The Fog of War

I sat and watched about 80% of a documentary on HDNet called "The Fog of War", a movie/documentary about Robert McNamara, who was Secretary of Defense for Kennedy, then Johnson during part of the Vietnam War. It was pretty good and its always interesting to listen to someone who was so intrumental in history, especially when hearing in his voice, the regret he has over what happened and the choices that were made. He, of course, has a book...and I think I might put that on my Xmas list on Amazon

there were 11 lessons that McNamara discusses in his book and the movie, and the book was written in 1996. These lessons are frakkin eerie, especially given our current quandry in Iraq. I have taken liberty to post them below... read them and transpose those thoughts to current day events....

The eleven lessons in McNamara's 1996 book In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam:

1. We misjudged then — and we have since — the geopolitical intentions of our adversaries … and we exaggerated the dangers to the United States of their actions.
2. We viewed the people and leaders of South Vietnam in terms of our own experience … We totally misjudged the political forces within the country.
3. We underestimated the power of nationalism to motivate a people to fight and die for their beliefs and values.
4. Our judgments of friend and foe alike reflected our profound ignorance of the history, culture, and politics of the people in the area, and the personalities and habits of their leaders.
5. We failed then — and have since — to recognize the limitations of modern, high-technology military equipment, forces and doctrine…
6. We failed as well to adapt our military tactics to the task of winning the hearts and minds of people from a totally different culture.
7. We failed to draw Congress and the American people into a full and frank discussion and debate of the pros and cons of a large-scale military involvement … before we initiated the action.
8. After the action got under way and unanticipated events forced us off our planned course … we did not fully explain what was happening and why we were doing what we did.
9. We did not recognize that neither our people nor our leaders are omniscient. Our judgment of what is in another people's or country's best interest should be put to the test of open discussion in international forums. We do not have the God-given right to shape every nation in our image or as we choose.
10. We did not hold to the principle that U.S. military action … should be carried out only in conjunction with multinational forces supported fully (and not merely cosmetically) by the international community.
11. We failed to recognize that in international affairs, as in other aspects of life, there may be problems for which there are no immediate solutions … At times, we may have to live with an imperfect, untidy world.

Underlying many of these errors lay our failure to organize the top echelons of the executive branch to deal effectively with the extraordinarily complex range of political and military issues.

Now...given that I am somewhat on both sides of the fence gieven the entire Iraq fiasco, I did find this somewhat thought provoking. sigh....

If it doesn't matter who wins or loses, why keep score - Worf

The week that was...finally back to home, then down to Cola and the lake for a day...at any rate, the twins had fun and the week finally came to a close...

True friends are a reward, leaving them is the penalty of life. - Faryal Khan Kharal

leavin out today. Originally had planned to bolt late last night, but with my work plans changed, we will be boltin here midday, with arrival back in SC by midnightish or so...

...i must admit that I mentally put a lot of thought into seeing people i havent seen in a while, especially friends. And it is somewhat sad when we have to depart. It always seems to be so short, and... sudden. its like..."OK...gotta go...good seein ya...see ya in a year " so much is unsaid, that perhaps doesnt have to be said. But...I just really dont like that part of visiting....

..saying goodbye sucks because you really dont get the time to say/do/talk about everything you want to... ...

Bring us your huddled masses...

...a somewhat rainy, foggy start to the day, but it did stop rainin, so we caught a taxi to the Statue of Liberty.... rode the ferry, came back, walked up to Canal Street and looked at all the"hot" stuff we could buy where I-Man got a "genuine" Argentina Soccer Jersey for soccer practices this fall, and Rylee got a small wallet, went by the Ground Zero site, did pizza in some random pizza place, and caught the subway back. Juniour's Cheesecake tonight for dinner...

THE CITY...

Got into New York, visited with Uncle Erik briefly... then we took the subway into manhatten, where we went to the central park zoo. nice zoo, but not as big as i imagined it would be...we saw penguins, and snakes...well... the usual stuff you would see, I guess. then I-man and Ryles got to go to FAO Swartz, where Ryles got to make her very own Barbie with a clothes design of her very own. Its a one of a kind (hmmmm...????) and they actually did a mini fashion show where her Barbie did a runway thingy, and it flashed up on the big screen Ryle's name and etc. you can see if you look closely at the pix.... I-Man got to do something similar with his very own Hotwheel that he designed himself, with the color, tires, engine, interior, etc... pretty slick...

made it!!!

Made it to Jersey yesterday morn. Spent the Day with Kristen, Michael and her son and daughter. This morn, we are eatin breakfast at a diner, then headin into the City.

a couple of random (to you) thoughts

... I have my Throwback Hank Aaron T-shirt ready to wear when Bonds breaks the homerun record. And I might actually break out my #44 1969 Throwback Braves Jersey for the occasion too. While I think it sucks Bonds is going to break the record for I think he has used steroids, I am glad to see the appreciation and the talk about Aaron and people discussing how truly great he was and him getting his due. Especially since he had to go through so much during his career.

...Replaced the headlight... got some fixflat... power converter to use laptop in car... GPS back on and batteries

Lets try this again...

Ok... tomorrow we leave for New Jersey/New York on the first big trip for the twins...take 2.

Now, I just have to hope that there is no car failure during the trip ans all will be fine. I dont see that happening as the jetta seems to be running great, as usual. I am kinda curious as to what kinda gas mileage I will get with the added weight of the twins and their stuff. Normally, I can get to New Jersey on one tank of gas with no worry or to the Lincoln Tunnel outside Manhattan. I suspect I will get a tad less, but i will still be better than 4 airplane tickets.

I have modified my expectations for the trip, with 1) seeing Kristen and new daughter, 2) Brown in Brooklyn, 3) Central Park and Central Park zoo, 4) FAO Swartz, 5) Statue of Liberty and 6) Juniors Cheesecake the only definites I expect to do. Hopefully, I will be able to see Brown's new club he is working at, if only for a moment because, well...its really not my sorta club... Jessica will probably like it more.

Once we return, I have a couple of days then it's off to Orlando for the Frat convention for 4 days. That will be interesting as several Alumni issues are set to be discussed, as well as a couple of friends of mine are running for National Office and I hope to see them win.

As i said before...check back for pix everyday as I will post a couple from our stops...

Don't hate the player, hate the game

Since the infamous incident a couple of weeks ago when we had Ipods, cell phones and stuff stolen out of our cars in our driveway, we have endeavored to have the street light replaced out on the street, and when I got home today, there was alight at the end of our driveway, which virtually completes a now circle of lights that are on around our house at night now. Its pretty much daylight outside right now.

When the lights go down in the City
And the sun shines on the bay
I want to be there in my City
Ooh, ooh - -Journey

I really dislike Summer...and I can see the Cool at the end of the Tunnel. For some reason, i can sense Fall and see it already coming.

Our thoughts define our reality

i stole this from gizmodo

"John, the kind of control you're attempting is not possible. If there's one thing the history of evolution has taught us, it's that life will not be contained. Life breaks free. It expands to new territories. It crashes through barriers. Painfully, maybe even… dangerously, but, and… well, there it is." Dr. Ian Malcomb

so...

Obviously...I"m stupid. But I am not the only one. Seems like there is a huge issue with my model webcam and getting it to be seen outside of my local network. Yes, while it seems like it should be a simple fix, from the looks of the forums online...it isnt. So I am wading thru all the info, lookin for the fix that I know some one will provide...

oh and this is in Beta right now...

you can go to 192.168.1.5 and go to View Video and you should see a live webcam streaming. If you dont see anything moving, dont dispair, if you look closely, you can see things moving, like the creek water flowing, etc. i will turn it on us periodically, but only like at dinner time or something. When it is sunny out, I will have it facing out out kitchen window to the inflatable pain in the rear pool we have that the kids are so in love with. So you will probably see them in it, but maybe not today, since it is supposed to only be 38 degrees or something here. Kinda strange in that we were at a baseball game a while ago and it was actually chilly. 68 degrees is what they said it was. Kinda fluky for July 2nd, I think. and the fireworks were disappointing afterward. But the game itself was way fun and they do a great job of doing different things between innings, like watermelon eating contests, or tossing t-shirts, or all sorts of stuff... Good ol wholesome family fun...

LMAO!

The Funniest Joke in the World

Voiceover: This man is Ernest Scribbler (Michael Palin), writer of jokes. In a few moments, he will have written the funniest joke in the world… and, as a consequence, he will die… laughing. (Scribbler writes his joke and dies laughing. His mother (Eric Idle) then enters the room. She is shocked by the death of her son, and seeing the paper in Scribbler's hands, she reads it, dying of laughter as well.)

. . .

Voiceover: It was a fantastic success. Over sixty thousand times as powerful as Britain's great pre-war joke [Cut to stock footage of Neville Chamberlain returning from Munich and holding up the Munich Agreement, the "this is peace in our time"-bit.], and one which Hitler just couldn't match.

[Cut to stock footage of Hitler giving a speech.]

Hitler: [subtitle] My dog's got no nose!

Soldier: [subtitle] How does he smell?

Hitler: [subtitle] Awful!

. . .

Narrator (in person): In 1945, peace broke out. It was the end of the Joke. Joke warfare was banned at a special session of the Geneva Convention, and in 1950 the last remaining copy of the joke was laid to rest here in the Berkshire countryside, never to be told again.

I got this from Wikipedia, which is quoting this fromMonty Python... I read this once, and kida looked at it, this cracked up when I visualized it.

doing some updating...

...in the process of updating some stuff. Check back on Tuesday for I am going to have the address of a webcam that will be live and streaming 24/7 from our house. Well..maybe not 24/7, but it will stream live most of the time. just be warned that while I will turn it on us at times like dinner, etc. it will usually be pointed toward some seemingly random point that i am wanting to observe. It has a motion sensor that will send me an email and video if it is triggered. I am looking to see if anyone is walking around our back yard in the wee hours of the morning.... access will be limited to those who know a certain password...one that Boh knows... oh, and I'll create another password for everyone else....

...I updated my somewhat dormant myspace page with some new pictures, and some scans of print pictures that are "throwback" pictures of some people. the myspace address is.... www.myspace.com/grandpakb ...I dont really post there often at all. Only once every 3 or 4 months, but I do take a look when i get notified of a comment or request for friend. I just dont like the format ofMyspace.

We are at July 1st, and the Braves are still lurking...heading out west for a long road trip that might make or break the season. They just need to keep winning 2 of 3 every series and they will be OK. but another prolonged 4 or 5 game lose streak will doom them.

...looking forward to seeing the twins and Jessica when they get back from the Lowstate. As I have said before, it is kinda a small releif when the kids are gone...but I am starting to see the time that i like them to be gone get shorter and shorter. I think now that they are actually "people" and makes a huge difference. While they obviously are not adults and such, conversations with them are entertaining and to hear the "learning" that they are doing with each interaction everyday is cool.

Tomorrow night is the Greenville Drive game....

Live...From New York.... well...not...

...really... So...we had some issues pop up on the home front and decided to delay the whole trip till July. Seems as though someone(s) took Jessica's wallet and Ipod and my Ipod out of our cars last week, and while I still had my cards, etc....we had to hang around and deal with the police reports, etc. and all that... it also seems that they stole some other stuff out of our shed too that points to some specific people, so we are hopeful that the offenders will be brought to justice, as Bush might say. So..luckily, I was able to shift those vacation days to July and it will probably work out for the better since Kristen will be more in a groove with her new addition to her family and Brown won't have the dancing responsibilities that he normally has on the weekends.

So...all the excitement has been delayed. But it will come eventually...

spooling up...

...for a jaunt up the coast to see Kristen (and her new daughter) and Brown. Kids and jessica are going too and we are piling in the jetta for the drive up. Thank god for the jetta getting 60mpg. tentative plans are...

Saturday -
Arrive at Browns'
subway/taxi to Statue of Liberty
walk to World Trade Center
The Village (lookin around then dinner)
subway back to Brooklyn then to Juniors Cheesecake in Brooklyn
Back to Browns

Sunday
Subway to Central Park
Central Park Zoo
FAO Swartz
5 avenue
Subway back to Browns'
Coney Island for evening

Monday
Brunch in Brooklyn?
Drive out to Jersey to see Kristen
Hang out at Kristens ( kids can do pool )

Tuesday
Drive Back

We might actually leave Kristen's early if they are still getting settled in with their daughter and just overnight it back to the Carolinas. We will play it by ear. So there you have it...its a little ambitious, especially with Ryles and I-man in tow. I suspect we will only hit half of this plan because i think it will be a big shock to them, as well as the ride being a task for them.

Today is Father's Day

I'm not going to wax poetic and ramble on about something inane in regards to Father's Day. I di get a cool gift from jessica and the twins. They (she) printed out all the pages from this blog and had them bound into a book, based on the year. So i have three books done.. 2004, 2005, and 2006. It is pretty cool cause I had pondered when/how is was ever going to do this as I didnt want to lose all this and wish I had it somewhere. So I got a pretty nifty Fathers day gift. Now if/when I keep the following years in a similar vein, I wont have the daunting task of starting from ground zero...

oh yeah, almost forgot...

...trying out this Safari browser. It is actually fast than Firefox, but it is a tad confusing figuring out the RSS feed thingy on this browser. i think I am sticking with Firefox though...but for you techies, download Safari and try it. It's definitely APPLE...

I hate summer

I hate summer. Hate is a really strong word for me, for i rarely use it in any serious way. I might dislike the Patriots or Florida football, but I dont hate them. They are people, too...blah, blah, blah... but... I hate summer. I dont like heat. I dont really like sun, except when its like 65 degrees and sunny. I grew up in a house with no Air Conditioning...NONE..no window units. Just box fans, which actually work very well when you are in front of it. Kinda noisy though... So when it gets warm in the house, it brings back those memories. (kinda drifting on abt 3 different subjects here in my mind, so bear with me). Back to the summer thing.... It just gets a notch too warm here some days in July and August. But like i said before, it isnt very often, and its enough for a good variety in experience. Definitely not like Phoenix or Oklahoma. But I think that my problem is mental. If i lived here in this house and we didnt have a heat pump, and it got warm, i'd adapt and be cool (Ha!)  with it. Open the windows at night and circulate air through it. No problem, But since i know i have AC capability, it bothers me. At any rate, AC man coming at 1 today. problem resolved, and I can quit having Ryles wake up in the middle of the night complaining about being hot (which it realy hasnt been over the past several day, just a couple of days last week) when it is 77 degrees in her room. kinda funny though...Ryles cannot be even remotely warm, while at the same time I-Man is in the same room with a blanket, sheet AND comforter on top of him sound asleep. Its been 74 to 75 degrees in the house over the past few days...comfortable to me, Jessica and I-man it seems. AC man will fix the issue and allow me to get it down to 72ish at bedtime so i wont have to hear the whining. Funny how your focus changes when you have kids. Everything you do is essentally for them, even if indirectly. For those of you reading this who have kids, you know exactly what I mean. For those of you who have kids on the way, i can just smile as i keep thinkin that you have no clue how much things will change.

At any rate, yesterday I-Man and Ryles learned what "f" and "p" means. Kinda funny when you think about how remedial that is to me, yet how important that actually is in music. Kinda like driving a car...ever think about how much we dont even think about what we are doing while driving? I was thinking while driving yesterday how much goes into driving my manual car. How i actually do while turning at a stop sign, shift through the turn..and its like all this stuff going on at the same time, and I am listening to some song thinking about something else and not even thinking abut the several things both hands and feet are doing at the same time. kinda weird.

but anyway, I hate summer because it just seems to be kinda unstructured and drifty. Fall, winter and spring revolve around school, football and other stuff. There are events that happen every year and i like that. Summer always seems to be boring to me, and while I do plan things and do stuff, it still seems haphazard. Plus its like...hot out in the sun. And it just seems to magnify the fact that my closest friends are all many hours away. (yeah yeah, I know...a couple of you are within 30 minutes)...which is just the way it is, and will always be. Sigh...

Weatherman was right

...it was a tad bit frosty in hell yesterday. Jessica's driver defected to the archrival enemy. The fans are in uproar. "How could he do this?" Of course, most fans fail to realize that most of the drivers are indeed friends, even the so-called rivals. Its the fans that make the rivalry of things. And Junior and Mr Hendrick have known each other and been friends since Junior was a small kid. Hendrick is practically juniors second father. Oh well...this should be interesting for it really sets up a Yankees type situation where a minority pulls for one lone group, while everyone else pulls for ANYONE to beat them.

Did I mention the bugs on my windshield? Driving home thru the rain was a chore, since the wipers just wanted to smear the dead bugs across the window.

One thing I have noticed this summer is just how many Grandparent/grandchild groups i see walking around. I guess summer is truly the time to have the kids go see Grandma and Grandpa, especially since Momma and Daddy still have to work.

Ok..a year till the National Conventions for the parties. I think I am going to start paying a tad more attention to the election stuff. I have saved the POTUS channel on XM, which is a channel solely devoted to election coverage.

and finally, the twins have started piano. jessica is teaching them for now, and they seem to be picking up the basics out of the starter book she is using pretty good. I still think that jessica will only be able to take them so far, not because she doesnt know what she is doing, but because it will be difficult for her as mother to teach and enforce the practices. At some point, someone else will probably have to teach, be it my mother or someone else. But by that time, they should have mastered the beginning concepts and basics and be able to advance forward. I am already eyeing Baritones on ebay for I-Man ( i project him as a Tuba player eventually ) and Ryles will be in the Pit on mallets. Of course,  fate says this means I-Man will be twirling flag and Ryles will be playing snare. or whatever... as I have said before, it remains to be seen just where their true interests will lie be it sports, music, dance, or racin. But i guess one can hope.

weather report

heard a report this morning that its supposed to get down to 32 degrees in Hell today.

bugs

my car, for some reason, attracts bugs at night. I know the fact that I drive with high beams a lot, and thatmy high beams are seemingly extra bright, might have something to do with it. But everytime i get out of my car now i make a point to look at other cars and their are virtually no bugs. My car is covered with splattered bugs and my windshield looks as though it is a bug storm goin on...

wait a minute

...did I see the winner of the French Open Mens tennis wearing...capri pants?!?!?!

Looks like we gotta call the AC guy for another tweak of the AC unit. Seems it has a leak and it pretty much has failed to keep the upstairs at an acceptable level over the past 2 days. It has gotten to abt 80 degrees up stairs, which makes the twins somewhat restless sleepers. Its spitting out cool air, which is fine if the temp outside doesnt rise over 85 or s. But the last 2 days have seen mid 90's and by 6 pm, theupstairs is too warm. Not an oven and definitely cooler than outside, but still warm enough... I think we will DEFINITELY have to budget in a new heat pump for next summer.

well...hmmm...

...just when i was about to get really annoyed with this whole Paris Hilton thing, the original judge has ordered her back into court. Aint no way she should be simply allowed to leave jail just cause she dont feel well...how unfair and biased would that be? I bet if my mother were to go to jail for the same offense, guess where she would be right now.... in jail. I must admit that if Jessica was in the same place, she'd probably be in jail too. But...Why is it that Whitney Houston is looked upon as a sad drug addict, while Britney Spears is celebrated? And why are Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton celebrated vixens and socialites, yet Tyra Banks and Naomi Cambell are called whores and bitches? and while we are traveling down this road...why are 12 million Mexicans allowed to stay here, yet if any Cuban or Haitian floats over on a boat, they are immediately flown back? ( Calm down Brown, I can hear the George Bush diatribe warming up already) I dont know...seems like a little bit of a different set of standards here.

Addendum!!

Believe it or not, I'm not all that obsessed with Paris Hilton. I do not find her attractive or even remotely interesting. but then again, the fact that she will be allowed to phone in for her court hearing today from her mansion again smacks of injustice to everyone else.

all quiet on the "insert name here" front

been a pretty quiet week with the twins at the Grandparents.

I've been racin on Forza 2 on the Xbox 360. Man, that is pretty sweet. Except last night when I had to swallow my pride. I have this Ford Mustand Shelby 1973 that I have been working on and with all the upgrades I have put in it from my prize winnings, its producing over 550 horsepower. Well, I havent figured out how to get that to translate properly to my chassis and i constantly have to feather the gas pedal now else, the car is constantly wanting to spin out even on the straitaways. When I floor it going straight, the rear will pop out on me. Anyway, after crashing repeatedly on a certain track, I had to hire a driver to complete the last race of a stage i was in. I simply cant control the car at a level needed to win the stage. I am going to consult with some people and see if I can get a workable setup . i think when i took out the spare tire, seats and installed the roll cage, that screwed up the balance of the car.

just cruisin along right now...

...twins spent days with Grandma last week, and are with Nanna and Pappa this week. Its kinda weird with them not here. Things are so quiet. But i do look forward to their return. I am sure the grandparents will have had their fill after this week.

Got Forza 2 this week. Also got a wheel to drive with. This wheel certainly changes everything in how thi game plays. With the force feel stuff, it actually feels like a real car drivin. Already got my Bora and am practicin gettin ready to go online. By the way, in Europe the Jetta is called Bora.

all types of things happening....

Bush cut loose on Sudan today. 'bout time some sort of something be done about what's going on in the Sudan. not cool....

Cindy Sheehan is taking her ball and going home. Seems like it was all cool when she was pounding George Bush and she was getting raves for that, but then the Liberals turned on her and started pounding her, and she is taking her ball and headin' home. tsk, tsk...

If you ever get a chance to watch Backyardigans, take a look. It is actually highly entertaining and the subtle things you see in it are fun to watch. They always have a musical theme with each show that is not stated, but very obvious that is not what you would normally think would match. Like they will be in the Jungle, and it's all country music and line dancing. The twins have about 15 episodes on DVR and have ALL the lines and songs memorized.

...still kinda sad that I-Man figured out the remote, for it is maddening to be watching an NBA playoff game and its getting down to crunch time in the 4th quarter, and suddenly the channel turns to ....well...Backyardigans....

Summer lurking...

Fate chooses our relatives; we choose our friends.
- Jacques Delille

I know I have mentioned this before (Kim) but I am starting to think more and more that we've got to take a look at another heat pump for the upstairs. While the heat pump works fine, downstairs is ice cold while upstars is cool, but not really as cool as I would like for it to get at night. I guess I could lower the temp from 76 degres overnight, but it seems like a waste of money...except that Ryles is obviously getting warm and waking up, and she is in our bed every morning now. But...then again, a second pump would cost more i figure...so..well..I guess I just answered my own train of thought...gotta close some vents downstairs and turn down the temp another degree or 2 overnight. Ryles will wake up if it is 30 degrees in her room complaining of being how, while I-Man has a sheet, blanket and comforter on him at all times...

Thinking of getting a Lebron "Witness" T-shirt if he continues to posterize 'Sheed like he did last night...

Ellen seems to think that my wanting to build a bookcase was a strange thing. We need a bookcase for the area at the stairs in the den. I see several online, but they want $500.00 just to ship it to you or something like that... but anyway, she asked me since when did I do woodworking. Which i guess is a valid question, considering the answer would be something close to ...well..never. But I am looking for a decent bookcase that isnt outrageous in cost.

At the lake

Yesterday, we were at the lake most of the day (Greenwood). I-Man and Ryles spent most of their time in the water... It was good to see Ryles take a little more interest in the water, even though I am still not too fond of it and all that.

Quote for today

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.
- William James

Headin to lake Greenwood this Saturday to visit with some of Jessica's teacher friends. It's always fun to go out on their boats and all that. I had pondered going back to Charlotte to see if I could get I-Man and Ryles a nascar jacket in an advance X-mas shopping foray, but I figure I can find them online just as well...

hmmmm...

...seen any bees lately?.... yep...thats what i thought. I havent seen any as well...

Ok..so...what now???

The Birthday, Race trip and all the stuff with it came and went. It was pretty cool and I had a great time with all who went on the tailgate/campin/race adventure.

As I mentioned yesterday, my guy actually won for a change. I had never had that happen out of all the races I have been to. Aunt Ashley baked me a sugar free cake and it was tasty as tasty can be.

so... what now??... well, gotta start working on those 15 things I want to do, I guess. The next "big" thing for me/us is going to NJ/NYC in late June to see Kristen and Brown. Kristen will have a new addition to her family by then, and we'll drop in on them for an evening before going into Brooklyn for a couple of days with Brown, Pam and their 4 cats (Piper, Phoebe,Persnickety and Phallus). This should be interesting in that we will have the twins with us and this will be their first trip to "the big city".

I'm startin to keep an eye on politics... more on this tomorrow.

Its about frakkin time!!!

Not only did my guy race competively, but...He won the race!!! Finally...I go to a race and my guy wins...Not the #48, or the #20, or the #24 or whoever else always wins....Finally!!!

Hmmm...dont feel any different....

...Whoa...got a 3000 watt generator today. Now that's pretty awesome. And it eliminates one of my only fleeting worries which was that an ice storm ( or anything else ) would cut power to the house and we could be without power and heat for a period of time. Now i will have the ability to power a space heater, light, and a small tv. And other appliances as needed. And i now also have portable power for tailgates, etc.

East bound and down, loaded up and truckin',
we're gonna do what they say can't be done.
We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there.
I'm east bound, just watch ol' "Bandit" run.

Keep your foot hard on the pedal. Son, never mind them brakes.
Let it all hang out 'cause we got a run to make.
The boys are thirsty in Atlanta and there's beer in Texarcana.
And we'll bring it back no matter what it takes.

East bound and down, loaded up and truckin',
we're gonna do what they say can't be done.
We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there.
I'm east bound, just watch ol' "Bandit" run.

Well...As i said. i dont feel any different than I felt yesterday. Well, my knee is still a little cranky. But... I am always a tad melancholy on this day. Its always anti-climatic for me...kinda like the concerts always were when i was in band. You mentally build up for months, and the day comes and goes and its like..."ok...hmmm...now its over. what now???" I must admit that my wife and kids hooked me up, though. A generator, a new Greenvile Drive hat, a fan/light for our tent...I really am blessed to have these people in my life. And I feel that it is a gift everyday that i get to spend with them. And as i sit here thinkin, I ponder upon people like Kristen, Lynn, Brandy, Erik, Josh and John...I wonder what is going on with Beth, and Julie and Mcgee and Jobert. How are Lisa, Tj, Kim and Jeremy doing...and are they having as much fun as i am having? I hope so... because I am having fun and I couldnt ask for more...(well, except for that lottery thing...) I hope the future 40 years will bring as much learning and enlightenment that the first 40 have.

East bound and down, loaded up and truckin',
we're gonna do what they say can't be done.
We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there.
I'm east bound, just watch ol' "Bandit" run.

Ol' Smokey's got them ears on and he's hot on your trail.
He aint gonna rest 'til you're in jail.
So you got to dodge 'im and you got to duck 'im,
you got to keep that diesel truckin'.
Just put that hammer down and give it hell.

East bound and down, loaded up and truckin',
we're gonna do what they say can't be done.
We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there.
I'm east bound, just watch ol' "Bandit" run.

AH Yes...Jerry Reed. I love that song. Always makes me happy. Music... And As I mentioned before, I bet virtually everyone reading this, from those I mentioned above to those I know read this who I didnt mention, I met or know me thru Band or Frat or...probably both. Or you know me because you are associated with one of the music or frat people. Well, now that I think about it..the frat people are music people, so that is redundant.

#15) Something I want to do

Open a Small Photography Business

This is an ongoing project of mine that has been moving slowly over the past 2 years. I believe I have improved my skills to the point that I might be able to seriously consider doing this on a larger scale. The only thing really stopping me is the start-up capital and the fact that we have a standard of living that i feel must be maintained, so leaving my current job is not an option. I'm thinkin that I am going to pursue applying for a grant somehow and see if I can get started that way. I would rather not go the loan route, especially since our only major loan right now is the house. Cars are paid for and monthly bills are fine right now. So...where does that put me? Back at the grant table again... Anyway...This will probably be my major project for the next year, and we'll see where this is 1 year from now.

Oh my....

I have to post this for you to take a look at. It's a short video clip of some guys. I just don't know what to think anymore.... Brown sent me this link and, unfortunately, this is what i had to look at first thing this morning. It is both amusing and sad. And i just dont know anymore.... Click here

At the Quarter pole

Ok... A quarter of the season is done and the Braves are in first place by a half game over the Mets. They have played better than i thought they would and I feel they are going to hang in with the Mets and put themselves in position for the wildcard if they dont prevail in the division. It looks like it will possible take 100 wins to take the division and they are at 25 wins ( go figure) at the Quarter pole. Lets check back in at the half way mark....

Nextel All Star race on the docket for this weekend. There are several moments i always look forward to.... 1) when the cars first crank up, 2) when they rumble by during the warm up lap and the ground shakes as they go by and you get that first whiff of high octane fuel, 3) Then the green flag drops and they scream by in 1st and 2nd gear and 4) when they come by on that first lap. Its always been amazing to feel a difference in the air when this race starts. I think its because the only people racing are the better cars and teams, and because its such a short race, they mean business from the get go. At a normal race, they very quickly settle in for the long haul because you can win if you aint running t the end, and when they end is 3 hours away, no use beatin and bangin at the beginning. The All Star race takes away all those laps and puts the end of the race ...NOW. the guys at the back have to go...NOW. which means the guys up front are in the way. And with the winner taking home more than a million dollars, people get impatient.

I was a Speed Television's broadcast of Live at Trackside in Darlington, and they played a song that once again reminds me of why Music is the Patron...well you get the drift. It was Jerry Reed's Eastbound and Down and just standing there listening brings back memeories and provokes feelings. Isnt that great that one song can do that? And as iwrite this and and aware of who reads this regularly, I think about the one thing that binds us all...Music.

#14) Something I want to do

See my children graduate High school, then move on...

Yeah, I guess most people want to do this and I guess its an obvious thing. But I will be pushing 60 if/when they graduate college or whatever it is they decide to do after the graduate highschool. That also means that if they marry the same age i was when I married, i will be into my 70's when means i potentially may never see my grandchildren, if there are any. While that makes me sad, I realize that whatever shall be shall be in those regards. But to see them through to highschool then off to bigger and better things is something i must do, for I have always believed that my purpose wasnt as much to accomplish a lot of things, but perhaps to be a bridge between my parents generation and the twins generation. Kinda hard to explain that statement, but i think some of you might understand where I am coming from...

Some recent observations

The the race on Sunday, I pondered these things... 1) why do these women wear what they are wearing to these races. i mean..its like they think they are supermodels or something and and they are wearing clothes that they should not be wearing out in public. 2) while I have absolutely no issues with lesbians ( or gays), I wonder why some lesbians have to play into the "spiked hair, rolled up t-shirt, manly appearance" role. I dont know why THAT bothers me, because I dont have a problem with that look. But...I guess I dont understand why some feel they have to look that way. Its like they have to announce that they are the MAN in that equation. Well, i guess I answered my question and since I am not a lesbian, I wont understand that line of thinkin. Again...its all good in the end. and...3) when you arrive at the track 3 hours before the race, and there are huge dark thunderstorm clouds less than a mile away and...you only are wearing a t-shirt and shorts ( this is guys...I mentioned the womenz above)...why...??? WHY???? why would you proceed to get out of your car for the 5-10 minute walk in the open to the track. I'm sitting there in my car listening to the weather scanner that says..."2 to 3 inches are expected locally". Im like.."I think I'll ride this one out in the Explorer even though I have a rain poncho, boots and a change in socks in case it pours cats and dogs like i can tell it already is right over yonder". So...It starts pouring cats and dogs except only worse. All I could see were people walking by me...totally soaked, looking miserable. Ok...maybe i have answered my question. Maybe these people are not at the top of the intelligence heap.

#13 Something I want to do.

Win the Lottery

Ok...I know this is something totally out of my hands (except for me actually making the effort to purchase a ticket). But I guess that would make a lot of these things on the list somewhat doable. I could buy an RV and see all those sites in the US. Wouldnt have to worry about arranging time off with work, etc. Get that skybox, BMW and duckets to the Olympics and World Cup. yep...the Lotto would hit the spot rather nicely....

A long shot....

#12) Something i want to do

Own a Skybox for Clemson Football Home Games

Yep...this one probably aint happenin' but That would be awesome. I would be able to invite all the Clemson people I know up to the box for games. While I have seen games from the boxes and it was a little underwhelming, I am positive it would be a different experience if you have a bunch of your friends there. But until I win the lottery..?.?.

Finally...they race...

After a huge rainstorm and the race being delayed last night till today, i got to see the darlington race. It was pretty good. As is the trend when I attend races, my guy never really factored and finished 18th. Ryles. I-Man and I did get to see a practice session and their first experience at a big track went about as I expected. They lasted aby 45 minutes before Ryles started complaining about being wet and I-Man kept wanting to go stand in the shade. Ryles sucked down 4 apple juices in the span of about 20 minutes. I-Man quickly pointed out his "green car" and yelled gleefully everytime it went by. He was even able to follow it around the track. All while Ryles was with seeming disdain sucking down the apple juice. I must admit that it was about 87 degrees at the time we were there, and the stands are hotter, so I was sweating myself. At least they didnt shreik and snivel under the seats when the cars powered up. The picture above to the left spreety much sums it up when we got ready to leave...Ryles complaining about being "wet" and I-Man wanting more cheezits and eying the shade.

#11) Something I want to do

DCI World Championships from the 50 yard line.

I have always wanted to be there to see that final run thru...after thouands of run thru's... knowing that for these guys, there is no more "let's run it again, from the top!"

well... that is...interesting...

watched the video link of the Dora parody. pretty funny and on point.

Today skips a day in the list of Things I want to Do so it will end on Thursday.
Yesterday brought back memories of what it was like when I would go to the Darlington race and it started at 1:00. That used to be hot.

Go Diego Go!!!!

Seems Dora has found a replacement. His name is Diego.... gettin ready to head out to Nextel Cup practice. I figure we'll do practice for a hour, then cruise the souvy trucks. I-Man has been talking about seeing the "big trucks"

#10 Something I want to do

Own a BMW M3

Ok, so that is more a "I want" than "to do". But as far as possesions, I pretty much have everything I need or want. I mean I would like to win the lottery and that would allow for all the angles to be covered but that is a slight stretch right now... I'd like to have the M3, which is a meaner, cooler version of the common 3 series. As i have mentioned before, i have a ways to go with the current Jetta before i will ponder another car. And even then, an M3 will be out of my price range. But maybe way down the line I can find a decent used one. Harwood seems to be good at finding those types of things. There is one resource I might have to utilize then.

Headin to Darlington...

after work today, I'm headin to Darlington. Actually, I'm headin to Florence where Papa and Nanna are. I'm taking the twins with me. We plan to go see some NASCAR practice and qualifying tomorrow during the day. Well, at least we will go there and see the cars. I am not sure how long we will actually stay. If it goes like it did when we went to Greenville/Pickens, Ryles will stand at the fence to the track with no headphones on and watch the cars go screaming by with the wind blowing in her hair while I-Man will have his headphones on, with hands over his headphones and be complaining about how loud it is... at any rate, I-Man is looking forward to seeing his "green" car..the #18. I will attempt to report tomorrow as to how it goes....

#9) Something I want to do

Go to the Olympics

Ok, this has always been on my plans of things that are a definite. London is 2012. That's only five years from now. Wow, this is creeping up on me fast. Now..THAT will be a two week trip out of the country. I am thinkin a couple of events in London like a soccer match a wembley, or a equestrian event or something. And we could drop in a jaunt to Ireland while we are in the area. But...Chicago is considered a front runner for the 2016 Olympics right now. If they are awarded those olympics, plans could shift.

Here's a joke for ya....

Top 10 Things That Sound Dirty

10. I need to whip it out by 5.

9. Mind if I use your laptop?

8. Just stick it in my box.

7. If I have to lick one more, I'll gag!

6. I want it on my desk, NOW!!!

5. Hmm... I think it's out of fluid!

4. My equipment is so old, it takes forever to finish.

3. It's an entry-level position.

2. When do you think you'll be getting off today?

And the number 1 thing that sounds dirty in the office but isn't:

1. It's not fair... I do all the work while he just sits.

#8) Something I want to do

Go to Devil's Tower, Wyoming

Ok...so some of you...well...probably all of you are probably thinkin "whaaaat???" Well, one of my favorite movies of all time is Close Encounters of the Third Kind and it is a book I must have read 50 times if I didnt read it a 100 growing up. Honest Injun... And Devil's Tower is an important part of that movie and book. And i have simply always wanted to go there. I imagine to the trip there would be worth it and just to see it in person would bring it all together for me.

New York Knicks, Braves Baseball in High Def and....

...Pizza Parties at Pizza Inn. I-Man (and Ryles) had the End O' Season pizza party at Pizza Inn tonight. And I found out that monday night is "Kids Night" where kids can have the buffet for 99 cent. Oh man... that going to the permanent lists of places to hit in the future...

Oh...and guess what frakkin showed up on frakkin High Def channel 798 a couple of days ago. I kinda was wonderin abt what this new channel was that popped up, since I have all subscription channels we dont subscribe to unlisted. So this channel (as well as the stupid hockey channels) showed up a couple of days ago. Well, the first time I looked at it, it was a test pattern and I kinda glossed over it, not really thinkin. Last night, I was tryin to reconfigure this fancy remote I have that is a cool AV remote that I have programmed that when I press DVD, it changes all the inputs to the correct thing so I dont have to mess with 3 remotes. Well, I saw that channel again, and noticed it said BRVHD. I'm like "whoaaaa...!!!" I look at the test bar again, so I know its a channel I can get, so I look at the schedule....its all "off air" till 7:00pm when it says MLB Baseball. So, when I get home from the above mentioned pizza orgy, I turn to the channel in question. ITS ATLANTA BRAVES FRAKKIN BASEBALL IN HIGH FRAKKIN HDTV!!!! oh mercy mercy mercy.... things have just turned for the better in my world.... (not that they arent already pretty good usually)

#7) Something I want to do

See a New York Knicks game in Madison Square Garden in the courtside seats.

OK, so this will have to be a perfect storm situation. I mean, I want to go to a game when the STARS are there like Spike Lee and McEnroe...and well... perhaps a few rappers or something. Problem is that the games they will be at will be the games everyone else is at, which means tickets wont be easy. It also means that I will have to pull a New York Yankees and overspend for the privilege. Once again, this might be a long long range goal...like in retirement...

Top Ten reasons I like livin where ilive....

After seeing the pix of what that tornado did in Kansas, I again reminded myself of why I like where i live.

1) No Tornados (knock on wood)
2) No extreme cold temps..OK, well, maybe 2 or 3 days a year. I can deal with that and it gives me an excuse to justify the heavy coat in the closet
3) No extreme high temps.. OK, well maybe 3 or 4 days a year with temps at 100.
4) No floods. Ok, well it did flood here once, but that was a peculiar situation. I dont think it will happen again
5) No swarms of locusts, or rivers of blood.
6) No earthquakes
7) No hurricane Ted, Fred, Bill, Roger or Oswald to have to be watching the weather channel about worrying about my house being blown away
8) No swarms of snakes. well, the occasional snake down at the creek, but the dealmaker handles those...
9) No Blizzards. the occasional 1 inch of snow if good enough to shut down things for a day or 2
10) did I mention no tornados (knock on wood)

#6) Something I want to do.

New Year's Eve in Times Square

Ok, so i know my wife will be reluctant, and i do have my own reservations abt NYC, large crowds and dirty bombs. But I think you gotta do that...once. and with Kristen and Brown in the area, we have a convenient base to work from. This is something that I think might be a few years off, perhaps after the twins have left town...

Short and Sweet

#5 Something i want to do

Go see the Braves in the World Series

So, I am lucky to have had MY team get to and win the World Series in my lifetime. This, after enduring a bevy of losing seasons growing up. there are fans of teams who NEVER get this chance in a life time (see Cubs). I am lucky in that aspect. But I did not go to a World Series game during the previous run of Series appearances. I wont make that mistake again. If the Braves return to the World Series, i will be there.

Elton John Live!!!

Yesterday, i got a super cool surprise for my birthday. Brandy got me a ticket to see Elton John and took me to the concert. And it was pretty awesome. I was impressed that he sang for 2 and a half hours straight, and he sang virtually every hit song he has ever had, except for 2.. i'm pretty sure. I am truly grateful that I had a chance to see him in concert again as he announce that he is doing no more albums, and implied that his days of concerts are now ending.

#4) Something I want to do

Go to an HBCU football game.

HBCU stands for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. I want to go to a football game and, honestly, see the bands in the stands and at halftime. I dont want to go to one of the "Classics" that you see on tv. I want to go to a random Fall Saturday weekend when there are no TV cameras and I can see what it is truly like. I think that would be immensely fun.

I guess thats why they call it the blues

Don't wish it away
Don't look at it like it's forever
Between you and me I could honestly say
That things can only get better

And while I'm away
Dust out the demons inside
And it won't be long before you and me run
To the place in our hearts where we hide

And I guess that's why they call it the blues
Time on my hands could be time spent with you
Laughing like children, living like lovers
Rolling like thunder under the covers
And I guess that's why they call it the blues

Just stare into space
Picture my face in your hands
Live for each second without hesitation
And never forget I'm your man

Wait on me girl
Cry in the night if it helps
But more than ever I simply love you
More than I love life itself

Music by Elton John and Davey Johnstone Lyrics by Bernie Taupin

If you can and dont already have this song, download it and listen you it. Pretty profound...

Where Are The Bees?

Not to be a Treehugger Alarmist or anything, but I have been following recently the plight of the Bees. Have you noticed that there are hardly ANY bees flying around anymore? Look around. Seriously. Yeah..you see wasps and yellowjackets. but do you see any bees? And here's the Question...where did they all go? Its a world wide thing and , in case you dont know, bees are what makes the world go. Bees pollinate plants. Plants are eaten by animals that man eats. Plants are eaten by man. No bees? humans EVERYWHERE have serious issues producing crops. Dont believe me? Look it up. This is legit...

#3) Something I want to do

See a NASCAR race at Talledega.

Ok...Darlington???...check. Daytona????...check. Charlotte???...check. Atlanta??...check.Bristol???...check Greenville/Pickens???...check. The last of my must see tracks is Talladega, and i might actually pull that off this Fall, if I can work it out with Harwood for a quick drive down in October. Its only 31/2 hours away from here... That would make that list complete, with Rockingham (no longer being used), Richmond (6 hours) and Martinsville (6 hours) remaining as "I'd like to go if i had a chance but it aint that important" tracks

next in the list...

#2) Something I want to do.

See a World Cup Soccer Match in person.

Ok, so this will be problematic, since South Africa is up next in 2010 ( and I aint goin there), then Brazil is the only country bidding right now for 2014. Not sure I want to be headin to Brazil either, no matter how much fun it actually might be. 2018 is slated for Asia, then 2022 is in Europe before it cycles back to North/South America in 2026 (likely the USA or Mexico). So...lets pencil in Europe for 2022. Its 15 years from now. Kids will be in college or wherever. Germany and France are out, so likely candidates are Spain, Italy and England. England would be good...

Top 15 Things I want to do before I leave this place

OK...15 days till I reach a milestone. For the next 15 days I am going to post one of the top 15 things i want to do before I pass away. There is no particular Order or Level of importance. Nor will I view my life as incomplete if i dont do any of these. I must admit that I have done relatively well on the lists of cool things to do so far, and a beautiful wife, 2 awesome kids, a house, cars, tvs, electronics, friends and health acheived are pretty significant....

Something I want to do.

See the Grand Canyon.
Its on the list for a future Summer Roadtrip with the family. I figure rent a RV and take a week during the summer... leisurely drive out, seeing the sights, etc. and spend a couple of days on target, then repeat on the way back using a different route. I can see it now with I-Man and Ryles constantly complaining abt when we are going to get there. hell, they complain now about how much longer it will be before we get to Town when Town is only a 10 minute drive... But...I digress... It will be fun. Probably get in a quick visit to Roswell too....

continuing...

(you probably need to read the post under this one first...)

...I mean, I-Man walks into the house and the first thing he does is look for the remote to watch a recording of Backyardigans (which, I do find entertaining...at least for the first 17 times i watch a particular episode...the 23rd viewing starts to get old). Now, he does like to go outside andride his bike or kick the soccer ball, so he isnt totally tied down to the TV, etc. But I dont know. and Ryles???...well, I can tell she isnt going to be sitting out in the sun tryin to get a tan anytime soon (not that she needs to or anything) When we go to the park, its about 5 minutes before she is complaining about it being too hot. Now I'm sitting here thinking "Its 70 degrees outside, and you think its hot"? "Come talk to me in July and see what you think it is then"...

Takes me back...

Went to Dr and gave blood for my Dr visit next week. Then sweeped by my mothers house just to get my tag stuff. Then found out it was actually in my house, but i digress... I am always amazed at how quiet it is at home (home being the house where I grew up) Sitting here at my computer, I can hear the bustle of "the city"...snicker... ok but still, I can hear cars , sirens, etc. At home, all I hear is birds and bees... a dog way off in the distance...some crows cawing... and i can hear a car miles away approaching. I remember it was a mini event when a car went by back in the day. I stood outside today and remembered what it was like when there was no cable...and ...gulp...no internet. And it just brings back memories of times when I would ride my bicycle around the yard in circles for hours, or play with toy soldiers in the yard for hours, bat rocks across the road into the fields for hours.... I wonder if my kids are missing something. I have so much more than i did when i was their age, but I guess the question will always be if we are missing something by having something. An eternal question, i guess...

Whew...what a whirlwind

Special Thanks to Aunt Brandy and Aunt Ashley and Uncle Wes and Grandma and Uncle Jerry and Papa and Nanna for coming to the last soccer match and recital over the weekend. We also cut down a tree in the back in prep for the new storage shed. More firewood for the firebowl.... I really didnt get a good, clear photo of Ryles during the Recital rehearsal, but there you see a snappy of her ballet troup above.

...my jinx has worked its spell again. The Miami Heat go down in flames ( hah!), forcing me to have to change allegiances in mid playoffs and go with Lebron for however long he remains in the playoffs. I only say Lebron because I cant remember the name of anyone else on his team ( well, actually, Larry Hughes, but...i digress...)

...Today i get to go do bloodwork for my next Dr visit, then get back here for some weedeater work around the spots I missed with the ridin mower...

Today, tonight, tomorrow....

...still doing some spring cleaning. We have decided to purchase a shed to go out back of the house. It actually like a mini house. It should help us alleviate the disaster of our garage.... Ryles is in a fashion show tonight. That should be very interesting.... and tomorrow is I-Mans last soccer match till Fall. Papa, Nanna, Grandma, Uncle Wes and (new) Aunt Ashley will be in town, although I am not sure Wes/Ashley will actually be here for his match. Then Sunday will be Ryles dance/tap recital at Brooks. I will have to miss Ryles recital due to work, so i will go to Ryles dress rehearsal tomorrow. Other than that, it should be a quiet weekend.

Oh, and i am dissapointed

...the replacement skid pad came today. As I should have figured, no mounting hardware (i.e....BOLTS!!!) came with it. I only have 5 of the 8 bolts that were originally with the piece. So I will have to figure that part out...

...went to SED convention. I was actually pretty decent. No step show or banquet...all business, technically. But the social aspects were still there. I think that if they slowly incorporate the step show back in with definite rules, it will be fine in the future.

...I-Mans last soccer match of the school year is up this weekend, and Ryles dance recital is on Sunday. Then its pretty much summer for them...

Oh..the humanity..

Ok...i could go on and on abt the stuff that happened up at VaTech, but..I wont. I think enough has been said already.

...a few months ago, I ran over this large piece of rubber on the road and it put a huge hit on my skid pad on the Jetta. I was able to repair, but it was really only a temporary fix. The dealer wanted over 400.00 for what is essentially a large, hard piece of plastic with sound dampening material on it. Well, It eventually fell back down and has started to drag and I could no longer get it to stay up. So I searched high and long and..of course...there are parts stores who carry the OEM part for 135.00. So, i ordered it last night, should be here on Monday, and this morning i took off the old skid pad. Now I got to see if I can get over to the Harwoods and see if he will let me use his lift to put the new one on. My Jetta has done me good but it is starting to need replacement parts...like all new shocks, and well, I will need tires by June or July i figure. Then will come another timing belt replace. All of this will hopefully tide me over to the 200,00 mile mark, when I can perhaps think abt the eventual replacement... the question then will be to stick with diesel, try to go hybrid, or go BMW. At any rate, that is still over 2 years away... got other things to take care of first.

I am workin on a solution to where I will be able to post my pictures here at home. I hope to have that up and running by next weekend.

...tomorrow is SED convention. It is only one day this year and I can honestly say that I m glad. It will be good to see old friends again but I will also see them again in July, so the time missed away from home is valuable. Hence, the sentiments...

Happy Birthday to Lynn..Yesterday. Yep...we are startin to get a tad bit old...

oh, and I checked out the GTA 4 stuff

Brandy kinda clued me into a game that i might find interesting, and last last night, after my xbox had crashed, i was able to get it rebooted and downloaded the trailer for grand theft auto 4. Looks pretty impressive... of course it doesnt come out till october of 2010 or something like that, so I'll put that back on the backburner and continue to wait for forza 2

EASTER!!!!

Easter arrives and I-man and Ryles worked on Easter eggs last night. This was the first time they had done this painting gig. Aunt Brandy was visiting and was able to lend a hand to Ryles and I-man...

anybody know where this came from?...

...without doing a google search?

‘So once you do know what the question actually is, you’ll know what the answer means’

what happened to the holidays?

I remember growing up that when these special days like Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas came around, there was a kinda buildup to the day. No, not the endless pounding of commercials hawking sales, Zales and Hallmarks shops. But...like... for Easter, there was always the TV movies about the Cruxifition and the events leading up to it, etc. Now i guess a lot depends upon if you subscribe to the biblical stories or not, but I look forward to introducing that stuff to our kids because the entire concept of religion, etc. is rooted in good morale foundation that I think is important to our kids...

... I also wonder where my son suddenly learned how to catch a ball. Yesterday, he starts thowing a small football to me and wanting me to throw it back to him. I'm like sure, thinking that this will be pointless. I throw it to him and he catches it. not against his chest, but with his 2 hands. I'm like...uh...hmmm.... he couldnt do that last week. And now he can. Interesting. Unfortunately, he is throwing with his right hand. Which throws out that dream of him being a left handed relief pitcher and paying for my retirement.

...i think i am going to have to send Brown some cash and have him pick me up some Starbury stuff in NYC. 15.00 for sneakers? wow...

the next 3 weekends will be eventful... Frat formal in Charleston, Frat Convention in the ATL then Ryles recital in Clemson... then a weekend off, followed by Darlington race, All Star race in Charlotte and whew...take a breath....

on a side not

...well, maybe not exactly like that, but...in addition to what I-man was talking about with being a "conducter", Ryles has developed a sudden infatuation with my old band hat. Perhaps there is a future in band afterall. I plan on tryin to get to a Drum corps contest this summer, and perhaps going back to the marching band contest we went to last fall and seeing how they like that...

just moving right along...

jessica had her birthday on Friday, and she went out to Restaurant O with several chick friends. That seemed to go fine... then Saturday I-Man had his soccer match (and Ryles is now playing too) and then the new fridge was delivered. It is a different type of design than I am used to, with the fridge part on the top 2/3rds and the freezer on the lower 1/3rd. But it has more room and is definitely cooler....we also got a new hood for the stove to match colors..instead of the Easter type yellowish stuff, everything is white now. we seem to have upgraded all the appliances in the kitchen and probably are just new countertops away from having the kitchen done...

Braves opened up the new baseball season today, with a win. Bullpen seems to be better... and I am going to like playing as the underdawg for the first time in a decade and a half... I think that will serve the Braves best this year, to work under the radar and without the bullseye.

I-man stated today that he wants to be a conducter after watching an orchestra on TV. Hmmmm...now I never wanted to be drum major, for I liked playing too much. But obviously, his mother, aunt, and Grandma were drum majors so it might not be too much a stretch. Gotta get him that Tuba first...

Yesterday was Jessica's birthday, and She went out with some girls for dinner. Some of them surprised her and I think the evening went well....

...and also... why is it that EVERYTIME someone says they are delivering something/fixing something at your house and they say "we'll be there between 1 and 4", you can count on 4:15? We are gettin a new fridge today... one of those fridge on top, feezer on bottom gigs... but it doesnt have an icemaker on the door. had to sacrifice that gadget... But it has far more room and the sections are more readily available for I-man to come down and get his juice and leave the fridge door open for 8 hours...

classic ..just classic....

well. Clemson takes the gaspipe...AGAIN ... in what is increasing not just a trend with everything Clemson, but perhaps tradition, Clemson success is often tragically tinged with ultimate defeat... It just seems that there is a palpable air about Clemson. it is a sense that it can succeed but there is always a tragic flaw...be it an inability to throw the ball when 8 men are stacked against you, or hitting simple free throws 75 percent of the time... I can list off a veritable sadsack list of Clemson Achilles moments, from that baseball team in the 90's that went something like 60 and 10 with Ken Vining, Chris Benson and a slew of other now major leaguer pitching, yet when the got to the Series found that the team suddenly couldnt hit homeruns in a field 450 feet to dead center...or the many Danny Ford teams that had NFL players 2 deep that would lose to Duke ( oh wait, that STILL happens), or the team with Elden Campbell and Dale Davis that lost on a full court, no time on the clock, turn around jump shot against Uconn, springing that program to national prominence and Clemson Basketball into a spiral it didnt recover from until it lured Barnes, who of course,used Clemson to springboard to Texas, where they are now a powerhouse in basketabll. Funny thing is that if THAT basketball team would have hit its freethrows, they win. perhaps they go even deep in the tourney, lure more recruits and become a national Power, with Cliff Ellis being mentioned in the same breath as Roy Williams, etc... oh I could go on, but...i just dont care anymore...

American Idol has jumped the Shark

...now, i dont watch American Idol. But you cant miss hearing about it all the time from everyone else who does watch it. And i have seen/heard the clips of this Sanjaya fellow who obviously should not be singing on what is suposed to be a talent show of this level. As far as I'm concerned, if the voting "public" votes off the Sligh fellow (who actually has shown some level of talent) and keeps that Sanjaya guy in, then American Idol has no credibility with me and I can just call it what it is...a popularity contest. But, then again, isnt that what it is all about anyway...as I have said before, it is more about looks and marketing. Think that wasnt marketing when they showed that girl cryin the other day? Like i said before, place this contest in the 60's, take a young Stevie Wonder, or a young Ray Charles, or Roy Orbison and those guys would not have even made it pass the initial auditions....but when the "public" voting is young, white girls between 8 and 18, you can see why this contest (sic) is a farce and is losing credibilty every year...

There's Faith, Hope and Love... and the greatest of these is Love.... That's cool.

-Garth Brooks

tsk, tsk...

So...the Tarheels go and pull a Clemson in overtime today. i mean, like...that is something that would happen ( I should say, DOES happen) to Clemson in that type of situation. Blow the lead, then just take the gas pipe in overtime...oh well...

...Battlestar Galactica.???... hmmm...I knew what was going to happen, but even still, i was kinda caught offf guard by how it was shown. And I now have to gofind out what happens next season, in what has to be the last one.

race was 2 laps race, 1 lap caution. a wreckfest...but it was cool.

BRISTOL BABY!!!!

here at Bristol... tailgating watchin Harwoods satelitte tv, and connected to the internet via Verizon Broadband...isnt life great? Race starts in about 3 and a half hours...

ever wonder why?

why is it that the feeling of getting into bed at 10:30pm is so different than, say, getting into bed at 10:30am? The bed just feels so much better at 10:30am... and its just weird how that works...

I think I have seen a game that i need to get for my Xbox 360. its Burnout Revenge. i downloaded a demo and itseems pretty cool...of course i gotta read up on reviews first before I pull the trigger on a purchase... if anyone has any experience with this game, let me know... i also have toconsider that I-man will want to be playing this as soon as he lays his eyes on it.

I think my legs are just about recovered from how sore they were following the weekend. one more day and i will be fine... and I think I am going to start moving up bedtime from about 11ish every night to 10ish every night. It seems that we are getting p later and later every morning....

busy weekend...

...the twins saw Grandma Friday evening/night. We then did I-man's soccer match on Saturday morning. after which we headed down to Columbia for Uncle Wes/Aunt Ashley's reheasal dinner... did the rehearsal dinner, crashed at a local hotel, then did the wedding on Sunday. I took pictures for the wedding and I'm hopin they turned out satisfactory... I will have to do some slight edits to a few pix as outdoor situations and the constant change in lighting creates a challenge...


Ryles was a flower girl and I-man was a ring bearer. I was extremely nervous about them doing the event but they held up fine. But they just have reached the age where the can be trusted to stand still for the 20 minutes it took...

We finally got home a little while ago and Ryles and I-man watched a Thomas the Tran video...on my bed...of course they fell asleep and I've now got to figure out a way to get them to their rooms without waking them up. But the somewhat busy weekend is over...and Ashley is now added to the roster.

On deck for next weekend...headin to Bristol on Saturday with Harwood in the big black ambulance...

and where did this come from?

...putting Ryles to bed last night, and she starts talking/pointing to her "pectorals, and biceps, and triceps, and trapezoids"...and she is pointing to the right places. i'm like..."uh...what?" where did she learn this stuff. i never knew that stuff when i was 5 years old. and then, when we were discussing cleaning her room, she made made a point to say that our room wasnt clean. hmmm... I can tell that future arguments are going to be testy with her...

the time change

evidently, this time change thingy was a big deal. I had to deal with it at work and it seems people have a real problem if their calenders are off an hour. my only thing is that it is like...8am and it is still dark.

by the way... Clemson Basketball got screwed...again.

..we decided against mounting our new TV but if I come home and find greasy fingerprints all over the screen again, I might have to revisit that decision.

...and this morning came news that Fred Thompson is thinking about running for president. Now that would be cool. I am not sure of his politics, but I would love listening to him.

So...its seems to be decided...

Ok, so we thought initially that the twins would go to the Spanish Immersion school...but...bureacracy raised its head. But, thanks to much diligence by Jessica, the twins will be attending the Academy of Mathematics and Sciences in G-town. Its one of those there magnet s schools, as they seem to be called in these here parts.

so..now the hot rumour is that Anna Nicoles daughter father (or as some people call it "baby daddy") is...now this is rumour... her dead son. Goodness... i can only just shake my head bout that one...

DST

Evidently, this DST thing is a huge deal....like...people are losing their minds. Appointments will be off an hour. Goodness..now... like...Microsoft (and others) have been warning people for like 6 months now. But now, there is a crush of people tryin to get their Outlooks and Exchange servers patched, and the wait time at Microsoft is almost 5 hours for help. heh..heh... and no Josh, i dont want to hear about how there are no problems with Linux or anything like that....... But I guess this is serious stuff... a lot of people are worked up over it. I guess if you have a lot of appointments, etc. it would be a pain...

...and I am wonderin why that chick on Idol is still on there when they punted the black chick a couple of years ago for a similar "outrage". Hmmmm...go figure.

Clemson Basketball takes the gaspipe...AGAIN....

...

DST

Evidently, this DST thing is a huge deal....like...people are losing their minds. Appointments will be off an hour. Goodness..now... like...Microsoft (and others) have been warning people for like 6 months now. But now, there is a crush of people tryin to get their Outlooks and Exchange servers patched, and the wait time at Microsoft is almost 5 hours for help. heh..heh... and no Josh, i dont want to hear about how there are no problems with Linux or anything like that....... But I guess this is serious stuff... a lot of people are worked up over it. I guess if you have a lot of appointments, etc. it would be a pain...

...and I am wonderin why that chick on Idol is still on there when they punted the black chick a couple of years ago for a similar "outrage". Hmmmm...go figure.

Clemson Basketball takes the gaspipe...AGAIN....

...

ok...well, uh...hmmm....

...ok, got the new TV. looks bout like i expected. of course, normal cable tv is definitely exposed for its shortcomings now, but the DVd's and Xbox 360 look pretty spiffy. Thursday, the cable guy returns with the hdtv/dvr thingy. Then we will be getting the HD channels and also be able to record the cool Noggin stuff that comes on while the twins are at school.... I guess the only thing bad right now is that i didnt really think thru how i was going to do the sound switching for the AV stuff here at the house. And the current Amp, for all its goodness, isnt going to be good enough, in the long run. Well, actually the problem is that if it takes me 2 minutes to figure out the 2 or 3 remotes I need to switch from DVD to TV to Xbox or Gamecube, well... i think I know where the twins and jessica are going to on the learning curve here... So I am scouring ebay for a cheap deal on an AMP/receiver with HDMI pass thru so I can setup to be able to switch everything from the amp and not have to mess with changing inputs on the monitor. Whew...

There is this huge argument raging in the Frat (National) message board about alumni and their "rights", etc....I wish I could speak my mind to sme of the people ranting on and on, but..these things have to be timed just so.... and I may have to wait till orlando to speak.

my favorite show, Battlestar Galactica, is winding down for the season, and wont be back till..gulp...next year. Lucky for me that Baseball starts in April, nascar keeps rolling on when comes football, to keep me occupied.

"Life has a melody. A rhythm of notes that become your existence once played in harmony with God's plan. It's time to do your part and realise your destiny."

Oh, by the way..

pretty typical day in regards to the cable guy, and UPS. Cable people call at 8:15am..."we'll be there between 9 and 12 today". So, you know how that goes... cable guys shows up at 12:45pm, just like clockwork. (had to have the lines checked because the signal was weak and the impending HD stuff<see below next post>was having a problem working correctly) Then I am waiting on a delivery, and watching tracking online for UPS. Said the package was out for delivery at 4:45am this morning. I'm thinkin maaayyybe it might arrive in the morn. Well, its 1:45pm...and no glorious Westinghouse 1080p HDTV to bring the realism of the sweat, dirt, grimaces, etc of sportin events. But, i digress... I can wait. gotta get all the cablin correct anyway. That is a mess...

HDTV!!!!

Today, we arrive into the new era. The 1080p 37inch HDTV arrives. Just in time for March Madness, Nascar warming up and...baseball season. also today, I-Man starts soccer practice and games again. Of course, Ryles has her ongoing Ballet and Tap classes...

temps are rising and the schedule is starting to fill up for weekends... Soccer matches, Uncle Wes gettin married, Bristol Spring race, Jessica Birthday, frat formal in Charleston, frat convention in the ATL, Darlington race, All Star Race in Charlotte taking me up to the beginning of June. Always got stuff to look forward to...