was giving you, thus us, a headache. Now the italics are all us Baby. Oh and the blue was our moment of genius, as well.)
4. I tend to be long-winded.
5. I also love irony, and try to use it whenever I get the chance.

FIVE PLACES I WANT TO SEE OR SEE AGAIN:

1. Walt Disney World. Although I think that I mentioned this already, so I'll mix it up a bit, and say The Magic Kingdom. I really really love going there and cannot wait until we are there next, in December.
2. Scotland. Been there, done that, and would love to go back. What beautiful countryside, and the people are friendly as well. Oh and the monster of Loch Ness, she's a beauty, eh?
3. Vatican City, Italy. Well, I will even take in the sights of Rome, if I need to. :-) Actually, I would love to see the whole country, and I am jealous of the fact that my brother lived there and two of my nieces were born there.
4. Yosemite National Park. I love seeing it through the lens of the late, great Ansel Adams and I need to go there before I don't care. Or is that remember?
5. Washington D.C. I know a weird choice, but I LOVE history, and I would love to see the sights and everything out that way, including the Smithsonian and everything else along the Mall. Can't forget the Supreme Court, home of my "Dream Job" as a Supreme Court Justice. Granted, I would have to go back to college, then Law School and work my way up and into the heart of some future president, but I always wanted to be one. Or a writer. Or both, yeah that's the ticket.

My choice for being tagged is obvious, in my mind at least, Jenni over at Miller Time is the "Winner" because she just wants to dive right in to the blogosphere!

That's it for now. I think I will take the advice of Manic Mom and stop while I am ahead on these tags.... then again, some look like fun, so try me. :-)

I've Been Tagged... Now What?

Laura, over at A Day in the Life of a Mom of Six has tagged me for 6 strange things about me....

First, the rules, which are important, because they also tag — randomly — six more people to join in the fun:

1. Link to the person that tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website

Second, 6 random, strange things about me....

1. I can watch hours of Science Fiction, in a single sitting. Especially shows like Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Firefly.
   
2. I have a strong desire to visit Disney World on an annual basis - as long as it isn't during the months of Jun - August, whenever Spring Break is, and during the week between Christmas and New Year's Day - those times are for EVERYONE else! (Literally, it seems)
   
3. I have many story ideas in my head, but for some reason they won't come out. Some have made cameo appearances here and there, but they are like the groundhog that sees his shadow (I think, I'm working with the correct analogy, or is it a metaphor?) See what my problem is?
   
4. I am having a hard time coming up with random, strange things because, well they seem normal to me.
   
5. I can eat 10 White Castle cheeseburgers in one sitting AND not go to the bathroom for a #2 cleansing, for another 24 hours. Just don't be around for that, trust me. (Editor's note: That would qualify as TMI, in my opinion and you have just scared away the nice French lady that is going to teach you how to write French, n'est pas?)
   
6. I love to lurk at other people's blogs and wonder what they will do when I tell them that I have tagged them. Hey that is strange, right?
   

Okay, now to tag six, not so, random people.....

First off, there is Stephanie over at Manic Mommy

Then, we'll tag Swishy,

Next will be Kalynne at Philosopher-Mom,

I'll tag the Mrs. over at Miller Time (although she may not participate - then again, maybe no one will)

I'll tag Amanda over at Lady of the Rose next

and finally Catherine at The Five of Us

There you go... now if you do this, please have fun and if you don't? I think I will cry. Maybe. :-)

My Boss Is...

A big fat wimpy boy.

Why?

I'll tell you why. We have an employee here that has consistently been tardy, at least once every two weeks, missed three days because there car was "stolen" and they didn't have any PTO (Paid Time Off) left. Misused the company credit card, not once but three times, (yes I did say three and I am not exaggerating here). Shown up to work in a state other than one being ready to work another four times, that I know of (they have done on site trips where I cannot be a witness, and I took some vacation last year) Then there is the case of having all of their work checked, as opposed to, the 7% rate that everyone else is on. The several occasions that equipment has been shipped to a customer with the wrong paperwork.

Aaarrrrggghhh!!

The only thing that our customers see is the paperwork, so it is kind of important. This person has known that from day one, yet continues to be lacking in any sense of attention to detail. It's just very frustrating and I had to vent, so there... my steam has been released and I will be all the better for it. I think.

Back to your regularly scheduled whatever. :-)

This Sums Up Things Nicely

Words for thought:


"On Tuesday, millions of Florida voters will head for the polls. Being Floridians, many of them will become confused and drive into buildings, canals, cemeteries, other Floridians, etc. But some will actually make it to the polls, where they will cast ballots that will play a crucial role in the presidential election. Or, in the case of Democrats, not. It turns out that the 2008 Florida Democratic primary doesn’t count. Florida will be sending the same number of delegates to the 2008 Democratic convention as Uzbekistan. This may seem unfair, but there’s a simple, logical explanation: The whole primary system is insane. Consider the process so far: First, Iowa held ‘caucuses,’ in which Iowans gathered in small groups at night and engaged in some mysterious Iowan ritual that for all we know involves having intimate relations with corn. Right after that, Wyoming had a primary, but it was only for Republicans, because Wyoming Democrats (apparently, there are at least two) will hold their primary on March 8. Most of the candidates ignored Wyoming and focused on the New Hampshire primary, except Rudy Giuliani, who’s following a shrewd strategy, originally developed by the Miami Dolphins, of not entering the race until he has been mathematically eliminated. After New Hampshire came Michigan, where the ballot listed all the Republicans, but only certain Democrats—including Chris Dodd, who had already dropped out of the race—but not including Barack Obama or John Edwards. After Michigan came the Nevada caucuses, in which Hillary Clinton got more votes but Barack Obama got more delegates. (If you don’t understand how that could happen, then you have never been to a casino.) Then came the South Carolina Republican primary, which of course was not held on the same day as the South Carolina Democratic primary, which was Saturday. Then comes Florida, in which Republican voters will elect some delegates, although the total will only be half the number Florida was originally supposed to get. Meanwhile, Florida Democrats, as I mentioned, will have the same impact on their party’s nomination as if they fed their ballots to ducks. I am not making any of this up: This is our actual primary system, except (I hope) the part about the corn. We’re selecting candidates for the most important job in the world via a process that’s less rational than the one used to choose Miss Kumquat of Pasco County.” ~Dave Barry

Safe!

I am safe! Yep, the taxman approves of my latest transmission, and even said that I can buy my many alcoholic beverages on or after 8 Feb. I can guarantee you all one thing for certain - it'll be gone by the ninth!

We had an appraiser stop by and, er appraise the house. No, we're not moving - yet! But we are in dire need of getting out of a bad situation, caused three years ago when I was laid off from Avaya (bastards!).

Actually, I believe it goes a little further back when we got our last home loan. You see, I didn't see the layoffs coming - silly me, and we refinance with an ARM. It also was, apparently, considered one of them sub prime loans that has been in the news lately. Anyway, we figured that we would keep that loan for a year or two, and then either move or refinance to a fixed loan.

In the meantime, the financial people that we dealt with were part of a $365 Billion lawsuit. The lawyers got the bulk of the money, of course, while we all got a small piece of that pie. The billion might have been million, I can't remember anymore which in itself is sad, because it just got paid off in early December. Ugh, I am confusing you all, aren't I?

Anyway, my original point was that this appraiser went through the house, checking things out and one thing that we found peculiar was the flushing of toilets. Why did he need to flush the toilets? Is he part of some secret police force that is out enforcing the two gallon per flush rule, or something worse? I mean does the flushing action of one's toilet make the house value change that much? I can see checking out the furnace and central air, but we're talking toilets here.

The King of Queens is my life. Okay, not really. But I do get a giggle or three from it.

Anyone outside of the northeast even caring about the Super Bowl? How about the commercials? They have been more entertaining of late.

Catherine, the Denver Broncos are an American football team that plays their home games in Denver Colorado, and has been my favorite professional football (American) team for a really long time. They had a bad year, not as bad as the American Rugby team and the Rugby World Cup, this year, but a bad year just the same.

Kalynne, does an accountant know my wife's birth year? I need to go and talk to my wife! :-)

What is funny about the whole tax thing is; this is the FIRST time that I completed the Turbo Tax program with no errors. If I only knew. What is funny is that Jenni had to go through all these hoops with the Social Security Administration, to get her birthday correct about seven years ago, and that was our first thought when we got the error.

Okay, I think that I have gone full circle here with this post, so I shall now finish.

I'm In Trouble

My tax return got rejected by the IRS.

YIKES!!!

Okay, that isn't why I got in trouble. I'm in trouble because of the reason it got rejected.

I had my wife's birth year wrong.

Worse than that, I made her older!!

All is well and good, on both fronts now. I fixed the error and refiled. I also had to give up some of the beer I was going to purchase with my "winnings."

See ya!

Tax Time!!

Yep, and it is all over and done for me now. Which, of course, means that I must be getting a refund. :-)

Mr. Tax man, send me a dream (preferably in CASH). Now it would be nice if it were enough to pay for a vacation somewhere warm, alas poor Bug, it is not so. I think I can buy a case or two of beer though, and Jenni can get some of her fancy drinks as well. Maybe we'll make ourselves a new tax deduction.... You never know what God has in store.

Had fun at work. Yep, even on a Saturday. I only wish that people would realize (the people in this instance being the admin staff), that I get a lot of work done on Saturday's, while getting paid a premium, and I don't really want to be bothered with the normal day-to-day things.

I mean just because I know and have the answers, doesn't mean that I want to be asked, or tell you about it. :-)

I really am a teddy bear at work, and just like to talk tough. I think.

Came home to a night without television. What a beautiful thing. We are practicing for Lent, when we give up the "Boob Tube" for an entire six weeks. And we don't "cheat" on Sundays.

Okay new things on the blog for you to witness, look at, or just ignore. Both new items are courtesy of Philosopher-Mom, so if they really annoy you, go and tell her. She'll love both you and me for it.

The first thing is Blog rush, after they approve me of course. Which, it looks like they might have, because there is content in there. I put my category as aspiring writer, but I think this blog may lean more toward the personal diary category. Oh well, I think I can change it later, if I choose to.

The other is site meter, so I can see how many people aren't coming here. I know that Kalynne got a visitor from France. Which is cool, especially if you can speak French. I took French in ninth grade, oh about 25 years ago. Unfortunately, I can only say/read a couple of phrases so... if you are visiting from France and would like to teach me, then we'll have some fun!

Speaking of France, I too had a visitor from there. She gave me a hard time for my short post from a couple of days ago. So, now I have to make sure that I have long posts. Do they have to be interesting? :-) I can go through the process of calibrating a torque wrench if you'd like, but I would probably fall asleep before I finished, so I think I will stick to talking about me and my family. Oh and we can't forget the weather, the Denver Broncos, the Catholic Church, the...

Did I mention that my taxes are done?

I am as happy as these little people! I don't have to wait for any W-2s. or any 1099-int, -R, -whatever!

Okay, I think that I have been here long enough tonight. Besides there is laundry to be processed, and money to be spent. (Mrs. Bug and I have to figure out which brand of beer to purchase, and whether or not to go with the 'Top Shelf' good stuff this year.)

Have a great evening!

Birds!

Time to brag about my wife's Uncle Alan and his great nature photography. I do this every now and again by showing off a sample of his work and encouraging you to go and visit his website. Lots of info on the little birdies (and big birdies) as well.

I present:

Yes, I am a bad-ass! So, do not even THINK of messing with me.

This one is an example of chowing down on the fly. :-) If the food is small enough, the eagles will eat it mid-flight, not wanting to waste any time landing and all. Some of us can relate as we stop by our local fast food restaurants and grab the burger/taco/hot dog Du jour. Invariably making a mess on your brand new shirt or pants. At least the eagle's slop will just fall harmlessly to the river, or land that it is flying over. Harmless unless you happen to be under it, of course.

This one is just creeps me out a little, because it looks like a vulture. Which just means, to me at least, to not get in it's way while he/she is on the hunt. How do you tell if an eagle is a male or female? I really have no idea, maybe you can find out at the site. Maybe you should go check it out. Just maybe. :-)

Last one from the eagle parade... Here's looking at you, kid!

For those that aren't eagle-centric, here is a hummingbird. This picture serves two purposes, one it shows you a hummingbird (duh!), and second, it is a break from the cold weather. Not too many of these guys/gals will be around here in the -10 degrees of fun! I must confess though, it is no longer that cold, on the way in this morning, the car thermometer said 36! Woo Hoo! Don't fret it won't get above twenty next week. Lovely.

Here is a male and female cardinal. I love the lines of this bird, I think it is one of the coolest birds out there and I am proud to have a couple of cardinal families in my backyard. Too bad I don't care too much for their baseball and football teams...

These next two pictures of a Red-tailed Hawk, are pretty interesting. He/she had some, I think they were sparrows, harassing it. Probably because he/she got too close to their nest. Anyway, my wife's uncle said he never saw anything like this, when the sparrow actually was flying on the hawk's back. And he has pictures to prove it.

That's it, for now. If you want to see more, just mosey on over to here. Or you can wait a few weeks, and I am sure that I will post more.

Have a great day!!

A Few Thoughts This Morning

1. I'm liking this rebate more and more.... I have six kids! :-)


2. Here is a good article about your blood pressure and the importance of friends, even those via blogs.


3. My son likes McCain, I don't like any of them. He can't vote yet, I can.


4. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. wrote some whacked out things, if I say so myself, and I do. Try The Sirens of Titan on for instance.


5. Giving blood and sending a picture to Manic can win you BIG BIG BUCKS!! (My fat fingers almost had her giving away buicks instead).


6. Heath Ledger is gone, can we please let his soul Rest In Peace? And who cares if the masseuse called Mary-Kate Olsen three times? What would you do, in a panic? Probably call someone for advice, especially if you are dealing with celebrities. Don't want to mess with their images, etc.


7. Lost comes back next week! I think that I care, but I'm not sure.


8. I didn't even care that I missed American Idol this week. That show must be so over. :-)


9. I can't believe that this is my ninth thought already, and it isn't even 8 yet.


10. Just jinxed myself, because this will be my last thought... now I have a few pictures to share with you. I didn't realize how valuable camera phones could be, until I started reading Swishy's blog. Unfortunately, my pictures are rather dull, but I think there is a point to be made with them.

Now you know why we use Fahrenheit vs. Celsius!

Bye-bye for now... (mwah haaa haa)

I am...

And I should go to bed.

Long Day

Another long day, so this will be short.

Told you.

Oh, What a Day!

The alarm goes off at 4:17am.

I completely, totally, unconditionally hate that alarm! I also ignore it.

At 5:20am the REAL alarm goes off!

"Roger, Wake Up!"

Nnnn. I dnn wnnannana

"Just Get Up!"

Okakskk - or something like that! I don't really recall. I was still asleep.

Shower, skip shave, skip the other (that will come in time, believe me), get dressed and open the door to the frigid land of Chicago! Okay, technically not Chicago, but who the heck knows where Batavia is? Plus, it's actually colder here than by the lake.

But cold is cold, right?

Start the car, on the first attempt no less. Good car. :-) I thank my car every time it starts, I like to keep it happy.

Work, scratch that, PITA begins...

To summarize, woman no one likes comes back after two months of malin..., err injury/disability time, meeting to control every one Else's temper, frozen lift gate, cranky boss, inept employees, sick employees, quarterly waste of time meeting, no OT announcement, boss leaves, I look like a deer in headlights, go home.

Enjoy dinner with the family. First time in while. It was great, except that Benjy was a tad bit upset about #6 hitting the back key while he was uploading something for Maple Story. No more ski trip for Benjy. Too bad, because I was looking forward to going.

Off to RE. That would be Religious Education for those of you not in the know. Eighth grade plus Benjy. Benjy is taking seventh and eighth grade religious ed so he can get confirmed this year. We have a First Holy Communion and a Confirmation this year. Anyway, my neighbor asked me to teach her class for her (she had tickets for the Bulls game). Actually she asked my wife if I could teach, knowing that I love teaching! So off I go to teach the eighth graders about God, actually we were talking about Mary and the Communion of Saints. Was I nervous? Naw, I probably knew most of these kids anyway. Okay, that wasn't true but I still wasn't nervous. I have twenty-odd people that work for me, and I teach thirteen kindergartners Sunday School every week, what is there to be nervous about?

Nada. Zip. Nyet. Nothing.

That's right. Sure it started off a little slowly, but when Mr. Bug gets on a roll, there is just no stopping him. I believe that the kids not only had fun, but even learned a thing or two.

Next up, Girl Scout Cookies....

I am a sucker that is born every minute. I am also the 'Cookie Dad,' and have been for the past three - or is it four years, and I had to prepare the sheets for cookies. I dread this part because the forms are in triplicate and I tend to always make, at least, one mistake. I also have to add up all the cookies ordered, and then make sure I am ordering enough cases of cookies. Then there are the rewards, and figuring out what the girls wanted. It usually takes me about an hour to get through it all. Next month, it's pestering the parents to come and pick up the cookies, then pay for them. Why I choose to do this is unclear, actually the only, I repeat ONLY reason I am doing it this year is because Jenni is the troop leader.

That is it. No other reason. I don't even like the cookies anymore. (Okay, small lie there, I do like them, sorta, kinda a lot)

So, I am dreading the ordering, and guess what? They made it super easy this year! Yes, the Girl Scouts have finally found out how to set up a Spreadsheet!

Way to go, Idaho! (obligatory Toy Story reference)

No reason why I wrote that, it just popped into my head. Scary.

Anyway, it took all of ten minutes! I am so done! NO MORE COOKIE DAD FOR ME!
Plus Jenni isn't going to be the leader next year, and... that's it!

Day over, next stop, my bed and a 2:30am wake up. The Lord needs company, even if it is ten below!

God Bless!

Ten Minutes

"Yes, ten minutes."

"But I can't talk for ten minutes. What will I say?"

"Well start by answering the question, how has God affected your life?"

"Kind of a broad question, don't you think? I mean, that could be anything."

"Exactly."

"Oh."

That is how the last half of my Ministry Formation class started. We were to separate into eight groups of three people, all of whom we were not supposed to know prior to the beginning of this course.

Oh, how I hate that. I am such an introvert and would love so much to just talk non-stop to someone I know. Okay, maybe that isn't true either, but it has happened. Luckily they woke up before we ran off the road. :-)

Alright then, if we must. So I am in a group with two other women, one older than me, the other younger. I am to observe first, while 'B' - the older talks to 'M' - the younger.

First observation, B does bot feel comfortable, at all, and is obviously holding back. Oh wait, now M is interrupting B in an attempt to get B to share more. B stalls four more times, and each time M asks a question to get B started again. There were two instances of M interrupting B, four instances of M using questions to get B talking a little more, and one question that was never asked, that maybe should have been, so I asked it.

Basically B said something about how her daughter was questioning God and if it was wrong to not believe when receiving the Eucharist. I asked how old the daughter was, and for the simple fact that if she were five you would answer one way, while if she were sixteen you would answer another. She was sixteen.

Time's up! Switch.

My turn to talk, B's turn to listen and M's turn to observe. I start by saying that God has always been a part of my life and how I came over to the Roman Catholic side of the fence, from the Russian Orthodox side. You know, same sacraments, same Saints, same Popes, until about 1000 AD, then... well let's just say there was a difference in opinion. Not like the Reformation kind of change, more of a we slightly disagree with what your Pope has to say, so we won't listen to him anymore. Maybe we can get together and have a coffee sometime. A sort of trial separation if you will, something that won't hurt the kids too much.

Anyway, I go on and talk for my ten minutes, it actually felt like it went faster than when I was observing. Both B and M felt that I did a good job communicating, whereas I felt like I was going off on too many tangents. Kind of like what I do here. :-)

Times Up! Switch!

M's turn to talk, my turn to listen and B's turn to observe. M talked about a lot and didn't really say anything. Sounds mean, but it is really true. In one thought she is expressing how she doesn't want to trust God, and in the next how she wanted to become a Nun, maybe. Then how she is a youth minister, yet dreads going through the whole Confirmation process with her charges. AND, she is quite the "physical" talker. By that I mean, her hands were flying everywhere, her eyes never stayed in one location longer than five seconds and she kept fidgeting in her seat. Very distracting. She also made it hard for me to bring her up for air, and give her something else to chew on, via a question.

I told her that while I appreciated her story and did follow most of it, I found all of her movements to be quite distracting, and that I couldn't get a question in for clarification until almost eight minutes in. Whew! B said that she noticed M had a lot to say and that she too wanted to ask a question, or three, but didn't find any natural breaks or breathes and that all of the hand motions and eye rolling was a distraction as well. Then she told me that I was a "physical" listener.

Okay she just stole my line, darn it!

Also, that it looked as though I was uncomfortable. I was, and it was because M kept bouncing around, both with her words and her actions.

Stop!

That was the second half of class yesterday. Maybe I'll share the first half tomorrow. I have to go to bed right now, because I NEED to get up and go to work early tomorrow.

Bye-bye

R.I.P. Heath Ledger (1979-2008)

Meetings are...

a complete waste of time.

to be prepared for, BEFORE the start of meeting.

going to be way longer than they really need to be.

not a good place to be on a full bladder!

Can you tell how my afternoon went? Sheesh!

More later!

Happy MLK Day!

I, of course, am at work. That's okay though, since I get to now "float" this holiday to a date when it will be more beneficial to me, like at the beginning of my Disney trip in December. I will also be "floating" my President's Day holiday to cover the back end of my vacation to Disney.

Can't wait! Just over ten months away!! We are so excited to be going when the Christmas decorations will be up, and then there is the - oh what is it called, the Very Merry Mickey something-or-other? Ugh! I hate when I do that.

I heard some scary news over the weekend.... My Goddaughter can get her Driver's Permit this year. What's up with that?! I mean she's six, right? Actually, she'll be fifteen in September, it's amazing how time seems to fly right on by as we get older. I told her, that if she wanted, I could teach her how to drive. To which I got a rather hesitant "Okay?"

Don't know what the deal is with the questioning tone, I mean I have been driving for well over twenty years now, and... Whoa! Now, I think I will sit down and reflect silently for a minute.......

........ Okay, done. Like I was saying, no major accidents, heck I've only crumpled my hood twice, and only once with my child (who was sitting in the front seat at the tender age of, I think, three). Other than that, just a few unjustly prosecuted speeding tickets, and only a handful of those, okay maybe there were six or seven handfuls, but I'm a good driver. I even have a sticker on the back of my Driver's License that says so.

So there.

The weather is warming up. I think that today it was supposed to get to the low twenties. That is practically shorts weather, if you ask me.

I replaced my kitchen faucet yesterday! It was fun, and a time in which I wish I would have thought to take pictures. Let's put it this was - there is no way in Hades that anyone, anywhere, will be able to reuse the old faucet. Maybe I'll get a picture of it later, garbage day isn't until Thursday. Then I can share the whole story.

Did I do a proper tease? If not, what pointers do you have for moi? Or even for me. :-)

Uh.................................... dramatic pause.................................................. Wow!

Don't know what that was for, just felt like adding it. I wonder if maybe I should start writing and editing these out better, before I post them? Naw, it's not me, not my style. Besides, it's just practice for that masterpiece that is forthcoming.

No really. It is. I promise.

See, now I can't go back on that, can I?

Okay, back to work I go.

I Got Nothing

I am serious.

There is nothing in my head, that is worth typing on these pages. Then again, maybe something will come out - it always does. Of course I am assuming that what I have written here previously was worth reading,

Okay, enough self-deprecation.

So our Super Bowl XLII is set. Surprise, surprise it's the New England Patriots, all 18-0 of them. They will be playing the New York Giants. I really don't like the Giants. So much so, that I am now thinking about rooting for the Patriots.

Really.

Why did this happen? I mean it was supposed to be Brett Favre's year, wasn't it? What a bummer, dude! Now the team that really matters to me, The Denver Broncos, they haven't played any meaningful games in a while.

* I like seeing commercials for the Cradle adoption services.

* Uze Got It! Or is it U'ze Got It!? Maybe it's Use Got It!? Oh well. Doesn't matter.

* Wrigley from Skokie likes the Insider. - Yeah right, a dog actually cares about what's on TV.

Told you I had nothing.

George Lopez cracks me up. I think I may have mentioned that already.

What I find humorous is Benjy loves this show, I think that he even gets all the jokes.

So, my daughter has an acquaintance that came over today. Who knew that a eleven year old girl knew so much. I mean she was just passing advice out left and right, whether it was requested or not. Then she starts talking back to me. Whoa! Back up the bus kid, my own kids don't even talk to me like that. (Okay, that's not necessarily true, but I'm not going to let her know that.) Of course, this is the daughter of a woman that got into a discussion, or shall I say slight argument, over the spelling of Toboggan.

Yep.

You see this other lady, we'll call her 'E,' seems to think that Toboggan starts out 'Ta...' All my wife said was, no it's 'To...' No big deal, right? Well a little bit later, 'E' comes back and says "Ha! I told you it was Ta..." To which my wife smartly pulled out the actual spelling list that showed the correct spelling. For that effort, all she got was a "whatever."

Okay, vent over.

Now, I really got nothing.

Good Night.

New Pictures - Life at Home

Hot off the presses!!

Or should I say, 'Hot off the Scan Disc?'


Here's LHS! Playing games on his iPod Touch. We are both so excited that we have every feature that the more expensive iPhone has - except the phone and camera, of course. Alas, we have a decent cell phone plan already, so why spend $600 for a phone that will end up costing us thousands a year, due to all the data time that we would be using. So now we can use our iPod Touches to surf the web and check our email. As long as there is an open Wi-Fi and believe me, there are plenty of them out there; you have your Starbuck's, Panera Bread, various bookstores, and of course, homes without secure networks. Gotta secure them networks folks!

Next we have #6 and Magpie munching on some popcorn. They LOVE their popcorn, then again who doesn't? Okay some people don't, something about getting kernels in their teeth, or the fact that popcorn tends to "pass" through the digestive track a little smoother than other foods.

Next we have SAPLG - yep, when this picture was taken that was how she was. Isn't she precious? Five minutes later, she turned into her alter-personality SPLG. Gotta love bedtime! Actually it's that surreal time twenty to thirty minutes BEFORE the actual bedtime, which also inevitably goes, at least thirty minutes PAST said bedtime.

Here is Benjy trying to, simultaneously, hide from the camera and hide the popcorn from #6. By the way, I really need to come up with a better nickname for the boy. Something that will match his good-natured, with a touch of meanness that only a two year old could have.

Next up we have my beloved wife, and Cuddlebug practicing their knitting. SAPLG tries, but SPLG shows up instead. One of these days she'll realize that practice is okay, and that mistakes will happen. Anyway, these two have been patiently working on three or four rows, then pulling them apart, only to redo it all over again. Like I said, practice is okay, and it will take lots of practice to master this art form/craft.

Next up we have the mysterious Benjy. Once again, he has escaped the camera's eye. He was getting the Wii set up for fun and frivolity, or whatever. We love the Wii, and we all play the Wii. There are some fun games, that are able to keep everyone involved. Okay, that was pretty much a crap sentence, so if you didn't like it, just know that neither did I.

The next two pictures will truly demonstrate why I am actually blogging at this point in time... No further words are required. :-)

Yes, it is MY turn to clean the kitchen. Thankfully, SAPLG showed up to help me - by actually cleaning it up! I am sooo bad, and lazy. My excuse is that I am practicing my craft. And when I sell my first million copies, of whatever it is I finish, I will be able to pay someone to keep the house clean. By the way, the patience that I said my wife has plenty of.... Yep.

Gotta Go!

They Call It 'Puppy Love'

I am going to approach this post a little differently, and just go with what 'feels' right. By that I mean that i am not going to start with a title and work my way down.

Nope, instead I will just 'wing-it.'

Feels pretty good, so far. I mean I am feeling absolutely no pressure, whatsoever, to produce something that will live up to a title. Granted, I also am currently flailing around trying to think of an idea - got any?

Parents of teenagers, I have a question to ask you.... How the heck do you get a 17 year-old lovesick child to pull his, or her, head out of their (expletive deleted) and realize that there are more important things to worry about?

I mean just because I convinced my parents to separate, during my senior year in high school - for a girl, doesn't mean I want my 17 year-old to do something similar.

See, I knew something would pop into my head... Story time!

When I was a junior in high school my dad, a career Air Force Officer, was getting reassigned to; Omaha, Nebraska, Washington, D.C., or San Antonio, Texas. Which meant that once he got his assignment, we would be moving. No big deal, we've done it before.

In April of that year, 1984, I fell in Looooove. Yep, the cynical shy kid in the back row had found his love connection. Mon (oh, I should leave her name out)ez. Yep, she was going to be my wife and we'd grow old together and become fat and happy with lots of babies and grand babies.

Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad, but knowing myself the way that I do. It wouldn't surprise me if that thought actually.

Anyway, being in love one does not want to move away. I knew though that if I said I didn't want to move because of 'M' that we would be loading that moving van quicker than you can spell some really long word. Luckily, it was my senior year, AND I was in the reigning State Champion Marching Band, AND there was already plans on going to Orlando for a band contest.

*** Side note here for all of you band-haters. I don't recall our football team travelling all around the country in nice coach buses. Playing a trumpet did have it's advantages, don't forget that.

My dad got his orders in May, and I started my offense.

"It's my senior year!" - "We're going to Florida with band this year!" - "I think moving a kid between his Junior and Senior year of high school is against my Constitutional Rights!" (They actually laughed at that one.)

So, I tried and tried to convince my parents that separating me from my graduating class would just suck - never once mentioning 'M.' Heck, my grades didn't even suffer. Trust me, I was trying my best to stay.

CRACK!

Yep, they broke down and decided to keep myself, my brothers and my mother in Colorado, while my Dad moved to San Antonio. (Oh yeah, that factored into my dislike of the move as well. We were just there three years prior, and I wanted variety. Actually I wanted Omaha, don't really remember or know why just that I did)

Two weeks after my dad got settled in... You guessed it. 'M' and I were no more.

Now, I WANTED to move! This is when I found out the real reason that my brothers, mother and I stayed in Colorado, while my Dad moved to San Antonio alone. No, it wasn't a divorce - they will be married for 42 years in April. Nope, it was cheaper for us to stay in Colorado until we got base housing. So, my Mom kept working and my Dad lived in, basically an apartment on base - I think.

I graduated High School on June 1, and on June 2 we were heading down to San Antonio.

How's that for right off the top of my head?

That's the other thing I think I should mention for anyone that may read these entries. I usually write 'live' meaning that I don't edit and rewrite before I post. Don't know if that is the right way, but it is my way.

Okay, that's enough for now, I think.

Bye-bye!

P.S. - How did the title work out? Should I go back to title first then blog, or whatever?

I Don't Know...

But I think that Tom Cruise is teetering on the edge of sanity (ironic considering how he feels about mental health issues), Gawker has some insight, and a new lawsuit to possibly deal with because of this. You get to see Tom in all of his glory.

Now, is Tom comparable to one John the Baptist? Or to the Second Coming? I think not. However, there are many out there that believe just that. Some believe that Suri Cruise was conceived using the late L. Ron Hubbard's frozen sperm, and that she is the new "Messiah" of Scientology.

Should we be scared? Should we be rejoicing?

I don't know if scared is the right term, because even though the video says that Tom has talked to over one billion people about Scientology - where's the data for that, anyway? I don't think that Scientology has a billion followers. Maybe a few million, but I seriously doubt billion.

As for rejoicing? No. I don't believe any of the Scientology stuff. I think it is just a very popular cult of science fiction geeks that are following one of the pioneers of science fiction writing. That's it.

Besides, what kind of Catholic would I be if I believed that stuff. I can tell you honestly, that even if I wasn't a Catholic, I wouldn't believe it.

So there!

Ah,To Give Blood!

Yes, the call is out there and very few of you are answering it.

So, with great risk to myself (hadn't told Mrs. Bug this part yet), I have decided to match Manic Mom's donations dollar for dollar.

You heard me right.

So , get over to the blood bank, give a vein, snap a pic and send it on in to manicmommy@comcast.net

If you don't, you will miss out on saving someones life. You heard me. Your pint of blood can save a life, today! I guarantee if I could give the blood, I would, but because the power's that be seem to think I may have contracted Mad-Cow Disease (mwaah haa haa), I am banned.

I have AB Positive blood, which is a very rare blood type. Only 3% in the USA, share the same blood type as me. So, you would think that they could make an exception for me. I could lie, but, what if I really did have Mad-Cow and got someone sick? I could see the headlines now:

BLOOD DONOR TAINTS SUPPLY WITH MAD-COW!! (film at eleven)

Manic is at four donors, as of this writing, I want to see it at eight by this time tomorrow. Or, I'll cry, or something more radical, I'll come to YOUR house and sing Karaoke!

So get donating.

Who am I?

In an effort to find that true meaning of "Who am I?" I found this little - I think it's called a blogthing, makes sense since it is a thing for a blog. Right?

Anyway, Laura over at A Day in the Life of a Mom of Six had this little doodad on her blog, and I thought that I would try it. Here's what I get, if I do it right, that is:

What Roger Means

You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life. You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you. At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself. You are deeply philosophical and thoughtful. You tend to analyze every aspect of your life. You are intuitive, brilliant, and quite introverted. You value your time alone. Often times, you are grumpy with other people. You don't appreciate them trying to interfere in your affairs. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

What's" Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

So what do you think? Is it me?

More later, I have to go to bed. :-) (so much for that ton of energy!)

A Continuation, of sorts...

I just realized that I never finished my post from the day before. I must have really got distracted. Also, I can never trust the boss when it comes to snow - he's such a wuss. Seriously, I mean he blew a fuse in his brand new Jeep - for the radio, and instead of fixing it himself he wants me to go to the dealer with him tomorrow.

"It's a fuse. Why don't you just replace it?"

"Too cold."

"Yes, but you have a HEATED garage!"

"Yeah, but..."

Okay, sidenote here. This man claims to have been everywhere and done everything. At least enough to one up everyone on their stories. I don't doubt that he has done what he says, and the like. BUT. Shouldn't he be able to replace an effing fuse in his car? Yikes. Plus, he buys this jeep because of it's great turning radius.

It does have that. But it rides like an old stagecoach. There is no doubt that I have felt every bump along Army Trail Road and Gary Ave in my mind. Ugh. I especially hate it when I ride with him on a full bladder. Need I say more.

Okay, so when he told me there was a quarter of an inch of snow on the ground, I fell for it and panicked a bit. I feel so stupid. Sure there was that amount of snow, that had drifted to about a quarter of an inch. But this was your dry fluffy snow. No need to panic, at all.

At least I wasn't late picking up Benjy, that would have been bad. Think of what I would have missed. You'll just have to read below to find out what I am talking about, I guess.

Where was I? Oh yeah, #1 wants me to get Bon Jovi tickets for us to see these ageless wonders in concert at the United Center. No thanks. "Besides you are so far behind in your school work that I may take one of Benjy's friends with me to the Hawks game!"

"That's not fair."

"Neither is life, my boy, neither is life."

Okay, I didn't actually say all that, just played it in my head, then I wrote it down. Now all I have to do is get him to read my blog.

Okay, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Crap! American Idol is on tonight, isn't it? Gotta go!

Yeah right.

Yes, I'm that Dad.

I was picking up Benjy from choir last night when I hear.

"Mr. Bug, Benjy has something he wants to ask you." This was from one of Benjy's friends that also happens to be a cute little blonde. We think he may like her. Just a bit.

So, I'm thinking, what could Benjy want to ask me, that R has mentioned. He kind of shrugs his shoulders, asn in his famous Benjy mumble, so "I mmskd kjsdi" Yeah, that cleared it right up.

So R, who is now joined by E - another girl that happens to be a friend, who I think likes Benjy. Can you see these triangles forming, already at the young age of 13? Anyway, R says something about Cold Stone Creamery - Ice cream!! (You already know what I'm going to say, don't you?) Then E chimes in, "but it has to sound like it's YOUR idea."

Okay. No problem.

We head upstairs - oh by the way there is also two boys with this group, E's brother B, and their friend J, who has a brother E that I always get mixed up. Got it?

Upstairs I see R's mom and E and B's mom, who also has their sister C! This trying to protect identities is getting confusing to me, so I may stop soon. I walk up to them and say.

"My, doesn't Cold Stone sound like a great place to go, right now, even though it's a school night (I should mention that ALL of these kids are homeschooled, so that argument gets swatted away, immediately), and it's something like 20 outside?"

Now you can see the mom's fighting this temptation, not really that hard, but fighting it just the same. "But E isn't here." "C already has her jammies on." "It is cold outside, isn't it?" "Did you get all of your homework finished?" (You can sense that we are going, at this point, can't you?) "Well, as long as J says it's okay to go without E."

Poor kid, now has the pressure of being the deciding vote on our ice cream crusade. "I don't want E to be mad at me." "We'll buy him a gift card!" What is amazing about that last statement is that both R and E said it, at the same time, in a very loud voice. So loud, in fact, that those praying in the room next to us, all looked over and just shook their heads.

Oops. Don't want anyone praying to be mad at us. Bad mojo, you know.

Anyway, J said yes and we were off to get the ice cream. I'm not really a big fan of Cold Stone, but I felt the sacrifice was warranted. Really, I did. So much so, that I got the Gotta Have It size. That's large for you Cold Stone virgins. Something called a Peanut Butter Sensation, or something like that. It contained chocolate ice cream, peanut butter cup, peanut butter and chocolate syrup. I wish they would have put in two peanut butter cups, but I think I will survive. :-)

To insure my survival, I brought one home for Jenni.

I ain't no dummy!

So, yes, I am that Dad. You know of who I speak. The Dad that gives in easily to the slightest bit of pressure. The Dad that revels in seeing smiling faces on kids faces, and not just his own.

Winter Makes a Comeback!

Yes, the balmy weather of the past few days - dare I say weeks, is over. Cold is the word Jenni used. Now, some of you out there may think that the temps in the 30's is actually cold. I beg to differ... that's still shorts weather!

Hey, when you have as much insulation as I currently have...

Someone bring me a glass of water!

Anyway, it's only going to be 9 this weekend. Now, we're starting to get cooler. Okay, maybe that is cold. Plus, there will be wind.... there is ALWAYS wind when it gets cold. Something about the lake being warmer and then the wind forms, and I really have no idea what I am talking about. Really.

Do you think drinking six liters of Diet Coke, a day, is unhealthy? Okay, I'll stop at four then!

I wonder if I couldn't taste it, would I eat it? Could be a new diet craze, don't you think? I can see people lining up to have their tastebuds removed. Of course, life would then become rather blah, and kissing would become blase', or is that blaise, or is that... who know's! It just wouldn't be good, or right.

My son is trying to get me to buy tickets for the two of us to go and see Bon Jovi. Bon Jovi! You know that hair band of the eighties... Kind of rock, more pop. Yeah, you know the band... "Runaway," "Shot Through the Heart" and the like.

Speaking of weather.... Snow on the ground and I need to pick up Benjy.

See you later!

Continuation of Friday

Well, I thought about it and decided to go ahead and show you all the "resignation" letter from our soon-to-be former employee "JB." Go ahead and read it through, and I will see you on the back end...

I, J B, submit this letter of resignation to The Company. 18 January 2008 at 1630 will be the date and time that I will be terminating my employment with this company. There are many reasons for this termination of employment (resignation, for those politically correct), which may spark the interest of the Company HR department.

1. The cost of insurance is too expensive; the company that I will begin employment with offers better insurance benefits through the same insurance companies that The Company utilizes at half the cost.

2. The pay for my services is not where I want it to be. I have asked for a raise several times, which ultimately ended in an unfavorable outcome. When I asked to have my pay increased to 45,000/year the first response I received was that it would come to me in two increments, which would result in the desired wage upon my one-year anniversary. Several weeks went by and I still did not get any sort of confirmation on whether or not I would receive the desired wage. Upon the conference I had with the hiring manager the incremental raise was then turned into a one time raise at my one-year anniversary and there was no guarantee that I would receive the desired wage upon that day. Furthermore, the company that I have been offered a job with has offered me a job with a starting wage of 24.29/hour (50,523.20/year).

3. Although the overtime situation in conjunction with holidays is within legal guidelines, it is unfair and even unethical, as far as I am concerned to make an employee work an additional eight hours to accumulate 40 hours to make up for the lost time during the holiday period before actually accruing overtime pay. This will ultimately reduce production as no one wants to get paid regular wages for Saturday, Sunday, or even regular weekly overtime.

4. The overtime addendum, which limits the amount of overtime a company branch is allowed to work, also encourages an employee to leave the company. It is very difficult to live in or near the city of Chicago on base wage alone. Furthermore, my drive to calibrate a heavy load of equipment and learn new equipment was due solely to the overtime that I new I would be working.

With these gripes and complaints mentioned maybe there would be hope for current and future employees. As there is no hope for me I finish this resignation with a signature and date.

J B 11 January 2008

So, what do you think? The only changes I made were to the name of where I work, but only the italicized parts. Every other 'company' was his. I also figured I'd save him, and me, by leaving his name out.

Of course, he is also the guy/kid that I told should get better law representation. Because whoever he is using currently doesn't know what they are talking about. Oh well, he didn't really want to be here anyway, so more power to him, right.

Now JC is PO' about the fact that his letter is misrepresenting a few things, and feels that he was thrown under the bus. I guess I can see that as well, but personally I would just get over it. Or post it on your blog! :-)

Over and out.

Go Pack Go!

Yep, that is who I am rooting for, of the remaining four teams.

The Green Bay Packers.

Actually, I think that I am rooting more for Brett Favre and against New England more than anything. However, I think it would be outstanding to see Brett Favre beat New England in the Super Bowl, it would serve two purposes.

First, it would allow Brett Favre a chance to go out on top, like the greatest quarterback ever - John Elway.

Second, it would shut the New Englanders up. No one roots for the favorite, unless it's your team of course.

Heard a hilarious story about taking a dog to a chiropractor this evening. Yes, I said chiropractor! Who would have thought that people do that, but our friends M&K do, and by the tone of the story, you can tell that M thinks it is a bunch of hooey! I'll have to see if I can do it justice, some time. Just not now.

I try to tease them when I can!

Besides, it's 10:30 and I need to get up at 4:00AM - that's right. The work week has begun again - even tough I was there all weekend.

Bye-bye.

Are You Smarter Than an Eighth Grader?

Are you smarter than an eighth grader?


Remember when our grandparents, great-grandparents, and such stated that they only had an 8th grade education?

Well, check this out. - - -

This is the eighth-grade FINAL EXAM from 1895 in Salina, KS, USA. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, KS, and reprinted by the Salina Journal.

Now sit up straight, eyes on your own paper and begin:

Grammar (Time, ONE HOUR)

1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.
2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no Modifications.
3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.
4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of lie,lay and run
5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case.
6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.
7. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time ONE HOUR 25 Minutes)

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at
50cts/bushel, deducting 1050lbs. for tare?
4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per meter?
8 Find bank discount on $300 for! 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance
around which is 640 rods?
10 Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U. S. History (Time FORTY-FIVE MINUTES)

1. Give the epochs into which U. S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.

Orthography (Time ONE HOUR)

1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication?
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, sub vocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u'.
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two
exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane,
fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10.Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time ONE HOUR)

1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America.
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver,
Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall & Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10.Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.

Also notice that the exam took five hours to complete.
Gives the saying "she/he only had an 8th grade education" a whole new meaning, doesn't it?
What happened to us? It is kind of humbling, isn't it ?

How did you do? Did you pass? Are you smarter than an eighth grader?