Already Over...

And just like that, it's all over. People say, "but the Holidays are still here," but it doesn't feel like it. New Years is a totally different holiday than Christmas. New Years celebrations are nothing like Christmas celebrations except for the people gathering and eating. The gift-giving (and receiving) is over, and people are starting to resort back to their typical I'm-better-than-you-so-bug-off mentality. Yeah, I'm excited that 2007 is almost over, and I'm sure fireworks will be fun as ever, but I hate that Christmas disappears so quickly. We should turn Christmas into like a week-long celebration. That whole Twelve Days of Christmas, we should resurrect that! Christmas is like your birthday: it takes forever to get here, suddenly it's right around the corner, and then in a flash it's gone! Every year I realize about 7 pm on December 25th that Christmas is over for the year. After 7, most people I know are starting to head home and get ready for the work day ahead. I dunno, it just sucks.

On the brighter side of life, how was your Christmas? Get good stuff? Fine, if you insist, I'll list what I got cuz I know you're just dying to find out.

1. Red and Black LEATHER motorcycle jacket.
2. Brown Leather Cuff
3. Red, Black, and White motorcyle gloves
4. Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End
5. Chronicles of Riddick 3 Disc set
6. Stealth (DVD)
7. Gun Magazine
8. Travel Coffee Mug and Thermos
9. Candy
10. Starbucks Gift cards
11. Gander Mountain gift card
12. iTunes gift card
13. cash
14. Sissy Bar and Luggage rack for my motorcycle
15. Day-by-day calendar
16. Financial books
17. Dress Shirt
18. Tie
19. Really sweet free verse poem from my wife
20. Flashlight
19. Bourne Ultimatum (DVD)
20. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
21. Lord of the Rings: Two Towers
22. Hand-made Scarf
23. Book on Police Heroes
24. More Candy

I think there was some other stuff, but I really can't remember it right now. Anyway, I should probably get to work since I've been here almost 1.5 hrs and haven't done anything yet but make coffee. Later,

$

It's been forever, I know...

So, I haven't posted in a little while, but no one complained or reminded me, so there. I'll try to be more frequent so that if anyone cares they won't be dissappointed. I probably mispelled that and mispell because I do everytime, but Lynne Singleton will faithfully correct me because she does that. Anywho....

So today is a special day... Melissa and I have been married for Two Years today!! Yay yay yay, congratulations to us! It's been a fast two years, and definitely doesn't seem like that long, but we have certainly been through more than our share of...stuff. We're going on a much needed date tonight, so that will be good. I can hardly believe it's been two years, especially since I can remember our wedding day like it was yesterday. I think I honestly remember everything about that day. Get your mind out of the gutter. :) So yeah, that's a wonderful thing about today.

In other news, it's only 8 days till Christmas!! Presents presents presents and MORE presents!!! Oh, and we're going to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's really the important reason. The AWESOME presents just highlight the wonderfulness of the day. Melissa and I have been giving each other one gift a day since the 14th. Sort of a twelve days of Christmas count down. It's fun. She's gonna love what I'm giving her tonight, but I can't tell you or she'll find out.

So, anybody getting anything good for Christmas? Yes, I'm implying that (gasp) you know what you're getting. I know a few things I'm getting, but that's partly because people just asked, "what can I get you" and I told them one thing and they said "ok." It's really that simple. If that sounds like a horrible idea, just remember, I hate surprises, so I love knowing what I'm getting.

So I'd love to keep typing, but I'm on a conference call, so I gotta go. Later.

$

Things to Consider...Part Two

**Why do cleaning people feel the need to clean the bathroom while the building is open?? We might need to use it!!!

**What if humans were born with a rechargeable battery pack?
**Where would it be located?
**Could it be upgraded?
**Would it come with a car adapter?

**What if The Force (Star Wars) was real?
**Would YOU be a Jedi?
**How do you know?

**Are you really awake?

Guess What We Did......

So Melissa calls me the other night, and says "Baaaaby?". I'm already thinking, "Oh great, what now?" She says, "can I have two kittens?" My first response was ".............................oooookaaaaayyyy..." See, typically, my wife hates cats. She maintains that she still does, but that these are kittens, so they're ok. I keep trying to remind her that they will turn into cats, but whatever. They are awfully cute. I'll try to get some pics up tonight or tomorrow.

On the cats-er, kittens. They are adorable. One is white, the other black and grey with a hint of brown. They have gorgeous eyes, and are very sweet. We were lucky, because they are potty trained, and I only wasted one old pair of jeans figuring out that they expect a litter box. Also, kittens looooooooove artificial Christmas trees. The black one has been in the tree almost nonstop since we brought them inside. This is a very cute sight to see, and I'll have to get a picture of that in here too, it's just that when he's up there (Oh, yeah, they're BOTH males) he's knocking ornaments off the tree so he and his brother can play with them. I caught them trying to eat a rocking horse this morning (shakes head). If you've noticed, I have mentioned names yet, and it's because we can't think of any yet. If you have suggestions, I'll be taking them through the end of the week, so feel free to leave a comment. We've tried a few ideas, but I'm just not liking any of them. It will probably help once I get pictures up, so stay tuned.

In other notes, how 'bout this weather? It's WONDERFUL. Except for mornings. Mornings are cold. I hate cold. I bundle up as much as I can, but it's never quite enough to stop my hands and legs from freezing. It's terrific in the afternoon when the sun is shining. I go on a ride to nowhere just to enjoy the weather. Riding home is a little chilly again, but not near as bad as in the morning time.

I just realized I forgot to mention a very important incident. James and Lynne (and Isaac) Singleton are the proud owners of a house! YAY! They bought it the week after Thanksgiving, and they are moved in. It is a really nice house with lots more room than their apartment, and it's in Jersey Village, so they have a nice neighborhood. We've been over a few times now to help out. Sooo very cool, and we are so happy for our good friends to finally have a real place. Apartments are nice, but not as nice as having a house. Of course, now James has a lawn to mow... ha ha.

So to sum this post up, I need cat names, it's cold outside, and hooray for the Singletons. Later,

$

Poem of English

Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.

Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it's written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.

Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.

Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation's OK
When you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.

Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
And enamour rhyme with hammer.
River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
Doll and roll and some and home.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
And then singer, ginger, linger,
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.

Query does not rhyme with very,
Nor does fury sound like bury.
Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
Though the differences seem little,
We say actual but victual.
Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
Foeffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
Dull, bull, and George ate late.
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific.

Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.
We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the differences, moreover,
Between mover, cover, clover;
Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice;
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.

Petal, panel, and canal,
Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor.
Tour, but our and succour, four.
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Sea, idea, Korea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.

Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion and battalion.
Sally with ally, yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.
Heron, granary, canary.
Crevice and device and aerie.

Face, but preface, not efface.
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.
Ear, but earn and wear and tear
Do not rhyme with here but ere.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.

Pronunciation -- think of Psyche!
Is a paling stout and spikey?
Won't it make you lose your wits,
Writing groats and saying grits?
It's a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.

Finally, which rhymes with enough --
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is to give up!

Finally At Home!!

Soo, yeah, it's been like a week since I last posted. How are you? How was Thanksgiving? Ours was pretty good. We finally did Thanksgiving correctly by only going to two houses instead of three. The last couple years we've gone to my parents, her parents, and my grandparents. You end up with a stomach waaaaaay too full of turkey and stuffing, and a strong hatred of everything that is Thanksgiving. I dunno, it was pretty good this year - we got my parents to come to her parents house. The get together at Nana and Papa's was great as usual, about 25 people, and lots of Mimosas. That's champagne and orange juice. Yyyyyuuuuummmmmmm. Time off was great too, went shooting on Tuesday, played Halo 3 for six hours on Wednesday, ate and had fun on Thursday, and hung out with Melissa's family on Friday. Saturday was good too, we spent like five hours getting new tires put on the Impala, went out to lunch at Ninfa's, and then went home and watched Die Hard 4 followed by like five hours of Grey's Anatomy. Wait, did I say that Saturday was fun?? Well, yeah, I did enjoy spending time with my wife - We really don't get enough time to just be together. Sunday was pretty nice enough even though we had to watch more Grey's, but James and Lynne came home from their trip, so we got to hang out with them for a while, and that was fun cuz we hadn't seen them in like five days.

It felt soooo weird to go back to work today. It's not every day you get a week off work. Didn't have a bad day at all - it went by quickly and actually went pretty well, but it seemed strange to not be home with my wife. Didn't really get to ride my bike this weekend either. Of course, that's not really surprising because it either rained or just was freezing cold all weekend.

Can you believe it's less than a month til Christmas? Just think, one month from today, we will have all taken back all the Christmas presents we didn't want. Actually, I should change that to all you people instead of "we" because I neeeeever take presents back. Yeah, I had two presents on my birthday that I was gonna take back, and I didn't ever take one of them back, and the other one took me almost a month to exchange for something else. Is it a bad thing to take gifts back? I don't really think so, but sometimes it can be very awkward if the gift was meant to be seen by the gift-giver. For example, if someone gives you a watch, you can't go get a different watch or just go exchange it for cash. If you are given a CD or a book, that you can usually get away with exchanging because what, are they gonna come over and ask for proof that you still have that thing? Well, they might, but that would be rude and you could call them out on that. Seriously, do it. Later!

$

Back to Work

I'm hoping to post sometime today!! Keep checking!!

Day Off Number One

So what's up people? I have today and tomorrow off from work because, well, it was now or never. I had two days of PTO (paid time off) left for this year, and we're not allowed to use it in December and we can't roll it over to next year, aaaand we can't use it during month end, so this literally was the last chance i had to use it! And you thought I was exaggerating. So you know what I'm doing with my free time so far? I'm watching videos on You Tube and posting to my blog! Yay so exciting!! It's really not so bad, I'm gonna go shooting later, and I'm having lunch with my wife. Other than that, I really don't have anything planned. Maybe I'll go for a ride. I usually wish that I could when I can't, and now I can, so maybe I will. Yeah, I'm so not making any sense right now. I just figured that I should post since I have time. This is a short and boring one though because I'm ending it now. Later!

$

Sympathy

Aww poor Morgan. You are sick and away from your family. How was Paris? Enjoy the Transpo. strike? So sorry you're sick - that's never a fun feeling. Hope you get better soon!

$

What's Happening to America?

I have read something this morning that-- well, I'm not sure how I feel about it. I'm shaking my head as I type this, because I'm thinking the idea is just so pitiful. It's a good example of how lazy and yet impatient Americans are getting. Yes I might mean you, but you are American, are you not? Anyway, Papa John's Pizza now has a new ordering option: TEXT MESSAGING!!! Is it really that much of a hassle to call the place? You say "well I don't have the number," but if you've called before, then you have the number in your phone, and you can call information and get the number too. Besides, in order to text the order in, you have to go to their website. If you're at the website, you can get the phone number. I'm ranting, and no one really cares about it as much as I probably do, so I'll stop.

Anywho, how's your life going? It's funny when I ask questions like that, cuz I'm really interested to know even if I don't necessarily know you. Sometimes people tell me, and sometimes people completely ignore the question. We'll see what happens now that I've pointed it out...

So I got my first insult about my motorcycle day before yesterday. One of our service techs walked in the door and says, "Why'd you buy a training bike? Where are your training wheels?" Now, a regular person would be insulted by that. I am a words person (See Five Love Languages (it's a book)) and that really burns. You have insulted my bike, my riding skill, my financial decisions, and I now loathe your existence!! The person insulting me then proceeded to say that he used to have a 90cc bike in college. 90. Mine is 234cc's and you're insulting me because you had a 90cc. Whaaaat the heck. I'd say this person has no room to talk! Bottom line, don't insult people because then they talk bad about you on their blog. No no no, don't insult people because it's not nice, and they get defensive, and they shouldn't have to defend themselves to you unless you are their spouse or accountability partner.

So how's the week going? It's over half way finished! YAY! I'm excited about next week cuz I only have to work Monday. I get to catch up on sleep! Hooray!!! Well, need to get back to work, just thought I'd put something up cuz it's been a couple days. Later,

$

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!

Yup yup! We found out yesterday that the baby is a girl!!! She's so gorgeous. She's about ten inches long right now, and weighs about 11 ounces, but she's getting bigger! It's so wonderful to finally know for sure! There's like no chance that it's a boy - you can tell in the ultrasound. We can finally stop saying "he or she" and "it." Scary thing though, now people are gonna start buying stuff. I am SO excited to be having a girl because I love girls, but I'm gonna have to make sure our whole apartment doesn't go pink! I'm so excited for my little princess to be here.

So what's goin' on with the weather? First they said the cold front would be here like Monday, and it was HOT. Then they said it was gonna rain on Tuesday, and it was dry. Now the cold front is here and good grief is it COLD!!! The low tonight by 8 pm is 48 degrees! BRRRRR!!! You can say "oh it's not that bad," but on a motorcycle, it feels like 42!!! You gotta admit, that's cold. Oh well, at least it's starting to feel more like a holiday-ish season. I like it to be cold for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Yeah, that took like two minutes just to color the words... So what? You like it cold, too. Who wants it to be t-shirt weather while you're eating turkey dinner or opening presents? Yeah, it stinks. Granted, once the holidays are over, I like it to heat back up a little bit. I'm thinking my perfect day in temperatures would be upper 50's in the morning, mid-70's in the afternoon, and lower 60's at night. A light jacket at most during the day, and snuggle weather with the wife at night. How about you? What would your perfect temperature be? It's different for everybody.

So I guess that's all for now - I'm trying to stay more current with my posting like I used to be, and I'm trying to post on all three blogs today. If you don't know the other links, they're http://brokenandrebuilt.blogspot.com and http://bikesilike.blogspot.com so check 'em out if you want. Later,


$

MEEP MEEP!!!

Yeah, so I learned something today - don't drink two cups of SUPER strong coffee in the morning without eating something first. I am WIRED. If you read this stuff out loud as quick as you can, you'll have an idea how I'm feeling. Woo Hoo!! To add on to that, our system is down at work, so I can't do ANYTHING. I've only got like 2.5 minutes left till lunch, so I'll have something to do then. So how was your Halloween? Do anything? We didn't. Well, we hung out with people I think - I dunno, it was like five whole days ago, so that's hard to remember at this point. Had a pretty good weekend. What's up with the weather, huh? I mean, I thought a cold front was coming through, but the high today is like 85, and that is NOT cold. It's not anywhere near cold. It's like almost hot. That's just not cool. Sooooo yeah. Oh, we saw American Gangster on Friday, it was a really good movie, but don't take your children to see it. Violence and language and stuff, but the story line itself was pretty good. So anyway, it's lunch time now so I''m gonna go. Later!

$

Top Seven Office Pet Peeves

Got this off Yahoo! today.

7. Misuse of work email. This includes pressing "Reply All" just to say "ok!." (22%)
6. Overuse of personal communication devices in meetings, i.e. cellphones, blackberries, PDA's. (28%)
5. Loud talking and obnoxious cell phone rings. No, we do not want to hear your cell phone's sound limit! (41%)
4. Odius food, perfume, or smoking smells. I could almost swear my last boss bathed in cologne. (42%)
3. Messiness in the breakroom, i.e. dirty dishes. (45%)
2. Poor time management while on the clock. That would be me right now! (54%)
1. Gossip. Or at least that's what I heard... (60%)

I'm Back

My friends, my acquaintances, and all you other people who read this blog, I apologize that I have been gone for so long. Not that it really ruined your day to find the same post up for the last nine days, but sorry anyway. I have been very busy at work, and when I have been home I've been far too tired to post. I am therefore taking time out of my work day to post so that you won't feel forgotten.

Like I said, life has been very busy - I'm loving my motorcycle (duh). Melissa is doing well and the baby inside her is growing. We're supposed to find out next Tuesday if it's a boy or girl! Yay! Seriously, it's about time. Seems like forever. We've started going to Bradley birthing classes, and boy howdy do you learn a lot in there! For those of you that don't know, the Bradley Method is an all natural approach to childbirth. It's a whole lot better than using tons of drugs and crap that the hospital loves to hand out. Not bashing anyone who does it that way...necessarily, but just saying that naturally might be the better way...moving on. Yeah so these classes, the lady can TALK. She talked for three hours without barely breathing! Wow. She is very knowledgeable about this stuff. We then watched a video from the 80's on someone giving birth naturally, and yes, we got to see the whooooooole thing. (Shudder). It was cool cuz it's a miracle from God, but it's definitely not...entertaining or something to watch while eating. Like I said though, learned a lot.

So how bout this weather, huh? It's awesome! Granted, it is a little cold riding to work in the morning, but by lunch time it's absolutely gorgeous! I'd love it if it were always in the 60's-70's around here. Clear blue skies, no rain, all that wonderful stuff that some states not next to the Gulf can have. Only thing about this weather is that it's thrown my allergies for a loop. I've been stopped up really bad ever since it cooled down. That's the price I pay to enjoy it so I'm not complaining much.

How is school going for those of you in school? I'm making it and keeping good grades, but it's semi-exhausting. I'll be glad when it's over. Hoping and praying that once I have my 60 hours I can call HPD and get in! Seems like such a long time ago since we first started talking about doing that. Well, it was last year, so yeah, long time.

So here's something I can't believe - it's November 1 on Thursday! And Daylight Savings ends on Sunday! Why is it that the days crawl by, but the year is gone before you know it? I can remember- well ok I can't remember January that well, but I remember February and March like they were last week! On the other hand, November means Melissa's little brother is turning 15, so he can start driving with us, and it also means Thanksgiving dinner and the one football game of the year that I actually watch. Not that I care who wins, but I watch because Melissa's family bleeds orange and I have to watch.

So it's only Tuesday, but I'm approaching it believing that it's going to be a good day. Yesterday was one of the first truly enjoyable work days I've had since starting here! Sad I know. So I should get to work, but I hope you've enjoyed this post. If you have things to be addressed or discussed, leave a comment and I'll try to get to it tomorrow. Later,

$

Guess What...

Yeah so I finally bought my motorcycle on Saturday! It's a 2008 Honda Rebel and it's black. It had 2.7 miles on it when I drove it off the lot. Very nice bike. Yes, it is the lowest power you can safely by in a motorcycle, but it's my first bike so I'm ok with it. For those of you worried about why I didn't buy a used bike, I can send you the 30 page list of things to inspect before buying a used bike, and you have to be a mechanic to check some of that. Oy. Anywho, drove it around a lot on Saturday and Sunday and drove it to work today. It's a lot different than it looks - it's not easy. Yeah, you get used to doing things like shifting and braking with your hand and your foot, but it's constant attention - no slacking like in a car. I'm not trying to insult all you car drivers, but I'm saying that I can't like take my eyes off the road or just sit at a stop light and fiddle with stuff or deal with other people, or be on my cell phone. Can't do it. Not saying I'm better than you, just saying it's different.
Anyway, how was your weekend? Mine was obviously pretty quick. See any movies? There isn't much out to see. I can't believe Bourne Ultimatum and Rush Hour 3 are still in theaters!! I know they were good, but that good? I dunno about that.

So yeah, I mostly just wanted to say I got my bike and I'm gonna be super careful. Gotta go. Later,

$

Zzzzzzz......

I am tired today. Started out feelin' really good! Got like 9 hours of sleep last night which is insane for me. Couple things I'd like to say for starters and that will probably give me more crap to ramble about. First, the quiz at the top of the screen is totally rigged. The only reason I got Batman is cuz I went down and answered "no" to every question. If anyone actually takes the quiz, they're gonna get Superman. I tried a couple other patterns with my answers and got Iron Man and Super Girl, but still the quiz is rigged.

Also, y'all can talk about thanksgiving food all you want, but the best thanksgiving food is still Cheese Grits. You can't have Thanksgiving without them. You could have a festive day with family in November, but you couldn't call it Thanksgiving.

Hmm, yeah so I still have nothing really to talk about. Huh, figure that, me with nothing to say. If you see pigs flying, don't be surprised. Oh well, I'll try again tomorrow. Later,

$

Ouch

So I'm really stinkin sore. I did a class this weekend learning how to ride a motorcycle, and while I had a blast, I'm really sore. There are muscles in your body that don't normally get used, and motorcycle riding uses them to the MAX. Ouch. Anyway, the class was awesome, and you finish with a huge sense of accomplishment, because a lot of that stuff they teach you is hard! I did great, and learned a whole lot, but still I am very sore. Ouch. Here's a picture of the bike we practiced on. It's a Buell Blast (Buell is owned by Harley Davidson). Pretty cool bike - 500 cc's, comfortable, and fairly neat looking. This is actually the color of the one I practiced on too. Although, now that I'm thinking about it, ours didn't have rear-view mirrors, but that's probably a good thing, because that would have been another thing to remember. There's a lot to think about when you're riding a motorcycle. Both hands and both feet have something to do the whole time. Still, most fun I've had on a weekend since I got married. Wasn't more fun than getting married, but a blast (see the humor? we rode Blast's...okay nevermind). How was your weekend? That was my whole weekend, so it seemed pretty short. I'm gonna try to go get my license this week I think (if I can find time). If you decide you want to learn how to ride, let me know, cuz if you go to the same place I did and mention my name, I can get a gift certificate to buy gear.

I tell ya, I'm just so GLAD to be back at work today. Just floored. Yeah, so I'm having trouble keeping track of time - I've already been here for an hour and thought it had just been 15 minutes, so I'm gonna go now, but I'll try to post more later. Prolly won't though. Oh well. Later,

$

Oh Friday, how I love thee

Yeah not really. Friday's are becoming just like any other weekday. My Saturday's are always so busy that there's not really a weekend. If I'm not serving at church on Sunday I can sleep in till 9 or so, but that's the only day of the week I can sleep past 6:30. It gets old real quick, but that's life. Plus it won't always be this way. I'm starting to think that life is divided up into an endless amount of phases, and some feature of your life is a temporary one whether you realize it or not. For example, all this waking up early is a phase for now because after I get out of training with HPD, I'll prolly have to work nights for a while. Or if you're a parent, you think it's gonna be forever, but eventually your kids move out and even though you're still their parent, you're not responsible for taking care of them anymore. Always something temporary, so don't stress over stuff, cuz you never know what might be gone tomorrow.

So I haven't posted all week. Miss me? Yeah right. Anywho, don't really have that much to talk about. Been a busy week - lots of work - spent most of wednesday night at church - good times. Learned how to work the sound board at the youth building. I'm really excited to learn the differences on the big board over at the main church building.

You know, I just don't have that much to talk about for right now. Well, I have something to talk about, but I don't want to talk about it right now. Wait 'till next week, and you'll hear all about it. Later,

$

Whose Halfing Fun Two Dei?

Yeah, so if you can't tell - I'm bored. I have lots to do today, but I'm bored nonetheless. That's a fun word to use - it's three rolled into one, and even though it's real, it looks fake. Just like nevertheless and stufflikethat. Ok, the last one was fake, but you get my point. What point, you ask? Why that's exactly the point - there is no point. If you're shaking your head, don't worry, you're going to do it again before you finish reading this post. Unless, that is, you stop reading right now...

So today's been normal - worked, had some coffee, went to lunch, ate waaay too much, worked some more, talked to people... Oh, have you ever watched or read The Phantom Tollbooth? If you are my wife, you're probably sick of hearing about it, but I got to thinking about it last week, and last night I found it on YouTube. That's right, I found the entire movie. Of course, it was in fourteen different parts, but it's the whole thing. It's from 1969, so if you go look it up, don't expect a work of art. It's pretty good though. Watched it for the first time like ten or twelve years ago, and I can't remember why I started thinking of it again, but I did, so there. See? Again with the shaking of the head. I told you.

Did you see the news story about the cop up north who killed six people? Someone said it was over a girlfriend or something immature and stupid like that. Couple things about that. First, he was only 20. Why was he on the force that young? I know there's not a lot of difference between twenty and twenty-one, but it's still something. Also, though it makes me sick to read the story, it makes me even sicker to see that it was a cop. Law Enforcement in America is already given a hard enough time about tasers and "police brutality." Was it worth killing people to get back at his girlfriend or whoever? No it wasn't. Crazy, stupid, messed up world we live in.

Kinda hard to believe it's already October. Doing anything for Halloween? We're not. Well, ok, I take that back, I am going to Walmart the day afterwards to take advantage of all the cheap candy, but other than that, we're not doing anything. I don't really have a point to make with that, just thought I'd mention it while I'm typing the rest of this pointless crap. Speaking of crap, if you want to cure someone of fast food, have them watch Fast Food Nation. Don't watch it with them because it's gross. Don't tell them it's gross either, unless you know they'll come beat you up for not warning them. Also not a good movie for pregnant people to watch since they're already nauseous enough.

Right, so I thought I'd check the public opinion by doing a simple Google search. I typed in "crazy people," and this was the second picture that popped up. That's Michael Jackson if you can't tell. You gotta wonder sometimes about people, cuz you see what they'll do just to stay in the spotlight. What makes them want to do that? Is there reason behind Britney's madness or OJ's "innocence?" I don't think there possibly could be. It's funny, too, (well, sorta) cuz if you look at the weirdest people in the world, most of them started off just fine. Perhaps they just started off too soon in the spotlight. The Olsen twins and Lindsay Lohan strike me right off the bat. They were famous sooo early, that by the time they came into all their money and popularity, it was just too much to handle, and they crashed. Lindsay Lohan has literally crashed several times, but we won't go into that. I used to think I wanted to be a movie star, but can you imagine how awful that must be? They can't do anything without a camera or ten spying on them! Yeah, I get upset sometimes because they're way overpaid, but I feel so sorry for them at the same time, because they have no private life! What makes Americans so desperate to know everything about JT or Britney or J-Lo? Personally, my life is way too interesting and busy to be obsessed with celebrities. Ok, off that soapbox now.

Well, I've only got one hour left to go at work, so I'm stopping now. Later,

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School again!

This is more of a test post than anything else. I imported this blog into Facebook, so I'm seeing how good it is at updating regularly. If you are reading this, visit my actual blog moneydude524.blogspot.com and let me know! I'm at school right now in class or I'd do a longer post.

By the way, I did something stupid yesterday, and yes, this is so obviously something I would do. I bought a coffee maker for my desk at work. It's a small, four-cup unit just for personal brewing. It's great, cuz in five minutes I have two cups of coffee. Anyway, I was thinking that since I only paid $13 for it, that maybe it wouldn't be super hot. I mean, seriously, how good can a cheap walmart coffee maker be?? Well my friend, let me tell you it makes a HOT cup of coffee. I figured that out by burning every taste bud off my tongue. Stupid move, I know, but hey, it's me! Later,

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Friday Fun

I'm into alliteration and I don't know why. Oh well. So google has this thing you can do now that's almost like a game. It gives you a time limit and a partner that you don't know and can't communicate with. It then shows you pictures and has you start putting in suggestions until the two of you duplicate an answer. For example, if it put up a picture of alaska, you might say, "state," "alaska," "cold," etc. It keeps going until you and your partner have guessed the same word. Once you get that picture you get another one and you keep going till you run out of time. it's fun too because you get points, i'm just not sure how. Anyway, you're wondering where I'm going with this. At the end, it shows you the pictures you worked on, and it shows your partener's words. I just thought this one was funny. I couldn't tell what the picture was, and apparently my partner couldn't either:












passed
www.codinghorror.com
Partner's guesses:computer, chat, wtf is it, i cant see it, omg, i hate you google


I just thought his/her answers better reflected our frustration than my guess of "website."

Anyway, I'm pretty sure you have to be really bored to find it entertaining, but if you want to do it, go here: http://images.google.com/imagelabeler/ and enjoy.

So other than that, Friday's going normally, I'm still at work, and probably will be till 5:30 or 6. I'll try to update my Facebook tonight for those of you that care. Later,

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Whoosawhatsit?

Sooo, couple things to mention, then I'll just type till I get bored or interrupted or bored enough to get interrupted... Hmm.

So anyway, had an interesting evening last night. I volunteer with the Tech Arts ministry at our church when I can, usually doing camera work. James also helps with the Tech team, only he knows how to do almost everything. Everett (the guy in charge) wants us to come over to the new youth building and work tech team over there. I couldn't figure out why at first. He said he needs people over there to push the quality up. Right now, they're working with the same equipment as the adult building, but the quality level of production is lacking. Like I said, I only do camera work, so James had to teach me a lot of stuff last night. I learned a whole lot, though, and feel comfortable using what he showed me. I'd need more training before I started using the same equipment at the big building just because there are more eyes watching, and even more important, more experienced eyes. We had a couple rough spots last night, but what we helped to put out was apparently lots better than what they've been getting, so that was encouraging to us. I had a good time learning and seeing how things work.

Thing-to-talk-about number Two. I read a news article this morning that and European company is coming out with a gum that's not sticky! I'll give you a minute to recover from that.......... Enough time? I know. Now I'm thinking a couple things. First, what?? Second, who actually put time and energy into that thought? Seriously, who just suddenly says, "I think gum shouldn't be sticky anymore...I'll change it!"? It must be a big problem in the UK, because they spend like three million a year cleaning gum off the streets and park benches and stuff. What are they doing to clean it off? Does it cost $1000 to pay someone to run a paint scraper down the underside of your tables? If so, I'd take that job. It'd pay better than what I do now. There are a few problems with this gum though. The biggest fault I'm seeing? It's water soluble. Enjoy your gum, but don't take a sip of water, cuz there goes your gum. Who thought up that idea? And, how can it be water soluble, but your spit doesn't dissolve it? Sounds a little fishy to me. Speaking of fishy, wouldn't it be a great practical joke if someone could create bad-tasting gum that looks normal? Can you imagine if there was someone you didn't really like, or someone you just wanted to play a joke on. You give them a piece of gum, they start chewing it, and realize it tastes like green beans, or sweaty socks, or fish sticks or ooh, pepto bismol? That would be funny. Of course, you'd have to keep track of which pack of gum that was, cuz it wouldn't be a funny self-inflicted joke.

So I just wasn't happy with the picture of the motorcycle that I put up earlier, so I went back to the store and took a pic of it with my phone. This is it. I think it's pretty sweet, and it will be just what I need to get around town. Still don't know all the details, but would love it to work out. Just so y'all know, I'm mostly putting this up cuz my wife said she liked it when I put pics up here, and she would have hated it if I put a pregnancy pic of her up here, so I put the bike. Moving on...

Believe it or not, I think I'm out of stuff to say for now, so, later.

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Hullo, Hello, Hallo!

Good morning and good day to you! It is Wednesday, in case you hadn't noticed. I'm trying to be positive about today and stay in good spirits, and so far it's working! It also helps that I'm counting down the hours until I can leave, and updating it every half hour makes time fly by! How is your week going so far? I hope it's going well. The first couple days of this week weren't so great, but what Monday is ever that great? Unless of course any of my children are ever born on a monday, that wouldn't be so bad.

Speaking of children, we had another doctor's appointment yesterday and everything seems to be going fine. The baby is growing normally, as is Melissa's tummy, but she's looking pregnant, so it's so adorable. We get to go back in three weeks for a check up, and three weeks after that we'll find out whether it's a boy or girl!

So I had a bright idea yesterday... I say I had because, well, it "it was a good plan...until now." That's from POTC 1, for all you unsalty people. Garr. Anyway, I got a facebook last week, and I've been going through finding people I used to know. I've found 25 or 26 people so far, and last night I got the bright idea of poking all of them to see who would poke back. And it's great too, because I get the messages on my cell phone so I don't even have to be at a computer! Problem is, everyone poked back...all through the night. I think the last text message I got was at 2:30, which is almost funny, because my wife jokingly predicted that I would. On the other hand, I guess it's nice to know that people check their Facebook often, so if for some reason I needed to contact somebody, I could do it pretty quickly.

Don't get me wrong - I like Facebook now that I've found several people. What surprises me is that people keep finding me. It's cool when people find you, because doesn't that mean they wanted to find you? I mean, it seems to me like you'd have to be looking for them. Unless they were looking through their friends' friends list, saw you, and figured "hey, what the heck, ADD." I dunno. What will be more interesting, I think, is how many people I "know" on Facebook are actually interested in staying connected, or whether they just want a longer friends list than everyone else. I suppose that remains to be seen.

I do have one sad thing to point out about this post - I started writing it almost four hours ago. I keep getting interrupted, but then again, that's probably because I'm at work. I better go. Later,

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Number 3 coming up...

So how was your weekend? Was it everything you dreamed it would be? Yeah, uh huh, keep lying to yourself. Weekends in this country are so rarely a true time to relax like they should be. Weekends are now when everybody gets out to do all the stuff they didn't get to during the week. I know - we do it too. I did have one interesting thing happen this weekend... The fire alarm went off at school (college). Somebody in a Chemistry lab spilled some stuff, so they set off the alarm as "a precaution." Yeah, you know they so enjoyed that. Long story short, we ended up getting out of class 55 minutes early, so I got to go home and watch a movie before my next class. That was a little relaxing, but my wife was not at home, so it could have been better.

So we have pregnant doctor visit number three tomorrow! I have no idea what happens at this visit. We have heard the hearbeat, and seen the ultrasound, we don't find out what it is till next visit, (I mean whether it's a boy or a girl - we KNOW it's a baby). Of course, she is already 16 weeks, and I read somewhere that sometimes they can tell by week 15... Then again, they are more likely to be wrong the earlier they test, and we don't (well, I don't) want to take our boy home in pink anymore than we want to take our girl home in blue. We can wait another four weeks to find out what it is. It will be nice to know, because that way we can pick a name and not tell anybody! Ha ha. There are only like two, maybe four people we will tell, and you know who you are. If you're wondering "Is that me?" then no, it's not you. Like I said, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE. :)

Ugh, so many good movies out. I need to go see some. Even more than that, I need to go to the shooting range. It's been a month and a half, and they say that you should go at least once a month if not twice to maintain your skills. Oy. If only I had time...

Sooo, I'm gonna go work, cuz I get paid to, and it would be a shame to not earn that money. Of course, they'd still give it to me if I worked a half-day. "Cuz, even if you only play a half-game, you still get the whole snow-cone. You don't get half a snow-cone, so, yeah, I'd- I'd rather play- I'd rather play half-game. Still get the whole snow-cone." Watch brian regan videos if you don't know what I'm talking about... Later,

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A new definition of stupid

Ok, before I start, let me say that I finally got a facebook, but I will only be checking it and/or responding on it once a week. It is simply so people will stop begging me to get one. My personal favorite is still this blog thing.

Ok, so check out this news story I found.

HARRISON, N.Y. - Even the dead apparently have to pay the fines on their overdue books at one Westchester County library. Elizabeth Schaper said she was charged a 50-cent late fee while turning in a book that her late mother had checked out of a Harrison Public Library branch.

WHAT??? This is typical of libraries, though. Well think about it, how else are they gonna make money? I asked one time, and the lady said that they charge late fees to...inspire people to return books on time, because there might be someone else waiting for them. Ha. I usually need a book for a week longer than the check out time, so maybe if they increased the possible check out time, more people would return on time. I'm not going to the library any more, because they are saying I didn't return a book that I checked out last year, and they want $40. I'm not paying that cuz I know I returned the book. That's a load of crap. Forty bucks for a book? I checked the price on that book cuz it's somehting I do, and it was $8.75!! What kind of crazy profit are they trying to pull?? That's like a 400% profit. Crazy librarian people. Mother, I can say this and not offend you, cuz you usually waive your fees, and they're soooooo cheap at that. No worries.

So it's finally Friday. About time. Slow week this week. On the other hand, I have a paper due tomorrow that I'm not very excited about... My calendar also says I have an exam, but the teacher hasn't talked about studying or preparing or anything, so I'll read over my notes again tonight, but I'm thinking the test has been moved a week away. I could be alright with that. I think I'm gonna try to head out to the range this weekend. I haven't been in over a month, and that's bad for accuracy. Maybe tomorrow after school... We'll see.

What's your favorite TV show? I will always say Friends, even though it's not on the air anymore. I own the entire show including bloopers, commentaries, interviews, the whole thing. I love shows like House, CSI, Numbers, not so much the sitcoms. Most sitcoms out today get their humor from making husbands into lazy and stupid oafs, and I think it's wrong to demean them so. If they're not making fun of husbands, it's parents in general. The kids run the house, and I don't agree with that, either. By the way, did you catch the typo two paragraphs ago? Hmm. I think I'm gonna go now. Later,

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Ugh

So you know what really ticks me off? When you call people in Baytown, you have to dial a one before the number. Seriously? It's a 281 area code!! You shouldn't have to dial a one. It's not really that big of a deal, but I hate getting the stupid voice "Dee Doo Dee! We're sorry, you must first dial a one or a zero before dialing this number. Will you please hang up and try your call again." GAAARRRRR!!!! Plus, you know they're not really sorry... Whatever, one day, they will be sorry.

I love Laffy Taffy. It's gooey, but doesn't stick to your teeth like Starburts or Now or Laters. Plus, you get two great jokes on the outside of the package. You can tell this is obviously the most exciting part of my day. Just a normal work day. Lots of orders to enter.

I started reading a new book! It's called Madman by Tracy Groot. I'm only throught the first chapter, but it's good so far... We'll see. Hey, what's the worst last name you've ever heard? I can't really think of one, but I was thinking about how many different ways you can make fun of our last name, and I wondered who has the worst last name in the world. Either hard to pronounce, or easy to make fun of, like Roach or Butts. Lemme know what you think.

I don't have time to post much right now, cuz I've got lots of stuff to be doing, but I did put up another poem. If you haven't read that blog yet, check it out. I've only had three requests, and two came from the same person. Later,

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Second Place

Soooo, James posted before I could today. If you are one of the few people I know who don't know James, click here. BUT READ THIS POST BEFORE YOU READ HIS. We are entertaining a new idea. I say entertaining, because there are still a few things that would need to happen ahead of time, but here it is: Motorcycles. Before you freak out or go on a rant about the dangers of motorcycles, we have thought about all that stuff. We are looking at them from the standpoint of cheaper insurance, less money spent on gas, and plus we can get a new motorcycle for the price of a very cheap used car, and the motorcycle wouldn't need maintenance every thousand miles. So, again, I say entertaining the idea, because several things need to fall into place for it to work. I have found a bike I like, and James has found a few he likes, and hey, we'll see what happens.

This is the one I like...

This is another nice one.

This one's a little more expensive though - it's the upgrade for the one above it.

So anyway, this week is going slow, but I need to get going. Later,

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Good Morning!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNN. Soooo tired. Hey, good thing happened yesterday, we got to hang out with James and Lynne. That hasn't happened very much lately, cuz we've all been so busy. It was nice to see them. Still four days to work this week, so still quite a way to go. Yesterday was a pretty long day, and I don't know what today will be like.

Phillip, you asked about my other other blog, that's where I post when I'm mad at the world. For the rest of you that have no idea what I'm talking about, you'll eventually figure it out. Otherwise, you just weren't meant to read it.

Into the world of dreams. What the heck to they mean?? I have some of the weirdest dreams, and the worst part is that at the time, they seem to make perfect sense, even if they're completely opposite from real life! Sometimes I have scary dreams, though not quite as often anymore. Sometimes I just have odd dreams, where something from real life is majorly distorted, and maybe during the dream, that one thing seems to be great, but then I wake up and wonder, "what was I thinking??" I know that in the Bible, people were called upon to interpret dreams, and that the Lord spoke through many dreams, but I'm thinking that some of my dreams are more food inspired than God inspired. If they do have a deeper meaning, I'd love to hear them. Someone once said that dreams are our body's way of sorting out the events from the day before. I can see that sometimes, although I still don't like the way my mind goes about doing it. The ones that get me the most are when they involve actual people I know as opposed to just a general character. I don't usually have cheerful dreams anymore. I used to have lots of happy dreams, and they just don't show up anymore. Wonder why...

Dreams or not, I am having an extremely hard time staying awake today. I'm having to fight to keep my eyes open and my hands moving on the keyboard. I should sleep more. Later,

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Monday!

So, how was the weekend for you? Mine was long in that I didn't get more than six hours of sleep per night, but short in that it's already over.

So I saw in the news that Marcel Marceau died. Supposed to be a really famous mime or something. The only other time I've heard of him was a mention in a Friends episode.

So what's on the plan for this week? I'm thinking work and sleep. Don't you just hate it when you are busy all weekend, so it feels like you don't even get one? If you haven't checked my other blog, brokenandrebuilt.blogspot.com then you should. It's only got two posts on it right now, but I'm working on putting up a third - Lynne requested a long poem, and I am determined to get the whole thing on there. Don't worry, it's not near as long as Song of Hiawatha. Anybody like CSI: Miami? Season premiere is on tonight, looks good. Did you know that the top five movies in the box office right now are rated R? Pretty sad isn't it? When's the last time the top five had even three decent children's cartoons or something? When's the last time the top five movies were rated G? Who knows. Now, it's not necessarily all bad, I want to see three of the top ten right now, and they have violence for the R rating, but it's still not something we can take kids to. I wish they'd come out with more "Rated E for Everyone" type movies.

Quick, leave a comment right now and tell me what book you're reading. You can finish reading the post later, leave a comment now.

Did you do it? WELL GO DO IT!!!

...do it yet? OK.

Yeah, so that's all I had to say... I'm trying really hard to stay awake, cuz they don't approve of sleeping at or under your desk. Later,

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Weekend!!

So what's up? Have you checked out my other blog? It's not meant to be hugely entertaining or informative, it's just a way to keep track of good literature. I'll be putting poems, quotes, perhaps a short story or two, and some scripture. Let me know your favorite authors, and I'll put some of their stuff up there.

I was gonna make this a nice long post, but my teacher finally showed up, so I'm gonna have to cut it short. TTYL,

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I have a second blog for you to enjoy...

only for poetry, short stories, stuff like that.

CLICK HERE

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Friday and about time

I......am tired. Exhausted. I need more sleep. I slept like a rock again last night, but oh, how early 5:45 comes, expecially when you when to bed at 12:30. We stayed out too late, as usual, but we had a good time. Have you ever been to comedy sportz? It's a modified stand-up comedy routine, and very funny. We went last night, cuz James and Lynne got tickets somehow. It was very enjoyable. So only 8.5 hours to go in my workday, how 'bout you? Not that many? More? Oh well, it's Friday at least. klllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

oh, sorry, that was me falling asleep. i am tired, so i'm gonna stop this post and try to find something to wake me up. have a good friday.

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Thursday is here!

I am tired. T-I-R-E-D. I actually feel asleep last night at 10:30. Didn't go to sleep, no no, fell asleep, meaning I couldn't keep my eyes open. Guess that means I'm not getting enough sleep, cuz I'm still exhausted this morning. (sidenote) I hate allergies.

So, did you read that Barry Bond's 756 carreer home run baseball was sold for 750,000? Yeah, that's just plain stupid. 3/4 of a million? You know all the different things you could do with that? Buy a house, pay off cars, send kids to college, buy big gun collection and diamonds for your wife...(I love you, Honey) I mean the options are almost endless, and Mr. Smart Guy bought a baseball. Moron.

Remember when Dan Rather made a really bad report about President Bush in 2005? Then later he came on and publicly apologized for the false information? Then a few months later he "retired?" Yeah, he's suing CBS for $70,000,000. No job loss is that significant unless you're an actor or sports player, and if you are, you're getting paid too much anyway, so deal with it. Sheesh.

So hows the week going? Mine? Oh, not too bad. I'm hungry right now, but I didn't bring breakfast, so what do I expect? I'd say I can't wait for the weekend to get here, but I'm gonna have such a busy weekend, it's just gonna be like two more work days. Doing different stuff for sure, but still doing stuff all day saturday and sunday. Oy. The weekend after this might not be so bad. Wanna hear something dumb? It is the middle of September in Houston, and I'm wearing a hoodie in work. They like to keep it COLD in here. I'm all for AC when it's hot, but to make it cold on purpose? Who thought up that bright idea?! Later,

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Stupid People

Yeah, so I saw one of the stupidest things last night. We got fantastic seats to an Astros game last night ($200/ticket), and of course they lost, just like the last 9 out of 13 games. However, bottom of the ninth, three fans ran onto the field! The first guy made it all the way from First to Shortstop before getting (literally) thrown to the ground. The second guy didn't make it past first base, and the third person, a girl, started to run, saw the first two get caught, and changed her mind. She went back into the stands, and a cop followed her and dragged her back out. I'm sure they had fun, but that's a Class B Misdemeanor. For more info on how that works, check out James and Lynne's Blog - www.jamesandlynne.com - James is the FOK of our group (that stands for Fountain Of Knowledge), and he'd love to tell you all about the penalties of doing that. Bottom line, never charge the field, because the city will charge YOU.

So what's up? How's the week going? Almost half way over, huh? It has been a looooong week already or at least it feels like it. I'm rather amazed at how slow everything is going. On the other hand, I have a ton of stuff to do this week. Study for a test, finish a presentation and give it, go to school for 8 hours, and work at church tonight and sunday for a total of 10 hours i think. I think I'll sleep a lot on Sunday night, cuz I'm gonna be exhausted. Why am I telling you all of this? I feel like it. Hey, if you don't wanna read it, then don't. Just sayin...

I feel like I should write more, but I'm also trying to stay awake, and I'm not doing too well. It took me five minutes to type that last sentence cuz I keep spacing out. So.....yeah.....I'm gonna go now. Later,

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Monday

So it's Monday again, how was your weekend? Mine was pretty good. Of course, I had school on Saturday, and lunch with the in-laws on Sunday, but the weekend was pretty good. I did a daring thing last night - I gave myself a haircut. Yeah, it's pretty short. Let's put it this way - I shaved two days ago, and the hair on my face is the same length as the hair on my head. I like it better this way. It's easier to deal with.

Have you ever noticed how much easier it is to go through life with God's help as opposed to doing it on your own? I'm not saying that He makes life all hunky-dory and picture perfect, but it's easier to deal with all the crap the world throws at you. He even tells us that His way is easier: "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30. It's incredible the difference it makes when you just give all your problems to God and ask Him to take control. You can try living on your own, and you get along...decently. In the end, though, it comes to overpower you, and all the sudden you're drowning in a sea of hopelessness. What to you do? Return to the Lord, and bow at his feet. You'll always be amazed at the difference it makes.

So what's on the agenda for this week? I have to work on a paper and a group project for my college classes (bleh), and I get to work on Tech Team at church again! It seems like it's been forever since I got to help, when in reality it's only been three weeks. When you go three weeks without even seeing something, it feels like a long time.

Pastor Sal talked about something yesterday that I'm going to have to work on. The Bible tells us to "love our enemies and pray for those that persecute us". That means loving those that we otherwise might despise. I have a coworker like that. Sal pointed out though that if we cannot love that person, then we don't really love God, because God is love, and if we love Him and are following Him, we are called to love everyone. Certainly, there's no way we can love everyone with His agape love, because we're not perfect, but I'm sure gonna try at least with this one person. Oy.

So once I finally got a Myspace (out of sheer boredom), and now everyone says they don't use Myspace anymore, and that Facebook is the popular thing now. I went to Facebook, but they wouldn't approve my name. How stupid is that? So I'm not doing that. At least not for a while. Anyway, better get to work. Later,

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Finally Friday again

Have you ever overslept?? I did that this morning. I wanted to be up at 5:45 so I could get to work by 6:30, and instead I woke up at 6:38. I didn't get to work til 7:11. I hate that cuz then you start out your day stressed out. Looks like I'll just have to work till 6 to make up my time today. So what's up for the weekend? Anything exciting? I'm going to school and then to get a haircut, and maybe the shooting range. It's been two weeks, so I'd really like to. It's so easy to lose the touch if you don't practice regularly.

So I saw that the Patriots have been cheating. This is starting to confirm my opinion that the current age of adults (30-45/50) are only about 1/4 adults and the other 3/4 are just kids that never grew up. Crap like cheating is from like 3rd grade! Gee whiz, is people aren't cheating, they're complaining because they're not getting what they want fast enough, or they don't want to pay the consequences just because they did something wrong. I used to think it would be so great to be an adult, but now that I've got a foot in the door, I'm not too impressed! With all the adults acting this way, how are the next generation of young people supposed to respect us, the new generation of adults? I can tell you how...they're not! Good grief, grow up, people. If I just offended you, either count yourself in the 1/4 group, or move on.

So I want to see the new Jodie Foster movie. It looks good. I've liked her as an actress since she was in One Little Indian. Ever seen that movie? It's got James Garner when he was still young and semi good looking. It's not that great of a movie, but it's an older one, and you might enjoy it. Alright, so I got bored last night, and now I have a Myspace. it's not much, but it's functional. I'll put more stuff on it the next time I get bored. Could be tonight, might be next month, we'll see. I'm not gonna keep up with it like I do this post. If you want baby info, check the blog.

Ever have one of those people that feel the need to tell you everything? They want to share everything that's happened in their life, and their opinion on everything. And then it's like you seem to remember all the crap they "share" with you, so everytime they start talking again, even though you hate it, you know what they're talking about. And then, in order to not be rude, you have to at least partially pay attention so you can nod at the right time, or make a comment here and there. Better get to work. Later,

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Thursday's Thoughts

Not much to say today, just felt like putting something up here. So we had some guests over last night that stayed waaaaaay too late. JUST KIDDING. It was James and Lynne (and Isaac), and they can never stay too late. We started a movie at 10:30. That was the first mistake, especially considering how old we are; we just don't have that youthful stamina that teenagers enjoy. So anyway, I finally woke them up at 11:30, cuz Lynne was asleep on one couch, Melissa on another, and James and Isaac on the floor. It took a while to wake up our wives, but they do a lot, so it's understandable that they were exhausted. I tell ya, getting to work at 6:30 in the morning is starting to get to me. I thought it would get easier as I kept doing it, but no. It's just as hard every morning. I have to convince myself to get up. I've found one thing that helps though. I set my alarm one hour earlier than I need to, so when it goes off, I can give myself the luxury of another hour of sleep. I know it might not make sense to you, but it feels kind of like I'm giving myself more sleep that way. I don't have to get up right away, I can snooze for a whole extra hour! Yeah, so it made sense to me...

So the week's going by pretty fast huh? Did you see that Lamborghini put out a new car? Yeah, called the Reverton (whatever). It's pretty cheap, only 1.4 Million dollars. Oh, that's before tax. They're only going to make 20 of them, and they sold out in 4 days. that's disgusting. sooooo much money for a freakin' car. sheesh. Don't get me wrong - it's a gorgeous car and I'd love to have one, but for 1.4 mil, I could do so many other things like buying a house and putting my kids through college and buying my wife lots of diamonds. I can't imagine spending that much money on anything really. I could spend a hundred thousand in an afternoon, but a million-four is a LOT. If you don't believe me about the hundred thou, leave a comment, and i'll make a list. It's scary how much money I could spend with the ability. maybe that's why I'm not a millionaire. Here's an interesting question... other than a house, what's the most expensive thing you want, or would buy if money (or rather a lack of it) was no hinderance. Don't forget to vote on the poll. You can select multiple answers this time. Better get back to work. Later,

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Been a while...

I would classify today as a bad day. I think I really would. I know it's been a while since I posted, and again, I apologize. I've been working overtime (finally), and haven't had an opportunity to post. Not that I've had much to post about. Been very boring and average week so far. Only interesting thing I can think of is that my parents bought a new entertainment center and gave us their old one. That's actually a really good thing, because I always kinda hoped I'd get it if they ever got rid of it. It gets better - they gave us the old stereo system, too. I've been wanting that ever since they bought it. The entertainment center is special because my dad made it, and it's really nice. Hard to find one like it. So I've meet both of my teachers for this semester, and I'm not overly impressed with either one. Sociology guy has been teaching for ten years, and he's already made it clear that he's not gonna be nice. Our speech teacher comes to class in her pilates outfit (soooo unproffessional), and wouldn't let us use our computers. She later explained it's because we don't need to take notes (all tests are take home - bleh). She's not the brightest lightbulb in the building though. She made a statement that all relationships end - even the relationship we have with ourself. What?! What a load of modern day crap. What about Jesus? our connection to Him never ends. And our souls are eternal, too, so HA. I'm always sooooo impressed with the teachers at Cy-Fair. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate cheap education, but they're not really terrific teachers for the most part. I've had a couple I really liked, but only a couple.

I am quite sure that someone is having a more interesting week than me. Please tell me about it. Heck, I'll even include it in the next post so all ten of you can see it! That would be exciting, right? Hey, work with me here, I'm trying to keep a depressing post somewhat interesting. Talk to me. Later,

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Saturday! Finally!

Soooooooo. Long week, huh? I know I haven't posted in forever and to those of you who were actually disappointed, I apologize. It has been a very long and stressful week, and I haven't been able to post at work, and then by the time I got home, I would be too tired to do anything but sleep and spend time with melissa.

So, I already said work was long - we had inventory this week, and I can't tell you how glad I am that crap is over with. We did it differently this year - no precounting (that means we count everything before we start, and then count it again when we begin the actual inventory). It worked a lot better, and went a lot faster, so instead of being at work this morning, skipping school, and finishing inventory, I'm sitting in a hall at school waiting for my teacher who has 20 minutes left before I leave, and not missing work one bit. You know something that really ticks me off? When your boss discriminates against you cuz you're the youngest person in the building. It's like when they say no to you, and yes to someone else just because that other person is 20 years older than you. Totally makes my blood boil. "I'm like a tornado of ANGER! Swirling about!" (thank you Will Ferrell).

Anybody see any good movies this week? If so, please tell me, cuz I really want to go see 3:10 To Yuma, and I don't know if it would be worth it. So I guess mostly I only wanna hear from you if you saw that movie. You could respond with another movie though and I wouldn't be mad... Anway...

What's on the activity plan for ya this week? I'm doing school and school and sleeping and sleeping, and eating... yeah, not much. James and Lynne and Isaac are out of town on the camping trip we missed cuz I had inventory... :( They'll be back sometime Sunday I think, so that will be nice.

Ok, it's 8, the teacher is officially late. Big surprise. You know, it's sad, I had a bunch of sarcasm and negativity to share with you yesterday while I was at work, but now that it's Saturday, I'm all clean and fresh! This is not normal - I'm not sure I like it. Hmm....

So I was looking at the World yesterday, and it STINKS!!!! How's that? Not good? OK. Wow there are some..... fruity looking people here at Cy-Fair. You really dont think about it that much until you're here and you think someone is a girl until they turn around, and then you're about 85% sure they're a guy. Weird.

Well, class is starting, so I'd better pay attention...NOT. Why pay attention in school?? Just kidding, honey. I'm paying total attention. Later!

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Friday!

7:10 am
Sooooo, yesterday was a weird post. I was in a funk most of yesterday, so if that seemed a little over the top compared to my normal posting, I'm sorry. I still mean what I said, but that's a little more serious than I usually care to be. This is going to be a day long post, so I'm going to put times down of when I post so you can see how the day affects me. I know you're so excited to see how it ends.
I have to talk about something. PRINCESS DIANA IS DEAD. I know it sounds cold and hard, but seriously, she's been dead for ten years, and I had never heard a thing about her before she died, which means (in my mind) that she couldn't have been that impressive of a person. I'm sorry that she died so young, but we all die, and it was just her time. Why are there people gathering again to mourn her passing? Seriously, do we all gather around on the day John Lennon was shot and mourn his passing? Do we all gather on the day Kennedy was shot and cry about it? No, because they died and time moves on. I don't understand it. If you think you can enlighten me or convince me otherwise, please let me know. If I just offended you, well, get over it. :)
Also saw that someone has invented a functional flying car. It floats ten feet off the ground, and looks like a flying saucer from a 1950's movie. It's kinda sad. I know eventually we'll all be flying around in our cars, but I think they should have waited to publicize this one. Plus you know what, I'd hate to have that thing flying over my car. Can you imagine that thing in heavy traffic? It just keeps going right into the intersection and all the sudden, everyone else wants that driver to die. and you know what else? I imagine that in a world of flying cars, there would be more accidents and more fatalities and a whole lot more traffic jams. I'll go with my ground-loving cars for now and leaving the flying to pilots.

7:30
What's your favorite movie and why? Mine is First Knight with Sean Connery, Richard Gere, and Julia Ormond. I'm not 100% sure why I love that movie so much, but I've lost track of how many times I've watched it, and I have the whole movie memorized. I used to be able to quote any part of the movie on request. If you started a quote, I could finish the movie from that point forward. I know it's not the best acting in the world, and certainly not the best props or costume design, but I like the story - plus it's got lots of sword fighting, and who doesn't like a little bit of that every so often? Let me know about your favorite!

8:34
Why do offices wait for a three day weekend to make you work late? This is supposed to be Labor Day weekend, and my wife's office is making her work tonight and tomorrow for inventory. That's just wrong. Same kind of thing they usually do when we get an extra day off for thanksgiving or christmas - we have to work that saturday. I'd go work for her if I could, but I wouldn't get paid for it, and she'll get paid overtime. Totally sucks.

10:29
Almost time for lunch... Don't know what I'm eatin today. Lots of stuff around the bank - I have to stop by and get out our rent check - that's important. Not a good thing to forget. Found out this morning that I should be getting transferred to our service department sometime in September. That will be really nice. We'll be able to save a lot of money on gas, cuz we'll just be using one car. Aah, a cheaper gas bill. That will be nice.

12:52 pm
Lunch was, I think, a disappointment (I finally spelled it correctly). I usually get in some good reading time (I'm working on another Stephen King novel), and today I only got 10 minutes. Oh well, at least tomorrow is Saturday. Seems like I had more to say at 7 this morning. Whattaya think of this new style, keepin track of the whole day? Well, because this is the first time, I won't bore you by keeping this up for the whole day. I'll stop now, and you let me know what you think. I'm thinking I may get a resounding NO from all of you who read this (that would be my relatives, james, lynne, and phil). But hey, that's more than nobody. Later,

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Thursday

What is a feeling?

May I suggest that it is a response, perhaps pre-programmed, to a given situation. You are given a gift, therefore you feel happy. Someone rear-ends your car, you feel mad. A pre-programmed one may be a feeling of fear when you prepare to walk into an empty house after midnight (I don't know why you would want to, but that's beside the point). If feelings are indeed a response, doesn't that mean we can or should be able to control them? In the Star Wars movies and countless others, people are told to "trust their feelings." However if a feeling is a response, that means it could be different each time a certain thing happens, therefore they are subject to change, and perhaps not so trustworthy. Would you go to someone for advice if you knew their answer would be different if you asked a second time? Hmm.

So can we really control our feelings? There are several places in the Bible were we are called to be self-controlled. I would think that includes controlling our emotions and our reactions to life. Not to say we should never get mad, "Be angry, and do not sin." (Ps. 4:4). It just means we shouldn't meditate on that anger and act on it. But maybe it also means we should be able to choose how we feel about something. We choose to get upset if something bad happens. That's a tough pill to swallow, especially when you're in the midst of a bad situation.

A question though. Can you choose to stop a feeling? Not necessarily like love or something, perhaps a feeling of animosity or loneliness or guilt. Negative feelings in general? Perhaps it's more than just stopping the feeling, it probably has to be replaced with a positive one. That makes sense if you realize that to get rid of dark, you have to replace it with light.

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So that was my post this morning. I almost deleted it because it sounds so sermon-y. Oh well. How's your thursday going? Another normal work week over here, nothing too special happening over here. This weekend will be nice I think. At least nicer than some. Maybe just a little better. At least we get an extra day off. That will be nice.

I guess just not much else to say today, I just felt kind of obligated to post something since I know some of you faithfully check this every day. Thanks for that, and as always, comments are welcome. Later,

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Meat (It's Tuesday, by the way)

So what's up? Haven't been around in a couple days, but I've been very busy doing nothing. I'm kind of stuck on meat right now. You get to hear all about it, and then you can tell me what you think!

Take BEEF, it's the main meat, every good man food has BEEF. You can have it in 3 main forms: Ground, Roast, Lunch Meat. Then look at CHICKEN. You can have it in 3 main forms: Ground, Roast, Slab (like the rotisserie chickens at Kroger). What about PORK? Roast, Slab (like Ham), Lunch Meat, Bacon, Sausage! Last (at least in my list) is TURKEY. You can Roast it, Slab (like a chicken), Ground, and Bacon! Now, why is it that you can make TURKEY bacon, and PORK bacon, but you can't make BEEF Bacon or CHICKEN bacon? Would they taste that bad? You can make TURKEY bacon, and it's a bird, so why not CHICKEN bacon? Why is it that Roasted TURKEY and Roasted BEEF have the same consistency, but you can't just cook a chunk of BEEF like you can a TURKEY leg? Why can you grind PORK and BEEF, and one comes out Sausage, and one comes out still BEEF? They look the same, so why don't they tast the same? Why is it that ground CHICKEN and ground TURKEY don't look the same? Last for consideration, why is it that you can Roast a DUCK, have it look like TURKEY, and taste like BEEF?

Soooo, yeah, I thought about it a little bit. How was Monday? Was it nice to you? I hope so. Ever get those nights where you feel like you don't need to go to sleep? I had one of those on Saturday. We didn't get home till like 12:30, and I still had to shower and clean our guns, so I stayed up. I finished with that stuff at 2:30, and figured, 'well, I gotta be at church in 4 hours anyway, and that's not enough sleep for me, so i'll just stay up!' Well, I lasted till 5:30, and Melissa came in and had me turn off the movie and come to bed. So I slept for 1 HOUR and went to church. THAT is one of the stupidest things ever to do. You think four hours isn't enough? Well one hour is barely enough to fall asleep. I am still amazed I didn't fall asleep in my chair, and that would have been bad cuz I was working a camera. Then after church I went home and took a two hour nap, and that was dumb too. I woke up feeling sick. Oh well.

What's happening this week in the news? Nichole Richie sets world record for shortest jail sentence ever served, gains 30 pounds and adopts a pet gorilla! Paris Hilton makes a statement that she is not the most beautiful woman ever, and stops wearing pink! Britney Spears decided she wanted to get back with K-Fed, and have two more children. Angelina says "I want to have a baby!" She is calling Billy Bob Thornton as we speak. Hurricane Francisco forms in Gulf of Mexico, it looks like it may try to cross the border overnight. Hitler descendant starts 12th Reich in Luxembourg and forms watch line. Yeah, nothing exciting.

I should probably get back to work. It's gonna be a busy day. Later.

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Thursday!

Another week gone by, and so quickly! Today is movie quote day! I'm gonna list some and you see if you can guess the movie. I'll post the correct answers...never. Some of these are harder than others...


"Dude! Where's my car?"

"May the Force be with you."

"Snakes! I hate snakes!"

"Nobody makes me bleed my own blood! Nobody!"

"the twins keep us on centaurian time...standard 37 hour day. Give it a few months, you'll get used to it, or have a psychotic episode."

"Say hello to my little friend!"

"I didn't know who you were with."

"It's not personal, it's just business."

"I don't have any good skills."

"Madness? THIS IS SPARTA!!"

"Do you have protection?" "No, I don't believe in guns."

"You might have seen a housefly, maybe even a superfly, but I bet you ain't never seen a donkey fly!"

"I like what you done with that boulder. That is a niiiice boulder."

"All I've ever wanted was an honest week's pay for an honest day's work."

"It is my intention to commandeer one of these ships, pick up a buccaneer crew in Tortuga, raid, pillage, plunder, and otherwise pilfer my weasly black guts out."

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"I'm sorry, I won't be here when you get back... my wife says I can't be a spy anymore. I have to be home for dinner."

I'll put more up here later. If you're really good, you'll leave a comment and tell me where all the quotes came from. There! It's an interactive blog! Later,

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What a World

Wednesday. The world turns. Various people are awake, various people are asleep... Yeah, I'm not happy. Why? I hate traffic. I hate driving. I hate being late. I can't stand those people that brake just to stay four car lengths behind the car in front of them. Or those people who brake before every bump in the road. Or those people that insist on driving the speed limit or slower in the fast lane. IT'S CALLED A FAAAAAST LANE!! Good grief. Then there are the people who wait till the last possible second to brake, and then they slam on their brakes, forcing you to slam on your brakes, and then you hope the person behind you is paying attention so they don't crash into your car. Why they gotta be like that? Why? I don't understand. Here's another thing I don't understand. Why do trains have to cross roadways? Why can't they all either be under ground, elevated, or why can't there be an overpass placed over the tracks? Trains are waaaay to slow to be blocking our main lanes of traffic. That and if they're going to cross the roads, they shouldn't be allowed to run during the day. If they want to operate between midnight and 6 am, that's fine, cuz if you're out on the roads at that time, you're either out past bedtime, a drug dealer, a night worker, a drunk, or a cop. If any of those people get stopped by a train, that's ok. They're out late anyway, and they can wait. Most of this is stemming from the fact that I hate being late. I left in plenty of time to get back to work on time, and i was 16 minutes late instead. Not that anyone could have changed anything, except the people involved in both accidents on 290, and the person driving the train that stopped me 1 block from the office.

So....how's your week going? Mine's going good - except for today of course. Melissa and I went to an Astros game, and she got a ball. It wasn't hit by an Astro, but it was pitched by an Astro, so she said that counts. Plus the tickets were free, so can't complain. We might go back again on Friday, but we'll have slightly better seats, so that will be nice. Maybe I'll even take my glove. If I can find it...

Can someone explain team loyalty to me? I don't have it. I have two baseball caps - they are both for the North Carolina Tarheels. Do I watch basketball? Never. Do I watch football? Only on thanksgiving day. Do I watch baseball? Never? Are there any other real sports? No. But, really, the only reason I wear tarheels hats is because I like the foot, and my dad is from North Carolina. I couldn't care less about their scores, stats, or whatever. I don't understand people who buy season tickets to a sport to support their city's team. I would buy season tickets for baseball because I enjoy watching a live game, but I would never do so expecting the team to win. I made a comment last night about the Astros, because I've never gone to a game and seen them win. I've watched them on TV, but in person, I've never seen them win. They've never won the World Series, though they did come close a couple times, and they usually just don't do that well anymore. Back ten years ago? Yeah, they were great, but now? No way. So when I see people paying good money to go see "their team" lose, I just don't understand why. Like I said, I'd pay money just to go watch baseball, because I love the sport, but I would never go expecting anything. Maybe it's just me.

Anybody seen any good movies lately? Tell me about them! I want to go see "The Last Legion." It looks good. I like war movies, and I like the Roman thing (empire, gladiators, swords, etc.).

Gotta get back to work. Later!

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Mondee, Monday, Munday...

How do you pronounce the weekdays? Do you say them with an "eeee" at the end? My grandparents do that sometimes. Sundee, Mondee, Tuesdee, etc. I always say it with the "ay" on the end (like normal). Doesn't really matter how you say it, just curious.

So did anybody save TONS of money during tax-free weekend? Yeah, I thought not.

The weekend seemed much longer this time! Really, we went to a hotel Friday night (provided by our wonderful friends James & Lynne (for our birthdays)). Saturday we went shopping (with money from melissa's dad, not me). That was fun, and then last night we hung out with James and Lynne again, and it just seemed like a much longer weekend than usual. I thought about looking through the news on Yahoo to find something to make fun of, but some of my readers have said that I sound too sarcastic. Maybe i'll put up a poll about it, and see how many of you really feel that way. Maybe I don't really care what you think. No, I do. That's why I do this blog, right? No, not really. I just wanted a place to put down my thoughts, and maybe interact with my friends, relatives, distant acquaintances... It works, right? I mean, it's a whole lot easier for me to manage than Myspace or Facebook. They just seem like a hassle. So many options to keep track of, and really when you think about it, they're just a waaaay too fancy email service. People leave you messages, you leave them messages....email. This, well this is just something I do because I can, and if nobody ever responds, that's ok, and if people do respond, I don't have to respond back! It's great. You should try it, and if you do, let me know your URL, and I'll check it out.

Have you ever wondered about all the memories and information that will be lost when the current generation of "old people" die? By old, I'm referring to people 70 and older. Once you hit that age, there's really no telling how long you have left. Not trying to be morbid, just explaining my terminology. But seriously, you'd have to be at least 80 to remember WW2, and 90 to really remember the Great Depression. What will we do when those first-hand accounts have been silenced? Another generation of history will be gone forever. It's really sad, but it really makes me want to record as many stories as I can so we have something other than history books to rely on. I remember quite a few that my grandfather has told me, but I want to get as many as possible so I can tell my grandchildren.

Well, it's time for lunch, I'll ttyl,

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