spotty internet at FU today

...had spotty internet all day in the library today. Couldnt be online long enough to upload any Turkey day Pictures...will do so tomorrow.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking."
- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

It was a nice Thansgiving break. My family came on Thursday and then Jessica's family came on Saturday. Took pictures, but I left my camera at home, so weekend pix will have to wait till tomorrow.

Top things to be thankful for

Ah yes...Turkey Day is here.... here are the top Five things I am thankful for.

A) I am thankful for the job I have I have a great situation that allows me to do work, have fun and feel like I accomplish stuff on a daily basis.

B) I am thankful for my family and friends. My mother is the most absolute sweetest person to be on this planet. My friends, well... while far flung all over the country (except for a couple) are always near my heart, and I think about them all constantly.

C) Rylee... I can already tell that it will be extremely difficult to let her go one day. She seems to be that type of girl that will always pull on my heartstrings....

D) Ian... I sense that he is going to do great things, be it sportswise, Nascar wise or music wise.... and I know he is going to make me proud.

E) Jessica... I know I dont tell her that i love her enough... I know i dont show her overtly that I love her enough... But I do love her, and I am a far, far better person, and happier, because she is my wife.

Another quote.....

QUOTE OF THE DAY
"We want a lady in the street, but a freak in the bed."
- Ludacris

Quote

"Nothing is as good as it seems and nothing is as bad as it seems and somewhere in between lies the truth"
- Lou Holtz

Wow...no bowl.....

Both Clemson and USC are not going to a bowl. WOW.... i guess the fighting was worth it, huh? I guess being a "Man" was worth it, huh? I guess "keeping it real" was worth it, huh? sigh... "FOOLS!!!!!!!".....

...FOOLS!!!!!!!.....

...sigh....

....FOOLS!!!!!!......

Past weekend

Lets see... Went to game, saw some old friends... saw a fight at the bottom of the Hill inside the band.... saw another fight at end of game.... sat in traffic.... went to Dr. Spedes Honorary Ritual last night.... FURMAN kicks but again... #2 seed in playoffs.... now we are at Turkey Day week... got all xmas shopping done except for Jessica, and a couple of things for Jessicas dad and brother....

This is Kim and Jeremy. She is a Frat colonist. She is a dear friend who I just dont get to see as much as I wish I could. I decided to go ahead and post this picture even though she doesnt like pictures...

This is Claire Compton, a Frat colonist... and probbaly the best oboist I have ever had the priviledge of playing with...

There was a serious brawl during the USC/Clemson game...I have never seen anything like it... but I thought this picture is kinda cool... but still, those fools...sigh....FOOLS!!!!!....

I thought this was hilarious....

uh...29-7?

uh...brawls, winning...at least.

Can you imagine how this person feels?

FACT OF THE DAY
The Nike swoosh was designed by a Portland State University student, and purchased by Nike for $35.

FACT OF THE DAY
A 10-year-old mattress weighs double what it did when it was new because of the debris that's absorbed over the years.

Lets see.... USC/Clemson coming up...what joy!!!!.... still tryin to potty train the kids with spotty success. Lots of jockeying for positions at work, with the new CIO (Chief Information Officer) on board and some people a little nervous about their job security. I had my interview with him today and I am feeling pretty secure that my job is safe. But I get the feeling that some people are going to get moved around...and some people might not be here too much longer. That being said, i still must continue to perform at a high level, or else I might be on the chopping block too. But for now, unless I startr screwing up (which I dont plan to) I am 99.9 percent sure I am safe with my job. And as long as Susan is still around, i will always feel happy here at Furman... Xmas shopping all done except for a few things for Jessica, a couple of last minute things for Wes and Jessica's Dad, and couple of other things. I feel pretty good that Xmas is covered for now... except for maybe having to by a new Xmas tree since our other one seems to have become a casulaty of the flood. I tried to get it to work the other day and one of the branchs wouldnt light up... and it is supposed to light up even if one lamp is out....

back from the weekend

got back late last night from Florence... 3 nascar races in about 30 hours time... a lot of fun...but i think im nascared out until february.... I'll post a couple of pix and more comments on the weekend after i get settled in at work today

On task...

heading to Florence with the twins today. Will meet up with Jessica's parents, then head (hopefully) over to Darlington to see Nextel qualifying, Busch practice then the Truck race under the lights tonight. The only thing that might throw a kink in the plans is potential rain this evening and tonight. Then I am going to the Nextel race on Sunday, then coming home Sunday evening... kinda funny, I noticed that the local bus service was offering Free Shuttle Service to the race from Florence. In a moment of clarity, I picked up the phone and started to call that office and ask how much it cost.... I started reading the article again and realized that FREE usually means that there is no cost...sigh....

Tsk, tsk...sigh....

Every so often, I have someone rag me about my driving too slow, or not pulling out quick enough, or being careful when pulling into places while driving. I always say that I'd rather get their slower than not get there at all. Today, over near the Ga/SC stateline, a car with 5 people was hit by a train. All 5 people were killed. the lights were working at the crossing. 2 other cars beat the train by crossing over before it arrived. But the last one didnt. the train consisted of the engine and 2 other cars. It would have made them wait perhaps a minute for the train to pass. So, if they would have made it, they would have saved a minute. Instead, they are dead. Hmmmm..wonder if their friends, coworkers, family...whoever was at their destination would rather have them there a minute earlier or dead? Like I said...rather be later by a few seconds or minutes...than dead.

on another "tsk, tsk" thought...went to a "Reading to your kids is good" thingy last night at the daycare. They provided pizza, cookies and passed out info on the importance of reading to your kids everyday. Now, we read to our kids virtually everyday, so this is not the gist of my rant... but what i did notice was that I was the only male adult there. You mean to tell me that no other father could find the time to be there? Now I know that some legitimate excuses existed, but surely some guys were being slack asses. I am proud to say that I am always going to make sure to be a positive influence in my twins life, and that starts by at LEAST making an effort, even if it means getting off your ass and showing up for something that might actually bore you. I hope any beginning father ( and I know that some of my friends with kids a little behind me on the timescale read this at times) sacks up and does the right thing for their kids, at anytime possible. Of course, thinking about this makes me realize that I am happy to say that my friends who are reading this are probably all doing what they need to do to raise their children properly. and thinking further, I doubt that the people who need to be admonished for not doing things are sitting online reading blogs.... so...forget I even ranted about that. You guys are all doing what you need to do anyway....

National Security Issue?

Wow, you can get a picture of everybodies Drivers licence? Go to this link....

http://www.license.shorturl.com/

simply...interesting....

by the way,

...they announced the gametime for the USC/Clemson game as 12 noon. What is up with that? wow....

P Diddy's guest are, em, baring all

Tara Reid caused a stir last week on the internet.... here's the link for it....

http://lightbox.retna.com/retna/kf_TaraReid35thDress_1105/index.html

Kinda amusing.....

well, well, well....

..the Tigers come up big against Miami and win the damn game. Who would have thunk it? ...but I must admit that i thought clemson had a chance...and that if they held on and kept it close, Miami would start pressing, and perhaps fold...Miami didnt fold, but they sure didnt play well once it became apparent Clemson wasnt going to go belly up....

...trying to potty train the twins right now... sigh...not the most pleasant of times at home these days....

...Going to Darlington this weekend for the truck race on friday and te Nextel race on Sunday. Sould be lots of fun....

Dude...totally awesome, Man!

the trailer for Star Wars 3 is out online. I tracked that bad boy down, and have already watched it 6 times.... May 19th, baby...May 19th....

just thinking...

wanna know something really wierd to think about...?????.... Rylee and Ian will be approaching 7 (seven) VII years old when the next presidential election comes around.....wow....

Yo...Brown? Democrats want me back in the fold?...

...then this article tells them how to approach it. Of course, the current Dem leadership has its head in the sand, so i'm not worried about it...yet.

Democratic Values
How to start winning the red states.
By William Saletan
Posted Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2004, at 1:15 PM PT

Hey, Democrats!

One silver lining in last night's debacle is that for another 24 hours or so, you might be open to rethinking what your party stands for. So, while I have your attention, here's an idea.

Go back to being the party of responsibility.

I'm not talking about scolding people. I'm talking about rewarding them. Be the party that rewards ordinary people who do what they're supposed to do—and protects them from those who don't.

If you think this kind of moral talk is anathema, you're the sort of person Karl Rove wants to be running the Democratic Party. Get out, or get a new attitude. Nearly 60 million people came out to vote for George W. Bush yesterday because they think that he represents their values and that you don't. Prove them wrong and you'll be the majority party again.

How? Start by changing the way you talk about pocketbook issues. Remember Bill Clinton's commitment to help people who "work hard and play by the rules"? Your positions on taxes and labor would be assets instead of liabilities if you explained them in moral terms. The minimum wage rewards work. Repealing the estate tax helps rich people get richer without risk or effort. Lax corporate oversight allows big businesses to evade taxes, deceive small investors, and raid pension funds.

Yes, Republicans will accuse you of waging a class war. I can see you cringing already. Get off your knees and fight. It is a war, but it isn't a class war. It's a culture war, and if you talk about it that way, you'll win it.

Some of you are dismayed by the emergence of a huge voting bloc of churchgoers. Stop viewing this as a threat, and start viewing it as an opportunity. Socially conservative blue-collar workers don't believe in the free market. They believe in the work ethic. Bush wins their votes by equating the free market with the work ethic. Show them where the free market betrays the work ethic, and they'll vote for the party of the work ethic—you—against the party of the free market.

What's your strongest issue among these voters? Outsourcing. Why? Because it's the issue on which you talk most naturally about right and wrong. It's also the issue on which you're most comfortable appealing to nationalism. That's another lesson you need to learn. People are voting Republican because they think you're weak. And, let's face it, you are weak. You say you'll defend this country, but then you go on about consulting other governments, cultivating goodwill, and playing well with others. You make a world full of terrorists sound like kindergarten.

Democrats in the Roosevelt-Truman years didn't have this problem. They called tyrants by their name, and they didn't sound like they were faking it. A party that believes in right and wrong at home must be assertive about right and wrong abroad. You need a serious antiterrorist agenda. Otherwise, when you object to a war like Iraq, you sound like the peace party.

I'm not asking you to act like you care about this stuff. I'm asking you to care about it for real, and not just at election time. When a Republican president runs a TV ad accusing you of failing to protect us from wolves, you should be able to point out that he's the one who emptied our shotgun into a fox, leaving us helpless against the wolves. And you should sound credible saying it.

Once you eliminate the sincerity gap between you and the Republicans on national security, you can exploit the reverse sincerity gap between you and them on responsibility. Think about the values of our armed forces: shared risk, shared sacrifice, and reciprocal duty between officers and soldiers, regardless of race or class. Those are your values.

When leaders betray troops through bad planning and false pretenses for war, that should be your issue. When Republicans cut taxes for the rich while the nation is at war and the Treasury is empty, that should be your issue. When soldiers from poor families die while corporations skim from the war budget, that should be your issue. I've heard John Kerry talk about each of these issues separately, but each time, he sounded opportunistic. To be powerful, they must flow from a common message. That message is responsibility.

All the issues Democrats like to run on—education, the environment, the deficit, energy independence—would be vastly more powerful if united under a single theme. Clean up your mess. Take care of your children. Pay your debts. Stand on your own two feet. It all comes down to responsibility.

The Democrat who talks this way most naturally is John Edwards. (I know, I've got to stop advertising for him.) He's the one who frames every issue in terms of values. He's the one who argued during the presidential primaries that Republicans were favoring unearned wealth over work. He's the one who connected Republican tax policies to make the point. You don't have to teach him the language, because he learned it growing up in one of those red states.

So, there's your candidate, and there's your message. Now go and live it, so you won't have to fake it.

William Saletan is Slate's chief political correspondent and author

Well, I made it...

...to work fine today, after staying up well after 2:00am. Missed the Edwards concession speech, errr, defiant statement that EVRY VOTE WILL BE COUNTED blather..... I understand the principle that everyone should have their say, etc and I agree with it totally...but come on now. Everyone with a clue knows this is over. Even once you count those other votes, unless they all are for Kerry, it wont over come the Bush lead... and there was all this knashing of teeth over what happened to all the newly registered voters. what happened to all the new black voters and young people.... I'll tell you what happened... the new black vote and new young vote didnt vote. Sure, the hardcore people waited in line. But I guarantee you that a lot of newly registered people showed up to vote, saw the line, and said "Screw that!, I'm heading to the Mall" ( or bar, or back home to nap, or whatever)

Wow..its late...

Ok, I stayed up till a little after 1 oclock. NBC just called Ohio for Bush, and he is fixin to take Alaska and New Mexico. I think the ole lady is warming up. I think I'm going to stay up and see this through to the concession speech, unless it drags out to the courts. I have very much enjoyed flipping channels, and especially seeing Dan Rather eat crow..so far. Also looks like Bush carries the popular vote as well.... not a clear mandate, but no-one can say that he didnt get the most votes now, either.....

but who knows.... while some are calling Ohio, CBS is refusing to call it, and I guess that is prudent. Dont want to repeat 2000.... and of course, Kerry/Edwards is saying that the networks are conceding Ohio too early, so I can see where this is heading.... sigh....

sinking feeling

Why do I have this feeling that despite a winner being called at some point in time soon with this Presidential election, that the loser will spend the next four years contesting, bad-mouthing and generally running down the winner. I certainly hope that someone...SOMEBODY...will be able to galvanize a clear majority with the Americans by the time the next cycle of elections. I dont really care if its Democrat or Republican. Well, actually, I think I do care, but it would be best if we could have a clear consensus at some point in time.

Almost there

tomorrow is election Day. THANK GOD ITS ALMOST OVER!!!. goodness, i am so tired of this stuff...all of it. Let's elect somebody, and move on... but of course, both sides are going to contest the election if they lose... sigh...

Put a couple of pix up below. Remember you can click on the picture to get a larger, clearer picture. That one picture of Rylee isnt as clear in its small form . It looks like smudges are on her face, when the actual picture shows the glitter she was wearing....

Falcons lookin good... Tigers lookin good... Panthers lookin...well, ...Falcons lookin good.

Halloween 2004.

Rylee as Princess Barbie

Ian in Trick or Treat mode. this was his usual demeanor.

Rylee and her Princess tiara

Aunt Brandy and Rylee. Rylee really likes to cheese it up.