"Should auld aquaintance be forgot, And never brought to min'?"
- Robert Burns (1759 - 1796) Scottish poet

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks by night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." - Luke 2:8-12; 13-14

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

Santa whispered this to me...

... Santa told me the other day that Ryles had asked for a Ipad for Christmas from him... he told me that he also knew that making an Ipad for Ryles would mean that he would have to make one for I-Man too.... and that this (TWO IPADS!!!) was, errr, perhaps not financially prudent for him at this point in time. But... he thinks he has a acceptable solution for Ryles and that Santa figures the Ipad2 and Ipad3 will probably make parts more available for the Ipad by next Birthday for the twins... we shall see...

"Whatever else be lost among the years, Let us keep Christmas still a shining thing: Whatever doubts assail us, or what fears, Let us hold close one day, remembering its poignant meaning for the hearts of men. Let us get back our childlike faith again". - Grace Noll Crowell

"At one time most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I've grown old the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe". -from The Polar Express

i find this part of Star Wars so profound on many levels...

Officer: We've analyzed their attack, sir, and there is a danger. Should I have your ship standing by?
Governor Tarkin: Evacuate? In our moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances.

Today we celebrated 9 years with the twins... I truly am amazed that we are this far into this... and that they will be 18 in under a decade.... it is hard to imagine a life now without them and look forward to continuing the adventures and stuff in the following years to come.... they certainly keep us busy!!!

Today they celebrated by not having school due to ice, playing with their new Tony Hawk Shred Board and Metal Detector and finished dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. Tomorrow night will see 5 of I-Man's friends coming over for a Mexican, Xbox, Wii sleepover... followed by Nanna, Papa and family coming to town midday on Saturday... followed by Ryles having 5 of her friends come over for an American Girl gathering and sleepover Saturday night.

Whew....

amusing...

This was posted on Facebook by someone I know... I found it.. um... amusing....

Jessica and The Twins got this for me on Thanksgiving weekend and i have had it on my desk this Holiday Season....

Linus Van Pelt: after Linus and Charlie Brown discover the little tree "Gee, do they still make wooden Christmas trees?"

Charlie Brown: "This little green one here seems to need a home".

Linus Van Pelt: "I don't know, Charlie Brown. Remember what Lucy said? This doesn't seem to fit the modern spirit".

Charlie Brown: "I don't care. We'll decorate it and it'll be just right for our play. Besides, I think it needs me".

picks up tree; a lot of needles fall off

first of all, it is getting dark at 3:30pm these days.. has the planet toppled over on its axis or something? Everyday i look ut of the office window and its like, oh.. DARK at 5:00 now... did I miss something? I dont remember it being quite this extreme growing up... or even a couple years ago.

then, I think there is one less weekend before Christmas this year.... just seems like we have less time between Turkey Day and Christmas Day to visit with friends.. that, and my crappy work schedule...

a sign of the times?

... we usually have wrapped all our gifts for people and placed them under the tree on Thanksgiving in the past, but this year for some reason i have been paranoid about some loser breaking into the house and stealing the gifts. You hear about this happening every year, but I am worried that the more dire economy will drive more people to desperation. So I have kept the gifts for kids in another secure spot. But, this kinda sux... I think I am going to bring it all out today and tomorrow (it isnt that much, really)... and wrap it up... Santa doesn't have these issues, does he?

it was pandaleerium, i tell ya...

ah... Americana... since we have the Christmas gift/shopping/mall thingy long done weeks ago, we are not stressing the Mall/Shopping/crazy traffic stuff during the holidays. SO this means a carefree family evening of...

First.. a stop at Pizza Inn. (a side note, Ian told me that one of his invites to a Birthday Party had his name spelled INN... i took me a second to see how it might be thought to be spelled that way) This was a madhouse... but I think I had 12 slices of thin crust pepperoni, 1 slice of cheeseburger (still dont like it), 1 slice of Chicken alfredo and 5 glasses of Diet Coke, all while dodging flying pizza slices, breadsticks and chocolate chip pizza and listening to screaming kids chase after each other and redneck women fight over who would sit beside the window.... but it was fun. Far better than sitting at home. Seriously....




Second... we went to some random place on the outskirts of town called.. Tiny Town. It was the place/house/group who had all this.. stuff, in little houses. Museum quality exhibits of... stuff. And a billion lights that Clark Griswald would be envious of. Seriously....

Third... we meandered back toward town and to the Greenville/Pickens Speedway where another slice of Americana was being shown... some sorta Festival of Lights where you would drive thru in your car listening to Christmas music and supposedly oohhhing and aweing... but not quite. There was also a petting zoo, which actually was interesting for the numerous goats, cows, a couple of Alpaca pa's and some sorta genetic Circus interpretation of a Bison. They even has an ice skating rink. People were skating. On plastic. Seriously...

So... I was a great family evening. One which I am sure will be remembered 10 years from now in one of those "Remember Daddy when we rode around looking at Christmas lights, and Momma was getting all annoyed because we paid 10 dollars to drive thru those light?" moments... I am glad we did it even as I look at my wife and kids asleep in my suddenly small King Size bed and resign myself to sleep on a small sliver of mattress...

this cyber thing has me pondering perhaps siphoning off a little cash every month and putting it under my mattress. Serious. All it takes is some crazed fool (or group) to attack the banking system full bore, or attack the power grid and things will get whacky for a while... we might need to have some paper money on hand.. i mean, i virtually NEVER have any actual money in my wallet anymore. Perhaps this is not a good thing...

... just watched Cam Newton's interview on ESPN. He was pretty convincing. But, the telling thing is what he supposedly said off camera after the interview, when he admitted that he has never directly asked his father what he did in regard to his recruitment to either Mississippi State or Auburn. Plausible Deni-ability. seems like a plan to me... kinda how I would play it too... but until it is proven that he was a part of or absolutely knew (and is PROVEN), i say he deserves the Heisman... but if/when they find out he was/is guilty, the fall will be looooonnnng and hard, cause his mugging for the camera last week was borderline pathetic. Oh well, he is the best guy in college, no doubt.

Yesterday, all over the lace on TV and radio... it was John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... John Lennon this, Monday Night FootBall.... John Lennon that.... John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... Monday Night Football... John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... John Lennon this, John Lennon that.... but... the day before, on December 7th you heard a few mentions in the press/media of what happenedon that day and the significance on WORLD HISTORY that event had. Why was this? you mean to tell me that Lennon's unfortunate murder is far more important than the events of December 7th, 1941? 2,402 personnel were killed and 1,282 were wounded. The US was launched into the world conflicts overtly and the financial impact on the country was profound... yet John Lennon gets more play? dont get me wrong, any of you that know me know the importance of the ARTS and most important, MUSIC in my life. But I cant see the curious things of the past two days as being right...

last weekend, I-Man had a birthday party of a classmate that he was invited to... he went to it and it actually turned into a sleepover. Ryles had a conniption fit and had to be consoled the entire time he was gone because she perceived that she had not been invited to a couple of birthday parties that girls had in her classroom. Of course, she doesn't know what type of restrictions those girls might have had for their invites (how many, how long, family, etc.) and hat it may have simply been a numbers game because our experience is that they want to invite 20 people... but I could only think to myself that this isnt the last time she wont get invited to a party, for whatever reason. Some lessons in life really suck. And it makes me sad when I see these play out with my kids because I really would like for everything to be perfect for my kids. Unfortunately, I know that this is unrealistic and not in the best interests for them. Sometimes, someone will call them a name. Somewhere along the line, they will fall and get a big knot on their head. Eventually, a boyfriend or girlfriend will breakup with one of them... one day one of them will make a "c" in school or fail an audition... it's going to happen. No matter how much we try to shield them, at some point the "negative" parts of life will happen to them. I guess my part in this is to guide them thru it, or prepare them for it....

Lebron James sent this out via twitter today. I have read this before but was glad he sent it out. A good statement...


"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat". - Theodore Roosevelt

AWESOME!!!

last night, I waited in line and went and saw Harrison Flowerpot, Quest for the Dandelion at 3AM in IMAX... it was everything I thought a movie could, would and should be.... the ending where Flowerpot, a 42nd level Mage, cast a burning bush spell upon himself was surprising, but I hear that there is yet ANOTHER book in the works by some random writer from Belgium...

do they know it's.....

98.9 has wound up the Xmas songs fulltime, a full week ahead of Turkey Day... and the 24/7 list of songs doesnt apply until you hear "Do They Know It's Christmas Time at All"? at least three times, which I have 3 times within a 4 hour period.....

But I have been reflecting on Christmas this year and the Holidays in general... seems that the "adults" in my family and friends have opted to only do gifts for the children in our circle, which is cool. But I do want to make a concerted effort to at least get together with people for dinner, or gatherings, during the holidays.

...that being said, Santa has been done with "toy making" for almost a month now... I do hope to stress the meaning of Thanksgiving and Cristmas more with the twins this year as I think they are a bit more able to understand the true underlying meaning of the actual holidays, and see past the Gift -O- Rama that this time seems to be for them, especially with their birthday being wrapped into the season too...

Unless UNC or (gulp) Clemson has an awesome season in basketball, I might have to just skip the season and wait for NASCAR and Baseball come March, because it is looking like all ESPN is going to do is hype Duke 24/7 all season... its already in full swing... and unfortunately, they will actually be good (for college level) and therefore the hype will be in full effect....

Per Lou Holtz, everyone needs 4 things in life:

* First, you have to have something to do. Stories of healthy individuals who die within a few years of retiring are too numerous to list. It’s also true that prisoners serving life sentences sleep for 12-14 hours a day because they have nothing in their lives that compels them to get out of bed.

* The second thing you have to have is someone to love. We are put on earth to love other people. Those who don’t have anyone exist without happiness.

* Third, you have to have something to believe in. I’ve always said that not believing in a god is not an option for humans. You might not believe in the Heavenly Father, as I do, but everyone has a god. It might be the quest for power or material gains; it might be a cause–environmentalism, conservationism, global socialism, or one of countless other isms, or it might be the search for peace–but everyone has a god.

* Finally, you have to have something to look forward to. In his famous book Man’s Search for Meaning, Dr. Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor, made some interesting clinical observations in the midst of the horrors of Auschwitz. Dr. Frankl noticed that prisoners who had nothing to live for and nothing to look forward to died quickly of starvation, fatigue, or abuse at the hands of their captors. But those who survived shared one thing in common: They all had something to look forward to. Often the survivors lived for the thought of rejoining a relative, or escaping to another country. Sometimes they hung on in the hopes of exacting revenge on the Nazis. But whatever the reason, those who survived the greatest atrocity in history were those who had something to look forward to.

dude... its bad when your staunchest supporters bail...

..but they are making a case that theoretically makes sense. I am not sure that it would play out exactly as these guys would hope....

Had quick jaunt down to Monticello and got to go to the FSU/Clemson game with John... great seats and a great view... it was unseasonably cold... but a great time... also got to grab lunch with Billy McGee during the week and we are going to have to get together with our families... still no Julie though....

What it takes to be number one

Winning is not a sometimes thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that's first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don't ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win.

Every time a football player goes to ply his trade he's got to play from the ground up - from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That's O.K. you've got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more importantly, you've got to play with your heart, with every fiber of your body. If you're lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he's never going to come off the field second.

Running a football team is no different than running any other kind of organization - an army, a political party or a business. The principles are the same. The object is to win - to beat the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or cruel. I don't think it is.

It is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most competitive men. That's why they are there - to compete. To know the rules and objectives when they get in the game. The object is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules - but to win.

And in truth, I've never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart didn't appreciate the grind, the discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat.

I don't say these things because I believe in the "brute" nature of man or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I believe in human decency. But I firmly believe that any man's finest hour - his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear - is that moment when he has to work his heart out in a good cause and he's exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.

Vince Lombardi

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes". - Charles Swindoll

last weekend saw Halloween and all the candy that comes with it.. finally had to hide the candy buckets after a couple days of piles of candy wrappers all over the place... also spent time with Brandy and Aj and the kids all did the trick or treat thingy together... hit up Skytop orchard too...

"Long ago, it must be, I have a photograph
Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you"

Looking at some photos this morning of the twins that must have been when they were not evena year old... i look at these and I do not have a clue as to where, what, when they were taken. I do not remember... I have no clue where they clothes they are wearing came from. I dont even remember the clothes. It is scary in that i see these pics, i see that they are my children but I have no memory of this event. weird...

flat soda

so... it seems my daughter has some sorta issue with putting the top back on ANY drink bottle and while I actually like flat Diet Coke, it seems her mother doesnt. Of course, we never actually see her drinking anything... but since I-Man only thinks he can sneak Capri Suns into his bedroom, we know it aint him leaving the bottle top barely screwed on....

so who was the Nerd the Miami Heat had coaching them last night? Did they seemingly pull a Kevin Arnold wannabe out of his fantasy league at the local bar to coach that team? Who is this guy?

“Basketball can serve as a metaphor for ultimate cooperation. It is a sport where success ... requires that the dictates of community prevail over selfish impulses.”
-- Bill Bradley

So this video starts the NBA conversation today.... i am going to cast my lot with the team of my childhood (notice a theme here) and stick with the Celtics... one last hurrah!... and they will get to play without the bullseye this season. That sits squarely on the Heat and Lebron. It will be an interesting storyline until May, when the NBA season starts....

"A lot of fans were drawn to me because they knew that whatever the score was, I was going to run as hard as I could on every play. You don't have that now, you have guys waiting for next week or even next year." - Walter Payton

this applies on so many levels it isnt even funny....

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime". - Chinese Proverb

As the song goes..."Today was a good day..." I-Man had two soccer matches. The team has improved considerably and while they probably will complete this first half of the year winless, they no longer are a seemingly lost cause. Today they lost 0-2 and tied 0-0, which is a HUGE improvement. Defensively, this team is somewhat stout with I-Man as sweeper and a strong goalie, with all the girls really providing capable play in midfield. Only one true forward is on this team, and he has to run himself silly the whole game and it wears him down... but I anticipate that the league will assign the best newcomer in the spring to this team, which might take a team that is basically a solid defensive team and make them dangerous to the other teams in the league...

.... Nanna and Papa came into town to see I-Man play (and see Ryles too) and they then spent the day carvin pumpkins, getting new shoes, eating pizza, watching How to Train a Dragon, grilling hotdawgs, hambugers and bratwursts and then celebrating a pair of Birthdays.

So.. all in all... a good day as I always the twins to spend meaningful time with their Grandparents... I hope to have them go spend a night with Grandma sometime in the next two or three weeks. I think that time is valuable to the twins in many ways....

Really? has it come to this?

Seriously... Juan Williams was essentially fired from N Frakkin PR after making some comments (his opinions, mind you) on Fox News... he basically said that if you get on an airplane and see someone who is looking like a Muslim (dressed like it, looks like, it, whatever), you kinda get a little bit apprehensive. Well, I know I have done it... taken a second closer look. And anyone reading this who says they havent done the same... is lying. But somehow, the PC world some people wanna think is actual reality is getting out of control... I will bet this to my friends: the next time there is a terrorist event ( and you KNOW there will be a next time, right?) and the people who perpetrate the event are NOT Muslim, I owe you a chicken dinner from Popeyes. I feel pretty safe that I wont have to be opening my wallet. because you all know that the next car bomb, foiled airplane into tall building, SUV in Time Square, gunman in a crowded building, foilled WHATEVER plot will have a person responsible who is... wait... Wait... WAIT... WAIT FOR IT!!!!... a MUSLIM. Extremist? probably.... but we keep hearing that most Muslims dont condone this sorta stuff... but yet you dont hear anyone standing up and denouncing it... (oh, I am sure you can read of some small blurb on the back page of some newspaper somewhere by some random cleric)... and here is the dirty secret... no "moderate" Muslim is going to say ANYTHING, else he takes the risk of ending up on YouTube getting beheaded by his fellow supposed peaceful Muslim Buddies. but back to my point... if he walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck and keeps blowing up things in the name of Allah, well... it must be a Muslim. Until i have to pony up my Popeyes chicken strip dinner with honey glazed biscuits, i will keep thinking that the OVERWHEMING majority of people are thinking EXACTLY the same thing when they get on a plane and see someone who is a Muslim... " are they going to try something? Am I getting ready to die?"

Sorry PC people... that is the way most people see it...

now... Of course 98 percent of practicing Muslims aint thinking about doing any harm to anybody. But until you start seeing cleric after mullah after Imam standing up and denouncing this from the top of ALL the mosques, it will stay the same...

"Rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for the house in blackjack". ~Adam Morrow, quoted in Bill Simmons, "Letters from the Nation," 20 October 2003

THIS is what I am talking about....

my guy will have the best looking car on the track in 2011... all the Junior fans must be having a cow as this is what so many of them clamoured for for years.... yes... watch this be the souvy truck to be at... by the way, tentative plans to camp out at ALL STar Race in May so reserve that weekend for a party... Ha!!! well... maybe it will just be me sitting by a tent and small firebowl by myself... but that's ok. Gives me something to look forward to and shoot for....

OK... I have about had it with Charter. I am going to give them thru Spring, and if they cant get their act together, I am back to satelitte....

Ryles is going to be some sorta witch/sorcerress/thingy and I-Man is going to be.. wait...Wait...WAIT FOR IT... a soccer player... but I think I am going to do this for Halloween....

SO my Braves go down in flames... at least they did do all that I asked for this year.. simply contend and at least make the playoffs... losing Chipper and Prado basically put their offense in neutral and they could just not score any runs... there will be huge expectations next year. HUGE.

so we know have people throwing books at the President during his speeches and people throwing shoes at videos of Obama... this is becoming a joke. Well, perhaps it already was, but I digress. What DOES disturb me and comes up in my mind is this... depite differences of opinion of policy and decisions, i dont see that people would have treated a white President the same way. Seriously... can anyone who is against Obama justify that sorta thing? Not to mention the streaker?... how far is this guy going to fall?... and despite the Secret Service walking back the book thrower, the symbolic nature of the act is profound. But... again... would this have happened to Hillary Clinton? or George Bush... open, blatant disrespect?

Today... I start a different schedule at work, changing from a 10 hour work schedule to a 8 hour schedule... and I will actually get home at a relatively normal hour for a change....

lost weekend?

not really... but as far as rooting for sports teams, it was crash and burn city. Tiger football goes and lays an egg... Cowboys crash and burn... Panthers lose again(not uncommon), Laurens High is defeated, Southern Cal gets smacked around.... and finally... the Braves come back in rousing fashion only to have their Second Baseman blow a routine ground ball and give the game away. This was his THIRD error of the game, and that doesnt count the fly ball he dropped (admittedly a hard play, but one players make everyday), and was a crushing blow.. I went to the game in Atlanta and it was electric. But a HUGE letdown the way the game ended....

Today is... 10/10/10....

OK... so The Office seemed to bounce back last night... did I mention that we now have Disney Channel in HD? oh.. yeah.. I did....

GOALLLLLLL!!!

Thought I might mention that I-Man scored a goal in his last match (another loss... did I mention that his team has 6 girls whereas other teams only have one or two max on theirs).. he has remained in his customary position of sweeper/fullback on defense and, but has started to push forward a little more to help the one kid who is a viable scoring threat up front... this time, he intercepted the ball in front of his goal, and basically pushed forward thru, around and over the other team by himself and sent a screaming drive past the goalie for a goal in their 5-2 loss last Saturday... kinda funny as i heard a parent from the other team say "..wonder why that kid doesnt do that more?...."

on deck...

this weekend will see me attempt to replace my glowplug harness and glowplugs on my car.... also pondering going to the braves playoff game as you never know if/when/ever they might make it to the playoffs again. some people wait their entire lives to see their baseball team even get to the playoffs... i am not taking this for granted...

wow....

... has it really come to this for the people who supposedly support Hope and Change? where is the undying, unrelenting "he can do no wrong" support? Interesting....

watching Law and Order, Los Angeles... lets see if this is worth it... same premie but a bit more glitzier, it seems...

so... Fall is off to a great start... I-Man is doing great in soccer on a team that is 6 girls and 3 boys. In a league full of boys, you can guess what their record is, but it isnt all about that..yet. And the girls are playing hard and I-Man is having fun, so its all good... Homecoming is this weekend and people will be in town. I always have mixed feelings about homecoming...

more later....

Top Ten Moments of my Life (so far)

#9 Top Moment of My Life

...in no particular order

Way back in the seventh grade i decided to play the saxophone... I cannot remember the exact time or day, but a lot of things in my life from that point on stem from that decision. Perhaps a larger decision would be to play in band INSTEAD of playing football (or sports, in general) going into highschool.

I was a pretty good football player for junior high. A lot of people thought I would be a great player in highschool and move on to college. Looking back. I probably would have been good, but a major college type player? Probably not. My size would have had me playing at Furman or Newberry or some place like that. Those schools and programs are great and it would have been a great opportunity. But I didnt go that direction... Instead...

Friendships with Billy, Julie, Jobert and John in highschool developed mainly because of band. Looking at it now, my entire family is a direct result of that decision to do band. Wife, kids... closest friends... lifelong friends.... because of band. Family vacations revolve around seeing friends that resulted from long bus rides, hot practices, hundreds of rehearsals and countless hours at Huddle House. And a long the way, we played a few songs....

Band. Music, Fraternity.... friends and family. All because I decided to play a silver saxophone...

the internet, and 24/7 media is really great. But at times, I wonder... this so called pastor in Gainesville and the Quran burning gig this Saturday would be on page 17 of the Gainesville Newspaper (if that) 20 years ago and most people would not even know about it. But now it is world news... sigh...

technology...

My Jetta has developed a shudder-shake during slowdowns over the past few months. As the engine rpms dropped to idle while braking, it would start to shake violently until it got to 900 rpms (idle)... well, after much reading, I found out I could use my VAG COM tool and connect a computer to my car and access the settings in the engine that control that shudder. Seems that over time, it had adjusted itself too low on air-fuel mix at certain ranges... So, hooked uo the PC to the port on the car under the steering wheel, ran this program and started tinkering with control modules. and Voila!!... changed a number from 32768 to 32668 and heard the engine hiccup for a second and start running smoother. i am thinking to myself "Are you Frakkin' serious?" and get in the car and drive around the block a couple of times. Its like the car feels brand new. Go figure... This program allows me to see all sorts of stuff in real time on the car.

Now I gotta go check in on a cat before work....

WHile everyones situation and circumstance is different, this could be solved relatively easy. I wonder if that same McDonalds is hiring?

I am still wondering why it is that when I lay down in my bed @ 830am that it feels so much better than if I lay down @ 830pm...

go figure...

Well, who would have thunk it?

Top Ten Moments of my Life (so far)

in no particular order....

#10 Top Moments in my Life

May 17, 1967....“It was never easy for me. I was born a poor black child. I remember the days, sittin’ on the porch with my family, singin’ and dancin’ down in New Bern, North Carolina".

Well... maybe not... might have heard someone else say that a while back... but I guess that date is fairly important in my life. I was born while my father was stationed there in the Marines and off in Vietnam. I have no memory of it and have never been to Cherry Point AFB or Havelock County. My twin brother Jeremy was born 4 minutes before me.

So... It all doesnt come into play unless I am born... has to rank fairly high on the list, if not highest, dont you think?

Jessica plays the radio in the shower every morning, and this morning as I was struggling to get up, i heard these lyrics wafting out of the bath... and I have been singing them in my head all morning since then....

Remember when I was young and so were you
and time stood still and love was all we knew
You were the first, so was I
We made love and then you cried
Remember when

Remember when we vowed the vows
and walked the walk
Gave our hearts, made the start, it was hard
We lived and learned, life threw curves
There was joy, there was hurt
Remember when

Remember when old ones died and new were born
And life was changed, disassembled, rearranged
We came together, fell apart
And broke each other's hearts
Remember when

Remember when the sound of little feet
was the music
We danced to week to week
Brought back the love, we found trust
Vowed we'd never give it up
Remember when

Remember when thirty seemed so old
Now lookn' back it's just a steppin' stone
To where we are,
Where we've been
Said we'd do it all again

Remember when
Remember when we said when we turned gray
When the children grow up and move away
We won't be sad, we'll be glad
For all the life we've had
And we'll remember when
-Alan Jackson

I think the part that struck me was when he sang
"Remember when thirty seemed so old"

here's what i think... that so called woman who killed her two sons and then placed them in a car and rolled it into a lake/river should get the EXACT same treatment. She should be placed in that SAME car, be strapped in and have it rolled into that same EXACT place and die. plain and simple.... i dont care how difficult it was for her or how much her mother was on her case... no excuse for it. NONE.

And i have heard calls for the death penalty.

But....

Susan Smith did the same thing (basically) and she has spent her days in jail having sex with corrections officers, 3 meals a day, chillin' on my tax dollars and will be up for parole in about 10 years or so. I will be curious to see if this woman gets the same type of penaly as Susan Smith did... or if she receives a higher level of justice.

And... WE'RE OFF!!!!!

First day off school today... 3rd Grade!!!... man o man, is time flying by.... This Fall seems to be setting up rather nicely... the only downside so far is that we have had to NOT do dance/tap/gymnastics this year because schedule conflicts cant allow us to get to Clemson this year in the afternoons in time. But we hope to resume next year... but in the meanwhile, Soccer returns, and we will add private lessons for some sorta instruments for the kids... they say clarinet and saxophone... not so sure I want them to go that route but if thats what they want, then so be it.. they seem to be extremely fickle about it. i really think they have no clue.... I-Man starts the year off in some Gifted and Talented classes. We shall see if he likes them or wants to be back in the "normal" classes... Ryles starts the year off with a chip on her shoulder... they are NOT in the same class this year and I hope this allows I-Man some freedom to branch off in regards to making friends and not have the constant specter of Ryles interfering...

OK.. so i said before i had some sorta back issue... FINALLY seems to be just about over... now I can get about my normal daily life, i guess... at any rate, the CITY showed up this morning and went into the little pumphouse/well/den of horrosa thingy that resides at the side of our house and seemed to address what I had told them several times over the past month about our toilets/etc. not seeming to flush the way they had in the past. It seems they dont really like addressing this issue for some reason, but they have too cause .. well.. its THEIR device on our property. It is some sorta pump/sewage thingy that i assume pumps stuff UPHILL to the main line running under the street. And it seems like three houses are affected by it... All I know is that occasionally (especially after big rain events) an alarm will go off, and I have to call them. And they reluctantly show up and look all pissed off that they have to go down into this box in the ground on the side of our house... i didnt put it there. it was there when we got the house. Our house was built in the 60's ( in case you have never seen it) and there are several quirky things about it, this being one of them...

Is there ANYTHING worse than having some sorta back strain/pain/soreness/whatever? well... death ranks up there, but not sure if it is worse. I have had some sorta back issue for approaching a week now. Its finally getting better, but .... you cant walk, you cant sit, you cant lie down... nothing works to make you comfortable. And then you HAVE to go to work... i have barely touched my PC during this time... still working on my Top Ten....

for the guys who have been to a "gentlemens" establishment a time or two, THIS will REALLY make you laugh....

Top 10 project...

I am going to post this project which will consist of the top ten events in my lifetime (so far).. obviously, i could say that being born is the obvious number 1 as no other events are possoble, without it... so I will start there soon and that will be my number ten. After that, i will chronicle the next nine, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER...

go figure

i used to NEVER watch anything Jonas Brothers... NEVER!!!!... but why am i suddenly watching it now... Inthralled, captivated.... as well as iCarly and Phineas and Ferb?

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

weird... over the weekend, i had talked to Wes about having weird dreams whenever you are not feeling well... last night, I wasnt feeling good. seemed to have a slight fever and went to bed early. proceeded to have dreams about having dreams when not feeling well...

Are "Daisy Duke" shorts coming back into style?.... saw a lot of those in Greenville on Main Street the other day... not sure I like that trend... honest.

weird... kinda... yesterday, I ran over to Clemson and helped a brother move their TV cabinet and bed stuff to their new apartment.. several current brothers eventually showed up and i left and on my way back home, i got to thinking about bandcamps, and anticipating meeting new people and renewing old friendships... I started thinkng about the important people in my life now and if I couold remember the EXACT moment I met them... and I am astonished to say that I can not remember exactly, except for my wife... weird. I spent a little time on the phone with Kristen, and she seemed to be able to recall stuff from when we met that I am totally blank on... weird...

Santa is spooling up his toymaker machine... I talked again with Santa and his lovely wife and it will once again be a low key, quality over quantity sorta holidays again... of course, as Santa's main agent, I floated the "what do you want Santa to bring you?" question out to the twins.... it now seems to have gotten a little more difficult.... their answer? "We can't tell you. If we tell you, Santa wont bring us anything!"... (crickets chirping)

Normalcy has returned, with typical T-showers almost everyday... creek has returned to flowing... spent all day yesterday at work smelling mosquito repellant... on me. really, really sucked... and started to get to my stomach as I rarely have that on me... Bristol has been retired to my mothers house in the country where he will soon be free to roam and run and frolic to his hearts content. I think this will ultimately be the best thing for him, and give my mother an alarm of sorts for her out in the middle of no where. Wont stop really, really bad guys but will be a deterrent to petty thieves, etc.

OK... so... Its been a bit.. um.. well.. a notch toasty in these parts the last few days. Not sure what all the fuss has been about. Doesnt this happen every year? Now... If it continues for a couple of weeks or something, then I might have to come back here and complain... Especially since the creek has dropped down a couple of levels and is not flowing over the rocks anymore, but flowing kinda under them..... the problem for me isnt the heat (which i REALLY, REALLY, REALLY dont like) but its the lack of typical ThunderStorms that roll thru in the summer. Need those Thunder Bumbers to keep the water flowing and cool things down a notch or two...

Blowing leaves (again) today and i have noticed that there are far more spiders it seems in the back yard this year... also seems to be far less mosquitoes. Hmmmmmm....

I-Man has caught several little fishies using the fishtrap John gave him. Hasnt cooked any, but at least we know we can get some bait in a hurry if we need to...

knock on wood...

Braves get to the Dog Days of August (just about) with a weeks worth of games lead on the Phillies and Mets... virtually NO ONE thought they would be in this position... I am almost ready to change my outlook on this season... September 1st. If they are still within 3 or 4 games of first, I will fully risk a jinx and investigate playoff tickets.... fingers crossed... I was spoiled by the success of the Braves during the 90's and 2000's. I knew it would have to end but I thought I would be able to adjust once they fell back and rebuilt. Well... i missed automatic wins... THIS is more like it....

“We must always think about things, and we must think about things as they are, not as they are said to be.” -George Bernard Shaw

I certainly hope those who complain that I talk about Obama, etc. too much understand that this part of who/what my blog is about. MY OPINIONS and MY POINTS of VIEW will be posted here from time to time. I am not forcing anyone to read anything or think any certain way. Just offering information and stuff from my perspective and asking questions.

I will say again that I appreciate and want to hear all points of view, and spend a lot of time reading and watching and listening from all sides. That I express something that is conservative or "right wing" is, well, the way it is.

“If a man isn't willing to take some risk for his opinions, either his opinions are no good or he's no good” - Ezra Pound

I am what I am.

However, I am not a "right winger" nor a part of the religious right, or nor do I simply watch FOXNEWS all day. I probably listen and watch more NPR and MSNBC than most of you. I am "Conservative" more than I might be "Liberal". But if you care to take a closer listen to what I say and have said in the past , you would know that my positions are not taken lightly, nor without a LOT of thought.

"We should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe.” - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr


This is an avenue for me to speak my opinion.

While it might not be totally about the same thing, I am reminded of a poem I read long ago... rather than reprint just the poem, I am going to steal the Wikipedia article so you have an explanation of it.... yeah... i know... Wikipedia.... but it is quick...

"First they came ..." is a famous statement attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group. The text expresses, in a condensed form, the understanding of history presented by Niemöller in a January 6, 1946 speech before representatives of the Confessing Church in Frankfurt.^[1]

"THEY CAME FIRST for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

THEN THEY CAME for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

THEN THEY CAME for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

THEN THEY CAME for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up."

I am dead set against free agency. It can ruin baseball
-George Steinbrenner

Wow....

I still cant figure out what the deal is here....

"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."
- John Wooden

pondering....

Returning from "vacation" and getting back to work has given me pause for thought....

I place a lot of stock in my time that I visit with friends. No... it isnt ever going to be 4 hours talking about stuff at Huddle House anymore, or long bus rides to wherever talking about things that are SOOOOO important, or even sitting in a bar over a drink talking sports. I understand that. That just simply wont ever happen again, I guess.

But it is so great to be able to simply see and hear friends in "real time", even if it is for what usually turns out to be a 45 minute conversation once a year. At least it is to me.... I spend so much time immersed in a computer screen away from ANYONE I remotely even care to talk to. That is why I look so forward to a trip six months from now. It is also why I get extremely irate about petty arguments that take away or interfere with stuff I look forward to. We are not promised tomorrow. The next time the phone rings could be a call telling you that somebody important is GONE. I have answered the phone and had someone tell me that my Father had passed. I have answered the phone and had someone tell me my Grandmother (an extremely important person in my childhood) was GONE. I have had that call telling me a dear friend was gone. SO when I hear that family members are avoiding each other and not talking, it pisses me off. Because it is a waste of time, and sets everyone up for a bad experience. Karma is a bitch. And I dont like to mess with it.

Anyways, I guess maybe I should simply not waste mental energy thinking about getting family together at some point in time in the future. Maybe it is a flawed way of thinking. Certainly sometimes feels I am the only one taking this seriously.

also...

I forgot about this... after we returned from the ocean fishin gig, I took a shower and whenever I closed my eyes I could feel myself floating up and down and left and right... weird....

And... is it me or are the leaves falling earlier and earlier every year? Had to blow the back yard yesterday and the front is starting to get covered.... Not even August yet...

And how is it that the big Disney Channel Summer Blockbuster (Camp Rock 2) doesnt come out till September?

Trip O Rama

SO... I have often said that I have been blessed in my life... Great mother who is generous beyond all belief... Beautiful wife who who is a great friend and fabulous mother to my children... two bright, energetic and "what more can you ask for" kids who make everyday challenging, fun and rewarding, Family (jessica's parents in particular) who have been generous and supportive beyond the call of duty and friends who I would not trade for anything, who have stood the test of time. These many blessings and well paying jobs (as well as a car with the ability to go 12 hours on a single tank of gas) have allowed us to experience and travel and do things that I always count my blessings for... and this summer has been a continuation of these blessings. And we still have other friends (Lisa, TJ, Trace... Clemons... you're on notice...) to see before September. SO... that being said, we recount the latest trip and visits...

My Mother was very generous to pay for the Twins and us to go on a cruise with her this past week... dropped the Guinea Pig off at Brandy's and realized I did NOT have the birth Certificates for the twins...OR... gulp... Jessica's Birth Certificate.... Backtrack an hour back to the house and another 30 minutes tearing up the garage and storage shed before we finally got all the proper documentation... Now running way later than anticipated, we managed to get to Aunt Ellen's and crash for the night before heading to Jacksonville early in the next morn... arrived around 11:30ish and slipped thru customs and onto the boat with relative ease.... the kids hit the pool and Jessica and I sat around the Adults Only Hottub, pictured to the right... notice all the adults there, including our twins. Interesting enough, there was an actual adults only section on the ship that I never got to go visit, although I could see it from a higher deck... That location was called Serentity... go figure....

After a day at sea, we did a stop over at an "Deserted Island" called Half Moon Cay and it was actually pretty slick. My mother had secured a Cabana which gave us cover/shade/housing and a place to put towels, drinks ( a fridge ), and cool off ( a misting fan) while the beach lay in front of us.. the view from out Cabana was SPECTACULAR (see left) and the water in the area of the world continues to amaze me with how clear it it.... Jessica and the twins went snorkeling, and the kids swam for like 5 hours straight.... once again, my mothers' thoughtfulness and generosity totally changed that experience, for the good....

The next day saw us do a stop at Nassau. Been there done that, but I did take Ryles over to Atlantis where we saw their Aquarium (illegally, I think). Earlier in the day, Grandma showed us this zoo which was DEFINITELY not like the zoos in the US... Animals just walking around in no cages that you would NEVER see normally. I saw lawsuits all over the place if this would have been at Riverbanks zoo, but here it was normal... and cool. Ryles also got a conch shell and collected more sand for Nanna to analyze from Atlantis. Ryles, Grandma and I returned to the ship via water ferry where we did have to be tortured by some Rastafarian wannabe shilling for money while showing us where the rich people lived.

The last day saw us do another full day at sea, which was kinda funny because the boat seemed to reach a point about 50 miles away and virtually stop in the middle of the ocean. The kids spent most of their days on the boat in Camp Carnival, where they made a bunch of friends with kids of their same age... they had all sorts of activites going on for them ALL day... a very interesting concept. It gives them something to do other than just swim and bump into each other all day in the pool or on the slides.


ITS SIGNING TIME FOR ALEX AND LEAH!!!!!

We then exited the boat the next day and meandered over to see John, Pam and Grace. I have previously mentioned John's generosity in taking me out on the ocean for some fishing. Pam was also generous in providing food and also to let us get some scans (done by John) in her pactice for free that showed us just how much damage our skin had from the sun. Very, very interesting indeed. We also got to visit with their daughter Grace and we all went to Wild Adventure, a Carowinds/Dorney Park type place.... rode some coasters and rides and did the water side of the park- THAT was interesting. I can see where that would be a day all by itself.... We then went back to Tallahassee where we chilled (kids hit the pool, of course), did a firebown and chilled out before heading back home....



So... 9 days in total it took. but...just two (2) TWO tanks of gas total.... and thanks to the generosity of Grandma, Aunt Ellen, John and Pam and the support indirectly and directly of a bunch of others, it was a GREAT time and experience for Ryles and I-Man. Like I said before... a couple of day visits are on the docket, as well as Cousin Madison's birthday, Carowinds with Grandma and church and school starts again... I hope that the future brings more blessings and experiences...

lets see where this goes...

The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible.
-Bertrand Russell

Hit the ocean ...again...

Today, John was gracious to take me out on the ocean near his home and we went out a tad far to hook some fish. This was father out than I had ever been before on a small personal craft before and it was a blast. Outside of the obvious sea issues and the UP/DOWN/SIDEWAYS constantly, it was fun catching a couple of larger fish ( with Johns expertise ) and watched him catch a whole bunch o fish too........ a strange after effect was while taking a shower, i closed my eyes and i swear i could feel myself rocking like I was still out in the ocean.... I am always appreciative of the time John takes to take us out and show us a great time...

tomorrow will see us going to Wild Adventures in Valdosta... should be interesting as I have never been there. I believe it is like a Carowinds/Dorney Park type place with coasters, kids stuff and a water park. I think we are going to try to avoid the water park...(crossing fingers)

After returning back to John and Pams, we plan to chill out before finally heading back to home after a loooooooooonnnnnnnng road trip.... kinda weird as I woke up in the middle of the night last night, and I could NOT remember where I was for a few seconds... probably a hint that home and my own bed will be welcome....

Or perhaps....This?

This would be a something for the thermos with the previously mentioned ankle thingy?

Where was this 15 years ago?

This is SOOOOO something that might have been useful back in the day. This is better than the flask....

Coming off the cruiseboat, we will head to see John, Pam and Grace... we shall see if these pictures i constantly see on Facebook about are true or creative Photoshop apparitions...

Looking good so far

Braves reach the All Star Break looking good and set to contend in the second half. As I have said before, all I ask is that we have a chance in September and that the games mean something.... Think I am going to take I-Man to a game in August and maybe catch up with some friends in the ATL area while at it...

Looking around for potential Stocking stuffers.. came across this....

OK... So the trip to Jacksonville had a slight hiccup as we didnt have the twins birth certificates. Didnt have jessica's either. Had to go back home to locate those and after a little panic, found it. Then we headed to Columbia, which was about 117 degrees at 8:45pm... I swear. Honest. The Droid said everywhere else was 75 degrees, 85 degrees... etc. No wonder USC fans are always in a bad mood (besides losing alot - despite their baseball teams recent success)... this place would drive me batty. It is SO FRAKKIN HOT!!!!!

with all the hubbub from some calling for a boycott of BP, despite the boycott really hurting the local owner more than it hurts BP, I thought that this pic I saw online might be kinda interesting... found it online browsing a site about sports uniforms, of all things...

maybe my mind has changed

I have often said ( and fully intend to) that I will drive my current Jetta well past 300,000 miles and probably till it blows up. And current plans are for a BMW X5 as my current line of thinking, with another Jetta TDI close behind it in ranking.. but..this car to the right has me thinking I might get that if I can figure out how to make it make sense.... more on this vehicle here....

from facebook

i know some have already seen from facebook, but I have to post this again. I got it from Harwood the other day. This made the rounds for almost two straight days at work..... beware watching this as it does contain adult language....

follow up

Spent the evening of the Fourth at Harwoods', and we shot off a whole heap of fireworks. I think I have improved the quality of my fireworks presentation... Next year, i will be fully ready.

today, JULY 4th!!!... but yesterday????

Friday afternoon, Nanna and Papa came into town. We spent time the day before at River Falls in Greenville, the hit Wild Wings for dinner... Yesterday, we went to Clemson and went on a picnic. We then contacted Uncle Wes and Aunt Ashley and found out that they were actuall about 200 yards away from us across the cove. Got on the pontoon and went cruising around lake Hartwell for a bit and the kids went swimming. We then went back home and grilled out steaks, corn, potatoes with everyone before they all headed back home.... it was, for me, great to see everyone. As I have mentioned before, days off, vacation time and spending time with friends and family are things I look forward to all the time. And with my vacation time somewhat precious and limited, I place a lot of stock into that time. And spend a lot of mental energy into thinking ahead and planning and setting aside time. That is why it annoys me when that time gets complicated by petty bickering and simple lack of communication. I feel we only have so much time here. It is a extreme waste of time for subterfuge and a simple lack of communication and avoidance of issues to make EVERYTHING so complicated. And I fear the future we see us simply choosing to take ourselves out of the equation. I simply dont want to be bothered when people could simply talk to each other. At the end of the day, family will be what is there for you.

I forgot to follow up on Browns job in NYC... he is doing great. And the store that he works for is obviously doing well... I tried to barter a 2000 dollar set of coasters down to 5 dollars but it didnt seem to work.... left is a sign that was prominently displayed in the store....

Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened. --Dr. Seuss

well last week was eventful... full of travel and seeing old friends... first stop was in Raleigh to see the Wyatts... we had an opportunity to sit around and eat wings and sip Canadian Mist while the kids ran around and had fun... Raleigh is a long way and traffic sux there... just sayin. But I do think time between visits was waaaay too long. But their relative proximity to Florence will make it easier in the future to plan something out. perhaps a day trip into town and a trip to the museum in town or some other sites. Got a chance to see Josh's EV car... needs a little work still but looks close to being a reality, it seems... Josh also (with Alicia's help) gathered up a lot of photo albums and photos from the FRAT from WAYYYYY back and gave to me to give to the Historian. A lot of pix of the colony members and pix of the Alpha thru Delta classes...

Then it was off to New Jersey, traveling up 95 around Washington, thru traffic, under Baltimore Harbor, thru traffic, around Philly, thru traffic and across to Jersey to Kristen... thru traffic. Hung out and ate Chinese and then woke up the next day and traveled into NYC... thru... NO traffic for the most part. Into Manhatten, across Chinatown, across the bridge into Brooklyn where we met up with Aunt Pam and Uncle Erik and then headed onto the subway to go into NYC to go to the Museum of Natural History. We ate a dog from the street vendors and then spent around 4 hours roaming around inside. I was impressed that the kids could have stayed even longer and had a LOT of fun.... we then went across Central Park to FAO Swartz and I-Man got him a cool SPACE PATROL lego set while Ryles made herself a bracelet... then back on the subway where we then went to Browns work place which seems to be flourishing.... we then went and grabbed some dinner at a cool joint in Brooklyn, then hit up Brooklyns Best Ice cream and spent some time under the Brooklyn Bridge at a park there enjoying the great view and the nice cool temps... then back to Jersey...






The next day saw us with the Redmonds hitting Dorney Park, a Carowinds type place (coincidentally owned by the same company) with some mean coasters that i managed to avoid riding. There were a couple of other ones that I-Man rode and several kiddie rides I enjoyed immensely. Temperatures were great and we managed to spend almost seven hours there deftly navigating all the fun with the occasional expected melt downs... Red Robin for dinner and a incredibly cool candy store treat from the Redmonds for dessert ended the day. I was kinda amused and sad to have to leave. As always time is way to short on these visits and seeing how much I-Man enjoyed playing with Kristen's son was cool...the twins got along great with all the kids. Kinda strange thinking about how we never could have imagined this 15/19 years ago....

The next day saw the loooong trip back, hitting Cracker Barrel at the exact same place and exact same parking spot as the year before... back home to reality, back at work and already mentally planning... for next year.

Fathers Day!!!

Jessica and the twins treated me to cube steak and eggs, bacon, hash browns, gravy, orange slices, biscuits and Arizona Ice Tea. And a couple of homemade cards that they obviously took a lot of time to make. Much appreciated!!!

here we go again

a couple years ago Brandy sent me a link about companies/web sites/brands that were going to be folding, etc. I remember reading it with skepticism but that article proved to be eerily true... well, here is another article that i am wondering if it will prove to be true. If so.. wow....

on deck

Looking forward to seeing... Josh, Kristen and Brown this week... should be fun...

Slumber party

last night the Harwoods daughter spent the night at our house and in typical fashion, none of the kids wanted to go to bed. Finally the girls went to sleep and I went upstairs around midnight and found I-Man still awake... his comment..."I feel like such an adult now"

It is not so much our friends' help that helps us, as the confidence of their help. ~Epicurus

Had a great visit from Brandy and AJ this time last week and got to visit with their newest addition to their family. They seem to be adjusting well to a considerable change between having one child to having two. While I never have known what it was like to have one kid, it always felt from afar that the task was far easier than having two at one time. Of course, that does make sense... i suppose.

Then yesterday, we went over to see The Harwoods and the twins hit the pool with their kids. I am amused at just how much I-Man and Ryles never seem to tire of swimming, either in a pool or down at the lake in Camden, or at the ocean...at any rate they spent about three hours in the pool then played inside for another 4 or so, taking in some pizza along the way, as well as creating all sorts of Play-do thingys...

I was fortunate to be allowed to use Harwoods' lift to replace my skid pad/belly pan on my Jetta. I had been driving for 3 months without protection for my oil pan, which sits extremely low to the ground on the TDI and is exceptionally vulnerable to rocks, etc and therefore, catastrophic engine failure if oil starts dropping out while traveling down the highway... i am always grateful that using his lift has probably saved me hundreds, if not now thousands of dollars in cost to dealership or mechanics.

It is interesting to see the budding friendship between Ryles and Harwoods daughter. I think this will be a long term thing ( one would hope ) that will be cool to look back at in 10 years...

"Dude, We're Gettin' the Band Back Together!"

Perhaps one of my mostest fave episode EVER on Disney Channel...i ended up watching this instead of the second half of the USA/SLOVENKA(whatever) match.... why do I like this episode so much... because there is a understated core them of the fact that MUSIC brought the band together initially and MUSIC was the tie that binds them together after many years away from each other....

so... i get up on my first day off to go downstairs and watch USA in the World Cup. Of course, the kids are watching a Power Rangers DVD they have only seen.. what.... 400 times? So rather than force the issue, i trudge back upstairs to watch it in my bedroom... good thing i moved my old 37incher upstairs.

Not sure if it was some sorta virus or what yesterday but I feel much better today. Except that I now notice virtually every joint in my body creaks and pops when I wake up and get out of bed...

Kinda weird... last night i felt really strange, all achy and ever so slight chills... but what was strange was how i couldnt really sleep well... almost didnt go to work but wanted to keep my sick days in the pocket.... and I am now starting to feel a little better...

interesting....

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/fashion/17BFF.html?src=twt&twt=nytimes

USA ties England.. kinda appropriate considering the symbiotic nature of the relationship between the two countries... I will take it and hope the USA doesn't pull a USC (or worse, Clemson) and lose to the two lesser teams in the group in matches they are favored to win. And I hope the English goalie doesnt end up like the Columbian goalie from 1994.

Did You Know?...

The USA team jersey is made from recycled plastic bottles with each individual jersey having the equivalent of 8 bottles... that on the back at the jersey neck is a small graphic that says simply USA... that inside the back at the neck is a coiled rattlesnake graphic... that underneath the USA soccer Federation crest, on the inside OVER THE HEART is another coiled rattlesnake embroidered... with the letters DTOM, which stands for DON'T TREAD ON ME

"Η καμήλα δεν βλέπει την καμπούρα της"

• "The camel does not see her own hump."
• We readily see other people's faults but fail to see our own.

Non se collen as troitas coas pernas enxoitas. (No trouts are caught with dry legs)

WORLD CUP!!!

watching the World Cup match between South Africa and Mexico right now.... Mexico comes out in all black with their green accents. Unusual to see them in that color. So used to seeing Mexico in some form of Green with their usual Aztec/Mayan accents.... Interesting... might have to get me some of those vuvuzelas...... it always amazes me how the ENTIRE WORLD watches these matches, yet hardly anyone in the US even know this huge event is going on.... right now, the entire countries of Mexico and South Africa are at a stand still, glued to the TV. Tomorrow, US will play England... a match full of historical and symbolic importance... and most of the US wont even know it is happening. I lay some fault with ESPN and the entire US press. Bet you that if the Yankees and Red Sox were playing, we would be inundated with the same old stories and hype over and over for the 75th time since April.

But I bet you this... at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon, ALL of England will be watching....

but I also ponder how i see things... The guys playing for Mexico look...Mexican. The guys playing for South Africa dont look South African to me... by that i mean that for so long I associated South Africa with White(caucasians, whatever) people, with the Black people being oppressed into poverty/slavery/whatever. Perceptions... obviously things are changing for the better in South Africa, slowly but surely. But I almost expect to see the South Africa team as all white blond guys with crew cuts dressed in all black with swastikas on their arms. Yeah, i know... getting time periods/locations/stereotypes all mixed up, but.. well.. it is MY blog, isnt it?

today is the last day o school for the kids. Looking back, i try to remember what that was like for me. And I can barely remember... kinda scary. I can remember that it was always kinda sad as it always seemed like August was SO FAR AWAY. And that I didnt hear from or see any of my friends for the entire summer. Now... I think of how August seems like tomorrow for me. Plans for June and July are set and I am thinking of the August timeline and how I might be able to fit a Darlington truck race into family stuff. I can realistically think of what is planned for every weekend thru July. Kinda weird getting ready for school again, already. What book bags will they have? Will they go LLBEAN again or something totally different? in a related note, I-Man made Tiger Strip Brownies for his class today. And he left me a note telling me not to touch his brownies last night... kinda funny.

"The camel does not see her own hump."

We went to the Twins award ceremony today at school... I-Man and Ryles both got awards for Perfect Attendance for the year, as well as ALL A's for the entire year. Then we got to talk to I-Man's Gifted and Talented teacher for next year... as well as confirmed that they will be split up into separate classes next year... so all in all a good year academically. Lets hit the 3rd grade full speed in two months...

slowly...but.. surely?

slowly, as sure as the sun will probably rise tomorrow....

random stuff

Santa told me that I-Man can expect this in his stockings come December...

the Braves get to June in first place... Do I dare start to believe? I am afraid to say much as to not jinx them...

Happy Memorial Day!!! hope everyone enjoys their hotdogs and hamburgers and takes the time to take a moment to reflect on why we get to do those things... people who died far away from home and friends, many times in ghastly situations, protecting our freedoms and serving our country. If you dont take a moment to reflect on this, you are disrespecting their efforts, and dishonoring their legacy. I am going to take a moment at 3pm for a couple seconds of silence and reflection. I dont get to enjoy all of THIS without their sacrifices....

oh... another question... Does this Administration EVER take responsibility for anything that might even be the slightest bit bad? Is it ALWAYS Bush's fault? or do we constantly have to hear Obama or Gibbs or whatever lackey he hides behind say "This notion that... (fill in the blank with ANYTHING THEY DONT WANT TO ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR) ...is simply not true!"

kinda funny.. always starts with "This Notion..."

ha... go figure...

He Was Supposed to be Competent

I am not totally understanding this Silly Bands this the youngsterz are all into... when you watch them barter and negotiate with each other though, it is highly fascinating as they speak to each other in whispered, hushed tones.... "i have a Phoenix.. i will trade that for your tie dye Monkey"

just watched the last episode of Law and Order.. kinda interesting that the longest running show ever went out with absolutely NO fanfare while a show like LOST, that will be forgotten by next week, got all this hullabaloo. Guarantee you that 10 years from now you will still be watching Law and Order in reruns while 24 and Lost will be Trivial Pursuit answers.... Interesting.

Shaving the beard today....

Its kinda interesting. I talked to Kim McDade (Miller) about it last weekend and she agreed with me that it really isnt the Reunion itself we are opposed to, its the bunches of people we have no desire to see again. There is a Highschool Reunion happening this upcoming weekend. I have no desire to go except to see my old friend Beth Riddle. While there may be a couple of others there I would be pleased to see McGee, Jobert, Kennedy, Putnam are not expected to be there... so... therefore...I dont think I am going to go. I am kinda sad as I know the time and effort the organizers have put into doing that type of event and the enormous amount of mental energy they have exerted. And I feel I am dissing them and their efforts... I always feel the same way about Alumni Band and stuff... several people I would love to see... a whole lot more I just have no desire to see again... I know I come off sounding arrogant...

Here is a repost of something I read on Huffington Post by Joseph Palermo (wait, someone once accused me of only watching FoxNews....) and I found it kinda telling of where the "left" is heading/thinking.. especially when you get to the last paragraph...

And Carter Thought He Faced National Malaise

The spectacle of British Petroleum literally killing off the Gulf of Mexico before our eyes while the Obama Administration apparently believes that BP is honorable enough to be trusted to dutifully clean it up is depressing beyond belief. Hearing Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal complain about the lagging federal response after he built his political career trashing the federal government is just too pathetic and stupid to even bother to ridicule.

Despite the seriousness of our current economic and ecological crises, the views of people like Rand Paul and Rush Limbaugh still dominate the discourse. Their ideas frame the debate about current events and political issues, and set up narratives that are impervious to logical argument or even common sense. They idealize Capitalism with the same level of ideological rigidity and devotion as the Khmer Rouge idealized Maoism. Fuse their extremist laissez-faire ideology with a retrograde and downright mean version of right-wing Christianity, and what you get is a toxic stew of superstition and disastrous real-world public policy prescriptions. Like the Texas State Board of Education purging textbooks for children of any ideological impurities, we're surrounded (it seems) with stupid people screaming loudly for stupid policies that are designed in one way or another to produce a generation of stupid people.

What is one to make of Rand Paul saying that President Obama's mild criticisms of BP are "un-American?" Or Limbaugh's claim that the oil catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico is the Sierra Club's fault? A "family values" Christian conservative congressman films an "abstinence only" video with his married mistress; an anti-gay co-founder of the Family Research Council orders a young male prostitute with the click of a mouse. "The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity."

"Libertarians" should at least be for relaxed drug laws, checks on the government's "anti-terrorism" powers, and in favor of a woman's right to choose. But we don't even get this. Instead, we get runaway corporate power and a government that is weak where it should be strong (regulating corporations) and strong where it should be weak (crimping civil liberties).

The United States seems to have already begun its own "lost decade." But unlike Japan, the U.S. is expending its precious resources on fighting two debilitating wars and maintaining a declining empire. If we're lucky we will be "lost" only for a decade.

In California, the "moderate" Republican governor just proposed eliminating the entire welfare program, which is a move that no politician from either party would attempt except during an extreme economic and fiscal crisis. It's the "shock doctrine" on steroids here in Sacramento.

The country is still reeling from what the Wall Street banks put it through and now a criminally reckless oil company creates a major ecological disaster that will take decades to clean up -- if it ever can be cleaned up. Trust me: In the end, BP is not going to pay for the costs of this spill.

When President Jimmy Carter's approval rating plummeted he decided to speak to the nation in a primetime television address where he attempted to explain the economic insecurity that was increasingly gripping American society. "It is a crisis of confidence," he said. "It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation." The press dubbed it Carter's "malaise" speech (though he never used the word), and it was an unmitigated political disaster. In 1976, Carter, the nuclear engineer and Georgia peanut farmer, had come to Washington as a fresh face promising to lead the country out of the depressing era of Vietnam and Watergate. Three years later, he had become heavily identified with a dreary status quo that nobody seemed to like, least of all Carter himself.

By 2012, President Obama could very well find himself in Carter's predicament. A nation traumatized by this kind of prolonged and serious economic uncertainty, along with a political class incapable of doing much about it, has already spawned a wave of irrational politics. A new generation of politicians could emerge who compound the crisis by pushing a new set of misguided public policies such as destroying Social Security, which, like eliminating welfare, has been a dream of some ideologues for decades.