Hooray For Saturday!

Let's Get Random...The Comeback Edition

Well, I've been away from this format for quite some time now.  So much for living up to this post.

Anyway, let's get random.

Holy crap, literally, did I get sick right after Christmas Day.  It was the worst I have felt in years, I was down for the count.  Some type of stomach flu or something of the sort.  It made for a good diet, if only I could keep off those extra 165 pounds!  The worst part of it, was my mom got it right before me, so it made for a not feel so good holiday visit.

Seriously, what's up with the fat people and the scooters at the stores?  C'mon walk around the store for crying out loud, it would do you some good.  People around here seem to totally dig riding around in them and they don't seem to have any problems besides their lard asses are lazy.  I don't have any problem getting on these folks, because I am rotund and I get around the store just fine, with two kids in tow.

The New Orleans Saints let me down again this year.  Don't even get me started on the fact that they have hardly any draft picks in the upcoming NFL draft.  We will soon be entering the dead zone for my sports watching, I miss football already and the playoffs aren't even over.

Our house has Facebook fever.  Let me rephrase that, my wife has Facebook fever, therefore I dabble in it.  My wife will poke you, send you a drink, offer you garden gnome, take the test that tells her what movie she is, send you some flair and write all over your wall.  Both of us have caught up with some old friends via Facebook.  I try to come up with status updates that will provoke laughter from her.

Potty training a young man is no good, I will simply leave it at that.

I am currently gathering facts for a campaign to lobby the state of Kentucky for better funding towards it's education system.  I only hope I can get parents from the school our daughter attends to join me in my concern for the overcrowding issues.  I suggested to the county school superintendent that he ask the federal government for some of this bail out money, seeing that education, in my opinion, down the line reflects into the economy.

I hate the fact that the Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati airport (CVG) is the most expensive airport in the country to fly in and out of.

I will be heading down to Louisiana, the homeland, in the very near future to visit and check on my mom and her husband.  He has fallen ill, as of late, and I want to go pay a visit.  Hopefully I can make it a whirlwind tour and visit a couple of old friends, as well, in the short time I will be there.

Winter finally arrived this week.  I love cold weather.  Yes I am weird like that.

I was addicted to the video game Fallout 3 on my X Box 360, because I am lame, but have gotten over my problem.  If any of you folks out there are on the X Box Live and want to be friends, let me know, we'll get social.

I now text message via my cell phone more than I ever thought I would.  I do try to spell out entire words, instead of using fancy, smart abbreviations.  I'm not that cool yet.

We got my mom a digital camera as a holiday gift.  I should have done that years ago.  Next gift for her, a cell phone that is not as big as a shoebox.

Our daughter is reading now and it completely blows me away.  She's not reading thick novels or the newspaper, mind you, but she is reading her skill readers that come home from school with very little problems.  That is why I've been away from here, I've been having those "They grow up so fast" moments, so I'm in constant marvel of my kids, even though they drive me loco sometimes.

Let's Get Random...Beating A Dead Horse Edition

Anyone under the age of fifty writing a check at the grocery store should have something happen to them.  I'm not saying they get hit by a bus or any harm be put against them, but they do need to be corralled up, brought to their local bank for donuts and coffee and be taught about debit cards.  Either that or they should be forced to know prices of the items they are shopping for, tally it up with correct taxes, and be forced to go get a money order for total amount, before hand, to give to the cashier.  If they complain about the time it takes to go through that process, then they should be shown a very long film strip explaining that is how long it feels like to the person that is right behind them in the check out line, at the store, when they are paying with a check.

There is a fashion trend that I don't get at all.  Actually, I can't even call it fashion, I refer to it as dumb.  What is up with the baseball caps worn to the side and the pants pulled down with the ass hanging out?  I really see no reason what so ever for anyone to rock that look.  If you are over twenty years of age, and especially if your child on your hip in a public place, there is no reason for you to look that dumb.  It's a look that is so tired and dumb.  I can't think of any other word to describe it, just dumb.  Usually trends, which I don't refer to this as a trend, swing to extremes.  If that is the case, bring on the male camel toe, because personally I am sick of seeing bad patterned boxers hanging out of the top of dudes pants.  The silly thing I find that goes with the look is that a dude just can't throw that together, it takes thought.  The idiot actually has to adjust the belt loose enough to have the pants hang just right, for the half moon to shine, then they actually take the time to make sure the hat is cocked to the correct degree of dumb.  The individual that often sports this look is constantly tinkering and adjusting the height of their pants to have proper sag and making sure the hat is protecting one of their ears from sunburn.  Guys, why the pants to begin with?  I mean, they are obviously in the way.  Here's an idea, boxers and umbrella hats.  I'm for it.  The look can't get any dumber.

I've taken on yet another project, that is quickly becoming like my deck staining project of last summer.  I'm working on a landscape makeover at our house.  What I thought was going to take a weekend has now turned into three weekends, but the weather has not cooperated and last weekend we went to Indy for the wife's birthday.  I hope to have that yard of the week sign placed on our lawn before the summer ends.  I don't believe our community has a yard of the week contest, but I figure the kids and I can work up some sort of sign that will put the neighbors in a jealous rage.

There is one house, actually two, in our neighborhood that has the worst curb appeal ever.  One of them is for sale.  I kind of always feel sorry for the listing Realtor on houses like that.  You know he told the owners they might want to get rid of the rotted wicker chair and sofa on the front porch, then to put the trash cans in the garage instead of always in the drive way and, most likely he mentioned to them, they might want to address the broken down vehicle in the front of the home.  Whatever dude, I've got fashion to think about.  I don't have the time to do those things when I'm checking my pants and hat. 

I just realized that this post might make me come off as some sort of elitist.  Well go figure, I was voted on to our County Democratic Executive Committee this past weekend.  I can assure you, I'm no elitist, I look at it as adding another outlet for adult conversation.  The kids aren't much into politics, besides the daughter campaigning for Obama in her pre-school class.  Not really, I'm only kidding.

Back On The Wagon

Yes, hello.  I've got a lot to talk about, so perhaps I'll get back to the habit of writing my random thoughts on this platform.

I made it back from Bowling Green, KY in one piece.  It was a fun trip to say the least, but from what I am told, what happens in Bowling Green stays in Bowling Green.

There was some talk of riding an electric (mechanical) bull, there was some really good bar-b-que consumed from Jimmy D's Real Pitt Bar-B-Que & Self Storage, some other shenanigans involving a six piece nugget sidecar, and there was some disc golf played as well.

Someone commented that disc golf is played by middle-aged men and pot smoking teens, then asked which am I.  I'm actually neither.  Disc Golf seems to always stereotyped as the stupid "frolf" or the pot smoking sport for slackers, but I really enjoy it for the scenic walk of the courses around here and the shot making like ball golf, without the high green fees.  I love golf, but when playing ball golf in Chicago it got real old dropping $80 a round to play on a semi-decent course, then I came across disc golf.  I'm hooked, even though I'm not a fan of the littering, pot smoking idiots that seem to be the majority of people that play it.  It was nice to be at a tournament where there were 700 some odd folks that really like the sport for what it is.

Yes, I did partake in some Bowling Green nightlife.  We ran across some locals that owned a bar in town.  We went there and our money was no good, needless to say Saturday night turned into Sunday morning real fast.  Our group got back to the hotel room as the phone was ringing for the morning wake up call.  After four rounds on Friday and two on Saturday, we didn't take part in the rainy Sunday rounds and drove back after a nap.

Thanks for the funny stories Bowling Green.  One friend laughed so much during the trip his abdomen hurt.  Go figure, when in Rome.

Let's Get Random...Weekend Edition

Today was the last, in a series of three, Ice Bowl Disc Golf Tournaments held in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area.  The tournaments are held in the winter with the slogan is "No Wimps, No Whiners" and part of the proceeds are donated to help a local charity.  The charity this year for our local Ice Bowl series was Fairhaven Rescue Mission in Covington, KY.  I was the volunteer liaison between the tournament and the charity.  I put together clothing and food drives with collections being at the disc golf courses the day of  tournaments, so players could bring stuff to the course for me to collect and delivery to Fairhaven.  We were able to raise over $3000 and a lot of clothing that will help Fairhaven to help those in need.  The tournaments were held at Mt. Airy Forest course in Cincinnati, Banklick course in Independence, KY, and today ending at Idlewild & Boone Woods courses in Burlington, KY.  Today's conditions truly were Ice Bowl, with about a quarter of an inch of ice over a inch and half of snow.

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The Lady and I went out to eat this evening at P.Diddy Chang's, the China Bistro.  I know that's not the real name of the place, but I also point out that the big giant concrete horse in the front of the place has an anus that is shaped like a heart.  Romantic.  Yes, I'm a fourteen year old.

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I finally got to the library to drop off all those compact discs to donate today.  I think I'm going through a mid-life crisis or something.  I'm wanting to get rid of a bunch of stuff, although my wife wouldn't say that.

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I watched the Clinton/Obama debate the other night.  I was surprised to see that Hillary didn't just drop the gloves and go after Barack, but just as I type that right, I see how she is fired up about a mailing the Obama campaign sent out.  Before you get really fired up, let us not forget about the lies you and your husband were peddling about a month ago.  You started the "silly season" first, but I'm not a fan of it, so enough from you two.  Hillary looks like the fuming mad 10th grade teacher, that is salty because the student knows more than she does.  Tuesday night's debate should be very interesting.

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We got the new TV mounted on the wall and it looks cool.  I just need to get a little bit longer cable and it will be centered and done.  It looks like a picture on the wall, all cables hidden behind the wall.  Nice.

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I don't know if you get a chance to listen to Weekend America from American Public Media, but it's good to have on in the kitchen when cooking, cleaning, or just standing at the counter eating cereal.

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Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Well, Hello Old Friend

It's been a while, let's catch up shall we?

Hello, Lover.  On Valentine's Day we received our new television.  I made the purchase from PlasmaBay.  Who?  That's exactly what I thought when I heard of the on-line retailer of flat panel televisions.  After doing all the research on what I was looking for in a LCD television, I went with a Samsung.  I didn't have a clue as to what I was getting myself into when I found the cheapest price listed at PlasmaBay and placed the order on-line on a Sunday night.  I was kind of worried when I didn't receive a confirmation email or call on Monday, but figured the weekend was most likely their busiest time of the week, so I gave them the benefit of the doubt.  Tuesday afternoon I received a call from a sales representative at PlasmaBay to confirm my order and shipping address.  The man also made a soft sales pitch on HDMI cables and an extended warranty.  I inquired about the extended warranty seeing that this is our first major purchase in some time.  After explaining the LCD technology and the extended warranty to me in a cool manner as if we were neighbors across the street, the gentleman said he could give me a deal on the warranty.  All of their warranty work is done by Best Buy in-home techs, so I purchased an additional three year, full in-home repair, warranty and since I made that purchase the salesman said he would bump up my free shipping to air.  Sure enough, first thing Thursday morning a local courier telephoned me with a two hour delivery window and they were at our home unloading the television twenty minutes later.  Overall I'm very happy with the service we received from PlasmaBay and I made the purchase, including shipping and full four year warranty, for about $300 less than I could have anywhere locally.

I called DIRECTV about upgrading our service to a high definition signal for the new TV and they were wanting all kind of money to do that.  Of course, after wanting all the money for changing to HD, they wanted us to recommit to another two year contract with them and pay to lease the equipment.  That's crazy talk.  I've been with DIRECTV for years now and have been very loyal to them, as I think they provide a better television service than cable, plus I have to have the NFL Sunday Ticket to be put through the yearly pain of watching my New Orleans Saints lose.  So after voicing my displeasure about them wanting to charge us about $300 for the HD upgrade, I was transferred to speak with someone in their "customer retention" department.  I told them I thought it was kind of lame that they wanted me to pay all this money for the new receiver/DVR & dish, when I was doing them a service for continuing to be a loyal customer.  Long story, short...we didn't pay anything for the dish & equipment upgrade, we have free HD/DVR service for a year, we've got all the premium stations (movie & sports) free for six months and they were here to install it on Friday, the day after the TV arrived.  Thank you DIRECTV, you make us want to be a customer.

Have you noticed almost every woman in America is pregnant right now?  There are a lot of women out there with one in the chamber.  It's crazy!  Keeping with the baby boom, the gals went out of town to go to a baby shower for my sister-in-law.  I sent along the gift of a unwrapped Baby Ruth candy bar inside a diaper, with the note saying "In the future these will stink."

So the boys of the family were home for the weekend with the new TV.  We found ourselves watching stuff we would normally not tune in to, such as NASCAR, food shows and women's gymnastics.  High definition is very cool and now that once I've watched it in our home, I'm spoiled.  I found myself getting bummed out because something wasn't broadcast in HD.

Now I'm not saying we sat around and watched television all weekend, there was also an XBox 360 involved too.  After a full day of playing outside, running the roads and watching some racing cars, The Little Man hit the sack hard.  Later, I would turn on what has to be the equivalent of the drug of choice for an addict.  A friend of mine was going out of town for the weekend, so he made the suggestion that I borrow his XBox 360 and some games to check out on the new TV.  Wow!  I turned it on to play for a bit, next thing you know I was single handedly fighting terrorism into the wee hours of the morning.  It's scary how fast the time flew by.  Needless to say, the graphics are amazing and well, I'm a gamer.  I have always enjoyed video games, but once the kids came along I don't play much at all.

The next few weeks, I will be working for a friend of mine on Wednesday evenings.  He owns a company that delivers movies, from the studio's depot, to different movie theaters in Kentucky.  So Wednesdays I'll be going to depot, loading up his delivery van with metal cases full of film reels, driving to movie theaters in Lexington, Louisville, and all small town theaters in between to deliver them.  I'm doing this to help out my friend while he recovers from foot surgery, not to mention put a nice chunk of change in my pocket.  Maybe some of that change could go towards buying a XBox 360?

Let's Get Random

You might see that I'm messing around with the design of the site here.  I'm sure this won't be the final design, but I am liking the addition of the calendar up there.  I never know what the date is, so that will stay for sure.

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Tonight in Nevada is the debate between the democratic presidential candidates, or excuse me, the ones MSNBC invited.  I'm hoping to watch it with the laptop in reach to do a little commentary, while I watch.

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I'm going through a bunch of compact discs that I have from the 90's.  They have been away in the garage for a long while.  The stuff I really liked I converted to MP3 and put them on a hard drive long ago, but going through them again, I am finding albums or singles that I missed.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with all these things once I'm done, but I'm ready to get rid of them.  They are in little plastic sleeves, because the plastic jewel cases just took up too much room, perhaps you want some of them?

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I'm about to take back my kitchen, it's been pretty messy since the holidays.  It's going down!

Let's Get Random...Weekend Edition

Friday Night Lights, the best show on television, started back up on Friday night.  I hate having the thought that this program might not make it past the current writer's strike.  I don't know how many episodes they have in the can, but I would hate to see this show get canceled due to the strike.

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My wife has gone puzzle crazy.  Jigsaw style.  She has been working on a jigsaw puzzle that is as big as Montana, the state, not the Hannah.  As of late, after we get the kids cleaned up, stories told and tucked into bed, she'll get that sparkle in her eye.  Not that sparkle.  It's puzzle time!  I'll sit on the bed, after she pulls the monster, know as the puzzle, from under our bed and try to talk with her while she's on the floor of our bedroom scanning and placing pieces.  I can't do it, I don't even have the patience to watch that craziness.

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I'm known to have a guy's night out every so often, usually on Friday nights.  Especially now seeing the Friday night is prime puzzle time, so last night I went out and tripped the light fantastic around Florence, KY with a buddy.  To give you a little feel of what the nightlife might be like around here I'll share this conversation with you from this morning.

• Me - You know the name of the band that was playing where me and the guys went last night?
• The Lady - Cameltoe.
• Me - No, but that is a really good guess.

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The Lady has now informed our children about their parts after being asked by the daughter.  Now when it's bath-time or if she happens to be in the area when The Little Man is getting a fresh diaper, Doodlebug proclaims to the neighborhood from the top of her lungs, "Lit-tle pe-nis!  Lit-tle Pe-nis!  He's got a little penis!"  Nice. 

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Everyone knows this about me.  I managed to lose two sticks of lip stuff today while volunteering some course work at Idlewild Disc Golf Course.  Ridiculous.

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As I'm sitting here watching the Jacksonville Jaguars beat up on the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first half, I have come to realize NBC has run about 381 promos for the new American Gladiators.  In 364 of those promos the word spandex was mentioned.  Tight.

Let's Get Random...Holiday Edition

Last night a friend came over with her daughters to play with our kids.  The night flew by and the children play so great together.  It was pointed out that our house brings out the poop in everyone, as one of her daughters always drops a deuce in our potty.  I agreed, because every time I have a play-date over here, it's flush central or I need to get a incinerator for the diapers.  She kindly referred to our house as "The Casa de CaCa" and I added "The Poop Palace".  I know, we're twelve.

Thursday night and this morning I had a chance to get out with Joe & Jane Public of northern Kentucky to do a few holiday errands, alone.  I love to people watch.  With that being said, I got to do some of it while out and about. 

It was wild being in a grocery store without a child.  I found myself walking up and down every aisle, even though I was going only to pick up a few specific things.  I crossed paths with a couple of folks that I knew while roaming and the first question was, "Where are the kids?", I replied "I don't know...produce, bakery, maybe frozen foods."  That was enough, they knew I was having entirely too much fun at the grocery store, alone.

People here in northern Kentucky love buffets.  I mean love em.  There are different types of buffets all over the place, featuring strap on the feed bag for one price all-you-can-eat specials.  A lot of different cuisines are represented, but for the most part it's Chinese food people seem to flock to.  I had time to waste while waiting for something today, so I went to a local pizza buffet for lunch, not only to eat, but for the most part to people watch.

I think people that wear their fancy blue light, cell phone earpiece at all times, even when not on a call, look like idiots.

For as cheerful and joyful as this season is supposed to be, I was amazed by the lack of talking going on while families were having lunch together.  I'm serious, I watched two tables at lunch where maybe 7 words were said the entire time.  It looked like you could just tell people wanted it to be 11pm on December 25th, so this could all be over and they could go to sleep.

I like my holidays during this time of year to be cold and right now, it's not.  I think that might be helping and hurting the hustle and bustle of the season.  It's warm outside, so people are really out and about, but since it's not cold folks might not be in that much of a holiday mood.

On Christmas Eve I am stopping by a friend's house, as Santa, to drop off a few Christmas gifts to their little children.  I've played Santa many times.  The first time I ever met my wife's huge extended family I was in a Santa suit and since then it's been, "put him in the suit he doesn't need any pillows", so we have a suit.  I was off last year, didn't play Santa to anyone.  In the past I've played Santa to Boys & Girls Clubs, non-profit organizations I've volunteered for, and youth groups I lead.  It is great to see the reaction of a child as Santa, it's cool.  Now I'm completely nervous about it because my friend says to me, "I hope they don't recognize you."  So today in the car, I was talking to myself as Santa.

We are having more people than I originally thought at our house on Christmas day, but it's going to be completely casual, come as you are.  I'm going to prepare some comfort food and the best way I can sum up the way the day will unfold is like this.

Question:  What time do we eat?  Answer: Whenever you want.

I don't know what's going on in your neck of the woods, but around us, it's baby season.  It's crazy how many people are pregnant around here.  I was talking with another guy from the playgroup, that recently became a stay at home parent, about all the baby making going on.  I said, "It's crazy, I know about 25 women that are pregnant right now!", he laughed and said, "I don't even know 25 women.".  I replied, "Keep with the current job and you will."  Here to wishing those ladies I know and don't know, some smooth, healthy deliveries in the upcoming future.

This year has been pretty good to our family.  The best gift I can get, is another year of living the life and raising some kids.  What gift would you like to get this year?

Shhh...I know the best kept traffic avoiding secret, that is in plan sight, in Florence, KY and I hope it stays that way.

Happy holidays people.  Thanks for sharing some of your time with me and comments are always appreciated on what I can do to serve you better.