oh yeah...and the beach part

We did get to the beach...but we first went to Murrells Inlet and did the seafood dinner thing. But this was a lunch instead, and it was a better idea, I thought. I has some fresh flounder, and was not tricked into eating shark, squid, octopus, clam, dolphin or even... deer. Good old flounder. And it was tasty. We then went to Brookgreen Gardens. That was pretty cool and we walked around the gardens some and saw lots of statues and art, as well as naked women. We also spent time in their "zoo", which was about as close to a tropical rainforest as I need to come. But that was pretty slick. If any of you go down there and you are looking for a change of pace while at the beach, I think you should try it for a few hours. Of course, below is what I-Man thought of the Gardens after about 6 minutes....



Like I said, I-Man's comment was "When do we get to BOOGY BOARD!!!!". Well, we went across the street to the beach and all I saw was a flash and I-Man was into the water for 2 hours and 15 minutes straight. Below is what he was doing for 2 hours and 13 minutes...One minute was spent sprinting toward the water, the other minute was when he reluctantly left the water....






Ryles spent a shorter period of time in the water, and spent her other time in more creative pursuits....




On our way back home, we stopped off to help Uncle Wes and Aunt Ashley celebrate cousin Madison's first birthday. It was the typical mashed cake, smeared icing "what the frak is this?!" sorta event, but She obviously enjoyed herself and racked in some birthday loot.

SO......

I sometimes wonder if I think too much about vacation time...as in, I look forward too it too much and set too high expectations on it. I think its because the amount of days I have are so precious, and are in reality somewhat valuable because I only get so many. The kids have no clue as to what goes into prep for that sorta stuff...for them it's just another day in paradise. Which is the way I want it to be for as long as possible.

...went to beach last week....
The twins got on some rides and made a Car and a Doll.... The rides were pretty cool. They were brought over from the old Pavilion at the Beach and restored. I rode on the thingy that swings you around. That was somewhat scary and I wont find myself doing that again. I-Man was hell bent on riding the big Pirate boat thingy was Jessica rode that with him. He was trying to hold his hands in the air. Darn near flew out of the thing (not really)..... I-man picked out the color, engine, wheels, rims and effects and put his car together at the "shop". Ryles got to have her doll made right in front of her, complete with stuffing and a couple of outfits...oh, and glasses too....(click on their picture to see the glasses and pajamas "Krystal" is wearing)

oh...man....delayed post

for whatever reason, this didnt post when it was supposed to. I have since actually played TJ and it was a short game of 1 quarter, which ended tied...


flippin channels last night when i come across the ESPY's, and there was a commercial for NCAA 2009 for XBOX360.... and they show Clemson on the game...I was stunned and...immediately got up and went to Wal-Mart and purchased that game, came back and picked out a team (Not Clemson) and started working on getting that team up to speed. But...I did setup clemson as my favorite team, and its weird to see current Tigerband members in the pictures on the game. Anyway, TJ.... I"'m coming after ya...its only a matter of time. You have my xbox name. I'll be ready soon.

by the way, TJ and Lisa (and Trace) came by Saturday and its awesome to sit for a while and visit....

WE MUST DRILL NOW...THAT WILL FIX IT ALL!!!!!

...I'm sure that my title will have the same effect as the current The New Yorker cover and people will assume that is exactly how i feel....

let me clarify...Do I think the Oil companies have fault with the current gas prices and oil issue. Yes. Do I think that they are drilling everywhere they possibly can???.... I suspect that some are not. Do I think that simply drilling in more places will solve the issue. No? Do i think that oil companies have stymied the growth and research of alternative fuels and energy? Yes. Do i think that our government currently takes away 3 times as much money per gallon as the oil companies do? yes. Do i think that OPEC and the middle east yahoos think that they can contine to squeeze the US because they know that people will block our attempts to get currently needed resources into place? yes. Do I think we need to come up with AFFORDABLE energy sources and put them into play ASAP? yes.

but what am i supposed to do in the meantime. wait for all these alternative things to come into play 10 yers from now. Like i said before, is somebody going to come take my car and replace it with a hydrogen cell car? for free??? wait...let me guess....Obama and the government are going to bail me out, right? Romney is going to buy me an electric car to get me the 60 mile round trip every day for work. right? oh...no..dont think so... Gas has risen 40 percent but my paycheck has definitely NOT followed that rise. I am fortunate that i make a decent living. but it has already changed things for us. And I suspect all of you. But all i hear is that we need to come up with alternative stuff...OK? fine...sounds good to me...seriously. Well, lets get to it. Wait...oh i get it...we need to let the government pay for it, right? which really means that I am going to have to pay for it. ANYWAY, what are we waiting for? Oh I forgot...Hope for Change i can Believe in...yeah...thats it.... meanwhile McCain is stumbling around mumbling something another that I can't understand....

back on point... 44 million acres and only 10 being used by the oil companies. Definitely an issue there. I suspect that a lot of that 34 million doesnt have oil. I also suspect that alot of it does. At some point something has to give... but like i say to Brown... I am not concerned as much with 10 years down the road as I am with tomorrow. Because 10 years from now doesnt come BEFORE tomorrow. And if I am giving larger and larger percentages of my money to my car and my heat water heater for my house, that means less for my kids. like i have said before, i have pretty much all I need. Its all for the kids now.... It seems like I whine about this a lot, but here is the root of the issue. If a 30 dollar trip to see nanna and pappa is now 70 dollars with no end in sight, it becomes a larger issue that has all sorts of long term ramifications....

Nascar, Snow, Jesse and Obama.... with a little 'Cain

Oh father high in heaven -- smile down upon your son
who's busy with his money games -- his women and his gun.
-Ian Anderson from....Aqualung

While I was saddened to hear of Tony Snow's passing, it did not have the same type of effect on me. Not that I mean to diminish his accomplishments or his obvious talents. It was different. I did think to the old adage about these types of things coming in threes...

I am glad that I have held my vintage 1984 Jesse Jackson for President T-shirt on the bench, based upon the firestorm his comments brought last week. I didnt comment on those because it really is the tip of the iceberg on what a lot of people in the black community think. Jesse came/comes across as jealous (and he may very well be...i dont know...hard to imagine he isnt though) but the black community was slow to warm to Obama initially because he isnt really seen as "one of us"...jumped on the wagon when he started to win in February, and since then are becoming increasing mistrustful of Obama's very obvious shift away from a buch of stances he initially took. "Change We Can Believe In" seems to be slowly fading as Obama is becoming just like all the other candidates, doing and saying whatever he needs to do to get elected. While I would be doing EXACTLY the same thing as he is, his schtick initially was that he wasnt like all the other candidates...and it is being revealed everyday that he is not the Change we can Hope for, but just more of the same thing from the Democrats. But I still am waiting on McCain to see his choice for VP, for I am not sure McCain will see 2012, so might need to see who really will end up Prez by then....

I like NASCAR because it's cool. And if anyone goes to a race, you will be impressed.... but i digress, for I am still wondering why I keep hearing Harry Reid and that scary wild eyed Pelosi screeching about how drilling in new places/more places/old places(whatever that argument is) isnt going to help us and that we wont get anything out of that for 10 years, all the while seeing/hearing people come on TV who are work in that industry everyday who say that they can be drilling actual oil in any location in about a month. I am all for developing other avenues for fuel/power/energy and I think its obvious we need to get away from oil, but...with the overwhelming majority of people in this country living a little bit more than a taxi ride away from work, if the DEMS are willing to drop a $45,000 hybrid car in my yard...wait, make that TWO $45,000 dollar hybrids in my yard, or pay for the solar panels for the roof, or whatever other "green" thing that is hot today...read: expensive, well I'm all for it. But its easy for these politicians to block solutions when they dont have to spend one dime of their own money for gas. As a matter of fact, Obama and McCain are spending MY money for their gas. Wonder when the last time either of them stopped by Exxon or Shell and filled up their car. I 'd love to drive a hybrid, or pursue alternative "green" stuff. But when faced with he scarcity of those options, and the increase in cost of those options, and people blocking any seeming alleviation of my financial burden, I get annoyed. THAT is why OBAMA gets the elitist tag, because its real easy to talk about 72 degree thermostat settings when you dont have to worry about your 72 degree thermostat setting. Bet his kids havent droppeed a bead of sweat or worried about how much a gallon of gas cost, and never will. So we come full circle...When Obama is now speaking (and his speeches have slowly evolved from that HOPE/CHANGE/FINALLY/BELIEVE crap to a I-am-your-savior-I-will-have government-fix-it-all leaning) and telling me that he thinks its sad that we all say "Merci Beaucoup" and I better have my kids speak Spanish, i get annoyed. Its obvious he doesnt do well when he strays from his "script"...

Ok...well, this is all kinda on the surface of a bunch of larger arguments, I guess. McCain is starting to get his act together. Polls today have Obama seeing his 10 point lead gone and its a dead heat. I know the previous paragraph seems to have me leaning toward MCain. But i still remain Independent, hoping someone can make sense and earn my vote. I dont talk much about McCain because..well..aint much to talk about....

The South is still probably the best place to live in the USA, especially here in the area we are in. a somewhat afluent area with very moderate weather, decent sports teams and an easy drive to larger cities. I think things have improved from my parents time to my time to my kids time, and they see a far different time than Idid when I marched into first grade. So its all improving...and as more people like that old man die off, the better it will be....

When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things

just shakin' my head and wonderin'

...about the cover of The New Yorker and just what those guys were thinking. I mean, it actually took me a few minutes to spin that around and around again and MAYBE get what the satire for what that was. I guess maybe it was actually meant to be seen a couple of ways, and that confused me...but... somebody might be out of work soon over that one.... the whole "Barack is a Muslim because of his middle name" is so tired. I guess I'm a member of the IRA because of my first and middle names, huh?

...and isnt interesting that the price of a barrel of oil was starting to drop, when... well, well, well...Iran "supposedly" shoots off a bunch o rockets and starts jumping up and down shouting LOOK AT US. Well.. they did shoot off some old rockets of theirs...nothing new it seems. But of course, that sends the price of oil skyrocketing again. Lets see...Irans total economy is based off oil, and they are totally invested in keeping the entire area unstable and therefore keeping idiots jacking the price of oil up on all fronts.... its like if a Jew steps on an ant in Syria, the price of oil goes up....

...Coach Ibrahim (the old soccer coach from Clemson) passed away over the weekend.

I think I have placed the August Bristol Friday night race back on the docket... if anyone wants to join Harwood and me to see the Cup guys practice and qualify, and the Nationwide guys race, let me or Harwood know...

momma always told me...

One of those old people I wish would just go away and die did just that a few days ago. I started to post something about it, but decided against it...remembering the old saying that if you dont have something good to say about somebody (especially at their funeral), dont say anything. But Brown sent me a link that pretty much summed up why I am glad that old man is dead. And all of those people who think like him can die off too....

...here's the link...click here!!

especially of note are the comments that follow.... sigh...

WATER!!!!

So...um...they are now saying the drought now in the upstate has reached epic proportions. They say Lake Jocassee is down 24 feet! Obviously Lake Hartwell has been down for years and they did mention that it is essentailly a 10 year drought we are in. Which leads us to... Clemson is the first town to officially go to water restrictions. WOW...this will get really interesting if this continues. They say that if we dont get some tropical storms, tetc. this Fall, the entire upstate will start to suffer. I find this really weird as I was on lake Wateree and lake Murray this past weekend and there is NO sign that those lakes are down 1 inch, much less 24 feet.

The Twins are doing Day Camp at Camp Watzitstooya this week... then Vacation Bible School next week.... then to Grandma's for a day then back to Nanna and Papa for a couple of days before hitting Myrtle Beach for 3 days...then...another week o Day camp.... I remember my summers growing up and they were NOTHING like this....

bringin a knife to a gunfight...

So...went down to the lake for July 4th. Hung out on the pontoon and actually tooled around on the jetski several times. We then went on the pontoon and watched a fireworks show on the lake with about 1000 (it seems) other boats. Then headed back and I brought out my frakkin awesome supply of fireworks.... but... it seems that i didnt get the memo that the fireworks i was buyin are about 1/4 the power that every other guy on the lake seemed to have. So I only actually had 12 shots that were on that level. Everyone else seemed to have 3000.00 dollars worth of fireworks that they were shooting off. OK...mental note...need to upgrade fireworks level...AGAIN...but...I WILL be ready next time..... sorta like when we played LSU in the Peach Bowl that time...and we had that pep rally and we were all like playing Tiger Rag...then LSU's band starts playing...and I will never forget that...i was like..."Oh.... um....Frak.......um...wow.....damn....we're getting torched...." and cutting a look over at Dr. Hosler and him looking back at me and slightly shaking his head and us sharing that "We brought a knife to a gunfight" look.

well...anyway, yesterday we actually ended back out on a different lake (the first one was Lake Wateree, this one was Lake Murray) and tooled around on the sunliner for a a while before eventually picking up the kids and returned back home yesterday evening.

Sigh...

I-Man has suddenly stated that he NOW wants to play the drums. I have stepped up efforts to get a Tuba or Baritone into the house...ASAP

OK??...!!!....hmmm...

Clemson started its smoking ban yesterday. This means that no smoking or any tobacco products in public spaces is allowed. Wow.... that should be interesting when the students return and the Gamedays start.