Happy New Year

Good evening everyone.  The year is about over and it has been very long one.  Yeah I know 364 days just like 3 out of 4.    It did not start out very well as last year ended very badly.  Missing them both now hurts.  I wish I could have helped mom and everyone more.  I have nothing really pressing on my mind or my heart this week.  I am not even sure if I should write anything but I have promise myself to do this at least 1 time a week.

Not sure what the New Year will bring but I hope it brings to you and yours a blessing.

Tonights Bed time story for the Boys

Luke 2 (New International Version, ©2010)

Luke 2

The Birth of Jesus

 ¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register. ⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
 ⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
 ¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
 ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
   and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
 ¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
 ¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Christmas at the lake

I was going to name this the first Christmas.  Then I read it and thought better about it.  We had our first family dinner and opening of presents of this Christmas season Sunday afternoon at Marilyn and Ken's house.  Lots of food, lots of presents and lots of fun.  Ransom  made it this year and so there was a scramble for gifts for him.  It is always good to have him.

The boys got DSi from Granny and Lynn.  They have been playing them non stop ever since.  We are going to have to put them on a very short leash as school starts back.  I found out today that you can by the stylists for back up for about $10.00 for 4 of them.  I believe that we will be needing to invest in them.  They also got clothes which they really needed.  Legos and pokeman cards went over great.  

Tim took a lot of Granddads old VHS movies and put them on CD-roms for everyone.  It is very cool to have a copy of them.  It was hard watching parts of them on Sunday.  I am not sure when I will watch them but I know I will.  I want to watch them with the boys and show E his Mama Jo and remind Gman of them both.

We will have 2 more of these with other parts of the family and we are getting to see the Bubba family in Louisville on Sunday.  Thanks for hosting us Charlie and Vivian.  Is Jeff going to make it as well?  Everyone have a great week and be safe traveling.

An update for Ellen

The week before we head home for Christmas and here comes the winter storm.  It almost always happens.  We have had ice storms,  snow storms and even flood warnings on the weekend we come down.  And we have even had a couple that were overly warm.   It is always a good time but the travel can be draining.  We have been very lucky not to get stuck either down there or between here and there.  Ok enough about the weather.

I remember one of the first trips during the holidays started from the other direction.  Beth and I been dating for a  couple of years and had gotten serious.  I drove up to spend Christmas Eve and day with her and her family.  It was a very nervous trip for me.   After dinner and presents at her parents I asked Mike if I could talk to him in private.  Out on their front porch I ask him if I could marry his daughter.  It was one of the hardest but best conversations I ever had.  He told me he would approve but I had to promise to let her finish her degree before we got married.  Beth and I had already talked about that and had agreed to wait till she was done at Murray.  To tie it back in to the first paragraph, it snowed the next day while we were at her grandparents.

The trip always changes. We have added 2 more people to it over the years.  We have lost some people we would try to see.  I think about them all almost daily.  But more so during this time of year.  I miss Marion's float.    I miss playing high nine sitting in Granddad's lap MarthElla's house Christmas day.    I miss going to  Church and helping with Mama jo's toy drive.  I miss going to the park and eating with Papa Frank and the staff for Christmas dinner sometime the week before.

Enough of that.  Everyone come tell me what you want for Christmas.  Not that I have any pull with getting the gifts I just want to know what people are wanting.

A little politics a little tech.

Senator Bernie Sanders has been speaking since 10:24 this morning on the floor of The Senate chamber.  He is the Senator from Vermont.  I wish he was my Senator.  What he is doing is what most people think of as a filibuster.  The Senate has a rule that the members are allowed to speak as long as they want to on what ever issue is being debated  unless there is a vote of 60 members to stop all debate and vote on an issue. A member who does not want a vote or does not like a bill can take their turn during the debate and just keep speaking.  They do not have to stop if the do not want to.  Now that has historically been called a filibuster.  Recently the minority party in the Senate has just made sure that the party in the majority could not get to 60 votes to close the debate.  They have called this a filibuster but it is not really.  It is a parliamentary procedure to stop the Senate from taking action.  It would not allow for anything to be discussed or to be voted on.  Senator Mitch Mcconnell, who is one of my Senators, is very good at the parliamentary procedures in the Senate.  As the minority leader in the Senate he has very successfully stopping many bills that needed to be brought to a vote.  He has also pushed forward the present tax bill Senator Sanders is filibustering.  I really do not think Mitch could ever do what Bernie is doing.  I do not think he has either the guts or the smarts to pull it off.

The tech portion of the posting is this.  Bernie is trending #1 or #2 on the world wide twitter feed for today.  This shows what the future of media and the internet can and will be.  Here is a social tool made famous by an idiot actor sharing something that is much more important than 144 characters could ever convey.  Bernie is on twitter.  I would bet he has a staff person making his posts but he does understand how to use the internet to get his points out. I follow 86 people on twitter.  A lot of them are political people and so my feed has been heavy with Bernie posts today.  But I knew something was going on beyond politics when 1 of the people I follow in the tech world tweeted he was turning on C Span to find out why Bernie was atop the twitter feed.   Then a person who is into comics but follows the tech person asked them what was going on.  They then went and watched.  I am not sure if either watched for long or even cared much after watching.  The idea that both of them saw something online and not spun but others and went to find out about it was wonderful to see.

A Blackberry post

I have tried not to be overly political lately but I can't stop myself.  I do not like the idea of paying higher taxes any more than the next guy. It does not feel good with a smaller paycheck. I do like having Government programs that help the poor, the old, and the young. I like having national defense. I like roads (those that know me know I can not say and bridges).

I think NASA and OSHA and all the other accronymes are for the most part helpful. To pay for all this and more we have to pay taxes. The last 10 years tax policy has not worked. Trickle down, supply side, voodoo economics by what ever name you want to use does not work. It did not work for Bush. It did not work for Reagan. It did not for Thatcher government in England. The issue with it is the falacy that the wealthy will create jobs if they have enough money to do so.

The only time jobs are create in the private sector is when there is enough demand for the goods or services that job will produce. So lowering taxes on the rich just makes them richer. The second issue that has been bothering me is the belief that uncertainty is why business have not been creating jobs how does a temporary extension of the tax cuts help with that. It just gives business another 2 years to not hire people while bringing in record profits. So let the tax cuts expire. Put a cap on spending. Find places to cut the budget and try to balance it. This will help the economy as much as extending the bad tax cuts would. Find a replacement for oil so the trade deficit and national debt both can go down. A stable economy will come back.

Snowy weekend

We had a snowy weekend in Lexington.  The boys got their first basketball games in.  Es team kicked butt.  Lots of bigger kids on the team but he had fun.  Gman's team got roundly beat 60 to 15.  The bigger kids on his team are not really athletic.  Gman had 7 of the 15 points.  He can shoot much better than I can.  He needs to get in and rebound and move to the ball.

Beth has most of the Christmas presents done.  Still working on a few but the majority are finished.  Looks like we will be going down to western Ky on the 18th.  The back on Monday so it will not be to much driving on  back to back days.  

Still thinking and missing.

Christmas time is here.  E has been going back and forth reading the toy adds from the newspaper and mailers.  He has decided he does not need all of the things in them.  Some of them are for girls and babies.  He does not want  those toys.  He is so funny it is beyond me.  This is the first year I can remember him doing this.  Going over the books over and over again reminds me of June and I growing up.  Gman will look at them but he does not study them like E.

It is very strange watching the two of them interact with each other.  They have issues but they are best friends.  June and I fought like cats and dogs.  We only got along when we had a common foe, hi Marilyn and Teresa.  The boys enjoy playing together.  They can spend time just being the same room and have very few issues.  I hope it stays this way for ever.  I know that in 2 years when Gman goes to middle school it is going to be hard on E.  He really does love and look up to his big brother.


We are ending November with a cold Kentucky rain.  It is 26 days away from Christmas and 31 days til then.  Beth has been very busy with her winter meeting.  The boys are getting ready of basketball with lots of practice.  I am just kind of treading water.  Not sure if this fall has been any better than last.  Not sure what I am doing other than going to work and then to bed.  I hope everyone has a good week.

Happy Black Friday everyone.  I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.  It was a good time at Bonnie and Mike's yesterday.  We got to see the newest member of the family.   Lukas was the best behaved person there.   Just eating, sleeping and pooping.  What a life.

  

Tiger and Petra did real good.  Now we can only hope that Petra can keep Tiger from being to bad an influence on the boy.  

Beth says she got about half of the Christmas shopping done today.  I am glad she went and not me.  I try to avoid the mall and Wally world most of the time.  This time of the year is even more of a mad house there.  I enjoy people watching but I really do not like that many people in one spot.  Not sure why but it just not my cup of tea.  Speaking of tea, anyone else like the Arizona Arnold Palmer Half and Half?  For tea in a can it ain't half bad (pun anyone?).  

So what is going to be th big gift in your household this year?

Saturday morning Blogging from my BB. I just got off work. Beth and the Boys are with Scouts heading to Louisville to see some bats. I have some free time but must remember to empty the dish washer. I am going to get some hot wings for lunch and watch some football.

E's Lost Tooth

Well as most people have seen E lost one of his front teeth at the B&G club yesterday.  He was so happy the at it had came out while playing football and not from any of us pulling it.  The other one on top is still very loose and Beth says she is going to pull it this weekend if it does not come out on its own.

Gman and E are playing basketball at the B&G club this winter instead of at Upwards.  I am not sure I am going to like this but I know the boys love Coach Larmont.  Gman is on a team with older kids.  He is either the youngest or next to youngest on his team.  E is either the oldest or next to the oldest on his team.  Gman is still the most athletic member of the family.  E is just as rough as can be.

E seems to be very much out of control.  He has his father's temper.  It takes a lot to get him mad but when he gets there get out of his way.  No one scares him when he is mad.  I saw him standing toe to toe to a kid at least a head taller than him.  The issue was who's turn it was to throw the football.  The bigger kid went to push him back and E got the look in his eyes like he was not going to take it. The other kid either knew the look or something because he backed down very fast.  I called E over to me and made him count to 10 to calm down.  The counting worked  so well with Gman but not so much with E. It took him 3 times to actually count slow enough to understand him.   I want to teach him the self control I never had.  I hope find better ways to do this.

Well when the other tooth makes its exit I will let everyone know.

Morning Joe and Questions

I usually catch about 15 mins of Morning Joe after the boys go to school and before I head to work. I usually do enjoy the show because it makes me think about what ever the topic is (usually politics but sometimes not). This weeks show have not been very good but have still got me thinking. So here are some questions I would like to ask Joe or his many guests/cohosts.

First - Isn't a little early to start revisionist history on the last Bush White House or are you doing it just because Bush's book came out?

Second - If the last election was about the Tea Party wanting change in DC from how things were done in the past, why are you saying President Obama needs a "grown up" to deal with the way Congress works?

Third - If Mitch Mcconnell had wanted to be invited for a one on one with the President do you not think he would have asked for one?

Fourth - Why would Mitch Mcconnell, an obstructionist to be sure, ever want to look like he was talking or compromising with this White House?

Fifth - If you want us the stay calm and carry on, Why are you yelling on the show?

I may add to these when I edit this tonight. I know it is unlikely anyone from the show will read these but it still some things I would like to ask.
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Thursday night and sitting at home

I hope everyone has been having a good week.  It has been a fairly long week but it is almost over.

We have been having water pressure issues in the house.  The water has suddenly gotten much higher in pressure.  Beth got a gauge from a friend at work that shows it is about 90 psi which is about 10 to high.  It is not real bad but it makes the shower feel like one of those message shower heads instead of just a regular one.  Nothing else seems to be changed but it has taken a couple weeks to get use to the new pressure.  Hopefully it is not a bigger issue.

I also replaced the parts of the toilet in our bath room this week.  It was not the first time I had done this but the first with this toilet.  I had more issues with it that I ever thought about.  I could not remove the valve part by itself.  I had to disconnect the tank from the bowl to get to the gasket holding the valve to the tank.  When I was taking it off I cracked a portion of the sand for the tank.  The valve was attached to the tank not just with the threads but with some sort of adhesive as well.  I am not sure if it was a rubber cement or a silicon base but I could not get it to unscrew.  I tried so hard the plunger part of the valve broke off.  I now had a toilet in 3 more pieces than it should have been in.  I ended up at Home Depot with the tank and the newly bought parts attempting to get the bottom valve off of the tank. Judy from plumbing and a young man from the paint department helped me to get the seal off. They both went above and beyond to help out.  So something that should have been a hour job took about 2 days to finish.  With much fussing and extra work we no have both bathrooms fully functional again.  

Gman made the Honor Roll for the first 9 weeks  and E got all pluses or better on his report card.   I was so proud of both of them.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Bear Trap

Its time to have a little geek update.  I have been playing with my netbook and the home network set up.  We now have 4 computers, the Wii, and the Blue Ray player all hooked into the home network.  I think I have reached the end of my knowledge on how it all should work together.  I can think see how I want it to work together but I am not sure how it will turn out because I have no master plan to make it happen.  I think it has become my bear trap.

So here are a couple of things I am thinking and tinkering with.  Productivity is somewhat of a joke right now.  The 4 computers have 3 different OS on them.  The boys desktop is a rebuild from parts I had leftover from odds and ends.  I took the HD and motherboard from my  Alienware and build it.  It is running XP pro and has a lot of life left in it. It will need more storage when the boys start using it for more school work.  So either an external HD or one of the old internal SATAs I have.  The laptop (Beth's) is a very good for her.  It is running Vista but she says it is fine for what she does with it.  It is the only computer now with Office on it (and so the lack of productivity elsewhere).  I could reload the old version Office 97 on the boys computer but they do not really need it yet.   My desktop is now running W7 (I did keep an old hard drive with XP and Ubuntu on it) and I loved it enough to upgrade the W7 starter on the netbook to W7 Home.  Firmware in the Wii and the Sony Blue Ray have them hooked to the router very well. 

My 2 current problems are  1: Sharing the printer and the 2 external HDs I have on the network  2: File and application sharing without buying new programs.   On the first problem, I put the printer and Hds on the network  through a Belken Hub when we got Beth's laptop.  They work fine for her but I have not taken the time to get them to work with the boys computer or the netbook.  I need more knowledge about how W7 workgroups are suppose to work to make it all work better.   The second problem is going to be a larger one.  Everything I read tells me what I want is a home server set up.  I know that Beth will not want another computer taking up space we do not have.  I also do not know how Windows Home Server will work across the 3 OS.  I do not believe that everyone is going to want a home server for their electronics.  So what are people going to do instead? 

My answer leads to another question -  Do I want to does this because I think it will be useful  or because it seems like fun to try to do?  The useful side includes looking into the future of the boys home work.  The wireless key they use now to get to the network (and internet) should be enough  for connectivity but it does drag when any other device is connected.  The wifi in the netbook, blue ray and laptop all have better bandwith so they show less drag.   At some point the boys will need better internet and access to the printer and HDs.   They will also want to play more games like PvsZ etc online and be able to stream music into their own room (can anyone say head phones?).   I know they are still young but it is coming.  I know the answer to the fun part is that I do enjoy it.  

So for those who know- its my bear trap.

Spring in October?

The weather today is closer to March than October.  Mid 70s for temperature.  80 percent humidity.  Winds gusting over 20 mph.   Thunderstorm warnings and tornado watches.  The day is just a very blustery day to steal a phrase from a bear.  I hope everyone in the path of this storm is Ok and is being careful.  I can't believe it is the last week in October and we are getting this weather.

I know by now most people have seen the 5 full weekends this month.  It only happens every 800 plus years we are told.  Knowing it is just simple math to figure it out, is it really that big of a deal?  Does it work for months with say 5 Monday Tuesday, and Wednesdays?  If it did, would we be more depressed because of the "extra" Monday?  Not sure of the answer but it does not change the fact that we get 52 weeks a year no matter what month they fall into.

We have started trying to plan end of the year trips.  Thanksgiving and Christmas always seemed so rushed.  I am happy to see people and enjoy time with friends and family.  I just wish everything was less hectic.  We are hoping to see Marc and Megan and Brian and Angie (and the kids) while they are in the area.  Beth is looking at the weekend before Christmas to go West.  If you read this Mom, we will talk about what everyone else plans looks like.

Beth just texted me that they have moved everyone to the basement at the library.  Everyone be safe.

Long weekend for one where we stayed home.  Beth had a headache.  The boys were driving us all crazy.    I was on edge and could not calm down.  The only good part of the weekend was that Mom got the come up. Always glad to see her.

E had a soccer game that he really did not want to be at but he did play.  Mike and Bonnie got to come watch.  I will not rail against soccer or hockey but really I do not get them as sports.  I know many friends do and I am glad for you but please I can not stand either one.  I still want a vuvuzela. Don't ask because I can't explain it I just do.

I watch today as woman was driving beside me on Nicholasville Rd.  She had a cigarette in one hand.  She was talking on her cell phone with her other hand.  A cup of coffee  was resting in her lap.  She was steering with her knees.  She was then hit by a guy pulling out of a side street.  It was an accident waiting to happen but not how I thought it was going to.  I had slowed down to get away from her.  The other car just whipped out at the light that was red to them.  Right hand turn into her rear side panel.  It was very ironic.

I hope everyone has a great week.

BlackBerry post

Hey I just remembered I have not posted from my phone lately. I am hoping that I remember how.

We went to homecoming at MSU over the weekend. It was fun. The boys got a lot of candy and gum at the parade. MSU won the football game. I got to see a few old professors. Dinner at June and Tims was nice. Lynn and Tim had done a very nice job on the new deck.

I got to set up Mom's new laptop and wireless network for the house. Her printer was a little bit of a pain. It is a HP photosmart with build in wireless. It connected to the router on the 2nd try. I forgot to reset the router the first time so the printer saw it but could not connect. The problem was with adding it to Mom's laptop device manager. The disk that came with the printer did not include drivers for W7. The HP drivers on the HP web site did not want to use the printer as a wireless device. In the end I had to use the generic drivers for HP in W7 to get it to print. Mom will lose some of the photo settings this way but will be able to print out most everything.

She IM me on FB at night saying the Office trail on the laptop was not taking the Key she was given for it. I wonder if it has already lapsed and she will need to get a full version of it loaded. It was very neat she sent me the IM.

The boys are loving P vs Z on there computer. I am glad I loaded it for them. E has 2 more weeks of socer and Gman is done with baseball until the Spring. I need to get him with a hitting coach this winter. Basketball will be starting next month so just a little slow down for us.

Hope everyone has a great week
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So has anyone gone to see The Social Network?  I am not sure if I want to see it or not.  Everyone who cares about it knows that Mark Zuckerberg screwed over his friends to make more money for himself.  Is there really a movie here?  The real question for sites  like Twitter and FB will be what do they become as the more and more people use them.  How will the sites change and how will they change us?  I remember back in the 80s with the huge run up of membership in AOL.  It was to be new place for people to talk, play games, reconnect with people.  It want people to use its dial up network to get to the internet and its software to be a homepage for their trips into the World Wide Web.  AOL is still out there but it has changed and floundered.  Will it be the road map for these new outlets?  Or will it be the road map on what not to do?  


I was talking last night to a dad of one of my baseball players.  He has left his job to start a marketing business.  His clients all know they need and want to be on the ground floor of social marketing.  The companies need information on what and how their customers are using online media.  He has been sitting up focus groups for them and even doing observations about how households are setting up wireless networks in their homes.  I did not ask him about the clients but I can guess that they are not worried about hard ware and equipment but selling  goods and services to people who are using the new hardware and media.  I could net help but think about the information we all share online at places like FB, Twitter, and even AOL.  This is the information companies are willing to pay for that we are giving away for free.  


Do not get me wrong.  I am addicted to twitter. I like FB.  I have great friends with whom I play online poker with on AOL.  I just wish I was smart enough to figure out which way the new media will move and how we will move with it.

Hello October

What a beautiful fall day for the First of October.  I am glad it has cooled off and fall has arrived.  I am looking forward to the drive down to West KY next weekend. First trip in the new vehicle. Beth is happy with the new Freestyle.  The boys seem to be getting use to it.  We will see how it travels on Friday. On the trip I hope the trees will be in full fall color mode.  The lack of rain this end of summer may not help them much or it might.  I can't remember enough biology to know.  The boys can't wait to see Mom and Lynn but also want to go to the homecoming parade again.  Not sure if I want to get up early enough to get Murray for the parade.  We have got our BSU invitations this week.  Mark, if you see this, you can just send one not one to each.  I hope to see lots of people at the Zoo.  It has been a few years since I have gotten to go.  Beth and the boys have went a couple of times without me because of work.

I have really grown to like my little netbook.  The keyboard is much better than I first thought.  The touch pad is not bad but I am very glad I got my mouse.  I am now looking at how to set up my BB to it as a modem so I can connect to the net when I am not near a Wi-Fi connection.  Beth also told me that Mom bought a laptop.  So I plan to see it and her set up in the house for internet.  Before now she just had the cable modem on her desk top. I can see getting to set up a Wi-Fi network at her house this weekend.  It will be fun if I do it.

I am still looking into new jobs.  I had a phone interview last week and a lunch meeting planned for this Monday.  I hope it goes well.  The new office has help with my stress level but the sale of the company by 1st quarter 2011 has kept me looking.  It is still a tough time to look for work and I am thankful for my job.  I just know I need to be looking.

Well everyone have a great weekend.

So we have done are part for the economy

Beth has her new vehicle, 2007 Ford Freestyle. A few early thoughts on the freestyle.  It rides better than the van and has really good pick up for a small V6.  I am not thrilled with the small spare tire (not a mini but not full size) and only a 14 gallon gas tank.  Wheel base and over all length are closer to the truck than the van so Beth may need a little time to get use to it.  The brakes and steering are a lot like the van's.  The four doors are like a SUV's than the automatic doors on the van so the boys no longer get to push a button to close them.  The third row seating is smaller than the van's and will be harder to get into.  On the up side it will lay flat for extra cargo space.

 I am now bias by owning one but I am not sure why the vehicles did not take off as a crossover minivan/SUV because it sure does fit with our needs.  Beth will have pictures up on Facebook at some point. Thanks again to Marci for all your help.

As for my new toy.  Its a HP mini with a 10 inch screen with an Atom N470 @ 1.83 ghz processor. The keyboard is about 85% of a standard but I like the chic-let keys. The touch pad is more responsive than the one on Beth's laptop but that is not saying much because I really am not good with either of them. So I spent a little more for my own wireless laser mouse  .

 I used Windows 7 download to upgrade the OS from XP and saved from myself from having to get a external DVD player.  Who am I kidding, I was feeling bad for buying a toy for myself and could not justify another purchase when I knew I should be able to do the download.  All told it cost less than an Ipad (including the W7) and it is a lot more functional.

So I hope to be doing more writing now.  

WEG and a new car.

Beth has the boys at Cub Scouts.  Rain has started in Lexington and its the opening night for the WEG.  Beth is already for the games to be over.  I hope all the people have fun but I do not want to go anywhere near the Ky Horse Park for the next 2 weeks.

The big talk has been is Lexington going to ready for all the people.  I am not sure but I know we are getting a lot of bike and riding trails out of it.  The bus stops on the north side of town look better than they have ever looked.  All of the brass horse statues are kind of cool.  The UK football team is at Florida this weekend and the at Ole Miss so traffic at Commonwealth will not be extra bad on the weekends.  I wonder how the police are going to handle traffic and the change in patterns around New Circle.  I know we plan on going to Frankfort tomorrow after ballgames to avoid some of the people.

The second reason we are going to Frankfort is the new car.  We have been looking to replace Beth's van for about 6 months.  Marcie at Crossroad Ford has been helping us look. She also sold us the van back in 2005.  She has found us a Ford freestyle.  Beth test drove it today and liked it.  So if the price is right we will be getting a new vehicle tomorrow.  Have not told the boys yet but they both asked why is  mommy is cleaning out the van.  They can be very smart sometimes.

Well this is the first posting to the blog by the netbook.  Seems to work just great. Everyone have a great weekend.

Another weekend and another Saturday of games and Cub Scouts.  Beth has the Cub Scout Fund raisers going so let us know if you need popcorn or if you live near Lexington the food discount cards.  Go the link if you want the details. Call Beth's cell if you want to buy any.

I am really liking Netflix.  I got to watch James Clavell's Shogun  last week.  I forgot how good a job they did taking that book and making it into a miniseries.  I am going to get Herman Wouk Winds of War and War and Remembrance as well in the coming days.  Clavell and Wouk are 2 of my favorite authors.  It would cost way to much for the networks to ever make those types of series again.  I just wish they would do something with Whirlwind and  Gai-Jin.  Both are great books and would make good movies or mini-series.  

Well UK is starting out 3-0 getting ready for Florida next week and its time for bed.  Everyone have a good weekend,

Pictures

Just some pictures tonight.

Hay

Gman Pitching

Another Gman

E at Tball

More Hay

Baseball and soccer

Both boys played today.  Gman at baseball and E at soccer.  Mom and Lynn got to see parts of both games.  They also went to the Reba concert at Rupp last night.    I really do not like both boys playing at the same time.  As much as I do not like soccer, I would really like to see E play and cheer him on.   Beth says he did ok today but I still want to see him.  

I have almost decided not to keep coaching Gman.  He really is playing ok but I can't get him to relax when I am coaching.   He made a play at second today that was very good.  He wanted to pitch but I did not trust myself to let him.  Hopefully Tuesday night when JD is back we can let Gman pitch.   William and Nichols both pitched well today.  3 big hits including one from Justin.  It is Justin's first time playing organized ball.  He is great to coach and he pays great attention to instructions.  Dang I do enjoy coaching the kids

Everyone have a great weekend.

Holiday weekend

Baseball game is done for the day.  Great morning for it and we had a lot of fun.  Gman caught the whole game and did well for his first time behind the plate in Mustang.  Made 1 throw out of a steal and 3rd and a tag out at home.  He has to get the bat off his shoulder and swing.  He has gotten really tentative since the select team.  Beth says kid pitch is going to give her an ulcer.

We are heading down to Western Kentucky this afternoon to see friend and family.  The boys can't wait to see Granny and Lynn.

Everyone have a great and safe Labor day.  Remember all the people who work for a living and those who brought employment rights to us all.

Week 2 at the new office is going well.  Larger office so it is much busier. This a is a good thing.  So for no tensions or issues.  Higher DQ but I know I get get it into line.  The whole staff, manager included, is working on it.  Just got to try new things to get the customers out of their bad habits.

Fall ball practice went well.  JD does a much better job on the field than I do but keeping the team parents informed and involved will be my job.  Got another dad helping coach.  Turns out to be a brother of a friend from Church.  Small world but it is really good to have extra help.

Es soccer game went well Saturday per Coach Beth. I am sorry I missed it.  Beth is feeling better.  She had to get a second shot in the her shoulders (one in each).  Very stiff but she says its better.  

And it starts again.

Our slow month without any sports or extra activities has come to an end.  E has started Upwards soccer for the fall.  Beth is coaching his team so it will be very interesting.  Gman has started back with the music program at the Boys and Girls club for another year.  Both will be on Tuesdays so it will make for an interesting day each week.  Fall baseball for Gman will start in a couple of weeks.  He is moving up to Mustang, kids pitching, for the fall league at SW.  It will get him ready for next summer I hope.

New office is working out ok.  Just 2 days in but the drive is cut by 2/3 and the tension level is so much lower.  I still am concerned about the company being bought out.  The future is very uncertain with the purchase.

We stopped our HBO and Stars from the cable company.  Opened a Netflix account and it is working out very well.  Beth let me buy a Blue Ray player for the bed room TV after the sales person told me that it had built in WiFi. We got the Wii disc for Netflix for the living room TV.  The family room is where my computer is so we did not need anything for that one.  It is a good set up  for everyone.  And its saves money.  The technology is very cool.

Oh one final idea.  If you live near an Apple Store go into it and go around to all the Ipads entering random web pages to their home screens.  Then go back a couple of days later and see it the bookmarks are still there. It gives the Apple Dumplings something to do by removing them.

Weekend

Welcome to the weekend everyone.  Beth is hoping to get the house cleaned up and I need to mow the yard.  The boys are up early and are playing Star Wars legos on  their computer.  Beth's Iphone is acting up.  It is getting so hot while charging the battery that it turns itself off.  So she wants to go to the new Apple Store  at the mall to see what they think about it.  My thought is that they will have to replace the battery.  I also think that means they will have to send it off to be worked on.  I am not an Apple fan because of things like not being able to work on the hardware yourself.  That does not mean I will not go into the store and mess around with stuff they have.

The Boys computer is now in the Alienware Case and the noise level is down a lot.  My new case is very nice. Now when do I start replacing parts inside again?   Beth's laptop is holding up nicely after almost 2 years.  It just shows you that you do not have to upgrade but it is fun to do.

One political point in this post.  Remind your House and Senate members it is not their job to interpret the Constitution.  It is the Supreme Courts job.  So if Congress wants to revisit the words of an Amendment then they have to repeal it not just change how we read it or change the words.  The moment they started repealing any amendments is the point when they start taking away our Rights.  The party wanting to do this is the Republican Party.  When they tell you they want to protect your Rights remind them that actions speak louder than words.

Sorry I  have not posted this week because of the vacation  and school starting.  We did a lot of day trips with the boys and had a great time.

We took the boys to Frankfort and toured both the New Capital and the Old Capital .  Both tours where very cool and the boys enjoyed them.  We got to share the New Capital tour with some very nice people from California.  I found myself becoming more like Granddad while talking with them. My favorite part of the Old Capital tour was the stair case.  Hard to believe it had no reinforcement other than gravity.

We also went to My Old Kentucky Home and the Patton Museum at Fort Knox on one day.  I remember going to both of these as kid with Granddad and Mama Jo.  They both seemed a lot bigger in my memory.  Again my grandfather came out.  I talked to a nice older couple down from Ohio at Bardstown.  They were traveling up and down US 127 for the yard sale and had taken a little time to come see the house.  Gman got to tell them about being born in Ohio.   Another couple where in form Arizona to visit their daughter here in Lexington.  I got to tell my Winslow AZ story again.

Going to the Patton Museum was also very different than I remember it.  The tanks are still there but it just seemed much smaller.  Beth really liked the section on Patton himself.  She asked a good question about why is he a junior when he is named after his grandfather and not his father.  I have no idea other than that is just how his family did it.  Magen at the gift shop was very helpful getting us to them without dealing with the base.

The last day of travel took us the Louisville.  We went to the Slugger Museum  and the Frazier Museum downtown.    The plant tour was ok but not all that cool.  We all got to hold bats from Hall of Fame members.  The Frazier was beyond cool.  Military history of both the US, Great Britain and then throw in Pirates.  Gman and E both loved it.  I want to go back and spend more time going through it.   If you get a chance go downtown Louisville and visit some of the great museums.  And eat at  Luigi's Pizzeria when you go.  Its on the same side of the street as the Slugger Museum.

I know this is a long post and so I will cut it off now.  Beth took pictures and when I can I will add them to the slide show.

I was reading the L H Leader op ed piece by Jim Bunning.  I was going to give him a pass about being the water carrier for the KHA (link is to the member hospitals lots of very profitable members) because he is retiring.  I then changed my mind.  I assumed the reason he was doing it was because they paid him to do it.  I was correct.      His biggest donors are listed on this page.  The 2 largest industries to give to Jim are the insurance and health professionals.  Senator Bunning, I am glad you are retiring.  Thank you for your service but thank you more for retiring.

 The idea that very large profitable hospitals are not going to make as much profit over the next 10 years does not bother me at all.  If the health care reform is going to lower the profits for the hospitals then by definition it means that health care costs will go down.  I know there is logical fallacy here but its the KHA fallacy and not mine so I will let them make the argument.

Sorry about no posts this week. I pulled 3 or 4 muscles in my back this week.  I have been really out of it.  I was given Soma.  It is no joke.  Knocked me on my butt for almost 18 hours.  Helped with the pain and let me sleep.  I have only taken 1 of them and may not take another but wow what a kick.  

E had a great time at the BGSG.  He cut 9 seconds off his 400 meter time.  Gman played a lot of baseball and the team is getting better.  They play in the BGSG tomorrow and Saturday.

Good weekend for the Southwest 8u Select team.  3rd place in the the Paris Ky tournament.  Gman did very well per Beth and the coaches.  We go back to Paris for another tourney this weekend for the other league.  Hopefully we can play even better.

E and I went down to Aunt Loree's 90th birthday party over the weekend.  It was great seeing all of the Seatons  especially all of the new youngsters.  We also had a small get together at the grave site for Granddad.  Mom got his ashes in and so we laid them to rest with Mama Jo.  I was not sure if I should up load the tombstone pictures from the cemetery but I will theirs.

Good week so far.  I hope everyone else has a great one

Have not posted this week but it has been a little slow.  Gman's all-star team won its first game this weekend.  They are looking a lot better.  Lynn and Mom got to see him play all the games so that was even better. Bonnie and Mike got to see him on Saturday also.

The van's battery died on Sunday. It is starting to cost more and more on up keep.  Its about time for a replacement.  I am not real thrilled with what is out there in our price range and size requirements.  The small SUVs are to small and the big ones burn to much gas.  The mini vans are just that mini vans.  We will find something.

Well I said not much happening so  I hope everyone has a good week

Weekend has come and Gone

4th of July has came and gone. It was great to be at home with nothing pressing on the schedual.
It was great to have Paula in for a couple of days. The boys had a great time showing off and playing.
Bad news from the baseball world. One of Select team member's sister was in a boating accident over the weekend. Her name is Alex and she is at UK hospital in critical condition. Please keep her and the family in your prayers. She is a great young lady who is more in control at 13 than I was at 23.
I have a new catch phrase thanks to Keith Olberman (see the prior post)
Oprah Please Crush this Schmuck
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Oprah Please Crush the Schmuck

Well we had the first major drama at the BGC for the summer. E got hit in the head with a rock at the pool. He is fine but it bled a lot per Gman. Small gash about a centimeter or less. E will now milk this for all its worth.

First tourny of the allstars was rough. We faced some real good teams. But is a great learning experiance for all of us. The league put on a great show for everyone. I hope this takes off for us. Not sure if we raised much money but it was still a good 2 days.

Now that the US has lost in the World Cup is anyone still watching (Brian you do not count)? I do want one of the horns. I think they would be cool in Rupp or at a baseball game. Beth of course thinks I am nuts.

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1st  practice for the select team down 2 more to go this week. Worked with the infield and seeing who fit where. Solid picture and catcher. Gman will play third and was looking good last night. Short stop and second are kinda of question marks but we had 4 not there. One  was the starting shortstop for the Marlins. Moved Austin to first but if the short stop makes it I will be able to move him back and put Tony at first.

Mark said they all hit last night in the cage. I watched Gman from a ways away letting Curtis and Mark talk to him. He went into his ritual and got set. It threw Mark off having to wait but it will be ok. Gman still has trouble with the inside pitch but the swing is very nice. Now I have to remember all the new names.

I watched a little of the 9 year old allstars practice. The difference between the Phillies and the select team is huge. The difference between the select team and the 9 year olds is even bigger. I know that we have some 7 year olds but it was very hard to think that 9s where playing with Gman last year.
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At work and wondering what the future holds.

Watched 6 innings of the semi-finals of the SWLP Pinto tournament last night. Great game between the Mets and White Sox (Mets won in extra innings). Found out we lost one of the kids off the Select team to injury. I got to call Austin's parents and invite him to join us. So 1 bad thing led to 1 good.

E was selected as the best member of the Homework Club at the B&G club for the year. Very cool award and he was very proud. I hope he keeps it up as the homework gets harder.

Beth has changed her mind again about vacation. We may now being going to PA. If we do, I would like to get to Gettysburg or Philly. Trying to do both and see parts of her family would be way to much driving.

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Ok This Blackberry blogging seem to work last time so here we go.

I have not quit my job but I have started looking. Anyone with resume help email and I will send mine to you. Any suggestions welcomed.

Beth is still not feeling good. I wish I could do more to help.

Gman did make the 8 and under select team so baseball keeps going. We were in the net last night at the house and he is too big for it. He swung at the tee and his follow through hit the back pole.
Looks like we will play in at least 3 tournys this summer if not 4.

E got so mad at me for trying to work on his swing. He said he just wanted to swing and hit in the net. That lasted about 5 mins and in he went.

Summer is just starting. I can not wait to see how it goes.
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I did not update Monday so here goes another Blackberry attempt. I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend and remembered the Veterans in their own lives.

Gman got invited to the Select 8 year old team for the summer baseball tournies. I had to explain to him it was ok he is now 9. They look at when the regular season started. What this means is an extra 6 weeks of baseball. But just 1 kid and not 2. E seems to enjoying himself but says he wants to play soccer not baseball in the fall.

State budget is done so now we will start looking at replacing the van. Still thinking about a new job for me. Anyone need any help?

Ok everyone have a great week.
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I have been trying not to talk about Rand Paul but I can't help myself.   I wanted to write about my take on politics , primaries etc.  I changed my mind today.  I am going to write about him and the idea that he is not a racist but he can't help but let racist be themselves.  

This is the biggest cop out I have heard in a really long time.  We all should be going out of our way to end racism.  We should not be saying well I am not one but everyone has their right to be one.  No matter what you think of him or his dad, his politics, his ideas do you want a person who is not willing to take a harder stand against racism being your Senator? 

Mom made it for the weekend.  It was good to see her.  Finally got to take her to lunch for mothers day just a week or 2 late. 

 Baseball is going ok but not winning like last year.  We are really young this time and so its been really hard to win the close games.  We have lost 8 games won 3.  5 of the 8 loses have been by 2 runs or less. Which for coach pitch is just amazing. We even won 1 game 3-2 in extra innings.  Lost 1 game by 2 in extras.  But it has been a great season so far.   E's team is also young but is getting a lot better.  I am thinking next season to help with his team as Gman moves up to Mustang. 

Not much else is happening.  Hope everyone has a great week 

Long weekend and another week has started.  The boys played well but both teams are just real young and are learning.  Ankle is hurting again not sure what I did this time to aggravate it but limbing again.  Have not got to see mom this month but hopefully we can get down there sometime soon.

Gman's birthday is in 9 days.  He will be 9 this time.  I think how strange it is to him to get older and then see friends on FB who have teenagers.  Beth and I started so much later than most others.  I can't say which is better but I would not trade the time Beth and I had together without kids for anything.  I would not trade the boys for anything now.

I hope everyone has a great week.

Big Rain

Lots of Rain all over the place this weekend.  Glad all friends and family are safe.  All ballgames for the weekend were postponed.  We will have both boys playing double headers on Saturday.  So a total of 2 practices and 6 games from Tuesday until Sunday.  Add in Boy Scouts, Brass band practice , etc we will be very busy week.   

Congratulations to Brian and Angie for the completed Doctorate.  Marc and  Megan good luck with the house.  Been thinking of all you.    

Beth wants to go to Huntsville Alabama for the Space Center for vacation this summer.  Looks like we can go in August before school starts.    

I am trying to update the blog from my Blackberry again.  This has never worked but hey who said I ever gave up.

Gman's game got rained out Saturday but E got to play.  usy week with practice and games if it does not rain them out.  Mom will try to make this weekends.

The new SSD in my computer is very fast but I am having issues with a couple of games I play.  The Bioware installer makes them install on the C: drive or they will not play.  Save games only want to go the Windows 7 User profiles. So I can't use my 1 TB for storage.  I have not been able to find out how to fix it.

Been a long week but a fairly good one.  Gman has testing this week so keep him in your thoughs and prayers.  And Beth too, she is as worried as he is.
 

Lost to the Reds this afternoon.  Anna got her first hit ans Nickl played the whole game with no issues.  I will take both of those but really wanted the win.  Gman hit well again. Line drive first at bat. Third baseman got a force. 2nd at bat clean double with 2 rbis.  He is turning into our third baseman and fielding the position well.  Got to work on the throwing.  He is still going side arm.

Beth hooked herself at the Boy Scouts this morning.  She has gone for a shot at eh UTC.  The geese scared E while he tried to feed them.  It was really funny.  Looked at a Ford Freestyle at the CCU sale this morning.  It seems to be the right size and dollar range for us.  Not sure when but we will be replacing the MiniVan at some point.

We have our first Legends game tomorrow.  I hope everyone had a great week

Slow start to baseball season.  Phillie open 1-2 with 1 good win , 1 good lose and a bad 1.  We will get it together.  E is having  a lot of fun with the Red Wing, why we have baseball team with a hockey name I have no idea.  He is doing so much better with mom out of the dug out.  

Still thinking about the business idea.  Got some more info but still not sure of what to do.  I am sure I want to do something just not what yet.  Hopefully it will come together  for the best

All around crappy work week.  Gman won his first baseball game and Bmca got his defense started so that helped make it better.  Opening day for the boys leagues is tomorrow so Saturday should be good.   Sinus pressure sucks. My knee is aching but no word form the doctor yet.  I am just not sure what to write because it has been a bad week.  I hope everyone else's has been better and that we all have a great weekend.

Went to Best Buy to handle not buy the Ipad.  I would say i was not impressed but I was not planning to be impressed.  Tested.com  discussion thread is kind of skimpy on information but they have a new live stream that gives good information.

Good afternoon practice but the Phillies are going to be really young.  Gman needs to step up his game and take over as a leader.  He has the attitude too be they are just 8-9 so I need to stay calm.  The young ones are having fun and thats the best thing.  First game is Wednesday so I will update the pictures from last year.  

Good afternoon of practice.  Had 7 of them during spring break week so I was happy.  Lou pitched batting practice and Michelle was there to help.  The new guys have already started to show improvement.  Only had Gman and Jacob from the older kids tonight.   Looks like Gman for second, Jacob at first.  Tevis at short  and Bryce at pitcher.  Or maybe Gman at pitcher and Bryce at 2nd.  We need to find a third baseman and figure out the outfield.

Batting looked better.  Still have about 3 or 4 of the young ones who are just learning .  Lou will pitch and let JD coach third.  Puts Kevin or me at first.  Got to love kids playing baseball.

Note to self. When something loses power it is usually means something pulled a plug

Computer is fixed.  The power supply cable was connected to the motherboard but since its a modular power supply I need to check to see if the cable was still hooked to it.  It was not so therefore no power to the computer.  I am glad my desk top is working again and I do not need to start looking for anything new.  

Spring break this week so the boys are out of school and enjoying the boys and girls club.  I will be the head coach at Gmans practice Thursday.  JD and Michelle will be out of town for spring break and Kevin is working. It looks like I will have 10 of the 12 kids there.  We will be working on fielding and throwing.  If the other dads can make it, we will work on hitting as well.  

Great spring day today. I hope everyone got out in it. 

Cold rain today in Eastern Kentucky.  So no baseball practice.  Gman is looking good so far and he will be either at 2nd or pitcher this season.  E's coach got a job in NC and so they are looking for a head coach.  I wish I could do it but with work I can't do it.  

Been spending a lot of time at a new web sight,  Tested.com.  Not a bad little site and they are still expanding it. So if you have tech or gadget questions go check it out.

First Baseball Practice

Gman had is first baseball practice of the Spring.  E's will be Monday night.  We are very young again  Lost 5 players to moving up in age. One we thought would be back did not come back.  We have 5 back from last year and so we should hit very well.  Infield may be rocky without a true first baseman.   Gman and Tevis should be solid up the middle.  Bryce at first or second.  Jacob at third.  We have 2 new players who did not play tball so it will be interesting.  Micheal B is back and is hitting well.  Still a little shaky fielding and throwing but he is a very young 2nd year player who did not play tball.  I can't wait for the season to start.

Mom will be in tomorrow.  Lynn has a bass tourny this weekend.  I am thinking about getting Mom on Facebook and a Facebook page for Lynn's jig business.  A place for him to list the jigs and where he is going to be fishing.  Anyone have any ideas about it?

Nothing big this week.  Just getting ready for baseball season for the boys and Mom coming for the weekend.  Lynn has a bass tournament and so she will be up Saturday and Sunday.  Means we have to clean the house and get her bedroom ready.  

Beth and I are both fighting the spring head colds.  Every fall and spring we cough and sneezing and just have a great month or so. The boys are doing well so far this spring.  

I have found a new web sight, Tested.  It is set up by Will Smith (no not that one the other one).  He was editor for Maximum PC  for a long time.  I have added a feed to the blog for the new sight.  Looks pretty good but it is to early to tell.

If I figure out how to do it, I will post my tourny bracket buy Wednesday night. 

Off to basketball tonight, everyone please behave

Spring has made it to  Eastern Kentucky.  70 plus yesterday and thunderstorms coming tomorrow.  Whats the old line If you don't like the weather just wait it will change.  

Good week so far.  We have got our teams for baseball.  Gman gets back on the Phillies with his buds.  E moves up to full Shetland.  First practices this week and league meeting is Saturday.  So we have finished the weeks of just 1 or 2 nights out of the house and ready to start the 5 night a week hustle.  I can't wait for the season to start.  Gman really got better in fall ball and I hope he keeps at it.  Basketball went well this season.

We have started looking for a replacement for the van.  No big hurry but it has started to cost us more in up keep than it should.  The truck is 4 years older but is holding up better, knock on wood.  So the question becomes another van or something different that gives us enough room.  We travel with a lot of stuff and the boys have gotten use to the movies in the van.  We will have to find something that will be close to that again.  Better gas mileage will be important as well.

Hope you and yours have a great week

Hope everyone is have a great week.  The boys are getting bigger and funnier everyday.  E just told his mother he was going to go commando because he was wearing his last pair of underwear  after his bath.  Gman is working on his homework.  His handwriting is better than mine.

Mom is still working through Granddads will and the stuff at the house.  I wish I was closer to help  her and the sisters.  I still think of him and Mama Jo every day.  I miss them both dearly.

Good news at the doctors today.  H1C was down to 6.1 and I had got back under 225 (221 for those scoring at home).  She gave me a nose spray for my sinuses.  Not sure if I really need it but the Zertic is not cutting it anymore.

Beth is under the weather as well. She has lost her voice and so her yelling is a little scarier than normal.

Saw a strange thing the other morning driving to work.  Some Canadian geese were starting to fly up.  They seemingly could not get into a good v.  First time I have ever seen geese fly into each other.  It was very strange.
I saw 2 of them fall back to the ground and get up.  The rest just all flew off in other directions.  I wish I could have videoed it.

Just a small thought on Jim Bunning.  This is why I do not favor term limits.  When someone has nothing to hold them accountable then they become very self centered.  Bunning is ticked at his party and fellow Ky Senator.  He then uses his very questionable principles to stop a highly popular bill because he has no one to answer to now that he is faced with a party imposed term limit.  There is no way he pulls this if he was running for reelection.

Dragons Age vs Mass Effect 2

Been playing 2 games made by the same company recently.  Bioware  puts out a lot of very cool high end video games for the PC , Xbox 360 and Playstation.   I have been playing both Dragons Age and Mass Effect 2 for a couple of weeks.  Both games are great but I think Dragons Age is much better.    

Dragons Age has a more in depth feel and finish.  I think that is because ME2 is a part of a planned trilogy and Dragons Age is the start of a new series for the company.  It makes me feel that video games are becoming more like movies everyday.  They are trying to be an all consuming entertainment option.  Trying to build a franchise instead of just making a good game that is fun to play. 

I think thats why the Wii does so well.  The games are not the best in the world but they are great fun to play. Both of these games are great to play but they are trying to hard.  Downloadable content from the internet that should have be with the original game.  Fancy packaging instead of better content.  Comic book tie ins instead of a good manual.  And these are great games.  

Passion and a Job

I have been thinking about this a lot today.  I have no real passion in my life.  I love my wife with passion.  My family is wonderful.  But I have no real passion for anything else.  Work is now a job.  I enjoy reading history and playing games on my computer.  Baseball and the boys sports are great fun.  But none of the that is something I would call a passion.  I am not sure if I have ever had a real passion.

I loved playing baseball as a kid up until high school.  I was not that good but I enjoyed playing.  I did not burn to be playing.  There was no passion to do it everyday. High school brought band and history.  Both were great fun and I put a lot into them both.  I again did not have enough talent for music and did not put the time into my writing to make history work.

I have enjoyed some part of all my jobs.  I really like talking and interacting with customers, guest, clients, etc but I am not a people person, just ask my friends.  I am a great problem solver and organizer.  I do well when writing out policies and procedures but it drives me nuts to do it.  I read  one of those find your perfect job books and it said find your passion.  Well that helped a lot. Okey it gave me the idea for this blog.

I think this may be the reason for part of my end of year blues.   Each year I get older and still no passion. The closest idea of passion I have is for politics but is that really a passion or just my liking to argue?  Oh well.  Any feed back would be helpful.

Bubba

Bubba weekend is here.  It has been a really long week and I can't wait to go see everyone.  This one just seems a little strange.  I not sure why but it just feels different.  Beth feels it but thinks its because she has not got everything as organized as she wants its.  It good be not knowing if Marc and Megan or Brian and Angie are going to make it.  It could be that we have changed location for for first time in years.  The boys are going to be with us part of the weekend as well.  Mom is going to take them Saturday for the day and night but they will be there tonight and Sunday.

I can't wait to see everyone.  Praying for traveling grace on all us.

Hey I have not written this week so I thought I would say hi.  Had a great friend remind me it was Stalingrad Day.  So Happy Stalingrad day everyone.  Been having a 3 day headache and it is killing me.    Bubba weekend is just a week away and can't wait to see everyone.  Still not sure if the Texas people are coming but Marc seems to be doing good according to FB posts.  Hope the can make it. Looks like the boys may be going with us.  This is news to the group so I would bet I will be in trouble with Beth but thats not stopping me from posting it.
Hope all is well with everyone.

Ipad Really? Ipad ?

I really was looking forward to the Apple release of a tablet computer.  What I got was the Ipad. Please insert your favorite tasteless joke here.  I am not an Apple fan,  I had to use 1 with work years ago and it was terrible.  I find them very expensive and not user friendly.  I was hoping for something better from an Apple tablet.  


A PC tablet is a type of laptop with a pivoting screen than can be laid flat so the the screen can be used as a touch screen.  They usually come with a stylus allowing people to write out by hand on the screen instead of having to type. Hp and Toshiba make some of the best ones but they are very expensive.  They are full blown laptops with different sizes and specs.  All to fit into what you need to do. 


Apple came out with its Macbook Air  a few years back.  Apple people love them and many Pc people said they would be great except for the price for what you got in computing power.  I was hoping for an Macbook Air tablet.  I could see a use for a small light laptop with built in Apple support for Itunes, Iphone apps etc.  Touch screen with a great stylus for handwriting.  A good handwriting program that would fit with Apples creative image.  The main reason I was hoping for this was to use to hand write the book I am to lazy type out.  Those of you who know my hand writing please keep the laughing to a small giggle and not a belly laugh.  So as a devout anti Apple I am pc guy, I was hoping for a great new toy to try out (Beth has an Iphone but I do not even own an Ipod).


I hooked my Blackberry browser on Cnet's live blog yesterday and set to refresh as fast as I could.  


I was very disappointed.  


I wanted a tablet I got a big Ipod touch. 


This thing is a joke right?  From the guy who said we do not read anymore we now will read because of a fancy screen?  Its a ebook reader with Itunes and Iphone apps.  The hard drive on it is smaller than some thumb drives. It has no connection for HD.  It has no real software beyond the apps on the Apple store. Iwork is not a real good software suite and if you can only open 1 part of it at a time then its is even worth less. 


Here is an Hp base model tablets specs and costs http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/cto.do.  Here is the spec page from the Ipad.  Tell me which you would rather have for around $850.00.  It is a joke and we need to just laugh at it and go on. 

Wii and E

E is driving my nuts.  He is playing the Wii with has big brother and is really enjoying himself.  Whats driving me crazy is his personal sound effects.  Its worse than the old Batman movie with the Pfft and Biffs.  He jumps and yells and really enjoys himself.   I could do without the yelling and the jumping.  At least he is moving around while playing a video game.  I am glad they play well together most of the time.  They are very cool but geeky kids.

Quite moment during Kung Fu Panada