My Daily-ish Ramblings

Long Week

2012-01-27T20:18:00.002-07:00

Ugh! I'm tired. This week has been long and tiring. It's over now though. At least the working for someone else part is. :)

Now, I'll be helping my princesses complete their science fair projects over the course of the weekend. They're due on Monday, I believe and not all the data has been collected and the write-ups have not yet been completed. After that, there are the pics to develop and arrange and the display board to put together.

Luckily, I'm going to help with the science portion of the projects and I'll get the Queen to help them with the display board portion on the projects.

Scientific method for all! :D

This post was brought to you by the letters A, B, C, and the number 26.

On Starters

2012-01-14T13:00:00.002-07:00

So... On my way to my friend's house last night, I stopped at a 7-11 to grab a couple of snacks. When I returned to the car, the starter died. I know it was the starter as we checked the fuses and relays. So I got permission to leave it there overnight and made plans to repair it the following morning and got a ride home from one of my friends.

This morning, I stopped by Auto-Zone and purchased a new starter on the way to the 7-11 to perform surgery on the car.

After a successful, 2-hour surgery, the patient fired up like a champ. I'm proud of my ability to be handy. :) I probably saved us a few hundred bucks on towing and mechanic labor. I'll tell you this one thing. It is NOT pleasant working on a car in front of a convenience store in the COLD.

At least it's all done now. Cars are such money pits. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters F, I, X, and the number 13.

Long Time...

2012-01-12T17:29:00.004-07:00

... no see. It's been quite a while since I've posted anything. I suppose I have grown complacent. That's too bad. I'll try to remedy that this year. I also need to apologize for the dearth of posts the last few months.

FYI: I got yet another sinus infection and I'm on meds for it. Becca has strep (yes, she's on meds too) and MJ is doing his best to drive us all insane. It is admittedly a short trip, but he's trying to get us there quickly.

Anyway, here's to wishing you all a Happy New Year! I hope it goes well for you all.

This post has been brought to you by the letters M, E, D, S, and the number 11.

Busy, Busy!

2011-08-02T20:47:00.002-06:00

I've been really busy, recently.

At work, I'm administering a new product line for my company, but it's so new that a number of processes are still in development. There is a TON of documentation and discussion to do in the development of those processes. Not only that, but I'm cross-training to help out the rest of my team on their workload. This training is a LOT of information to digest and process. Not to mention several applications to get familiar with while also doing my primary job. Needless to say, I've been really tired these last couple of weeks just trying to keep up. It's a good kind of tired, though, so I'm not complaining. :)

At home, we've been dealing with different people being sick at different times. This includes high fevers, racking coughs, extremely runny noses, refusal to eat, and the like. It seems at this point, the one who has it the worst is the Queen, but the Prince and the Purple Dragon have recovered enough to claim they're fine. Luckily, the Pink Princess and I have managed to avoid the critter that has plagued the house. Let's hope it stays that way, eh?

So, now you've been updated and my conscience is clear. :)

This post has been brought to you by the letters T, I, R, E, D, and the number 31.

Of Fun, Illness, and Lack of Sleep

2011-07-18T08:51:00.003-06:00

So I took a half day on Thursday and took my family to Lagoon last week. I'd say it was a success overall. I saw nearly everyone laughing hysterically at some point or other over the course of the afternoon and evening.

Suffice it to say I slept really well that night. :)

So, Friday morning, the prince spiked a fever around 102. It resisted being controlled with meds. The queen took him to the doctor that afternoon and it had spiked to 103 which prompted immediate application of meds by the doctor. He was prescribed antibiotics and has been on them since. Here's hoping he begins to respond to the meds quickly!

Last night, the prince and one of the princesses conspired to deprive me of sleep. Needless to say, I'm dragging this morning. :)

The last few days have been chock FULL of interesting and adrenaline.

This post was brought to you by the letters R, S, T, L, N, E, and the number 16.

Summer is a bad time for posting...

2011-07-10T12:36:00.004-06:00

Apparently, getting a new job is great and all, but it eats into my posting time. Especially when I get home and need to do things like yard work, gardening, meal prep, dishes, laundry, help the kids with whatever they're into, etc. Then after all that has been handled for the evening, I'm tired and my brain won't creatively put together the words to make it all work correctly.

Oh, what a first world problem to have, right! :) I'll see if I can sculpt out some time to post more regularly.

Anyway, I need to apologize to the 2 or so readers who actually follow my blog.

This post was brought to you by the letters P, O, S, T, and the number 8.

It's about time!

2011-05-31T18:55:00.003-06:00

I have FINALLY regained employment after more than 6 MONTHS without it.

I would suggest the rest of you out the avoid that because it really SUCKS!

I'm really happy with my new place for more than the obvious reasons though. The first and foremost reason is the absolute lack of OFFICE POLITICS! If ever there was something that a workplace could do without, it's office politics. It turns out that the last place I worked was rife with it and I'm pretty sure I was a victim of that crap. Oh well! I'm over it now that I have this GREAT place to work! :)

Now that I'm gainfully employed again, (today was payday, btw) I think I'll feel more inclined to keep up with this here blog thing. Does that sound good to you? :)

This post was brought to you by the letters J, O, B, and the number 87.

13 years...

2011-03-21T13:41:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was our 13 year anniversary. The Queen and I have been married for 13 memorable, eventful years. We have produced 3 offspring and moved across the country. The plan is to continue on and make a ton more memories!

We met about 18 years ago which is getting pretty close to half my life. That's scary! I'm getting OLD! :)

Here's to us! Happy anniversary, Queen! :)

This post was brought to you by the letters M, A, R, R, I, E, D, and the number 13.

Getting Some Interest

2011-01-31T16:26:00.003-07:00

I've gotten calls recently, so it appears that things are possibly getting a little better. No interviews yet, but we're working on it.

Wish me luck!

This post was brought to you by the letters J, O, B, and the number 13.

Still a statistic.

2011-01-17T20:44:00.003-07:00

Well, It's been 2 months since I was so unceremoniously laid off. Can I just tell you that it was at the beginning of the worst time of the year for finding a new job? Yeah, well, I've been unemployed for 2 months and I'm not happy about it at all.

I can tell you all this one thing, however, office politics absolutely sucks!!! Yes, folks, it was office politics in the corporate HQ that cost me my job. My salary was cutting into someone's bonus I suppose. Oh well. I was becoming disenchanted with that place anyway. The feeling there was moving in a toxic direction.

Anyway, I'm in Salt Lake City and looking for a Sr. Systems Administrator position in a Windows environment. I think I'll just go ahead and spend some of the money to take the exams so I can have the piece of paper that says I know what I'm doing. That piece of paper also allows me to add a bunch of letters after my name. :) I think I'll go for the MCITP Cert and build it up so that I can build up some interest.

I'd just like to extend my appreciation to you all (what 3 of you now?) for continuing to read my silliness. Thanks for the messages of support and well wishes.

This post was brought to you by the letters J, O, B, and the number 7.

A Statistic...

2010-11-17T19:19:00.003-07:00

I am now a statistic. I was laid off from work yesterday. I am now among the millions of unemployed folks in the country.

THIS SUCKS!!!

Do any of you readers (all three of you) know of a Windows shop in or around Salt Lake City that needs a Sr. Systems/Network Administrator? I can also be a Database Administrator, though it's not my preference.

I think my lay off was politically motivated, because they used me as a scape goat for someone else's oversight. They've made some other personnel moves that have made me wonder a bit recently too. That's how it shakes out I suppose.

My resume is up to date, so now I'm searching again. Wish me luck in finding something really soon? Please?

This post was brought to you by the letters N, E, E, D, A, J, O, B, and the number 73.

I've Been Served...

2010-10-21T13:01:00.002-06:00

Head on over to my son's blog and see just what I've been served. It's a crying shame. *sigh*

This post was brought to you by the letters R, S, T, L, N, E, and the number 46.

Live Fire? Really?

2010-09-20T12:40:00.004-06:00

Who in their right mind gives the go ahead for a live fire exercise near a populated area during red flag conditions? Red flag basically says, the chance of uncontrolled fire is extremely high, so don't start one. Yes, I'm paraphrasing, but there it is. Live fire exercises have a good chance of starting a fire by their very nature.

I think someone in the military will get a STERN talking to about how they OK'd an exercise that burned approx 10000 acres and threatened hundreds of homes in a pretty heavily populated area. Luckily, the weather turned and out excellent fire fighters were able to turn back the brunt of the fire. Only 4 homes were consumed by fire, so there's a little lighter news.

My brother in law was evacuated as a result of this out of control fire and while I'm VERY grateful his house appears undamaged, I'm somewhat annoyed as to why/how the go ahead could have been given in this situation.

This post was brought to you by the letters F, I, R, E, and the number 15.

Updates

2010-07-29T11:13:00.002-06:00

Since I suck at posting meaningful entries, I'll update a few events from previous postings.

After 2 months, Facebook has finally gotten back to my wife to inform her that her case is under review. WTF! Have those butt-munches not ever heard of the concept of "Customer Service"? Really? 2 months to say it's under review? They also flat lied to her saying that they had issued multiple warnings to her when in fact they hadn't issued a single one. So I guess we wait an additional 2 months for them to realize they didn't send any warnings and that she isn't a computer program.

Moving on...

The hole in the yard has been dealt with and the entire yard has greened up nicely. I need to to ratchet down the sprinklers a bit more and mow the thing, but it's otherwise doing great. Too bad the previous owner was such a cheapskate and used a sub-par stop & waste valve. Can you believe the guy is a general contractor running a home remodeling business? How can you have a business like that and do such shoddy work on your own home? How can you justify supporting your deck on piles of construction trash? That's yet another item I need to correct.

Next item...

We went on vacation this year to our local city. That's right, we had a stay-cation. While it wasn't as glamorous as flying to Florida or driving to Cali to have fun, it was just a full of stuff to do and just as exhausting as the other, more expensive route we could have taken. It took me the better part of a week at work to recover from the activities. I'm not saying I was slacking or anything like that so don't Dooce me, but I am saying that work was less hectic and stressful. Next time, it's a few days sitting on the beach drinking cool drinks, reading books, building sand castles. That sounds good, right? :)

This post was brought to you by the letters F, B, S, U, X, and the number 46.

There's a Hole in the Yard, Dear Liza...

2010-07-06T11:45:00.003-06:00

I spent part of my Independence Day weekend digging a 5+ foot deep hole in my front yard. The stop and waste valve has gone bad and is leaking water into the ground. That's wasteful and causing an issue with the yard. Nonetheless, I dug a hole for the plumber to get at the bad part.

He'll get to put the new part in today after I get home from work and then, I'll get to put the dirt back into the hole. It's party time at my house tonight!!! :)

Couldn't I just bury my money in a shallow hole in the yard and bypass all the middlemen? It's going to cost on the order of $350 when it's all said and done.

Now, my back and left shoulder are killing me and Iam acutely feeling the effects of age. Getting old sucks!

Once again, this is proof that owning a home is a giant money suck.

This post was brought to you by the letters P, A, I, N, and the number 23.

Sanity Check, Please

2010-06-02T12:16:00.003-06:00

I'm beginning to feel a bit of animosity toward FaceBook. That's right, I said it. FACEBOOK!

WHY? They disabled my wife's account for no reason. They claimed there was a policy violation, but didn't inform her of which policy she supposedly violated. My wife is notoriously the biggest rule-follower on the planet, so I fail to see what she could have done to deserve that. Perhaps they should perform a sanity check before disabling an account. You know, actually verify that there has been a violation.

Perhaps I should start spreading bad press all over the Interwebs. :) While that would be fun, I'm not sure just how effective it would be to get the 4 readers I have to be angry at FB.

At least I got to blow off a little steam.

This post was brought to you by the letters F, B, =, E, V, I, L, and the number 108.

House Full of Sick...

2010-05-19T20:22:00.003-06:00

Our realm has been invaded by the sickness! Since Saturday, each of our short folk have dealt with it in some way or another.

The oldest Princess spiked a fever Saturday afternoon and it reached 104 degrees on Sunday. She's since recovered and seems back to her old self. She even went to school today. :)

The Prince attempted to recreate the movie "The Exorcist" on Sunday night. He was quite prolific in his ability to spew forth a ton of liquid and chunks of food. Since then, there has been horrific amounts of foul liquid coming out of the other end. He's never seen so many baths in such a short time span. It hasn't stopped yet, but he seems more like his old self.

The youngest Princess vomited at school today, which prompted an immediate return home. She has vomited twice since being home, the latest 30 minutes ago. I'm hoping her stomach settles really soon so we can administer some meds to keep her fever under control.

I suppose when it rains, it pours. So we'll just have to suffer through it. The Queen and I have been cleaning up all sorts of nasty messes. We'll do what we have to, I suppose.

This post has been brought to you by the letters R, A, L, F, and the number 94.

1 Month

2010-05-07T13:06:00.002-06:00

It's bee 1 month since I last posted and it's been quite the month.

My attempt to remove my left thumb from my body failed and it appears to be healing nicely. The scar isn't very noticeable and the numb spot isn't really large. :)

The Prince's birthday party went off without very much of a hitch and was a big success. The Queen and I worked our arses off to make that happen. We estimate we had over 70 people come out and enjoy our hospitality. :)

The Queen developed pneumonia and was nearly hospitalized. I stayed home from work for most of 2 days to play nursemaid. She got better and I went to work the following Monday. She's doing fine now. :)

My sinus infection assaulted me while I was nursing the Queen back to health. I got an RX and fought it off like a champ. :)

The Prince developed an ear infection which had to be dealt with. He did so admirably. He has also learned to crawl and is now routinely doing laps in the rec room of the house. :)

The Queen and the Prince took a trip to Texas to meet the Queen's birth-mom. She came back refreshed and happy, so I can only mark that down as a success. :)

I has another birthday. I'm catching up to the age of dirt. The day overall did NOT suck, so I'll call it a success. :)

I'm sorry I didn't keep you all (all 3 of you?) informed better, but posting just didn't seem as important for some reason. :) I'll try to do better, but I can't promise anything. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters R, W, B, O, S, and the number 82.

A Few Things

2010-04-07T12:33:00.004-06:00

I have a few things to say.

1st: My son is a year old today! YAY! Pretty soon, he'll be getting into trouble like I did when I was a wee little one. :)

2nd: I hate UTAH! I have another sinus infection and it's because of all the weather turmoil and unnaturally dry air here in Utah. I'll live through it, of course, but I really hate this particular feeling. :(

3rd: I apologize again for taking so long to post again. Too much going on and not enough well time. I'll try to do better, but we all know my track record here. :)

4th: The thumb is healing nicely. Now it just looks like there is an old scar except it isn't old and it's still a bit on the tender side. In another month or so, I'm sure it'll be fine.

5th: I have to remember to change my password on my laptop. Apparently, my son hacked it and posted to his own blog as me. I think we'll have to have some words. It can wait until tomorrow, so I don't ruin his birthday. :) Silly little boy.

This post was brought to you by the letters O, N, E, and the number 52.

Threadless

2010-03-25T22:05:00.005-06:00

My thumb is now thread-less. I had a friend remove my stitches today. While it didn't go completely smoothly (1 really tight stitch and 2 others that didn't get cut on the first try - I could tell when he pulled on them - OUCH!), I'm glad to be rid of them.

Anyway, after I dried up all my tears (no tears really) and the stitches were removed, I have an injury that needs to finish healing and a mysteriously numb spot near the nail on my left thumb. I suspect a nerve was clipped. No worries, there will not be a malpractice lawsuit as the moron who clipped the nerve, was me. :)

Anyway, the stitches are out and that makes me happy. :)

A great big "Thank You" goes out to the friend who removed the zipper. :) Thanks a bunch! I know you'll probably never read this, but there it is anyway.

This post was brought to you by the letters Y, A, R, N, and the number 39.

What's 5 Stitches Between Friends?

2010-03-19T16:25:00.002-06:00

In the time since my last post, I managed to stab myself to the bone with my pocketknife (5 stitches worth) , have yet another craptastic week at work, and piss off my M-I-L. How many more ways can I ruin this week?

My 12th wedding anniversary is tomorrow and I'm afraid I'm going to manage to ruin that too. You should all just forget you even know I exist for the next week and hope for the best - or that you won't get hit by any of the shrapnel.

I need a stiff drink and a long nap. IN! THAT! ORDER!

This post was brought to you by the letters T, E, T, A, N, U, S, and the number 33.

Getting Close...

2010-03-10T16:24:00.004-07:00

My son is rapidly approaching his 1 year birthday and I'm looking forward to it. I'm not looking forward to the Queen's stressing out about it, but I'll live I suppose. He's doing really well, though there are a couple of milestones he hasn't met yet that I had hoped he would be beyond by now. He is by no means behind, however, so don't think that's my issue. I just wanna see him crawling. :) He is SOOOOOOO close, but just hasn't made that last couple of connections necessary to take off. :)

Of course, I say this now and once he starts going, I'll wish that he was stationary again. I'll get over it! In the mean time, he's 11 months and 3 days and absolutely adorable.

Please pardon me while I play the part of "Proud Papa" for the audience.

This post was brought to you by the letters M, J, H, and the number 24.

Frakking State!

2010-02-25T13:15:00.002-07:00

Have I told you kind people lately, that I hate the state of Utah? No, then let me say it again. I HATE THIS FRAKKING STATE!

Between the frakked up weather, the overwhelming number of idiot drivers, absolute lack of humidity, and the utter absence of the color green, I am convinced that God saw this place and decided "Ick!"

/end rant

Ok. All done. You may carry on with your business. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters J, A, I, R, and the number 11.

Rough Couple of Weeks

2010-02-22T12:15:00.004-07:00

It's been 2 weeks since I posted last and for that, I apologize. It seems I'm doing an awful lot of that lately.

Anyway...

After living through the hype and crap associated with that ghastly holiday last Sunday, we've come to understand that our son has a double ear infection and the rash he had for about 2 weeks was probably scarlet fever. To say that I'm not pleased with the various medical professionals who took a look at him, would be an epic understatement! WTF!!!

How does a trained medical professional miss these things? WTF, indeed!!!

He's on meds and seems to be a much happier little man now. We just need to get him to regain the weight he lost as a result of not feeling well and pack on some more to boot since he is a little on the small side. :)

I'll try to post a couple more times this week to make it up to my 4 followers and maybe 2 or 3 other readers.

This post was brought to you by the letters A, C, K, and the number 8.

Superbowl!

2010-02-08T10:26:00.003-07:00

Yesterday, I watched what I think was the most entertaining SuperBowl I've watched ever. I'm happy for New Orleans as that city really needed something to celebrate given what's happened to it over the course of the last fist full of years.

Also, yesterday marked 10 months since my son joined our family. He's putting on weight like a champ and he is now armed with 4 little teeth. The drooling little fellow has quite a playful personality, when he isn't hungry or tired, and he's been playing repeat-after-me games with anyone who would play with him.

He certainly brings smiles to my face whenever I think about him and his games. :) I've been in a really odd head space recently, so please forgive the long absence from posting. It is related to the Queen's new blog and one of her disclosures. As a result, I think any entry from me would have been skewed heavily. Not only that, but some of the things I may have posted would probably have been somewhat harsh when the problem is that I just needed to digest some of what's been going on. I felt it best if I did my digesting before posting.

Anyway, I hope my friends from the east coast are able to dig out before round 2 hits. I'm sure it's beautiful, even if it is a mess. Send pictures! :)

I'll probably get started on the bathroom downstairs soon. Perhaps, I'll swipe the Queen's lappy for a bit and get the pictures of the basement remodel so I can post them. Sound like a plan? :)

This post was brought to you by the letters N, O, S, and the number 92.

Weekend? PLEASE?

2010-01-15T13:01:00.004-07:00

This week has been filled with what can only be described as an emotional roller coaster. First, I have to admit that I've been feeling real sorrow for my fellow human beings in Haiti. My heart goes out to them.

The Dallas Cowboys have won a playoff game and won in December all within a few weeks each other. I have to be happy about that, right? :) I've gone to one physical therapy treatment for my neck and I have to admit that it feels a bit better. I'm going back for the next treatment tonight and then I get to go hang out with some friends and be geeky. :)

We've decided to finally try D&D 4th edition after it's been out for nearly 2 years. I'm looking forward to it. If it's a spectacular failure, it will still be an escape for me.

I need an escape after this week of work. Wow! I can't tell you any specifics because this is "teh Internets" (and it's always possible that someone from there could read this and then I'd be Dooced), but suffice it to say that it has NOT been a pleasant week. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad to be gainfully employed, but this week has been difficult. I can only hope that next week is more pleasant for all parties involved.

This post was brought to you by the letters M, J, H, and the number 9.

WOW!

2010-01-10T18:06:00.002-07:00

I'm happy my Cowboys were able to end 2 really bad streaks in the last few weeks and I just watched one of the best offense-vs-offense games I've ever seen. 96 combined points in the Packers vs Cardinals game. That was an offensive war if ever there was one. :)

You all have my apologies that I haven't posted more in the last 3 weeks but there was the holidays and the simple fact that it's not my favorite time of the year. As a result, I was pretty sure that any of my posts would be decidedly negative, so result=hiatus! :)

Anyway, the new year has begun and this is my first post of it. Enjoy!

GO COWBOYS!!! :)

This post was brought to you by the letters N, F, C, and the number 6.

Cowboys Remain Alive!

2009-12-19T21:58:00.003-07:00

The Dallas Cowboys defeated the Saints tonight to remain in play for the division win and the playoffs!

CONGRATS! :)

OK. You can go back to your lives now. :)

Again, 'grats to the Dallas Cowboys!

This post was brought to you by the letters W, I, N, and the number 11.

Strange Glowing Critters...

2009-12-15T20:21:00.002-07:00

We have suddenly acquired a family of 4 strangely glowing critters on our lawn. They appear to resemble reindeer and they each have a strange umbilical cord that attaches them to our electrical outlet. Oddly enough, they glow once attached to the above electrical outlet!

I suppose I'll claim they're aliens and that we've been invaded. Head for the hills folks, the aliens have arrived!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

This post was brought to you by the letters L, I, G, H, T, S, and the number 4.

Lights!

2009-12-05T22:22:00.003-07:00

I put up Christmas lights today. Those of you who live here in Salt Lake city know that it was an unpleasant day to hang Christmas lights, but I'm pretty much done with the outside lights. In fact I can't do any more until I either borrow or buy an extension ladder.

Hopefully I can finish it off this week without too much trouble.

This post was brought to you by the letters S, N, O, W, and the number 3.

Ooops! I Broke It!

2009-12-02T16:09:00.003-07:00

I killed the hand mixer Monday night. The Pink Princess and I were making Zucchini Bread and after adding the dry to the wet, (the batter gets really thick at this point) the mixer slowed to a near stop and then there was a ZZZZZZ-POP and a puff of smoke. The mixer had expired after 11.5 years with our family. It had finally given up its electric ghost in an acrid cloud of smoke.

LOVELY!!!

At this point I was forced to complete the mixing by hand on batter that was the approximate consistency of concrete. After a few moments, it was time to add the shredded zucchini and that addition of liquid was enough to loosen up the batter a bit so that it could be poured into the bread pans.

The bread turned out nicely! :) I'm sure we'll kill another loaf tonight. :) I was told by the recipients of the mini loaves at work that it was excellent, but I think I could have done better.

In the aftermath of this, we've finally purchased the KitchenAid stand mixer we were instructed to purchase with some money from our wedding 11.5 years ago. Yeah, it's a little late, but we got around to it. The new mixer is scheduled for delivery on 12.9.2009.

I think I'll be making another double batch of Zucchini Bread that night to break it in... We'll see if the KitchenAid can handle the concrete. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters Y, U, M, and the number 5.

Exhaustion

2009-11-19T12:32:00.002-07:00

I am really dragging these days. The carpet was installed yesterday and we've begun bringing back furniture.

I still need to install the molding downstairs and complete the door trim (3 pieces remain). The new door hardware needs to be installed downstairs and I need to cut a half inch from the bottom of a door. I had been hoping to avoid cutting the door, but it is inevitable. I also need to paint a window sill I completely forgot about when I was painting trim in the rec room (this needs 2 coats at least).

Once all the above is complete, I can begin assembly on the new furniture. There are at least 4 pieces that need complete assembly. Then I can move some of the heavier items of the existing furniture into place.

The incidentals that remain include installing electrical plates and a bunch of touch-ups as well as temporary installation of a handrail to the basement. I have the materials to create a new one, but I'm not going to have time to build it and stain it before the party tomorrow night.

I think I'll leave the incidentals other than touch-ups to last, possibly tomorrow since it really won't take very long to perform those tasks.

This post was brought to you by the letters T, I, R, E, D, and the number 30 (hours to go).

Paint Fumes!

2009-11-13T15:56:00.002-07:00

Last night I painted the ceilings of the Basement buildout and the rec room. This morning, the Queen claims to be a bit high on paint fumes and the Princess has claimed to HATE the smell of paint. The ladies are a little demanding! :)

How am I supposed to paint the space before the carpet is installed if I don't apply paint to the ceiling and walls of the space?! I mean SHEESH! :)

Anyway, I finished up around midnight and I'm dragging at work a bit today as a result. Tomorrow, the marathon really starts. I have to paint the walls of the new bedroom 2 colors (light over dark), the common area and stairs, and the rec room 2 colors (accent wall). All of it needs 2 coats. I also need to install the door hardware and start painting the trim and chair rail that we'll need to get. On Sunday, I get to install chair rail and start installing the trim. (I'm planning on watching my Cowboys win another game and the Nascar race as well - should be some really good crashes). Then Monday and Tuesday nights, I have to try to finish up because the carpet gets installed on Wednesday. Wednesday and Thursday, I have to assemble some furniture and put it into place. Sounds fun, eh? :)

Wish me luck at getting it all done!

This post was grought to you by the letters H, O, M, E, and the number 5.

Progress.

2009-11-12T12:04:00.003-07:00

Hey, in case you've been wondering, I've made progress on my basement. I know, I know. You're probably thinking "Wasn't this thing supposed to be finished in the spring?" And you would be right, but things have taken longer than we expected and I've been ~~slacking~~ trying to work on it when the family wouldn't be disturbed by my activities. :)

At any rate, the mudding and taping has been completed, the doors have been installed, and I have a couple of areas to do a little light sanding - about 10 minutes worth. This means I'll be painting the ceilings of the basement area and the rec room tonight. We have carpet scheduled for installation on Wednesday of next week, so ALL the painting and trim work has to be completed by then. I'm not sure the trim will be completed, but I'll be doing a lot of painting over the weekend to try and meet that deadline.

I'm sure the painting will be completed Sunday some time, but the trim may take a little longer. We'll see! :)

Wish me luck!

This post was brought to you by the letters T, I, R, E, D, and the number 12.

Faith Restored... Sort of...

2009-11-04T16:15:00.002-07:00

Yesterday, I came to the realization that HUMANS SUCK!!! Then one of those humans started restoring my faith in humans a bit.

If the frozen lunch in the freezer has a name on it and the name IS NOT YOURS, you should leave it alone. Anyway, one of my fellow humans stole my lunch yesterday and another fellow human bought me lunch after hearing of the incident. I was on my way to get lunch myself when he told me he'd drive. I just thought he wanted to go to lunch at the same time. Who knew, eh? :)

P.S. - You all have my apologies for taking so long to post since my last one. Oops!

This post was brought to you by the letters U, D, W, N, C, and the number 6.

Really? You make the call.

2009-10-05T15:44:00.009-06:00

I've been told recently that I look like a cross between the rappers Common and Ice Cube. I was informed that I should take it as a compliment because "Common is FINE!"

(yes, you could hear the capitals and the exclamation point when she said it)

Why don't you make the call. I'll upload a pic I just took of myself (from a 1.3 megapixel webcam that apparently has trouble focusing on me), then one I found on the Internet of Common, and finally one of Ice Cube I found on the Internet.

So... What do you think? I just thought it was amusing that the young ladies in the concession stand at the corn maze we visited felt the need to inform me of this and I think it's a bit flattering to get the attention. :)

Anyway. This post was brought to you by the letters F, I, N, E, and the number 3.

How About Some Consistency? PLEASE!!!

2009-10-04T17:51:00.002-06:00

So, the Cowboys blow the game again, because our quarterback, Tony Romo, can't play consistently. Today, he had trouble hitting the broad side of a barn. He had an awesome chance to tie the game up, after blowing a 10-0 lead I might add, with a 1st and goal from the 8 yard line.

HE BLEW IT!

Time to find a quarterback who is more consistent.

That's all I have to say about that.

This post was brought to you by the letters R, O, M, O, and the number 9.

The House of Sick

2009-09-21T10:35:00.002-06:00

Our home has been ill all month. The latest is that the Prince has an ear infection (go figure) and I have some sort of sinus thing. The Queen is fighting off the effects of possibly a sinus thing and now a bug bite. It has her face all swollen such that it looks like I've abused her.

I swear I haven't laid a hand on her, but it's somewhat odd to see! It's getting better. So far, the Princesses haven't gotten anything (knocks on some handy fake wood) and we hope it stays that way.

In my case, a lot of my distress is because of the changing weather out here in the Salt Lake Valley. Things change in a hurry out here and it feels like my head is inflated to 100psi. Aside from the headaches and sinus pain, I'm doing fine, though.

Anyway, I thought you would like to know what's going on with us since I haven't posted in some time.

P. S. - I'm done with the sheet rock in the basement and will now move on to correct a seeping leak in the foundation near the window (lot's of digging in my future) and then on to mudding and taping. :) Please tell me you can feel the sarcasm dripping off that sentence.

This post was brought to you by the letters I, L, L, and the number 3.

Matthew is 5 months old!

2009-09-07T10:29:00.003-06:00

My son is 5 months old today! Go check out his blog to see what "he" had to say about it. :)

Anyway, today we observe Labor Day and we're planning to go on a hike and then spend the day in Millcreek Canyon having hot dogs cooked over a fire with family.

I can't say much bad about food that's been cooked over fire especially since I like fire quite a bit. :)

Anyway, I'll do my best to enjoy myself.

Perhaps I'll even post pictures or something. (yeah right!)

Anyway, this post was brought to you by the letters H, I, K, E, and the number 78.

Back to Work...

2009-08-30T21:31:00.003-06:00

I got back to work on the basement over the weekend. I installed the bathroom vent and flex ducting to the outside and reinstalled the fiberglass insulation. I then installed the green board on the ceiling and tray of the bathroom space. I also installed the dry fixtures so there is some light.

Let me tell you, if you install drywall on a ceiling by yourself, be ready to experience a backache. The pain has since faded a bit, but I'm expecting it to revisit me tomorrow morning. I'm NOT looking forward to that.

Tomorrow, I'll work on the walls. Once that is done, I'll move on to the cement board in the shower area. I plan to be done with the green board this week so I can mud and tape everything I've done so far.

This post was brought to you by the letters A, C, H, E, and the number 9.

Ear Infection... Really?

2009-08-26T12:39:00.003-06:00

I have an ear infection. As a result of this, my hearing is all jacked up. I'm not having any trouble with equilibrium, but I can't hear worth a 'hill of beans' (using a phrase my great grandmother used to use).

So, I have to use ear drops 4 times daily and it's no fun for my hearing to be so jacked up and constantly changing. It's supposed to be pretty much back to normal by around Friday, so I'm looking forward to it. :)

In the meantime, I'll continue to use the drops and take pain meds. This is the first time I remember ever having an ear infection, so it's a new experience for me.

This post was brought to you by the letters O, U, C, H, and the number 2.

Update, and Getting Back Into the Groove.

2009-08-17T12:54:00.002-06:00

WARNING - Long Post follows!!! :)

OK. So I haven't been the best at updating this thing, but I'm working on it again.

So last week, we went camping. Thursday, after work, we drove up to the camp site for my wife's church camping trip. We took 2 cars since I needed to leave and could not stay the night. Just after arriving, it started raining, so I quickly set up the tents in the rain, pretty much alone. It wasn't the most fun I've ever had, but I did it and then dried up the water from the interior of the tent.

I left that night after dinner since I had to work on Friday. The Queen, the 2 princesses, and our new little prince all stayed at the campgrounds.

The next day, they had a pretty good time by all accounts of things until rather late in the day when the rain showers came through. After the second of these showers, the oldest princess reported to the Queen that the interior of the tens and all sleeping bags were soaking wet which prompted a call to me. By this time, I had finished work and was trying to enjoy a little friendly geeking time with a few friends before heading up to the camp grounds. Anyway, The call informed me that the interior of the tent was flooded and the sleeping bags were wet, etc. I wasn't sure if there was anything I could do at that point, but attempt to be a good hubby. (I'm not so sure how well I did on that little quiz, by the way.) The Queen tried to dry out a camp chair for inside the tent and then the 3rd rain shower came and it was all over. I got a call indicating the Queen and the royal offspring were leaving and that I could go get the tent and the rest of our stuff whenever I wanted. Needless to say, I didn't go to the campground when I was done geeking - I went home instead where I found an annoyed royal spouse. (It would seem, I have a superpower. I can make it rain on my family and make them miserable. I have no control over this power, though.)

The following morning, I woke the princesses and we went to retrieve our belongings from the campground. It began to hail and rain while we were packing up and we all got thoroughly soaked. The temps were in the lower 40s, by the way. Eventually we got everything back home where things were pretty dry and warm and after hot showers, we felt human again.

We then proceeded to go to 2 other activities that took up the remainder of our Saturday. Unfortunately, the Queen became very ill with a stomach bug shortly after we began the second activity and we returned home where she retreated to the bedroom with connected bathroom for the remainder of the evening/night. Apparently, one of the other families brought the bug to the campground and the Queen caught it. Luckily, it was a rather short-lived bug and she was well on the mend by around midnight. The next morning, she indicated she felt fine if a little tired from her ordeal. I have set up the tents in the back yard, hosed the muck off them, and opened the screens so the hot sun and breeze would dry them out. I'll take them down once I get home today.

I suggest you all poke at the Queen to get her to post pics of the vacation and tell her side of our camping adventure. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters R, A, I, N, and the number 3.

1st Day Back

2009-08-10T21:07:00.002-06:00

Today was the 1st day back from vacation and I have to say, it was the most relaxing day in the last week. :)

There was less than 30 minutes of driving total, and there weren't any hills to traverse. I'd say that was a pretty relaxing day, how about you? :)

I'm sure the Queen will have a boatload of pictures to post at some point, but for now just know that I missed each and every 3 of you who read this on a regular basis. :)

Thank you for your patronage. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters D, O, N, E, and the number 11.

Pioneer Day

2009-07-25T22:29:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was Pioneer Day here in Utah. The state is celebrating the anniversary of the pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake valley. As a result, all state offices were closed, and there was a big parade. I took the day off and spent it with my family and in the process, helped a good friend who had some trouble with missed flights and needing a helping hand in a time of trouble.

It was all together an enjoyable day. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters B, O, O, M, and the number 45.

How Much More Can I Slack!

2009-07-17T16:23:00.002-06:00

Boy! I've really slacked on my postings. There is no excuse for it, so I will offer up none.

My son is more that 3 months old and gaining weight. he regularly smiles and Mommy and me and occasionally adds in a coo. :)

I've actually started working again in the basement of the house. As you'll recall, I basically took 3 months off, but I've gotten back into it. If I do something on it each day, I feel like I'm making progress and I'm a lot more motivated to do more. Perhaps, I'll post some pictures or something - yeah right, re-read the title, please.

I'm trying not to be so grouchy in my posts, as you'll see by the fact that it's been so long since I posted ANYTHING on my flame blog.

I'm also attempting to reduce the size of the bellybag (pronounced FAT) attached to the front of my frame.

We're going on vacation soon and I'm getting pumped up to see some old friends and have a chance to rest and relax a bit.

That's what's going on. I'll try to be better in the future.

This post has been brought to you by the letters R, S, T, L, N, E, and the number 26.

Smile!!!

2009-06-14T15:12:00.002-06:00

I think I got my first smile from my son yesterday. I'm happy now. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters S, M, I, L, E, and the number 119.

My son and Religion...

2009-06-07T11:24:00.003-06:00

My son is 2 months old today and is being blessed in the LDS religion in about 1.5 hours. I'm still not sure how I feel about that particular religion since I'm not a member of it. (FYI: I have absolutely NO plans to join it as there are some aspects of it that I cannot get behind or agree with. As a result of my feelings, I will not join so don't ask me to do so.) The ceremony itself seems innocuous since the participants are simply asking a greater power to bless him.

At any rate, my son is healthy and is two months old today. I'm happy about that. :)

I need to go shower and the like so I can go hold my son during the ceremony not that I really want to go to that church, or any church for that matter (I have an issue with organized religion if you haven't heard), but I want to be there for my son though he won't really know about it unless he sees pictures later.

Anyway, the shower calls.

This post was brought to you by the letters M, J, H, and the number 112.

My Take on Jon and Kate...

2009-05-30T11:52:00.002-06:00

Did he cheat? Did she cheat? I don't know for sure. The only people who know for sure are Jon and Kate.

Does it really matter in the grand scheme of things? No. We have a crazy man on the other side of the planet testing nuclear bombs and test firing missiles. He's possibly escalating to war, but we're focused on Jon and Kate.

Our country's in the middle of a large financial issue. Unemployment is climbing, our auto industry is in a shambles, but we're focused on a couple who are gravy-training their kids and having some marital problems. It looks like they are making about $50k per episode and I think that means 40 episodes a year which means about $2 million a year. I'd love to make that, but I'm not sure I'd like to have all the other that comes with it.

We can understand why the Octo-mom wants a TLC show of her own, can't we?

I think we're concentrating on the wrong things. Does it really matter if they cheated on each other? No. That's between the two of them. Would I blame them for cheating? From what I've seen of the show, Kate is horrible to Jon, so I think I could understand why he would want to step out. I don't see why she would step out on him at all. I just can't see it. He takes all the crap she dishes out and seems to still care about her.

Of course, this is all based on what I see of the show occasionally, so the real life events that aren't on camera, I don't know about.

I think we should just stop worrying about what they are or aren't doing with other folks and try to better our own lives.

This post was brought to you by the letters R, U, F, Q, and the number 8.

Worst Week Ever!

2009-05-13T15:17:00.003-06:00

I'm sorry it's been so long since my last update. I planned to post something last week but it was just such a bad week that I couldn't.

So, last Monday was my birthday. Did I tell you all that I generally hate to celebrate my birthday? Well I do because I typically don't have very pleasant birthdays. I attempt to keep the date secret because of this very reason. In this case, however, it was just the start of one of my worst weeks ever and most definitely the worst birthday ever.

Monday morning started out by me getting a royal ass-chewing by my boss for an error I made the prior morning during a service maintenance window. Later, a new task was sprung on me with no notice and the Project Manager's instructions were less than clear. I got confused, though I didn't know it at the time and spent the entire night up babysitting the servers. Not good.

Tuesday was just bad because my confusion from the previous night resulted in a business disruption and that earned me another ass-chewing and a write-up.

Wednesday through Friday, I was ridden hard and nit-picked as a result of the events of Sunday and Monday.

On top of all that, I was on call all week so I couldn't even get good sleep any night. The company executed some lay-offs on Friday. I made it through the lay-offs, but I wasn't so certain for part of the week. Once I was written up, though, I figured I was OK since I didn't think they would go through the trouble to write me up if they planned to lay me off a few days later.

I'm not saying I didn't deserve the ass-chewings. On the contrary, I screwed up and certainly should have been chewed upon. What I'm saying, is that I do not seem to have very good luck with my birthdays. As a general rule, I'd like to ignore them and treat them as a normal day. I'm no longer convinced that's a good idea.

We'll see about next year, eh?

On the bright side, the Queen got me a Bag of Holding for my birthday and I'm pleased about it. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters W, T, F, and 4.

Not Enough Time...

2009-04-27T10:33:00.004-06:00

... in a week to complete all the things I need to do, which is why I haven't updated you all in an age. Basically, our little Prince threw a monkey wrench into our plans of getting things done in time for his arrival by joining us 4 weeks prior to his due date and 2-3 weeks prior to when the doctor wanted to deliver him.

As a result of the turmoil, the projects have been thrown into disarray. The renovation to the basement has ground to a halt and I'm focused on completing the Prince's quarters of the castle and getting the carpets cleaned in that wing. The last of the painting in the his room was completed last night at 1:30am. The carpets are scheduled to be cleaned tomorrow afternoon. :)

I have to clear all the items from our upstairs bedrooms tonight by myself which is only an issue for 2 or 3 pieces of furniture. The rest of it is either small or can be disassembled so it is more a matter of just doing it. It's still a lot of work though. I'll post pics of his room once I've reinstalled all the outlet covers, blinds, curtain rods, door hardware and put in all the furniture. You'll get to see the completed room soon enough. :)

I'll try to be better about keeping you all updated even if I happen to be exhausted at the time. :) Keep checking his blog or the Queen's blog for other updates.

This post has been brought to you by the letters T, I, R, E, D, and the number 3.

Surprise!

2009-04-07T23:31:00.002-06:00

The prince decided to arrive early! He graced us with his presence at 12:43pm mountain time today. At 36 weeks of gestation, he weighed in at 6lb 1oz and measured 18.5in long.

Welcome to the kingdom, my son!

This post was brought to you by the letters B, O, Y, and the number 3.

Sickness in the Kingdom

2009-04-04T21:50:00.003-06:00

There is a bit of sickness in my kingdom. The youngest princess appears to have another ear infection and I am positive I have a sinus infection.

The Queen is busy baking the prince, who should arrive this month, so she's pretty uncomfortable.

The royal cat got completely covered in mud and as a result had to be kept outside for an extended time as he got himself cleaner and thus, was miserable. He's also pretty pissed at me for summarily tossing him out of the castle when he came in all covered in mud - twice!

The oldest Princess is so far unaffected by sickness - other than being awoken by her sister's cries. I'm hoping to the lords of Kobol that it remains that way. (Did you like that bit of Battlestar Galactica geekiness there? :)

Wish us luck in banishing the illness and pain from our castle.

This post was brought to you by the letters O, U, C, H, and the number 4.

Yet Another Update...

2009-03-26T12:48:00.003-06:00

...on the remodel project. The North and West walls in the room are done and I have the closet and window walls remaining as well as the walls of the landing outside the bedroom. After that, is mudding and taping. YUM!!! :)

It's beginning to resemble a room a bit now. I'm happy about that though really tired when I go to bed each night.

This post was brought to you by the letters S,W,E,A,T, and the number 4.

Here's an Update...

2009-03-22T19:43:00.003-06:00

...on the remodel project. The insulation has been completed and I've started on the drywall. The ceiling of the bedroom is complete and I plan to work on the walls this week. :) Then, I'll switch over and do the greenboard and hardy backer in the bathroom. After that, it's time to add the doors.

There is still a bit of framing left to do in the landing area, but I should be able to knock that out after work tomorrow.

I still don't have the pictures rescued from the Queen's camera, but once I do, I'll add them on here for you.

So far, it looks like we're still on time to have the bedroom done by the time the Prince arrives. The bathroom is another matter altogether. Since we're now going to tile the bathroom, we've decided it's OK to complete that AFTER the Prince arrives.

This post was brought to you by the letters T, I, R, E, D, and the number 5.

Basement Project...

2009-03-04T11:56:00.002-07:00

Here's an update for those of you who are interested. I don't have pictures yet, but you'll forgive me for that, right? :)

The framing for the bedroom and bathroom is complete. I need to add another small bit of framing for the landing at the bottom of the stairs so that there will be an edge for the carpeting.

The plumbing supply lines have been run to the bathroom space complete with a pair of Master cutoffs for that bathroom.

The electrical work is nearly complete, just need to hook up a few lights and get an electrician to wire the outlet circuit into the electrical panel and check over the wiring.

I need to do the insulation once my part of the wiring is complete.

After that, there's the doors, the drywall, mudding and taping, finish carpentry, and then painting. All this needs to be complete by the last week of April.

I'll try to get pictures posted soon.

This post was brought to you by the letters S, T, U, D, and the number 100.

I'm Not Sure You're Supposed To Do That.

2009-02-13T20:22:00.003-07:00

Here's an excerpt of a very recent conversation between my oldest princess and myself in which I explain to her that I'm trying to decide which of my offspring to eat for dessert. This threat is a daily threat with no actual backing, but it's fun to watch them squirm when I announce I plan to eat one of them. Here goes...

King Isepik: I'm trying to decide which one of my daughters to eat.
Pink Princess: [stops what she's doing and turns to look at me]
KI: I'm trying to decide if I should eat the oldest one or the youngest one -
PP: [blink]
KI: the tallest one or the shortest one. Perhaps I'll go with the one with the most visible teeth.
PP: That's me because Purple Dragon just lost a tooth.
KI: Maybe, but I can see the tooth that's replacing the one she just lost as well as the one that will replace the loose one she still has, so she has the most visible teeth.
PP: [blink]
KI: Maybe, I'll go with the one with the longest hair.
PP: [throwing the Queen under the bus - points] That would be Mommy.
KI: She's not my daughter.
PP: [blink]
KI: I can't go with the one who is the cutest, because I'd have to eat you both.
Queen: [interjecting herself into the conversation] Make sure whichever one you eat has the cleanest nose to cut down on the number of boogers you have to eat.
PP: [begins furiously blowing snot bubbles with her nose to increase the number of boogers in her nose]
Q: EEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!
KI: [I'm not sure you're supposed to do that] I'm not hungry...

I guess this means I'm not meant to eat either of them tonight.

Anyway, to those of you out there who are planning on celebrating tomorrows FAKE, MADE-UP, MARKETING PLOY - I say: Happy Valentine's Day. Please pardon me while I don my all black garb for the day and retch in the corner. To the rest of you, please join me in wearing black tomorrow in protest of fake holidays everywhere. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters V, D, and the number 14.

The Kingdom of Sick

2009-02-05T16:50:00.002-07:00

Our kingdome is full of sick folk. One princess has Strep, the other has Pneumonia, The Queen thinks she has a cold, and the King (that's me) has a virus of some sort that floored me this morning. Hopefully, my high powered immune system will kick in and this thing will be over in just a few more hours.

Anyway, that's the deal today.

This post was brought to you by the letters V, I, R, U, S, and the number 4.

Have a Fender Bender?

2009-01-15T20:20:00.003-07:00

Has the recent horrible weather caused any of you out there to have a collision of any sort recently? Looking for a place to fix up a ding or two from a collision you've had in your car? I haven't - and I'm knocking on wood that I don't - but if you have, check out the people at collisionrepairexperts.com.

I'm the type of person who likes to keep his vehicles looking good and running well. As a result, I'm picky when it comes to who I allow to perform any maintenance or repair work on my cars. I want to know that they have the necessary credentials to perform the work on my vehicle before I hand over the keys.

The people at collisionrepairexperts.com have an extensive network of auto body repair professionals. For example, you can enter "auto body shops denver" into their search engine for a list of members in the Denver area. If you happen to be an auto body professional, they're looking to expand their membership, so give them a call. They check out the people who seek membership so that only the cream of the crop get to be associated with their network.

I'm definitely going to visit collisionrepairexperts.com if I ever need repairs to the body of my cars.

This post was brought to you by the letters R, S, T, L, N, E, and the number 7

We Have HEAT!!!

2009-01-15T09:26:00.004-07:00

There is now heat in the basement. Last night, I ran a duct and tapped the main supply to provide heat for future bedroom in the basement. It just happens to provide heat to the area where I'll be working. :) I'll post pics once I get them off the Queen's camera.

The Queen just told me this morning that she thinks it's silly to heat the basement when it's not insulated. In principal, I agree with her, however, the heat happen to be one of those necessary items that needs to be run sooner rather than later, along with plumbing which I'll need to alter really soon. Besides, As long as we'll need to be working down there, it has to have some heat and I can always turn off the vents and direct the airflow up through the house instead. It won't cost us any more than using an electric heater down there while I'm working, so I don't really see a problem.

Am I alone in this train of thought or is the bridge out ahead?

I got a surprise when I was working on the heat down there last night and I'll post about it later. I'm sure you'll get a kick out of it. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters H, E, A, T, and the number 9.

Fingers?, Toes? What are those things?

2009-01-12T14:21:00.003-07:00

It is frakking COLD! The boiler at work broke at some point over the weekend and I could see my breath when I walked into my office this morning. It's only marginally better at this point, but typing is a real challenge. Unfortunately for me, I have craptacular circulation in my hands and toes so they'll be cold for the next week or so.

I've been in my fleece and coat all day in an effort to fight off the insanity, but I'm not really sure how well I'm doing in this fight. This is probably a bad sign, but such is life, eh? :)

On to other things, I have enough materials (once I get a bucket of nails and a small shopvac) to start work in the basement of our house now. Of course it still isn't cleared out, but there are a few more items I can do before I start the framing. I have to relocate/reconfigure a few pipes, run a heating duct into the bedroom and add a cold air return to the space in the basement all of which can be done before the framing starts.

Wish me luck! I'll take pictures and post them. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters S, B, Y, E, and the number 3.

The Big Work Begins...

2008-12-29T11:47:00.004-07:00

This afternoon after work, I'm going to go get supplies to begin our home improvement project. This means that the big work on the project will begin really soon now.

One of the more onerous tasks I have to deal with is the fact that I now have to dig a hole outside my house to locate and seal the source of a slow seep into our basement where the renovation will occur. In case you've not been reading along, I'm recovering from a sprained wrist and we have had atrocious weather recently.

I'm planning on doing what I can inside and hoping for a warm weekend or something that will allow me to be outside for extended periods of time while working without freezing. :) None of us likes to freeze, so here's hoping...

Anyway, I'm not whining about it, I'm just informing you all that I'll be really busy for a while and I may appear to be a bit cranky for a few months. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters U, G, H, and the number 133.

It's a Sprain - I Think

2008-12-23T10:04:00.002-07:00

I sprained my wrist I think. I know it's not broken, I can use the wrist for the most part like normal, but twisting motions hurt something fierce. It's better now than Sunday afternoon, but it certainly isn't pleasant. Sometimes I feel like an idiot for injuring it in the first place, but then again, I had to relocate all the cold white stuff on the driveway and sidewalks. :)

How did I do it? You're dying to know, aren't you? :) Well, that's a quick story. I was shoveling and the shovel hit a seam in the concrete sidewalk and stopped dead. Unfortunately, I had just started the forward stroke of the shovel, so the abrupt jarring from the handle of the shovel sent a sharp pain up through the handle and into my wrist where it got mired down in all the ligaments, bones, and whatnot that lives in my arm. It pitched a tent and I've spent the last couple of days trying to evict it. :)

Here's the part that will make you realize just how very stupid I am. When this happened, I just shook my arm, cussed a bit about it, and continued shoveling. :) I had to shovel the snow, you see.

I think I may have just nominated myself to go to the shallow end of the gene pool. Good thing too, because I can't float! :)

This post was brought to you by the letters P, A, I, N, and the number 127.

A BOY!!!

2008-12-11T13:59:00.003-07:00

Woot! We're having a boy! Not that I don't like my daughters. I do, but I've wanted a boy for quite some time now and according to the ultrasound, that's what we're getting! :)

I'm stoked to have another male in the house to commiserate with. :)

I'm sure the Queen will update her blog one of these years and give you more details.

This post was brought to you by the letters X, Y, and the number 3.

The Day After...

2008-11-28T10:04:00.004-07:00

Hey, that was an old movie title. Hmm. Anyway, today is the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday and I'm at work. Apparently on some bad intel, I neglected to request the day off. Ooops! I will remember that for next year. :) Anyway, the Queen went off on a shopping spree and I was left to bring the little folk into work with me. They are currently quietly enjoying a movie here in my office. Once the Queen is done with her insanity, she'll come retrieve them.

There have been a few other developments over the course of the last couple of weeks as well. The Queen now has Bronchitis (she gets it about 2 or 3 times a year) and as a result, her mother was at out castle helping her last week and fell off my deck. It is about a 10-11 inch drop, but she fractured her right fibula and sprained (possibly fractured) her left ankle. That made Turkeyday really interesting this year since we celebrate it at the Queen's mother's place.

At least everyone liked my turkey. I'm glad of that and it turns out I could have started it a couple of hours later that I did, but who needs sleep, right? :)

Now that it's over, I just want to take a nice long nap, but I have to be here at work manning the fort. Luck for me, it's been really dead so far and I've already completed one of the two things I need to finish for the day. Once I'm done with that, I'll just surf the net until I can leave for the day.

What a week! I'm glad it's nearly over. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters M, W, O, and the number 5.

Thank You!

2008-11-11T12:14:00.003-07:00

To all our veterans, I say Thank You! I never served in the military and I didn't have any immediate family serve that I can remember. I had a great grandfather serve in WWII and certain times of the year remind me that I miss him greatly.

I so wish I could talk to him about things that are going on or introduce him to my 2 little girls and my wife, but he's been gone for the better part of 2 decades.

Patriotic holidays and his birthday really upset me because it reminds me so much of what he was about. I miss him greatly and wish I could tell him Thank You for all the freedoms he helped defend.

I'd like to extend that thanks to all the veterans of all our military and civil branches who put themselves in harms way for our sakes.

Thank You!

This post was brought to you by the letters D, G, H, and the number 2

Listed.

2008-11-08T20:47:00.002-07:00

The car has been listed with a local paper website. Hopefully we'll get some interest in it soon and can get it sold shortly. If there's anyone in the SLC area who is interested in it, please feel free to comment.

The car has served us well for over 10 years. We'll miss you Lizzzie! Yes, the car has a name. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters C, A, R, and the number 7.

Need a Boot?

2008-11-07T18:28:00.002-07:00

If you're anything like me, you wear boots nearly all the time. Whether you're looking for hiking boots, work boots, hunting boots, military boots, or some other type of boot altogether, workbootsusa.com is the place to start. With brands like Caterpillar, Danner, Belleville, Matterhorn, Bates, and more, the selection is such that you're bound to find something you'll like.

Also, they're made right here in the good old United States of America. The makers stand behind their products and orders of $50 or more get free shipping! If you're in the market for a pair of boots, go check them out.

This post was brought to you by the letters B, O, O, T, S, and the number 5.

Election!

2008-11-04T23:58:00.001-07:00

The election is over and Barack Obama has won. I'm proud that my fellow American people have decided to choose an inclusive, change-bringing leader. I hope he can live up to the promises he's made and can deliver on those very same promises.

I have a bit of hope in my country again as a result of our choice. I understand that shome of you will disagree with my choice and that's your right, but I feel we chose the better of the two candidates this time around.

Hooray, America! :)

This post was brought to you by the letters B, O, J, B, and the number 2008.

Parking Ticket - Really?

2008-11-04T19:00:00.002-07:00

So what that the registration ran out on the car at the end of last month. We got a new car and haven't been driving the car that got the ticket, but it happened to be parked on a public street, so it got a ticket after only 4 days. Grrr!

Wish us luck on selling it! If any of you are interested in a 1996 Dodge Intrepid ES, please comment. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters C, A, R, and the number 12.

Announcement!

2008-10-28T10:24:00.002-06:00

I have an announcement to you all. What better way to deliver said announcement than to send you to the Queen's blog and let her do it. :)

LOL! You should see the look on your face right now. :)

Seriously, go check out her blog.

This post was brought to you by the letters X, Y, and the number 13.

Happy Birthday to the QUEEN!!! :)

2008-10-24T23:38:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday Dear, Queenie!
Happy Birthday to YOU!

This post was brought to you by the letter D, O, B, and the number... er... (Queen's age)

Instant Party!

2008-10-22T19:51:00.002-06:00

I was just directed to the Emergency Party Button and I think it's really cool. :) Of course, I'm a geek and this kind of thing really interests me. :)

Apparently, this guy is as much (probably a LOT MORE) of a geek as I am and just decided to make what he was thinking, happen. I WISH I have the cajones and the dinero necessary to do some of the things that pop into my head like that. Too bad I'm not rich, eh? :)

Anyway, I thought you'd enjoy the fun.

This post was brought to you by the letters E, P, B, and the number 6.

A New Ride.

2008-10-18T10:57:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, we purchased a new ride. I'm sure the Queen will be happy to tell you all about it in depth, so I'll summarize. We purchased a Red 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT. It has Sto-n-Go seating, dual powered sliding doors, 3 zone AC and only 31k miles. We're happy to have it and our little princesses are stoked about it as well.

We now have enough room for them and all their assorted stuff without feeling crowded. We're going to sell our old family car (a Green 1996 Dodge Intrepid ES) and part ways with an old friend. We'll miss you, Lizzzie.

Anyway, this post was brought to you by the letters R, O, O, M, and the number 7.

What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

2008-10-14T12:27:00.005-06:00

I made the mistake of caving to the Queen's pressure to get a Facebook account in an effort to ~~shut her up~~ make her happy and I think it has backfired. I'm now playing this Dragon RPG on there and slowly becoming addicted to it. Woe is me...

Anyway, It's at least amusing and it plays pretty well. It isn't WoW or W:AR (Warhammer: Age of Reckoning) by any stretch, but I can at least amuse myself a bit by playing it and we have another thing in common.

You know you want to get a Facebook account and add us as friends. :) You KNOW you want to...

This post was brought to you by the letters R, P, G, and the number 6.

Are you one?

2008-10-08T12:18:00.003-06:00

WARNING! GOOD-NATURED RANT FOLLOWS!

Are you one of those people who have a cell phone? If so, why did you get it? If you got it to be cool, then great - you're cool. If you got it to keep in touch, please do what it takes to fulfill that? If you have it for emergencies only, please be sure not to give the number out.

This post is for the people who have a cell phone to keep in touch.

I know it reads as if this is a targeted posting, and to some degree, it is. In my defense, I have recently run across this issue in personal life as well as professional life and it's truly annoying to try calling someone only to get voice mail over and over again. After finally getting in touch with this person, you find out time and again that they didn't bring their cell phone with them ("I forgot to bring it"), or the battery is dead ("I forgot to charge it"). WHAT?!

I'm going to use the Queen as an example here (please accept my apology, btw :) of how she needed to run an errand and wanted me to make a phone call to correct a situation for her. Unfortunately, I didn't have all the information I needed and when I tried calling her to ask a quick question, her cell phone which happened to be in the next room, began making pretty noises. She had left her cell phone at home, sitting on the table. I'm happy I was able to wing it and ecstatic that nothing happened to them or the car while she was out, but I would have been very hard pressed to get in touch with her in the event of an emergency.

If you don't have it with you and charged, what's the point? If you're one of the people who has given your cell number out to the majority of the people you know, do them a favor and keep it charged, on, and with you. :)

Now that I've ranted about cell phones and called out the Queen (again, sorry about that), I'll step off my soapbox, and relinquish the microphone. FYI: I am fully expecting to be flamed by this post and I probably deserve most if not all of it.

Queen, dear, please be a good sport about me calling you out. You just happen to be an easy target. Please forgive. I'll be sure to get some chocolate or something to make it up. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters C, E, L, L, and the number 5.

Job Quality

2008-09-28T17:38:00.003-06:00

What has happened to the job quality of NFL officiating recently? So far this season, I have personally seen enough horrible calls from the officiating crews to last an entire season. I have also seen replays (in real time mind you) of others that were completely ludicrous. Why don't they have any pride in what they do this year?

Obviously, I'm not happy with the Cowboys' loss today, but I saw 3 blown calls go against the Cowboys today that could have made the difference in the 2 point loss to the Redskins. You're right that the Cowboys should have overcome the bad calls and won anyway, but if all things are equal, then the game would probably have ended differently.

That's my $.02, and you are welcome to have a different opinion in this particular game, but overall officiating has gone pretty far downhill so far this year.

This post was brought to you by the letters W, T, F, and the number 3.

First Impression...

2008-09-21T13:21:00.004-06:00

My first impression of Warhammer: Age of Reckoning is this. FUN! I have a few minor issues with the interface, but I'm sure I'll either figure out an alternate way to do what I'm trying to do, or Mythic will correct it within a patch or two. I won't tell you any specifics other than the fact that there isn't a built in PTT system like in WoW. I guess I'll have to make use of Ventrilo like most of the other folks I play with. :)

Anyway, I'm happy with the game overall in that it's fun and the graphics quality is actually a bit better than WoW's.

This post was brought to you by the letters U, I, and the number 5.

Clarification...

2008-09-15T13:01:00.002-06:00

After reading my previous post, it's possible that I gave the impression that I never say the words. That's not the case. I just don't say them very often. I have noticed that I have said them less often that normal in the last while and I'm accepting my failing in that.

I just didn't want you to get the wrong impression from my lack of eloquence. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters E, D, I, T, and the number 4.

I Love the Queen

2008-09-14T22:49:00.003-06:00

Just in case you hadn't heard, I love the Queen. No, I'm NOT talking about the Queen of England, I don't know her personally, though I suppose she could be an OK person. I'm talking about the Queen I married.

I know I don't say the words very often, but it is a fact. I do love her and hope that she realizes that every time I make a meal for her, or get her water, etc. I think too many people put too much stock into saying the words and not following up on them with actions. Therefore, I'm more likely to say it with actions and not the words. It's a failing of mine, but that is PART of ME. Don't try to make me change, because I won't do so. You like/love me (or not) for who I AM, not for who I could BECOME. I'm also a Taurus and very stubborn. That is also a failing of mine. :)

In fairness to her, I should and WILL endeavor to say the words more often. At least once daily when she's awake and can hear it. It's not my fault if she's ignoring me at the time and misses it. I'm at least trying. ;)

Anyway, I just thought you should know that little bit of info about me. Perhaps, it will give you a little insight into me. Then again, maybe not. Oh well, laters!

This post was brought to you by the letters F, E, E, L, and the number 11.

It's About Time!!!

2008-09-14T19:54:00.003-06:00

I finally have my pre-order code for WarHammer Online and can download it and play early. Unfortunately, the download is huge and will take all night and a good portion of tomorrow to download. I'll be able to play it as early as tomorrow night, though. :) Of course, there's a conflict of interest because the Dallas Cowboys are playing tomorrow night.

We'll see how it all rolls around. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters R, S, T, L, N, E, and the number 6.

7 Years

2008-09-11T18:53:00.000-06:00

It's been 7 years since September 11, 2001 changed our world. It's too bad we can never go back to the way things were. Of course, that's part of what got us into this mess to begin with, but I'm not posting this to rehash the whys.

I'm posting this to remember all those who died that day on American soil as a result of those attacks. I'll never forget.

This post was brought to you by the letters U, S, A, and the number 911.

WarHammer Online

2008-09-07T08:45:00.002-06:00

I'm going to give new game a try. It's called WarHammer Onling: Age of Reckoning. Go take a look. It's supposed to be a bit like World of Warcraft, but more Player vs Player centric.

The biggest reasone for me to try this game is that the people I used to play WoW with have all quit and I have a ready-made guild waiting to begin WarHammer Online. I'll give it a try and we'll see what happens. I always have the option of going back to WoW since my character will remain on their servers indefinitely. :)

We'll see if I like it.

By the way, the open Beta has just begun. :) Come give it a try.

This post was brought to you by the letters W, H, O, and the number 18.

What a Person Says...

2008-09-04T20:36:00.000-06:00

Does what a person says to you mean anything? Are we a society full of liars?

Those of you who know me know that I rarely make promises. Instead, I will tell you that I will try my best deliver on what I said, or something similar.

I have a reason for not making promises. (It seems to be a really good reason to me, but you may have a different opinion.) The reason I don't make promises, is that it absolutely tears me up inside to break a promise.

Perhaps, it's because of all the broken promises I received as a child (remember the abuse and all. Or some other leap of logic on my part, but as a result, I VERY rarely promise anything. I'm sure the Queen and the Princesses aren't too happy about that fact, but there it is.

I'm bringing this up because as much as I try not to make promises, I also try to always do what I say I'm going to do. I'm not always successful, but I try. I also, tend to expect this of others. I have an issue with people telling me they'll do something and then blowing it off. It seems disrespectful to me.

Perhaps, I'm just too caught up in the old ways, but I was raised that "A man's word is his bond" and "You have my word on it" were simple truths to live by.

Am I that old fashioned that I'm getting caught up on these things? Should I expect the worst from everyone?

I feel a little bit derailed, folks. I could use a little clarification. Better yet, don't tell me ABC unless you're going to deliver ABC.

This has been the first rant of the month by this old fart, but I really don't think it will be the last. You have my apologies for that.

This posr was brought to you by the letters W, O, R, D, and the number 9.

Last Rant of the Month... :)

2008-08-31T16:40:00.003-06:00

I tried to give myself a bit of time to get over this one, but I did say I would post the rant, so here it is, finally.

So, here we are, paying an arm and a leg for airplane tickets on an airline that allows you to pick the seats you're purchasing and when we get there, the seats we chose are NOT available to us. WTF!!! Didn't I just mortgage off my spleen to pay for these tickets?! Didn't you allow me to choose my seats? Since that's the case, why in the living HELL didn't I get to sit in the seats I paid for?

If we don't get the option of choosing my seats, then remove that feature from your website you useless wastes of JP-10 (that's jetfuel). Along about this time, you're probably wondering who these CRETINS are who upset the Queen and I. Well, I'll tell you. The airline was Delta. Yes, I did indeed utter it aloud. It was Delta Airlines who introduced us to the shaft on this trip.

I suppose I should simply be happy we got there and back in one piece, but I can't help being a bit annoyed by their IDIOCY in screwing us over. That's why we'll try to give our business to someone else, like Southwest, United, or American the next time we fly, unless they are prohibitively expensive.

There... That's off my chest now. :) I can enjoy what's left of the Holiday. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters S, W, A, and the number 4.

Historic

2008-08-29T15:45:00.002-06:00

Well, at least this election will be historic, whoever wins. :) We'll either have the oldest first term President and first female Vice President OR we'll have the first Black President.

And if - against all odds - NEITHER of them win and an Independent or Green party candidate wins, that will be historic as well. So for the fact that there will be some large historic strides made, I'm happy to be a part of this electoral process. As for the candidate for whom I'm voting... I'll keep you guessing on that one, unless you've figured it out already. If that's the case, please keep it to yourself. :)

America is good at doing historic things. :) I have to give us that much. We screw up a significant number of other things in the world, but we are certainly historic.

This post was brought to you by the letters H, U, H, and the number 8.

Sleep Inn - How Dost Thou Sucketh?

2008-08-21T22:53:00.002-06:00

Let me count the ways. Not really, but I became quite annoyed when our room key stopped working each and EVERY day at our hotel stay. I swear, did they really not want our money? The service in that regard was so bad that they were constantly blaming us for the keys not working.

The room was not too bad overall, a bit on the small side, with only double beds, but other than that, the only real gripe I had was when we were continually locked out of the room and at times building unless we trekked all the way around to the front desk.

It is possible that they just had some really incompetent front desk employees, in which case they need to be either fired or trained. I don't know which was the case, and I don't care. The point is that they should have known how to program the cards so that they wouldn't lock us out each day.

This post was brought to you bu the letters L, O, C, K, E, D, and the number 5.

Family and Vacation...

2008-08-19T19:33:00.004-06:00

Whew! We just got back from vacation. I'm not sure I can call it a vacation in that I'm as tired (or more so) as I was before we left. I suppose it's not a failure when all the people involved are still alive when it's over. I'm just not sure that some of what we went through was worth the trouble.

My girls met my mother for the first time during this vacation and I'm going to have to talk with them some time soon to see what they thought of the whole thing. They also met my mom's mother, and sisters, and a cousin and an aunt (this part was NOT planned more like SPRUNG) as the plan was to only introduce the girls to 2 people they'd never met. That part was annoying, but typical of the way that side of my dysfunctional family works.

The other side of my family has its issues (primarily planning just about anything), but once we are aware that they have planned something, we can just suck it up and realize that while it may not go as planned (and it usually won't) It's almost guaranteed to be entertaining.

So, all-in-all, it wasn't a complete wreck, but it was certainly not the IDEAL vacation that I would have hoped.

Hopefully, the next one will be better and a lot more relaxing.

Go, check out The Queen's Blog for more info and I'm sure she'll be posting pics soon. :)

The next posts will contain a few gripes about bad service, so if you're planning on flying with Delta or staying at a Sleep Inn, please stay tuned for future posts.

This post was brought to you by the letters C, F, and the number 12.

WTF!!!

2008-08-07T00:12:00.002-06:00

So... 2 nights ago, at about 1am, we're awakened by someone banging on our door and ringing our doorbell. We don't know of anyone who would do such a thing. WTF?!

My first thought was that there was some drunk guy trying to get into the house because he was drunk and thought it was HIS house. So, I carefully come down the stairs to try to see who it is and on my way down, mystery person starts trying the doorknob. Again, WTF?!

I turn on the exterior lights and then peer through the peep hole. There's no one there, but the banging, doorbell ringing and doorknob rattling continues. I think I'm going blind, so I try the box bay window beside the door and again I see no one, but the racket continues. Are my eyes open? WTF?!

I go back and forth a few times and realize that it has to be a smaller person or they are trying to avoid being seen. I bang my door from the inside and yell at them to back off the door, but they either can't hear me or refuse to back off. Finally, they begin to get frustrated and wander back to the steps before returning to my door and I get a brief look at them. It's a 6- or 7-year old kid. WTF?!

I tell the Queen what I see and then open the door. The kid starts crying and I tell him we'll help him and to sit on the porch for a second. The Queen arrives and figures out that he's gotten separated from his parents just a few minutes earlier and it turns out he needed to go to the house next door. She leads him over and he walks up to the door, opens it, and walks in. WTF?!

So tell me, what real parent is going to lose their own child at 1am between their car at the curb and their front door 25 feet away? How can this happen if you're IN ANY WAY a responsible parent? I can't imagine the circumstances that could have resulted in this silliness.

WTF?!?!?!

This post was brought to you by the letters W, T, F, and the number 1.

Projects...

2008-07-20T13:49:00.002-06:00

I hurt so much right now. Since yesterday morning, I've been working on the girls' bathroom. The sink (and possibly the toilet) have been leaking in such a way that it wasn't readily detectable and has damaged the floor. In order to investigate the damage to the floor and to determine just how bad it was, I had to completely disassemble the bathroom. I will post images of the ordeal once it is actually complete. :)

In the mean time, The Queen may have a few things to say on the matter and I need to get back to it so I can complete it today. I'd like the girls to be able to use their bathroom and not ours.

This post was brought to you by the letters G, R, R, and the number 5.

Hospital...

2008-07-10T17:44:00.002-06:00

The Queen has been in the hospital since about noon yesterday. She will undoubtedly tell you more about it if we can get wireless internet in her room. If not, I'll tell you more later tonight.

Not to worry, she's doing just fine and should come home tomorrow morning. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters O, U, C, H, and the number 15.

Moody...

2008-06-23T14:08:00.005-06:00

Sorry to neglect you all , but I've been somewhat moody of late and I suspect that any posts would be complaints/rants, so I'll spare you all the ugliness. I have not forgotten you, but haven't been up to posting anything for a while. I'll get over it eventually.

This post was brought to you by the letters E, I, F, O, and the number 94.

Tagged...

2008-06-12T12:39:00.005-06:00

So, I've been tagged and I'm required to think and tag some others.

"Tagged?" you ask.

"Yes, tagged." I say. Here's the scoop. Once, tagged, I have to post 4 lists consisting of 3 Joys, 3 Fears, 3 Current Obsessions/Collections, and 3 Random Surprising Facts about myself. After the lists, I have to tag 5 people by listing their names at the bottom of this post and leaving a comment on their blogs.

Sounds easy, right? Grrr... :)

OK. Here goes!

JOYS:
1) Family when people aren't all grumpy/fighting. I love my family dearly, but can't stand the moodiness of the females in it. :)
2) RPGs/Computer Games. I've posted before that I like D&D and WoW, but they aren't the only ones that fall into that category. As for RPGs, I'm playing the Mutants and Masterminds and have played Sidewinder, Cthulu, and Star Wars in the past. On the Computer, I play Counter Strike: Source, Day of Defeat, and Call of Duty 4 as well.
3) Reading. I am a SciFi/Fantasy nut and read quite a bit, though not as much as I would like. :)

FEARS:
1) I will fail my family. I want to provide for my family, but It is a CONSTANT fear that I will fail to do so. A series of layoffs feeds this fear.
2) I'll become that which I can't stand. I was abused by my mother and that has had a profound effect on me.
3) Earthquakes. So why did I move onto an active fault line?

CURRENT OBSESSIONS/COLLECTIONS:
1) Counter Strike: Source. I need to get my average skill above 1000.
2) Yardwork/Garden: I want my yard to look great and I want my garden to be productive.
3) Web Comics: Check 'em out on the right side. I put a rating on them as a rough guide as to their content. :)

RANDOM SURPRISING FACTS:
1) I'm a good cook. I was taught by my Great-Grandmother. 'Nuff said. :)
2) I'm a Jack of all Trades. I can do all kinds of things.
3) I was raised by my Great-Grand parents. So I was raised old-school and I think it was great.

There are others, but I have to have something for next time. If there is a next time... :)

And now, for the ~~unlucky suckers~~ ~~victims~~ winners of my personal tagging contest. Please visit them and say hello.

Gorilla Buns
Lint Monkey
BopNopper9
Oh, The Joys
Gunfighter

Please visit them! :)

I call NO TAG BACKS! :)

This post was brought to you by the letters T, A, G, and the number 5.

Neglected

2008-06-11T11:31:00.002-06:00

I'm sorry to make you feel neglected, but I really don't want to turn my blog into a mostly ranting, soapbox derby. (I really should make more use of my ranting blog just so I can do so. :) Most of the things I've been tempted to post recently have been rants and complaints, so i spared you all the nastiness associated with that.

I do have a question to post to you all. If you had a blog, (some of you do and some of you don't) is there a topic that you won't post about and what is it? I'm not asking to know why as you all have your own reasons why, but I'm curious about my readership - all 4 of you. :)

Thanks!

This post was brought to you by the letters A, R, G, and the number 6.

Memorial Day

2008-05-27T12:17:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, We celebrated Memorial Day here in the United States of America. While I've never served in the Armed forces of America and I am not a fan of my nation's foreign policies, I believe in the people in our armed forces and I greatly appreciate what they do on a daily basis for our country.

I've had relatives in the armed services and friends in those same armed services. I hope the old friends I had are OK and I'd like to take this chance to thank them for their service.

Thanks to all our past and present military service men and women. It's a shame our country's policies put you in harm's way on a daily basis, but I thank you for hefting the mantle and doing a thankless job well anyway.

Thank you so much! Stay safe.

This post was brought you you by the letters U, S, A, and the number 4.

Explanation, Please?

2008-05-15T21:06:00.002-06:00

So explain it to me using really short words. Obviously, I can't understand. Why is it that no matter what happens, it's a bad thing? And why the hell is it always my fault even when I did what was asked of me?

It's really beginning to frustrate me.

Apparently, I'm incapable of doing anything without pissing someone off.

And it continues even now...

I'm getting really close to being DONE!

PICK ANOTHER TARGET!

This post was brought to you by the letters W, H, Y, and the number 87.

What Fun...

2008-05-13T18:50:00.003-06:00

...it is to have your head ripped off and venom spewed down the hole as a GREETING. It's positively the absolute best feeling ever! Please note the copious use of sarcasm.

An apology would be in order here...

This post was brought to you by the letters W, T, F, and the number 8.

Mother's Day...

2008-05-11T23:55:00.004-06:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there and a special Happy Mother's Day to the Queen. Loosing Nemo wasn't easy for either of us a few weeks ago. She's been a little edgy for a few days now and while I don't like it, I can understand it because I've been a little off for a while myself.

I could have done a better job with Mother's Day this year.

The fact is, I blew it. No Card. No Present. No Nothin'. I feel like an ass.

Happy Mother's Day to you all. Feel better, my Queen. I'm here. I'm sorry.

This post was brought to you by the letters M, O, M, and the number 4.

Birthday...

2008-05-04T13:43:00.004-06:00

Today is my birthday. I know I'm old and my kids remind me of it each day. :) Not on purpose, mind you, but they are too full of energy to do anything other. :)

Anyway, we're having part of the family over for grilled marinaded steak, garlic mashed potatoes, pasta salad, fruit salad, and cheesecake with fresh cut strawberries in homemade simple syrup. :) I'm making the steak, potatoes, and prepping the strawberries. My brother-in-law is making the pasta salad and the other brother-in-law is making the fruit salad. The cheesecake itself came from a local supermarket bakery.

I also had a chance to go outside and do some yard work. :) Please be aware that I LIKE getting outside and doing yard work. It feels like when I grew up. :)

Hopefully it'll be fun. :)

P.S. The Queen is an evil lady. If you're here because she sent you, please return to her blog and comment with raspberries. :) I know that's what I'm doing right now.

This post was brought to you be the letters D, O, B, and the number 100. :)

Outdoor Sportsman's Playhouse

2008-04-26T17:13:00.002-06:00

If you're an outdoors man or woman, be sure to check out the 5.11 Tactical Pants and other items that are available at www.lapolicegesr.com. You might think it's a little odd to go there for sportsman gear, but think of it this way. What better place to get really good quality, rugged gear, than at a place where tactical teams go to get their equipment. You have to think the gear gets used in much the same way, right?

Anyway, go check them out and see what you think. I'm personally going to take a closer look at the pants I mentioned earlier.

This post was brought to you by the letters G, E, A, R, and the number 4.

Lettuce and Spinach!

2008-04-26T17:05:00.002-06:00

We planted lettuce and spinach in the garden today. I figure that by the time they are close to germination, we'll be completely free and clear of frost danger. If not, then I've managed to waste some time playing in the dirt. :)

The garden is coming along pretty nicely. We have 3 rows each of lettuce and spinach and 4 rows of peas. The next things I plan to put into the garden is 1 hill of cucumbers, 1 hill of zucchini, 1 pumpkin plant, about 6 tomato plants, about 4 pepper plants, and a row or 2 of corn. None of the rest of this will be done before the middle of May. We'll be able to harvest something from the garden in late June if all goes well. :)

Anyway, I'll have to get some pictures when things start to come up.

This post was brought to you by the letters V, E, G, and the number 3.