cruisin....

I-Man and I went to Clemson today to look around and check out the new Nike sideline apparel. As we were drivng there, i thought about the fact the Ryles and I-Man have been no more than a hundred or 2 hundred feet apart a hanful of times in their lifetime(Ryles bein in Atlanta with jessica and Aunt Ellen)...Have I ever mentioned that their seems to be no reason to drive cars in Clemson, and really no way to put gas in them now as all three gas stations at the light on 123 are now...GONE. as in the Hess Station replaced by a Starbucks, the Exxon replaced by a Sonic and the BP totally razed and gone. I assume something is being built there... sure, there are gas stations in Clemson, but it seems the market for gas has definitely slowed there...go figure...

did I mention that I now have a Blackberry Curve? definitely sweeter than the Treo that I had... I fully recommend the Curve, having tested it fully against the Pearl and the World Edition of the Blackberries....

Guns...toys...Euro's and Soccer

Todays ruling by the Supreme Court was refreshing. I have grown tired and wary of the Supreme Court (at any level) acting like THEY should be the one making laws, instead of interpreting them. While I dont own a gun and dont really plan on it ( at this moment ), I certainly beleive in everyones right to bear arms. All the blather from people trying to say that this means that mental patients and felons will now be getting guns need to go away and try another tack. That aint true. Will the drug dealers and the sad, silly white kid who's been picked on and now wants to be some sorta sick hero still be able to get a gun. unofrtunnately...yes. And they would even if there was a total ban on guns. Pot is illegal too and I can get some within 24 hours if i was inclined to, which I am not.... which reminds me, I need to make sure the Pellet and BB guns I have are secured. I may one day consult Harwood on a gun purchase though, because you never know...ya know... and like I heard today, if you are coming in my house, you better be bringing a pizza or a supeona ... and you better be waving that supeona from the road, or you might get a baseball bat to the face.

...the other night sitting outside Ryles made an announcement that she had something she wanted Santa to bring. Of course, being someone who maintains a very close tie to Santa, my ears perked up, and I awaited with baited breath, anticipating a request for yet ANOTHER Barbie or Bratz doll, or even better... a Hanna Montana dress... well... Ryles declares that she wants a Nintendo DS.... (crickets chirping....).... and of course, I-Man chimes in that he wants one too...(more crickets.....)... which sent me to Best Buy during my lunch to check out for Santa what sorta material those devices will entail for him to make. sigh....(shakin head....

...The NBA draft...lots of freshmen and European players. wow....

...And speaking of Euro's.... it has been interesting watching Euro2008. And we get Germany vs Spain. gotta admit that Germany is not an option for me so I will be pulling for Spain, especially since I just love Spain's home jerseys. I am not a huge fan of red, but Spain's red home jersey with yellow(gold?) stripes with black shorts are pretty tight....

just thinkin...

...about several things...

Sara mentioned about gas hitting 4.00 a gallon. I paid 4.99 a gallon for diesel near Hersey, PA the other day...so I'm thinkin 6.00 a gallon for me by Summer's end. Of course Obama gives me "hope" for a "change" in my gas prices..."snicker".... and I definitely understand the feeling of trying to keep the kids busy all day. I still ponder how it is the McDonalds playground (any McDonalds playground, it seems) is like a magnet for the twins. I do not remember the McDonalds playground being any sorta draw for me as a small kid. But there wasnt a McDonalds every 3 miles back then either....

Speaking of our supposed Saviour, I got my Obama tshirt on Thursday. Funny...it only took the campaign that supposedly is going to "change" things in Washington and give us "hope" for a better America and make me "believe" again that I can finally be proud to be an American again 2 and a half months to deliver a tshirt that is the EXACT same as one I got from Ebay in 4 days. Funny...2 or 3 weeks ago they took away the ability to post on the Obama website. I wonder if it was because they were getting blasted by everyone about not getting their shirts and the fact that people were wondering aloud on the website as to if this is what we can expect. So much for the free thinking Obama people, huh?

Braves are floundering around .500 so far...I will continue to observe amd keep quiet till the All-star break and make my decision as if this is going to be another lost year of sorta contending or some sorta strange harmonic Clemson vibe coming out of Atlanta....

Oh, and the team of my childhood (notice a theme here) won the title(NBA) and I have been wearing my Celtic logo T proudly to work. Seriously though... I pulled for the Celts and my Father pulled for the Lakers back in the day, and watching all the clips of those old games brough back memories....

Coldplay has made it onto the XBox in Guitar Hero. I can see why bands are starting to get on the band(heh...)wagon in regards to putting songs out there on the game. I think I might kinda like that music, but I am going to Wiki it and see what the deal is because I keep seeing headlines that I never read about Coldplay...or something....

I really hate summer

...I really do... its too hot and there just seems to be no natural schedule of things.... and its too hot. The kids are off with the Grandparents for the week, so they are having fun. And they will return and we will have to establish some sorta routine for them or else it will be "Lets go to the Pool!!!" everyday....

in addition...

... ithink i need to clarify something about my post about Mr Russert. I dont have a problem with Liberals/Progressives/whatever they may call themselves. I actually agree with a lot of that type of idealogy. But I do have an issue with the type of mentality that seems to pervade the people I mentioned in the previous post...that is that anyone Conservative is evil and demented and trying to make everyone god fearing, etc. And the same goes for the Hannity/Limbaugh faction that has all Liberals treehuggin fanatical pansies. I know that the moderates on both sides don't sell, and that is probably at the root of what we see. And I simmply get tired of it being a constant bashing of one side or the other, when it hasnt changed the obvious majority of the country. For all the jumping up and down of Matthews and Olberman, i bet the November vote (as of now) will be 51%/49% Obama over McCain. And it is precarious at best that margin. And limbaugh can scream for the next 5 months all he wants, but the majority out there isnt in either camp fully. I think most people have a strong mix of Progressive/Conservative views, which is how the Clinton AND Bush got elected, and re-elected. At the end of the the day, if you remember back, Bush was considered somewhat a moderate overall for a Republican, just as Clinton was. And if Obama isnt careful, he will lose all those middle of the road votes he was getting in the early primaries.

So... basically, I am just tired of the seemingly sissyfied whining of the "Left". And Russert, while probably pulling the lever for the "Left" when he voted at least presented the facts to me as evenly as possible for me to decide for myself... not slanted. I will miss that.

(the previous representations of Progressives and Conservatives are at times generalizations... I know Brown is in the Obama camp, but I still beleive he thinks clearly despite all his "Green" ramblings...I think he is a mirror of me politically in fact, so that clarifies that)

wow...

Tim Russert passed away today. This made me somewhat sad as I feel we lost someone who could report political news to us without reporting it slanted to what he thought we should think about it. Now NBC/MSNBC is left to Olberman and Matthews, who basically are not even subtle about who/what/how they believe YOU should think. I mean Chris Matthews wears a Obama T-shirt and runs around with pom poms with an "O" on them everynight. Well, maybe not but it sure seems as though he would if they would let him. Tim Russert, while coming from significant posts on the Democrat side, always seemed to give an objective reporting of the political events. I think at the root of it is that while I am highly sceptical of most people and their motives in the media, be it Hannity, Olberman, Matthews, Oreilly, Limbaugh....Sharpton, Combs...and the numerous others I listen to everyday...I TRUSTED Russert to talk straight and bring me the facts. I sensed he was being fair and down the middle, and held both sides feet to the fire. I will miss that because we are not getting that from ANYONE else. Period. Rest in peace, Mr. Russert.

quick trip to the Poconos

...went and saw the Race at the Poconos. Interesting track.... also stayed with Kristen and visited with her family...

Foul Ball!!!

Went to the Greenville Drive game yesterday...always a fun time, great crowd and I'm thinkin that i might try to do a Summer Frat thingy there maybe next summer.... picked up the twins from their last day of school and we went and they hit the McDonalds playground before we went and met up with jessica. Went down by the Riverwalk perused the shops, then grabbed some icecream(more on this coming up..heh, heh). Then we walk to the field and it was a tad hot yesterday. Got inside and we were about to sit when Ryles starts throwing up her Bubblegum icecream. That was quite a bit o drama. And required a brand new Drive tshirt from the concession stand. I noted to self that Ryles does not operate in heat well...and i will make sure to carefully observe this for future summer picnics... Not sure how this is going to play out once band camp starts in a few years...

that sucked...

So, those guys will NOT be getting my business should I decide to go back with VW or goto Audi with my next car. While I am still contemplating a BMW, walking the car lot showed me not a single diesel, and if I dont go BMW, I will go back to a diesel. Plus...they took FOREVER to do a 30 minute warranty/recall job. I guess it was all the time they took trying to find other things wrong with the car, because once the "finished", the tech guy comes and starts telling me the various things that needed to be done...and...how much they would cost... Rear brakes (which I already have the parts for thanks to my Father in law) - $340.00 me..."um...I got that. I "ll take care of it"...Tech guy...Glow Plug system needs replaced - $760.00... me ... (thinking to myself..." i have 2, maybe 4 cold weather starts a year...SCREW THE GLOWPLUGS!!!!) "I might have to come back another day for that one".... funny thing is that they took almost 3 hours to tell me what i knew from hooking my Jet to my laptop. A quick online tells me that I can get the parts for my glow plus for $200.00. Hmmm... wonder which route I am going to take with that issue?.... all that and they still didnt notice that my right tallight was out...or if they did, they didnt fix/mention....

lets see how this goes...

7:30am and sittin here at Steve White Volkswagon because my brake lights are on on my car and wont turn off. So I had to take out the fuse and turn them off entirely. which kinda presents a problem, if you can imagine. Its a brake light switch issue, and while I guess I coulda fixed this myself in the long run, ordering the part, figuring out how to do it and then doing it before headin on a trip this weekend would have been problematic. Lets see how much this costs and where it heads... the ole Jet has 175,000 miles right now...figure to get to 200,000 before i start seriously ponderin another ride, which is probably another year and a half, i guess. But....I have always said, and will probably stick to it that I might ride this car till it blows up, at 45mpg city 60mpg highway right now.

End o year awards....

went to the twins award ceremony this morn...I-Man pulls in a "Top Notch Worker"award and the much coveted "Perfect Attendance For The Entire School Year" award, as well as an Accelerated Reader (Afterschool) award....Ryles pulls in the "Top Notch Worker" for her class, Accelerated Reader for her class (which means she read way above her grade level), the same Afterschool Reader award as I-Man and... drumroll please.... "Best Musician" for her class. The only thing that makes me a little wary is that the perfect attendance thing can become a burden later. The longer it goes, the more pressure there is to kepp it perfect. And it sucks...because if you miss one day and never miss again, you feel cheated in the long run..I missed one day of school in my 12 grades...a day in the 3rd grade when I had to stay at home with my brother... and I was really annoyed when some scrub got that award when I graduated...

at any rate, Ryles gets a music award, which i think is pretty slick...