WTF?

I have this one pair of pants that, for some reason, feels so much better than most of my other pairs of pants. The dont ride up weird when I sit down, or show too much sock when sitting in a meeting, or feel too tight when walking around. They are old school Structure pants from and era before they went off the deep end. I dont think I can wear anything from Structure now... sad.

and it is really surreal when your son and/or daughter starts texting you, and they are only 7 years old (almost 8). My daughter types on Jessica's blackberry and its like she has had a blackberry for 5 years. What a different world they have come along in and set of skills my children will have. As I was sitting at work, and Ryles was sending text, I was thinking back to my Intellivision and Commodore 64 and thinkin back to how "advanced" those things were. Heck, my Curve runs circles around those devices. now that I think about it, my Blackberry Curve could have powered the Apollo Missions to the Moon. And man, Colecovision's Zaxxon was unreal!!!

stay on course

I have, in conjunction with Santa, pretty much completed Xmas and birthday prep a few weeks back but it is always tempting to keep adding stuff. So far we have resisted the urge and have the future lists being prepared. We also struggle with where we draw the line with suggesting stuff to the Grandparents, because there are several things that would be great for them to acquire. But I always feel weird dictating to anybody what they should do in regards to gifts, etc. its always the the "What should we get the twins?" question... and I always have a list. But then I fell guilty pulling out the itemized (with price, location, occasion, etc.) list out of my pocket and going... "well, since you ask, we (me, jessica and ostensibly, Santa) DO have a couple of suggestions"

I think I am going to grow a full beard. Of course, I have tried this before and right when I get to the bend or break point, I shave it off..

meltdown

There is currently a meltdown in Tiger Nation in regards to the football program. Kinda funny how so many people who were all about Dabo and the "All in" rah, rah stuff are now criticizing him and the coaching staff. There were a lot of people, including me, who said that the "All In" mantra was in itself, a very good thing to throw out there. But that this hire was the wrong hire. Clemson hired an inexperienced coach and the results are manifesting itself real-time. Kinda seems to mirror the selection of our President in many ways. In essence, Clemson has gotten what it paid for.

oh, and the Braves did a meltdown too... but they are poised to make a great run next year. Honest. Seriously... "wait till next year!"

Speaking of Obama, Saturday Night Live did do an interesting skit last Saturday Night that was amazingly SPOT ON.

I-Man seems to be doing better in soccer these days. He has settled into the sweeper role and the Coach, who happens to be the Travel Team coach, has said that I-Man is built for that spot. We'll see how that unfolds, as we are yet to put any pressure on him in any regards to sports, music or anything....

fall here?

is Fall here? looks like finally a downturn in temps this week... open windows here we come...

man.. I love this song...

Can't sleep at night and you wonder why
Maybe God is trying to tell you something
Crying all night long, something's gone wrong
Maybe God is trying to tell you something

Lets see if the soccer match gets in tomorrow...got rained out last Saturday.

Season on the line for Tigers on Saturday. I certainly hope Clemson fans havent been sleeping on TCU, or they might be hugely disappointed. This might very well be the best team Clemson plays all year. Once again, it all comes down to the offensive line and simply getting the ball to Spiller and Ford EVERY play. Oh, and the Defense continuing to play well... I have a bad feeling about this one. But Dabo wants me to be "All In!!"...so... 20-17 Clemson. Looks like I will have to be finding someone streaming the 360 feed online again because for some wacky reason this game isnt on TV...

Disappointment

When I see in blogs and on Facebook friends proudly showing pix and talking about accomplishments, I always think about how proud they must be of their kids, as they should be. All of us with little ones have been blessed and I totally understand trumpeting how you feel about your son/daughter. I ponder that sorta stuff now as I am faced with mild disappointment in my son as he talked in class today and as a consequence will have to face punishment. He was warned before and he repeated his talking today. I understand that it's typical and he aint the only one talking in class. But its all apart of the process and I at times feel like the ole saying of "this s going to hurt me more than it will hurt you" thing as I hate to have to teach this sorta stuff now. While I do NOT want to go back 4 or 5 years but I sometimes think back to when it was far simpler dealing with our twins. Seeing the mixture of sadness, confusion and anger on my sons' face gives me pause. And it truly makes me sad as I know all too well that these are only the beginning of hard lessons that have to be taught and learned that dont taste too well.

I have struggled with the thought that somehow I may not be doing good enough a job with my son. As I have said before, I do see a lot of myself in his actions at times. And I wonder if he will develop the same sorta way of harnessing emotions and thought as I feel I did. Something tells me he won't and that he will "wear his emotions on his sleeve" and it will be his sister who plays it close to the vest with her emotions. Because I enjoy seeing his obvious excitement in talking to people, in trying to interact with everyone, and it kinda saddens me to see that that exuberance gets him into trouble and rubs people and other kids the wrong way at times. And to see the realization on his face that he had disappointed his mother and that he was in serious trouble really saddened me. He was still sad when I talked to him in bed a while ago.

I dont know. I guess I just wish I could still be pulling them around in a red wagon instead of having to do this type of stuff...

P.S. did I mention sitting at dinner table with Ryles after I-Man had been sent off to bed early?... listening to her quietly throw into the conversation that she had never been any color other than "green" (they use some sorta color system in class in regards to behavior, etc.) since shes been in school. It was SO transparent that she was trying to quietly build herself up between bites of her hotdog..." you know, Daddy... I have never been any color other than green...Ever..." Me..."really?...wow...I didn't know that"... Ryles..."Yeah...i have always been green." Me, thinking to myself "What do you want? a cookie...THAT's what you are supposed to do"

...crickets...

Last night, after homework, Ryles looks at the TV (playing Man in The Mirror on Satellite radio) and says "Why does Michael Jackson look like a girl?" .... (crickets chirping....)

OK... so the Tigers eventually drop a close one last week. There was a change in that they didn't just collapse totally that time. Ok... So I will give credence that the ALL IN thing worked that time. That is what Clemson needs. Another step in the right direction will be not letting one loss cause another one the next week. Looks like they made the needed change at right tackle, which will perhaps go a long way in making this season successful. Get Spiller and Ford the ball in open space and they will be extremely dangerous to ANYBODY on the college level. That falls on the line holding and Parker making good decisions... I expect to see the usual BC and they will be looking to make ANYONE else beat them except Spiller and Ford. They will look to keep everything in front of them and grind it out and try to hit a late field goal and steal a road win. IF...IF...IF Clemson keeps the momentum gained, they will win 31-21. Come ot flat and BC will steal a win...

this is exactly what I thought would happen

THIS is ridiculous... and THIS sums it up too... I think the biggest point Boortz makes is the standard playbook, which we have seen time and time again...

1. Black citizen elected to office.
2. Black official runs into opposition to policy objectives or has a problem with corruption.
3. Black supporters and liberals blame the problems on race. - Neal Boortz

Thanks John for pointing this to me...

Big Brother

So... I went online this morning and got online to make sure to get email notifications of the Twins grades, etc. I can also login online and view what assignments they have, as well as upcoming tests, discipline reports, etc. I get a newsletter from the Principal once a week. Man, I can only imagine how this would have changed things when I was in school. You mean that I can actually see their grades waaaayyyy before the report cards come? Yeah, I know this has been avail for a whil, but this is the first I have decised to actually use it. THIS WOULD HAVE SUCKED if it was around when I was in school. Even though I didnt make anyhing less than a "B" till the three "C's" I made in Highschool, it still would have been a game changer. (lets NOT talk about the college grades... umm... a different story there...) I can already see it now... as I discuss assignments and grades to the twins...I-Man will kinda half acknowledge that I seem to have insde knowledge of his school stuff as he works on that dinobot transformer for the 349th tie... while Ryles will kinda squint her eye, look at me sideways and not say anything either... but you will see the wheels turning in her mind saying "mental note... make sure to cover my bases in class because my dumbass brother will take all the heat.. heh, heh..."...

oh.. and here we go again...

now we get force fed Tom Brady and the New England Patriots is/are God(s) again... I am already sick of these fools and the havent even played yet.... I bet some yahoo starts sending me the Patriots NFL apparel catalog again. This time, if it happens, I will start flooding any suspects with random NFL catalogs, like St. Louis Rams/Seattle Seahawks or Jacksonville Jaguars or some other team no-one cares about... so you've been warned

...THIS is what happens when you have no home trainin'... i told some poeple that Kanye's mother would be ashamed of him and has probably did a couple of flips in her grave. She would probably slap him silly if she actually witnessed what he did. I am taking him off my Itunes/Ipod and will NEVER listen to him again. This ranks right up there with what Joe Wilson did during Obama's speech. There is a time and a place for everything, and even if you disagree or even if most people agree with you, ACT LIKE YOU GOT SOME SENSE, FOOL!!!! at any rate, Beyonce's video was better I thought. But good grief, all of these people are getting recognized. You think Beyonce is all upset she didnt win? HELL NO!!!! she got nominated, which is virtually just as good as winning on these things... Kanye West's actions tonight smacked of foolish narcisissim, Racism and ....STUPIDITY

well...the Tigers go down after looking somewhat horrific in the first half. However, the Defense, despite being a little undersized, seems to be capable of being great. And Spiller and Ford, if they stay healthy, will be a threat on every play if given space. Lets be honest. Clemson was vastly outcoached in the first half and the GaTech coach took advantage of Clemson having someone still green running the ship. I have mentioned the O-Line and there is a GLARING weakness at right tackle. I assume there will be a change there this week.

Where do the Tigers go from here? Beating BC is an absolute must. I expect the team to build on this game and the comeback. But I still am scared that coaching will be the downfall of this team. I hope that I am proven wrong...

Happy Birthday!!!

The sailors say "Brandy, you're a fine girl" (you're a fine girl)
"What a good wife you would be" (such a fine girl)
"Yeah your eyes could steal a sailor from the sea"
(dooda-dit-dooda), (dit-dooda-dit-dooda-dit)

"And you just can't stop my knife and fork
When i see a christmas ham
So if you don't like the way i look
Well, i |ust don't give a damn!" -Edna

Soccer practice twice a week, Gymnastics, Ballet and Tap are now in the daily routine. By the way, I-Man is doing tap too. I think a lot while going about the daily routine and when I drive past a Huddle House or Cracker Barrel, i always crack a smile and think back to the memories. I miss a lot of people but surely would not trade my family away to go back to those times... I simply miss them. At any rate, Fall is here... more leaves on the ground, and the nights carry a little more nip to them now. Tomorrow will see the Tigers meet a stern test in Atlanta. I certainly hope the O-Line shows up, else it will be a LONG night.. I am going to be optimistic after reading a little this week about GaTECH... 16-14 Tigers after a missed field goal late by the Bees...

is this what Barack Obama did tonight?

"I don't want to pit Red America against Blue America. I want to be President of the United States of America" _Barack Obama, November 10, 2007

a few points to ponder

... I had the opportunity to listen to nothing but Liberal talk radio (what little actually exists) on the way and from the lake for Labor day. It is interesting to hear the people who fell for the mantra and drank the kool-aid now call in and say that they made a mistake. And the fact that ALL of the press ignores the major failings of Obama (except Foxnews) and NEVER reports anything that might be construed as negative toward Obama ( such as the overwhelming poll data that shows that the US public is deadset against the Healthcare proposals) is going to bite Obama and the Liberal cause in the rear...

Go here to and read this and think about it for a moment....

We keep printing money out the wazoo? that dollar you got in your pocket is going down in value by the second. Even China is starting to worry... and now Obama wants to raise the debt ceiling? I could go on and on but this is way beyond ridiculous. And if Obama comes out in support of a public option (despite showing his "strength" constantly waffling depending on who is listening/watching) in his speech tonight, I have a sense he will doom himself to a one term Presidency that will see virtually anything he might be able to get done overturned within hours of his leaving the White House. Ever legit poll shows the public is against all this spending and proposals he is trying to ram down our throats and if he ignores the will of the people, it will lead to him and the liberals in Congress getting ALL swept out in 2010.

What amazes me that if this guy is SO intelligent and for the People, why is he so presumptuous to IGNORE the the people and figure he knows best whats good for us?

And he absolute silence in regards to Van Jones tells us that he agrees with Van Jones statements and thinking. Is THIS what we want in the White House? I consistently try to listen to and read the Liberal/Progressive side of things. It seems to me that the reasonable people on that side are grounded in reality. What scares me is that Pelosi/Obama/Reid seem hellbent on ignoring the will of the people to pursue an agenda that is WAAAYYYYY left of what the public wants, and that the public stated emphatically to its representatives during the past 2 months.

Finally, it seems that Obama has done virtually nothing to UNITE the public by NEVER responding to the accusations that any opposition to Obama must be racist based...

.. I had a friend suggest to me today that Perhaps Obama WANTS the public to Storm Washington so he can declare Martial Law. As preposterous this sounds, if you think about it... is he doing anything to prevent it?

How 'Bout them Apples?.?.?

Yesterday we went to the little apple orchard that could up in North Carolina... surprisingly enough VERY close to...wait...Wait... WAIT for it... WAIT FOR IT!!!!... some little town called strangely enough Saluda, North Carolina. Imagine that.. so went drove up and the place was packed... I_Man and Ryles had visited in the past and had been looking forward to going up again. The drive, while scenic, was the usual when the twins get with their cousin despite the fact that she is only two... lots of laughter, giggling and general NOISE... but we got there in one piece. So.. we go in and get a basket or two, and I partake of the Apple Cider Doughnut which was actually pretty tasty. I was actually kinda hungry and had figure that this place would at LEAST have a hotdog stand but...um... no... Apples, Apple pies, Apple fritters, Apple juice, Apple Cider...Apple Butter...even, go figure.. APPLE DOUGHUTS...but... no hotdogs. So... a little disappointed and a tad hungry, we set off in search of apples. There were PLENTY of apples... Oh and did i mention that you could get Applesauce here too? Well, before we could really start, we went on a hayride.. with no hay, but who's counting here. Cousin Madison was along with us for the day and she ate SIX!!! apples while we were there roaming around. I-Man enjoyed the Apple Cider and thank goodness he hasnt learned the tastyness of good ole Jack Daniels with that cider he has... figure he has about 25 years before he will have access to that type of beverage.. heh, heh... but any way, we went roamimg around for a short bit as Ryles and I-Man quickly learned that one apple is light. Thirty apples are NOT light. So we chased a rabbit, took a leak then meandered back up to the car, where the kids had a Caramel Apple (No way...Caramel APPLES...HERE?)... and I-Man seemed to think that he had to climb trees to get to the apples hanging below him. A Gameday trip to KFC where Cousin Madison ate 2 helpings of Mac/Cheese, fried okra, a drum stick, chocolate pudding, several swigs of diet coke and some other stuff I cant remember from my buffet. Of course, I ate 7 pieces of chicken making sure I got my 7 dollars worth... so I got my Gameday chicken on at least, although I am not that big on tailgating and whatever anyway.. tomorrow will see us at the lake with Family...

FINALLY!!!!

kids are off to school today for the Second Grade. It has been amusing and reflective to see all the posts on Facebook as people post pics of their kids going to daycare, or pre-k, or 5k for the first time. I remember those times with nostalgia. It was so different for us today... pull up in car, kids barely said goodbye as they jumped out and took off into the building without even a slight glance backward... time moves on...

did I mention that SPEEDCHANNEL is in HD? guess what I can see now in HD... wait... wait for it... WAIT FOR IT..... MONSTER TRUCKS!!!!! as well as Nascar Trucks and qualifying as Formula One too... wow...its the little things, guys... the little things...

Saw this stuff today, INTERESTING...

"Liberalism is the transformation of mankind into cattle." - Friedrich Nietzsche

... Another wild schedule swing coming up... going from extreme early morn to midday into night. the bad...I will be at work late into evenings. the good...I will only work 4 days a week, plus I dont hav to be as concerned with getting to bed so early every night.

...went to the twins "Meet the Teacher!!!" night... of course, they have already met the teacher a couple of weeks ago, but I got a chance to meet her. It was Panda - Frakkin - Leeryum with all the kids running around and parents milling about the school, etc. Nice school that needs to figure out how to turn on the AC.

...watching the Little League World Series game that is more like a church league softball game... it's 10-7 in the bottom of the 4th... wait...moving forward 10-10 in bottom of 6th, the last inning in regulation at this level. It seems that ESPN is doing a better job of catching glimpses of emotion, especially from the losing side without really embarrasing kids like they have in the past...

sat and watched highlights of the Eagles game tonight with Bristol (the family dog) dressed in his authentic #7 Michael Vick Philadelphia Eagles doggie jersey...

summer windng down...

Today we went to the Children's Museum of the Upstate. It was actually fun and I think we'll be going back in the future.... there were a lot of people there in the middle of the day and the ladies at the door said they thought most of the families were from our school district, which starts school seemingly in the middle of November, in comparison to the rest of the United States. If you are in the Upstate, I definitely recommend you taking your kids there. Some of it is pretty childish, but a lot more of it is actually pretty cool. There were sections on music, autoracing, nutrition, water, etc... a whole lot more that I really cant describe but thought was kool. There is also this weird thingy in the middle were kids can climb and play. There is also a mini studio that kids can do a short news show or a music video. Anyway... thought it was cool...

I also took a couple of snappys of the twins... a kinda 7 year, 9 month snappy. I also wanted a couple of photos to give to my mother. I hope this gets her off my back in regards to having a current photo of both me and the twins.

p.s., Ryles hair is usually that wild... honest...

Hera ya go, Grandma!!

here are the photos for my mother, even though she doesnt really ever go to this website. I will print these out and give to her...

"Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they can not communicate; they can not communicate because they are separated". -Martin Luther King, Jr

so... on the way home daycare today I-Man once again floated out that he wanted to ride the bus to school when it starts 4 months from now in this strange school district. We live less than a minute from the school yet they fail to understand that by the time they wait for a bus, then ride the bus to school, they could have driven by car there and back 25 times... but what do I know... i just rode a school bus for 10 of 12 grades even though...EVEN THOUGH... my mother and grandmother both drove either right past the school or taught at the same school. A few years have past and the details are fuzzy..but how is it I rode a bus an hour to a school that took only 15 minutes to get to by car... a car that my grandmother who was teaching AT THE SAME SCHOOL used? I think about this and just simply shake my head....

at any rate, Santa has confirmed to me that he is 90 percent DONE with toy creation for Xmas this year, extrapolating requests based on careful questions by me, since I have developed a somewhat close relationship with Mr. Claus over the past 7 years. Santa tells me he is confident that he will be spot on when the official lists get to him come November. in similar news, I am pretty much finished with Christmas, except for a family gift when we draw names ( if we still do that... that seems to be in limbo... might have to figure that out on Labor Day.) and Jessica wants me to do something with a ring. That will be a late Fall endeavor...

by the way, it seems charter changed their lineup with out any sorta notice... get home and all of sudden none of the channels ae in the same place. At least they added a couple of more HD channels... FOXNEWS is in HD, which while it is good isnt extremely necessary. Funny that they didnt give us MSNBC in HD. Guess that shows where the demand is with that one, And... SPEEDCHANNEL is in HD. Slowly but surely charter might give me reason to drop my lingering thoughts of putting a dish up on the roof... also some Smithsonian Channel in HD that seems fairly interesting...

As I said before, the Frat got off to a halting start but got a couple of issues resolved fairly quickly. I have big hopes this year for the chapter and I think that they are poised to recruit big numbers as well as renew emphasis on Service. I am hoping to direct the chapter to focus on a few key points this year instead of trying to spread themselves thin with too much stuff.

...did I mention that a put a quote on Facebook from Animal House about the Germans Bombing Pearl Harbor and I had one of the Actives correct me and tell me it was the Japanese? When I asked her if she had ever seen the movie, she hadn't. THAT was an eye opener...

Bristol this weekend. And I will have not attended either race weekend this year. Looks like if I am going to go to the Fall Charlotte race, I will have to simply go by myself. Not that big of a deal, but I do enjoy going with other people.

...other than Homecoming(maybe) and Florida State(definite), no Clemson games seem all that appealing. Like I said before, I am sure some last second change will have me over there for a game or two but as of now, not much to draw me there...

As baseball approaches September, I find myself talking to the tv more as each Braves game takes on more importance... even if they dont get to the playoffs, at least I will have meaningful baseball into September for the first time in two seasons... i still think NEXT YEAR will be the Braves year... yeah, i know...wait till next year...

Interesting....

Click here...

and this one too....

it is always interesting to see the subtle change of Summer to Fall... walked outside yesterday onto the back deck and it looked like... Fall. and I forgot to mention that the leaves are already falling, which for my house, is not necessarily a good thing. Fall brings tons o leaves, constantly falling... then, a few minutes ago, I walked out front, and... despite the heat of today, it looks like October.

... with the twins today as the school district here seem to think that it's convenient to start school 2 weeks after everyone else. Tomorrow they will go the Sunshine House, which i dropped by to look at yesterday. Wow... nice place for the kiddies. They will be hooked up for the duration of there attendance there.

..starting to see more and more of the independent, almost arrogant, streak in I-Man as days go by. I largely ignore the occasional outburst, glaring looks and sassy comments as I know his control of those things isn't developed yet. But I can see the tiffs on the horizon, and they should be interesting. I do see a lot of his mental makeup mirroring me at times, and I sympathize with him more often than not. But the boy has a probable series of behind the woodshed moments looming for him, especially from his mother. Sometimes I sit there thinkin "um..I-Man...it would be in your best interest to go ahead and eat those green beans... seriously... dude... um... trust me... it REALLY would be in your best interest. a little discomfort now will save you a LOT of discomfort later..." meanwhile as he glares back at his mother, I am thinking..."DUDE... you have SO much to learn..." I don't think he is at the point yet where he can understand the adage "If Momma aint happy, nobody is happy". This was something I learned early on growing up and my Father used to tell me several times...

Of course, Ryles continues to instigate things. We are having to break her of the tattletale habit she seems to have developed, especially when she provokes I-Man then tells on him. That game has gotten old really quick and she spent time today alone in her bedroom for trying to tell on I-Man for something SHE started...

random

watchin the Braves... i like the solid blue caps with the grey road jerseys. I cannot stand the blue alternates that they seem hell bent on wearing. I feel that those, plus the red Sunday alternates should be shelved. batting practice only, please... i wish they would consider an off=white (almost yellowish) jersey that says "Braves" as their road jersey...

I still dont understand why it is that I can go lay down in bed @ 9am, and it feels SOOOOO good and I can slumber along in bliss... yet if I get an opportunity to go to bed early, it doesn't feel remotely as good. I dont get it...

A small blip in the Fraternity, but the year seems to be off on a good start. Now, if I could just get them to focus on doing what they are supposed to do, instead of constantly looking to tear each other down. A mini election this weekend and it won"t surprise me if someone tries to tear down the candidate instead of supporting someone who has stepped up and volunteered to lead. Especially when EVERYONE else declined to do so... maybe they will show me they have turned the corner. Maybe they will show me a level of maturity that they lacked last year. We shall see...

As of now I dont see myself getting to many football games this year. Probably Homecoming and FSU will be definites... but I say that every year and I end up going to a couple more than I figured...

I think I just missed the Saluda tractor pull this year. tsk, tsk... makes me sad...

Phineas: Hey, where's Perry?

Dr. Doofenshmirtz: Curse you, Perry the Platypus!

Haircut?

Ryles is off with Jessica getting a haircut. Not sure I am all on board with how this is going to look... but all the womenz state this is necessary... we'll see how this goes...

Summer coming to a close...

.. it was a whirlwind summer for us, with DisneyWorld, deep sea fishing, numerous trips to the pool, lake and grandparents as well as a trip to NYC/NJ for us. Sprinkle in family visits and it was pretty much none stop "vacationrama" for the kids... not looms the beginning of school again for the twins and as I have mentioned below, a new school. They started off in the private Catholic school, meandered over to the Magnet school and now.. well, this is just a regular elementary school less than a half mile from the house. I-Man wants to ride the bus to school and doesnt seem to understand that he could actually walk to school quicker in the time it will take him to wait, catch and ride a school bus to class. At any rate, the school grind of gymnastics, ballet and baton will start for Ryles and I-Man will start up with soccer season in September. Throw in an occasional Clemson foray for a game as well as usual family stuff with have us with a filled schedule once again. We hope to plan an Alumni event for the Frat as well as the usual impromptu events with friends this fall. Oh..and yeah... gotta do that work thing too...

But, of course, Ryles did bring up to Jessica last week that we had not actually gone to the beach this summer. Splash Mountain at Disney, the Waterpark in Fountain Inn, the pool every other day, deep sea fishin', the numerous lake swims at Granny Fran's... that all wasnt enough water it seems. So we hit the beach last Saturday...

It was typical of the two. I-Man hits the water and and if we were't constantly yelling for him to come back he would simply hit the water and keep swimming until he reached Italy, then suddenly realize that something was amiss... Ryles is a little more daring than she used to be but still keeps close to shore with a wary eye on our whereabouts at all times...

"You look like a man-o-lantern".

School update

... looks like things are falling into place...

A long week with mixed results

Since my last post... been to Saluda... SALUDA SOUTH CAROLINA, that is... then regrouped and joined family in Columbia, then on to Charleston in a last second change of plans for a day... back to Columbia, then on to Brooklyn, New York. Then out to New Jersey, then back into NYC and Brooklyn, before returning back home for good ole work. We missed out on seeing Kim, Brandon, Lisa, TJ and Trace because I ddnt pay attention to details and ask more questions. I assumed Saluda was in South Carolina... well..um... guess what? There is a Saluda, North Carolna and looking back in hindsight, I missed all the clues that should have told me to think instead of assuming.. so i missed a part of valuable vacation time that I had looked forward to spending with old friends. the plans for the kids AFTER we were supposed to see them in Saluda had them staying with Nanna and Papa in Columbia and time just didnt dictate that we could make the almost 5 hour trip it would have been to correct my mistake... so... those guys have to make up trips from us coming to them...

... we did get to see Cousin Madison and a birthay party for her... then the drive to NYC to see Erik, Pam and Kristen... actually did a couple of things in the City that I hadnt before... pictures coming tomorrow... time for bed now... but before I go, i must say that to be back at work and sit in the office and ponder your friends, it's just kinda sad at times... not the friends, but just how short the time spent with them now is, as apposed to the countless hours it used to be...

School around the corner

Well... looks like the decision has been made to change the kids school from the "Academy of Math and Sciences" in G-ville and have them go to their natural school here in town, only a 1/4 mile away from the house. We think it might be better now than to wait till middle school and force them to leave developed friends, etc. Still isn't a certainty as we need to make sure after school options are available

... another kink is that school here in town starts on September 1st... while Jessica's school starts on Aug 19th. That leaves, with my days that I have naturally off, seven days we need to figure out where the twins will stay during day hours...

Unknown number

I am able to access a tool that tells me what number calls me, even if it is caller id blocked or restricted. Over the past month or so, I have started to get calls at LEAST 3 times a day from an Unknown Number that never leaves a message. I check and it shows that this is being generated from a computer on the internet and an unknown IP address. well, at least unknown to the tool I am using. This is REALLY starting to get annoying in that I am sure it is some random telemarketer that is power dialing millions of numbers. The thing that is annoying is that I am unable to block it at any sorta level

the things we used to do

As Jessica was cookin' some baloney (or is that balogna) today for lunch, remembered that back in the day growing up, we used to burn fires almost every day, especially during the summer. It was usually trash of the day, or leave/brush/whatever accumulated.. and if the haul was particularly good, a TIRE!!!.. and tires make the best fires in the whole wide world. At least we thought so back then. That was before the recent rash of yearly July 4th fireworks plant explosions... but i digress. What i remembered was that we would often cook hotdogs or even "baloney" over these fires, including the especially cool Michelin or Goodyear fires. Thinking about it, I now know why those hotdogs would get SOOOOO black. I can only shake my head...

But man...I think next time we do a firebowl, I am going to try to find a tire to put in it. And see how quick the police and fire department show up..

where does this come from?

Interesting to hear my son speak. He has developed this almost Charlestonian type of Southern accent to his speech. Interesting in that I certainly do not speak that way and his mother does not either. But to hear him say "Come heeyah!" or "Look at that Spyduh", as opposed to Ryles more "correct" speech further illustrates that while they are twins, they are definitely two different people who are learning and comprehending things differently.

Purchased LLBean bookpacks for.. gulp... the 2nd frakkin grade!!! last week. Actually, Aunt Ashley did it for me and I was able to get free shipping and monogramming with her help (and her LLbean card). They get bags that I figure wont look like everyone else's, and I monogram them so some punk ass kid isnt as likely to try to walk off with them because they are different. Why different?... well, if you havent been to school to pick up your kid yet and seen the mass confusion that is the pile of bookbags sitting in a corner, then you will understand one day in the future.

of course, the twins returned home and what visit to Nanna, Papa or Grandma would be complete without Grandparent loot...I-Man was very proud of his 363rd Transformer, called Rampage (think... part of Devastator). Actually, this Transformer is pretty damn cool. but... I have long since given up hope that they would be able to visit without a return with a xmas type load of loot. But I also am looking forward to one day doing the same thing with my own grandkids...heh, heh... "here grandson/daughter, have this 4700 piece lego set of Littlejohn Coloseum complete with a mini Basketball Pep Band" all the while thinking of Ryles or I-Man stepping on some random sharp small piece of lego during a 2 am visit to the bathroom..

minor accident

minor fashion error tonight at gym... old ratty white Converse One Stars, black gold toe socks (didn't feel like changin' them from work), plain Black Nike basketball shorts, plain grey Adidas logo tshirt and a khaki Tigers fitted hat...

musings

We saw Transformers last night, after realizing that Star Trek seems to no longer be showing anywhere in the upstate except Spartanburg. The kids saw Transformers last week with Nanna and Papa. I was somewhat surprised at the amount they increased the ante with the "adult" humour and references. I also found Mudflap and Skids and their obvious characterizations to be a little much. But... I was entertained. just a little surprised at how much more adult this movie was. I wasnt offended or any thing but if I would have known ths about the movie, I probably would have not allowed Ryles and I-Man to see it... on a similar note, I am amused, yet dismayed at how much is blocked now on our Cable now that I have the parent lock on. And now that the twins are now even more proficient at surfing the web, I am going to have to get into the router and block access to sites on the web. it is a shame but... well... I can already see Ryles branching out more and more.

I saw that HealthCare is now a right of all Americans. Does this mean that I am required to pay for health care of everyone who doesnt try to have a job? Does this mean that I will now be taxed or fined if I dont have what the givernment deems is adequate? Can someone explain to me how it is that Congress keeps passing all these bills and measures in the middle of the night when NO-ONE has read them, or...they have not even been fully written? What happened to the transparency that Obama promised?

Speaking of transparency... "A U.S. Army Reserve major from Florida scheduled to report for deployment to Afghanistan within days has had his military orders revoked after arguing he should not be required to serve under a president who has not proven his eligibility for office." You know, Obama could solve this question and shut people up by simply showing his birth certificate. Why doesnt he?

but anyway, more importantly... Why do I have this since of dread regarding G.I. Joe? the trailers I have seen seem imply this sorta Matrix, dark implementation of the story... not sure how I am going to like it. I guess if I put up with how they did Transformers, I can stomach this as well

summer o fun continues

another week, another trip for the twins...this time, the twins will be visiting with Grandma for 3 days... then Sunday will see a visit to Cousin Madison and her birthday gig in Columbia. meanwhile... work, work and more work for me...

lonely weekend, I guess...

Twins got back at midday yesterday and Jessica arrived back late last night. It was pretty quiet here for several days and I was amused when Nanna asked what happened at the "bachelor pad" while everyone was gone. I think they were perplexed when I couldnt really tell them what i did because all I really did was clean-up around the house and catch a couple of games on TV. Also worked on my Xbox and I think I have it working again, without having to send it off for 30 weeks or whatever insane amount of time they are quoting the turn around time for repair. At any rate, I followed this online tutorial and it seems to be working... for now.

And I still dont understand why all these channels are not in HD on charter. this is ridiculous...

EL NINO!!!

cooler temps so far this summer, but they say El Nino wont really make a difference till Fall. I am going to keep knocking on the table with a huge wooden hammer and hope the cooler temps stay thru summer here in the Upstate. But I somehow dont see it happening...

...and did anyone notice the episode in Philly where the 60 black/hispanic kids were made to leave a pool because the pool director was afraid they would "change the complexion" of the pool? Ya think? and the adults and kids said they overheard white parents complaining "Why are their so many black kids here?" here ya go if ya havent... they club came out with a different excuse a few minutes ago about there not being enough room. yeah... OK... sure. Got it.

Twins return back to the house sometime Saturday afternoon. I have I-Mans room done, but I am not sure I will have Ryles finished. Her room will be easier as her "stuff" is mostly 47 barbie dols and 152 random stuffed animals and people stuffed in all sorts of random spots. Oh, and books under the bed, books under the pillows, books behind the bed...books stuff in the cd drive of her computer.... just got a little side tracked filling in some bolt/nail holes in the sheetrock in the downstairs bath getting it ready to be painted...

All Quiet on the Western Front

The twins are off in Florence/Camden/wherever this week with Nanna and Papa while Jessica in attending a convention in Greensboro. So all is pretty quiet here at home. tryin to clean up their bedrooms of random crap like broken toys, crushed crackers, soured, mildewed Capri Suns and half eaten apples smushed under their pillows. As I have said before, the first night the twins are away is nice.... a respite but the next day I start to miss the constant noise and banter. it actually becomes boring and its funny when people without kids think that it is some sorta all out vacation when the kids are gone...maybe I'll try to see a movie tomorrow night, but I also have to try to do some stuff in the downstairs bath.

OK..so... am i the only person who thinks this "murder - suicide" is a little off? so this girl was supposed to shoot Steve Mcnair 4 TIMES then snuggle up to his dead body, hold the gun in her LEFT hand and shoot herself in her RIGHT temple? then fall into his lap...YET SOMEHOW END UP ON THE FLOOR WITH THE GUN UNDER HER?!?!?! and the guy who found them waited 44 minutes before calling SOMEONE ELSE, who then called 911? hmmmm....

right now, at 5 minutes and 6 seconds after 4 o"clock, the time & date is 04:05:06 07/08/09

Don't tread on me

I wore this T-shirt on Independence Day. I got asked a couple of times what it stood for. I was kinda surprised but realized that this was covered a long time ago for most people in school... Wikipedia has a good explanation, including a blurb on what people who wear this shirt or fly the flag are considered at times. Amusing.

At any rate, a fun time at the lake house with family, and even saw some ole Frat (Kristen Antley and Leslie Watkins, as well as Kenneth Russell) ...did a great cookout.. took the jetskis out several times and I even fooled around with making a short clip while on one that I put on facebook. Kinda silly. Also went out on the pontoon a couple of times, the last up the lake a bit to see the big fireworks show. That, and the hundreds of other people doing fireworks makes for an interesting show while out on the lake. And as I said last year, some of the people have drop BIG MONEY on their fireworks... I will try to post some pix tomorrow during lunch...

what? aren't we all supposed to simply go along???

I found this hilarious, and also telling. As demonstrated in recent polls and reporting, the press outside of NBC, ABC, CBS and NPR are starting to question things now..Click here

The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep...

”I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change” -Michael Jackson

After putting it off for a couple of years, we finally hit DisneyWorld last week. We didn't tell the twins that we were actually going there until about a minute before we saw the sign up above. Needless to say, they were ecstatic once they found out why they had ridden 31/2 hours. It took 17 "How many more minutes/hours/miles till we get there" on the ride to Pam and John's house, then 6 more the next morning until we arrived at the park. Once inside, we immediately headed to Splash Mountain, which is still about all I-Man can talk about wuth DisneyWorld. And I got totally soaked on the FIRST FRAKKIN RIDE... while I-Man got just a little sprinkle on him... It really took me a little while to get my bearings because my usual preference back in the band days was EPCOT, but once we got going, we hit every major and minor ride, except Space Mountain which is under renovation. I am not sure I-Man and Ryles would have been to thrilled about that anyway based upon their reaction to Thunder Mountain ( or whatever its called). That scared them and they left the ride a little shell shocked... at any rate, the twins actually lasted longer than I thought they would, going strong at the park from about 11:30am till 9pm and it was worth it to see their faces once they learned of where we were actually going.... Next time we plan to stay longer, tenative plans being to take on both Disney and Epcot, then revisit with John and Pam and take in a local water park and more fishing. Speaking of fishing, we stayed with old friends John and Pam and their new daughter Lauren Grace in Tallahasee. We visited a car museum that has to be seen to be believed. The kids also would have spent 24/7 in their pool if had let them. We also were fortunate to have John be gracious with his time, money and boat to take us out on the ocean for some fishin'. I caught a 5 foot baby hammerheard shark that took me 27 minutes to fight to reel in. Unfortunately, the reel broke just as I was lifting him into the boat... so... I didnt get a picture of it.... go figure ;)

It is really sobering, these vacation times... but it was so fun. now...back to the grind...till the next "vacation"

"Have you ever noticed... anybody going slower than you is an idiot. And anyone going faster is a maniac."
- George Carlin

trainwreck

after all the hoopla about Jon and Kate, I decided to watch the episodes last night. I have only seen brief clips previously and know some of the background but dont watch every episode. I think that despite what everyone likes to pile on about Jon in this case, or even talk about Kates personality, it was still somewhat sad to watch. Especially as someone who is married and has been for a long time. I cant imagine what they are going thru and certainly dont want to ever have to. I imagine the looks on their faces and the stumbling to come up with words are only the tip of their feelings. Clearly...CLEARLY... the birth of the children and the show totally destroyed this marraige. They both have personal responsibility and utlimately the decisions they made, right and wrong, were theirs. But I cant imagine having your life with a camera in your face ALL THE TIME. And then have poparazzi following you and your kids 24/7 too. Despite all the things we have seen, we still dont really know what is going on between those two. And Kate hit it on the head when she talked about being tagged as a "failure". All of you reading this...think about how it would be if ALL your decisions were fodder for public scrutiny. Would you hold up to that? Yeah.. I know. They signed off on it and they agreed to it. They knew and benefitted from the publicity. But...even Barack Obama doesnt have a camera (yet) following him and showing his private moments with his wife and kids. And I bet things are said and decisions made within his family that the public would discuss and not agree with. As happens with all families.

The birth of the children was a blessing to them. The decisions by TV and Jon and Kate to show 24/7 coverage of their life was a curse.

"Failure to Prepare is Preparing for Failure"

it amazes me that how, for a trip I have been mentally planning for about two years, I somehow feel NOT prepared... although thinking about it, I am pretty sure I am...

Today is Fathers Day. Jessica and the twins gave me a book /manual/guide that really has a lot of good information on image editing and I tested it out on the photos below... I-Man has all of a sudden taken a liking to wanting to toss a baseball.... and family was in town as well on Saturday... our cousin had been running around in the creek and eating watermelon, so please excse the slightly frazzled look of about an almost two year old and I-Man... well he's 7 and a half now...goodness...where has the time gone?in 10 years they will be 18 (obviously, huh?) andit just seems like it was just yesterday they were lying on the floor on their backs making strange sounds... sigh...

Vacation Bible school ended last night for the twins... They both seem to really enjoy it... we then went and hung out at Brandy and AJ's for a while... today will see family in town. Hopefully it wont be as hot as they are predicting...100 degrees supposedly....

on deck

This weekend will see Uncle Wes, Aunt Ashley and cousin Madison coming into town for some sorta night walk/midnight run thingy or another over in Greenville way. oh..by the way, we finally sold the Explorer. And mucho thanks to Lynn letting us borrow her truck where I was able to bring a load of wood from home... bunch of wood for firebowls that should last for a few months

Weird Al

the kids have taken a liking to Weird Al Yankovic... I think they like the music more that the humor/satire he brings to his songs

typical summertime stuff

Kids have been doing Vacation Bible School this week... watched them at the end of their session yesterday.. they do this song with choreography and its kinda cool to see how in to it they all are. I am reminded of the fact that I went to church virtually every Sunday for the first 18 years of my life... I am not overly religious nor anti religion now... but I just dont really get into it at all. I understand it, the foundation it provides and I know I am about as versed in biblical history and teachings as anybody. But I just cant see myself doing the every Sunday thing at any point

Prep is pretty much done for our trip to Florida. All we gotta do now is get there.... the twins do not know we are going to Disney World. They just know we are going to Florida to visit some friends, although Ryles did mention somewhat offhand (yeah right...) that she thought Disney World was in Florida too... As of now, i dont plan on telling them until we arrive to park the car at Wally World. I can already imagine Ryles looking at signs and pondering out loud about the proximity of Disney World, while I-Man plays his Nintendo DS in blissful ignorance... suddenly looking up when Ryles mentions something about a sign for Disney World. We'll see how that plays out... already have Mickey/Minnie T's, etc. so we dont have to buy them on site...

kinda have to wonder what Obama supporters think of ABC doing their news broadcast from the White House, refusing to offer an oposing point of view to Obama and the health plan they will be promoting on the broadcast. How can any same person think that this isnt further evdence that the public isnt getting the full story? Can you now trust ABC to offer anything but what they feel will show Obama and his policies in a positive light? That answer is no. And they havent in the past, nor has NBC or CBS. And you have Obama whining about FOXNEWS and how they are always criticizing him. Hmmmm... if he doesnt like Foxnews, he certainly has far more options to watch that openly CHEERLEAD for him. And for everyone who complains about Foxnews and the conservative talkshows.... ever wonder why it is that they are on? because no one watches the other stuff... Foxnews as 4 times as many people watching it as the other 3 main channels combined. why is that? I just cant see how anyone can think that his being on tv EVERYDAY and his announcing EVERYDAY that the government is taking over something else, and creating ANOTHER government agency.... that this is what our President and government should be doing....

at any rate, typical summer routines for now... occasional pool at Y, gym stuff... previous mentioned VBS, visits to Nanna and Papa, as well as Grandma... old school summer routine of pleasant mornings, hot temps midday with T-Storms in evening followed by humidity at sunset. THAT is what i remember summers here to be.. not the droughts of the past 3 years or so...

a different set of rules

as i sit here researching all this stuff about Disney World and making all these plans, I am amazed at how much more I have to consider when taking the twins than before. Used to be I showed up on a bus with a bunch of band people, marched a parade, played a few songs, then roamed around aimlessly for 3/4 a day. Now I gotta consider parking, food, water, heat, lines, patience and costs into the entire thing. And the kids in the frat wonder what I mean when I tell then to enjoy what they have now because it ALL changes once you leave college. used to be the biggest question was Epcot or Disney? now its vacation day or personal day?..

So Ryles comes downstairs supposedly dressed for gymnastics wearing a lightweight jacket... not that unusual except that its somewhat hot outside and it's all zipped up. Jessica asks her to unzip it and Ryles doesnt want to. Well, Jessica makes her unzip it and what do we have but this clothing that is about 2 sizes too small on someone who wears a size 7 girls. This outfit was something Jessica had told her she could not wear earlier to go swimming and it was obvious Ryles thought she could simply hide it until she was at class and their would be nothing we could do. ..it is funny to the twins try to be sneaky or make attempts at deception. They obviously dont (and hopefully wont for a while) understand that they arent trying to do anything we havent already tried years ago....

God?...I mean..are you serious?

"I mean in a way Obama’s standing above the country, above – above the world, he’s sort of God." Newsweek editor-at-Large Evan Thomas on Hardball last Friday.

This is why I say that the media (outside of Foxnews, who has its own problems) has done nothing but treat Obama as a deity. How many times has Obama been on the cover of Newsweek and Time? When you have this type of crush on a man, can you trust that they are giving any sort of objective reporting of what ACTUALLY is going on? Can you even take the time to perhaps give criticism an objective, unbiased to look to see if there is any merit? Honestly...can you actually say with a straight face this is OK? God?.... really?.... where is this heading if you have people who report what is supposed to be fact saying this sorta stuff?... How is it that Obama can go on Date night on the taxpayer dime to New York City and Paris, France and ask CEO's to not take private jets to Vegas or you and me to sacrifice? oh.. thats right...he's God.

The end of innocence?

OK... so some people might be wondering why I would be meticulously scouring the FiFa 2009 manual at work, trying to figure out how to defend better... well... since I had to resort to basically tripping up I-Man in the penalty box to keep him from scoring on me (and thus forcing him to a penalty kick and his kicking the ball too hard and over the goal everytime), i figured I better make myself legitimately competitive so that WHEN he figures that out, I will be ready. It wont be long...

yeah... When I-Man started trash talking me while racing on Burnout Revenge, all the while taking random shortcuts that he just seemed to figure out were there via some sorta osmosis, and beating me by a half a mile, I figured I needed to practice. I sent I-MAn to bed (the conversation when something like "me...Time for Bed, I-Man!... I-Man...But...daddy..its only 5:30 on a Saturday.... me... GO...TO...BED...NOW!!!!!").... so i practiced after noticing that I-MAn drives withthe wild abandon of someone who has never crashed before... i.e, he never uses his brakes. Therefore he is able to go faster, but potentially crashes more. So... after practicing braking in the turns, I waited till he inevitably asked to race again. First race I win and I-Man says "wow..you are really good, Daddy"...but he wants to race again. I bet he was figuring that I got lucky after he crashed several times and watched me drive by him while he was in a smoking heap... we race again... as we are racing along, all of a sudden the game stops. I look over at I-Man ( i was smoking him after he had crashed several times) and he states "I dont want to play anymore. I dont like this game anymore"... heh...go figure.. I made him finish the race after which he stormed backup stairs to watch the same episode of Phineas and Ferb or Suite Life of Zack and Cody for the 46th straight time

So I digress... somehow, after only showing him the basics, he demonstrated that it will be a short learning curve in FIFA. SInce I would like to get some enjoyment out of the game, I need to be ready...

So... I splurge a tad and get Fifa 2009 for xbox and play a few games before I-Man becomes aware that I have it. Instantly, he wants to play me.... Having mastered the basics and figuring out that you actually have to pass to do anything, I expected to make easy work of I-Man. Well, the first match I won handily 5-2 with a tad bit of annoyace that he actually scored on me in about 5 minutes... the second match today found me scrtching out an 1-nil last second scorig match against someone who seems to have mastered the game without me telling him anything more than "press A to shoot, B to pass...." my only saving grace is the fact that he blew two penalty kicks because he hasnt figured out that holding down the shoot button kicks the ball too hard... I'm not telling him... sorry... This is the real world, son, and I have to use every advantage I can get.

"This remedy has been passed down in my family for generations and it always works. My grandfather was told that Diamond Dancer would never race again. They were wrong. He came in ninth in the Apple Creek Derby. And his jerky came in third the following year. A majestic beast. So fast...so tender." - Dwight Schute

If a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and that is moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power - Dwight D. Eisenhower

Summer is here. And the livin is easy... or something like that i once heard someone mention... I relented and powered up the AC for the first time last Friday night. Every time I do this I am always reminded how different the experience of childhood is going for my children than it did for me. Of course, I wouldnt want it any other way as I am sure my path has been easier than my parents as was theirs in comparison to my grandparents. But as I see how my children wilt under the heat, i remember that I grew up with no AC whatsoever at home. We didnt have AC in our cars either. Our AC was open windows and boxfans...and rolling down the window in the car. And even now, the heat doesnt bother me to go to sleep. But my daughter has issues if the temp is above 75 degrees in her room... Anyway, a project of mine this summer is to get the kids out into outdoors more this summer (and not just the pool) by sending them off to Grandma's a few times (well, maybe like 3 or 4 times)....

..watching Law and Order -Criminal Intent and I am thinking I like the Jeff Goldblum, Juliann Nicholson pairing just as well as the D'Onofrio side of things

...aquired a Netbook thru work...pretty slick. Now I can retire the old lapper to I-Man so he and Ryles can not have to fight over PC's now. Here is the plan..Ryles and I-man will have their own setups and I can use an old PC Aunt Lynn gave to us as a server of files/music that I can access from work. The only problem is that the 20mb pipe is going to be tested if/when Rylee is streaming Disney Radio, I-Man is playing Monster Jam/Hotwheels/Lego whatever DirectX games, Jessica is looking at Utube videos and I am trying to steam Trackpass at the same time... as well as play a game online with XBOX 360. Let's see how this all shakes out with the router. Curiously enough, i am now seeing a new wireless signal coming from my Internet leeching neighbor. And its wide open...I am thinking about testing his attentiveness by seeing if I can connect ALL our devices to his network. heh, heh... but that would take a larger effort than I am wiling to waste time on right now....

And does everyone really think that Pam is pregnant on The Office?

oh..and if I ever get to see a Lakers game live, I certainly hope I am there when they have what absolutely, positively must be the greatest basketball pep band I have EVER heard.... They must have the Johnny Carson era Tonight Show band playing at their games

200,000 and still going strong

Just went over 200 thousand miles on my Jetta. After a timing belt change last weekend by Uncle Wes, the Jetta is set to continue on (barring a total wreck) for another 100 thousand. I'll keep my 45 mpg in the city and 60mpg on the highway while belching (well, not really...my jetta doesnt do that unless I really get on the throttle) fumes into the air. Toyota, Honda, Obama and whoever can kiss my butt with their 40,000 dollar cars. At least until i decide to upgrade... and it WILL NOT be a Prius or some other similarly ugly supposed "Green" car.

by the way, this from my Facebook post...

"So I am to beleive that Pelosi, a seasoned politician and 3rd IN LINE TO BE PRESIDENT!!! gets up and stutters and stammers and looks at her note cards and tries to make us believe that the CIA are the ones lying here? No one with half a brain thinks she is not lying, including any rational Democrat"

So... after watching Harwood"s shenanigans with other people's wifi routers this past weekend, I went back and made sure our house wifi was at least password protected, and it was. But... since i have always left it open and assumed no one would try to sit in their neighboring house and leech our internet, I figured that it would never happen, right? Well... logged into router, saw 3 devices connected. Main desktop Mac address...check. Lapper Mac address... check. Hmmmmm... there is another Mac address. Ryles computer? not on. Secondary router for print server? not on. jessica lapper? not on. Xbox 360? not on. Nintendo DS's? not on. Hmmmmm.... lets ping this IP address... no response... hmmm... lets check the logs for this MAC Address... AOL!!!???!!!!, I havent logged into aol since like...oh.... 1992 or something.... Time to encrypt with password for "mr neighbor leeching my 20mb pipe" and now maybe Obama will bail him out for his Internet. Encrypted, powered off/on router, logged back in and no body else leeching my internet... now... if he wants to give me a stimulus check to help with my Charter Bill, maybe I will open it back up...

another weekend down

Race at Darlington went OK...the 29 was between 15 - 5th place the entire night... enough to keep my hopes up, but he never really contended seriously.

Today we have the Clemson baseball game makeup. showers early but I am hoping it dries up for this afternoon, at least. While we still need days of rain, I'd like to get this game in. The greenville Drive field is a replica of Fenway park and its actually a great venue...

after that is a typical dreary week of work and school for everyone until this weekend when I will be going to the All Star race in Charlotte and jessica is headin to the beach for her teacher Sorority stuff. No big deal this year for the All Star race... just me in attendance so I will drive up on Saturday morn, do the concert, races and return back to town in early morning... need to figure out something to do with twins in meanwhile....

looks like I have it planned out pretty good this summer with spacing as to events to look forward to... end of June will see trek to Florida... end of July will see trek to New York/New Jersey... not sure about Bristol this August... might have to go by myself this year.... then September will see the usual Fall stuff of soccer/football....

OK... off to Darlington I go today... Nationwide race tonight, with Sprint Cup Qualifying, Practice and Nationwide Qualifying during the day....

some days you win, some days you lose, some days it rains

Supposed to go to the baseball game in Greenville last night, but got rained out. gotta go on Monday, it seems...lets hope the Thunderstorms hold off for one afternoon then...

Well... this weekend saw another soccer match.The Harwoods came over to the match and we got to meet their new son, then went to lunch together. Following that, Jessica introduced Ryles to softball as far as catching. Jessica was a pretty good player back in the day so she was giving Ryles somestarter pointers in softball. Then I-man got to toss some baseball with her as well as me, before I tore my rotator cuff and went on the D/L retroactive to April 28th.... we then went over to Brandy and AJ's house for dinner. Pretty busy day overall...

"Talkin' bout yo mud flap
Six pack, beer crack
Over-taxed, flag-wavin', fun-lovin' crowd
They're heart is in the music
And they love to play it loud
There's no forms or applications
There's no red tape administrations
It's the American Honky-Tonk Bar Association"

As I mentioned before, I was working on getting this Baritone up to speed for I-Man and Ryles to putz around on... i got valves 1 and 2 oiled fine but simply could not unscrew valve 3 to oil it. I could not remember having this sorta issue with the tuba. A quick Email to Brown enlightened me to simply put oil in that little hole on the bottom. That worked like a charm, which is amusing cause I kept looking at that hole, but never put 16 and 16 together.... Now i gotta aquire a tuner and get going getting my chops back (like I ever had any)

Bolt has this song with John Travolta singin' on it. Kinda cool to here him give a solid shot at singing with Miley Cyrus. Of course, I am so up to speed on all the Disney flicks it is insane, as well as all the tween stuff that Ryles likes. At least I-Man is still all about The Clone Wars right now...

As I-Man's soccer season is slowly winding down with a few matches left, I am evaluating if this is something I wanna start pushing with him beyond the "Its just a game ...let's have fun... everybody wins, not keep score" phase. I think I wanna go into the Fall and see how he plays as a veteran at his U-8 level... I think he is not destined for Goalie now. I think my original prediction of defender/fullback is more on point

Today I had a person in a convenience store ask me where Dunder Mifflin ( I had my work shirt on) is located..."I never heard of that paper company before" she said... I told her it was located in a warehouse downtown. She seemed to actually believe me...

Time is moving quickly...

The past weekend saw Ryles have her dance and baton recital... It is somewhat strange to now see her performing on a stage I had the opportunity to perform on countless times... then to watch I-Man play the same piano his mother used to play in Jazz ensemble... weird... Tonight as I watch the Celtics, I am oiling the valves for a Baritone that we have aquired. I-Man was able to produce a solid tone right off the bat. More on this as it develops....

Hiatus over...

Ok... I have been researching some options as to whether or not I wanted to change hosts for my blog. I decided to stay put and keep diggin. I had thought I might wanna start posting vids or something, but have decided against.... So I'll resume a somewhat random, almost daily posting here...

"I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah"

As always, it seems that so much good for me revolves around music, as I was taken to so many places by all the songs at Ryles dance recital the other day. I always seem to lose my way a little when I forget about music and how it changes my mood... for the better.

Family stuff

Bunch of people from Jessica's father side O' the family got together today. The major occasion was Jessica's grandmothers 90th birthday celebration. A secondary reason seemed to be ato get the various brothers and familiam cousins together for a meet and greet.... The kids also did a couple of Easter Egg hunts... I took a photo of the group gathered. It was fine except for one person moved their head and covered one of the group, and their seemed to be a smudge on my lens, which blurred a very small part of the photo... It is always interesting with family get togethers becasue their are so many person, hidden and old agendas that seem to creep up, even for gatherings that are only 4 or 5 hours old. Its like the Frat. Politics are always in play and alliances are alwasy being struck. You have the core family...then the people who have married in...then...you have the kids, who immediately find their age buddies and strike up their own friendships. And then you have the old arguments and grudges from misunderstandings, slights, mistakes and hurt feelings of the past. Interesting, though... And plans are already in place to do this again next year. And I think I will be prepared to make this type of photo more "interesting" next year.... outside of the one person half blocked, which one person looks not like the others, which one of these things is not quite the same?.... just kidding...but amused.... notice the kid with the Easter Bunny ears?

over on facebook... amusing...

"Which Transformer are you?" with the result Ultra Magnus.

"You are one of the strongest and most noble Autobots that Optimus Prime has the privilege to command! Although you have the talent, courage, and power to become a great leader, you have devoted your life to being a soldier for the greater good. Insecure in your own judgement and leadership skills (even though you are the only one with that opinion), you are loyal to your commander to the end. In the battlefield, your fellow Autobots know that you can turn the tide in any fight and so do the Decepticons."

wow..a week just up and flew by... went to SED convention, Crached with Aunt Ellen... sat thru Frat elections and started another work week, caught a quick plane to London for a few hours, then voila, here we are a whole week later.

I have taken the time to ponder if it was just me feeling "sour" grapes or if other friends of mine thought the same way in regards to the Divine Prophet of Hope and Change who can do no wrong and certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt with any experience or track record for us to go on, according to those who say I should just "get over it" Well, today surfaces the video that Obama goes and bows before the Saudi King. Um... our supposed leader BOWS BEFORE ANOTHER LEADER OF A COUNTRY? Well...I have heard from TJ, Patrick, John and Mark who all piped up that they felt the same way. That it is simply getting ridiculous...so I know it isnt just me. I am not just going to sit and just say nothing. If others want to be naive and keep their head in the sand and Hope that Obama will Change, so be it. I am going to speak up. At least I will have spoken my mind and stood for something, even if I am proven wrong in the end. I am not going to stand in the shadows with my fingers crossed that the policies that have failed over and over in the past are suddenly going to magically work...this time. If they do... well...miracles do happen. And it would be a good thing.

I have often said that Brown and I are basically standing on the opposite edges of the same coin. He took a position and has backed up his position with reasoned thought and discussion. I can respect that and am willing to allow that at least he has researched why he believes what he believes. I have done the same thing as I dont want to go out on a limb and not be able to speak coherently on all these topics. (i guess Brown is my Obama... dude, when you going to run for Alderman or something?....)

At any rate..in short...Obama?...really, dude?... you are going to represent me and bow to the Saudi King? You dont see the Saudi king bowing to Obama, do you? Does Obama really want to show us as being that weak?

On deck... Aunt Ellen, Uncle Wes, Aunt Ashley and cousin Madison coming into town Friday for a birthday gig, reunion sorta thing on Saturday. people crashin on the floor and stuff at the house. Cable people supposed to coming on Saturday morn at 7am (yeah...right...) for the THIRD HD cable box... Direct TV telling me I got to cut down this huge tree by the creek in order for them to put a dish right by the road on a pole in our front yard, looking back over the house... RESET the Direct TV idea for the moment and more reseach is coming on that for the moment. I will sluff by on the 2 and a half HD channels soon to be bankrupt Charter is driveling to my flatscreen.

Braves start off good, then bullpen implodes in 3rd game....sigh...

headin' to the road again...

Whirlwind weekend coming up... headin' tomorrow to Cola for the Southeast District Convention. Will stay with Aunt Ellen and get a chance to visit with her. Saturday will see meetings in Cola for the Frat (I'm advising a committee) before getting back home last Saturday night, then back to work on Sunday with KB electing officers on Sunday night.

It"s been a trying year for the Kappa Beta chapter. Some internal issues have hung a dark cloud over the chapter for most of the year. I think that the cloud is slowly lifting and I am looking forward to pressing forward with the new brothers and a fresh, POSITIVE attitude toward service to bands.

Finally...baseball is back. My favorite sport and favorite team of my childhood (notice a theme here), the Braves, starts anew on Sunday. Let's cross the fingers and hope the pitching holds up this year and lets get to September in contention and see where the chips fall. The Mets, Phillies and Fightin' Fish will all be good so the Braves might improve again (as they did do last year) and still finish 4th.

amusing... wonder if MSNBC,NBC,ABC,CBS will mention this...

WASHINGTON (AP) - One of President Barack Obama's campaign pledges on taxes went up in puffs of smoke Wednesday.

The largest increase in tobacco taxes took effect despite Obama's promise not to raise taxes of any kind on families earning under $250,000 or individuals under $200,000. This is one tax that disproportionately affects the poor, who are more likely to smoke than the rich.

To be sure, Obama's tax promises in last year's campaign were most often made in the context of income taxes. Not always.

"I can make a firm pledge," he said in Dover, N.H., on Sept. 12. "Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes." He repeatedly vowed "you will not see any of your taxes increase one single dime."

Now in office, Obama, who stopped smoking but has admitted he slips now and then, signed a law raising the tobacco tax nearly 62 cents on a pack of cigarettes, to $1.01. Other tobacco products saw similarly steep increases.

Since no one could tell me where all the bailout/stimulus money was coming from, I found my answer... huh?

By the way... we give GM all this bailout money months ago because we couldn't let GM go to bankruptcy. now...It's OK to let them go to a "soft" bankruptcy once the Government has taken over. So we basically wasted that previous money?

And since we have fired a CEO, why havent the CEO's of banks gotten pink slips? or the heads of the Labor Unions? I'm guessing that the campaign money they donated put them into a TOO BIG TO FAIL status, huh?

Well..it was Tuesday...so...wait for it...wait for it....wait...here it comes..... ANOTHER OBAMA NOMINEE WHO HASNT PAID TAXES!!!!! wow... I wonder what will happen to me if I havent paid $7,000 in taxes. Even if I claim it was an "innocent mistake". Yet this is cool with Obama and the Dems, right? Yep...all that tough vetting. Hmmm....