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.