Snow Day

Word has come down, the office is closed tomorrow. Adult Snow!

Sunday Snow

Carla and Bounce got to try out their new sweaters this afternoon. Carla seemed happy to be able to get some solid footing, while Bounce had fun bouncing through the snow piles.

More Snow Pictures

Snowy Evening

The snow is still falling, although not nearly as hard as earlier in the day. The snow is piled up halfway up the windows in the living room. (They are next to the roof on either side of the fireplace.)

The snow plows have come through for the second time today. This time they plowed the intersection only! The majority of the snow ended up being shoved over into the ditch in front of the house. Not very helpful in the scope of things.

Snow Photos

They've come by again with the snow plow (9:30 p.m.), I'm sure we've ended up with a huge pile of snow packed in front of the driveway.


Bounce is living up to his name. He has bounced through the snow, bounced around the living room, bounced on the sofa, and bounced on his bed. He finally wore himself out after a couple of hours. I bet he'll be out for the night.

Snowy Saturday

now is falling at a really nice pace now. It didn't start here until around 3:30 a.m. and it looks like we have around 5-inches on the ground so far.

Bounce is not too happy with all this wet cold stuff on the ground, especially when he needs to go out to potty. He sits at the door with a unbelieving look on his face, seeming to say, "You're going to make me go out where?"

This morning I have been attending the Constitution Town Hall, put on by Hillsdale college entitled "Reviving the Constitution".

Email & Newsletter Gleanings: Life's tough......it's even tougher if you're stupid. - John Wayne

WHAT DO PEOPLE FEAR MOST?

The results were interesting, to say the least.

Country Living magazine's top three answers were:

1. Nuclear war / terrorist attack in U.S.
2. Child/ spouse dying / terminal illness.
3. Terminal illness self.

Ebony / Jet magazine's top three answers were:

1. Ghosts
2. Dogs
3. Registered mail

No Kidding!

Late Update

10:30 p.m. and no sign of snow yet, perhaps it will arrive shortly after midnight. The fire has the house all toasty, it's amazing how well the fire gets going with dry wood!! Hope that I keep it up all through the weekend, as long as we keep a good bed of coals it shouldn't be too difficult. It will surely make things nice if things are really nasty out.

Friday Freeze

reezing weather is on the way this evening. It's a big one coming up from the South. Usually when then hit us that way, we get hammered. So far they are forecasting 8-12 inches of snow. Now of course that all depends on exactly where the snow/ice line falls. Areas to the South are suppose to be more heavily hit, but as always we'll just have to wait and see.

The area grocery stores are most likely packed with people laying in enough supplies to survive being snowed in for a month of Sundays.

I have spent the majority of the day dealing with printer problems. Yesterday I had picked up ink for the printer so that I could get on with my class assignments, only to find out today that the printer won't work any more. I guess sitting in a cabinet for 3 years could cause that. So back to return the ink and get a new printer. I picked up a wireless one so that Walter can print to it as well and neither of us will have to be in the same room with it.

Now installation of a new printer should have been a stupendously easy task. Unbox, remove packing materials, insert ink cartridges, run install software and done. NOT!!!

I was on the phone for a little over 2 hours with Mark W. at HP Tech Support. Oh, by the way, he's was located in the Philippines!! Thank goodness he could speak English!! We did have an interesting side conversation while software installed, about the weather, what the season was here vs there. Very interesting. He did get the problem corrected. Turns out that the installation disk that came with the printer was defective.

Bounce had a rough morning, but has really turned it around this afternoon. He's been fantastic. Carla even has had a better day as well.

We've got Ashton, from next door loading up wood on the front porch so that we can stay all warm an cozy should we lose power.

Errands Galore

hat was going to be a day completely devoted to classwork turned into a mission to purchase supplies for my class. Who would have thought that I would need a t-square let alone an x-Acto knife for an online class? I've got an ad to put together - old school. Lots of tools that are needed to do it this way that I haven't used in quite a bit.

I felt like we were running all over the county today. Ben Franklin's, Pet Smart, Radio Shack, Michael's and Barnes & Nobel. Wow! Just a few stops.

While I was doing research on ads from the 1940's, Walter was out in the yard finishing up the leaves. He even had Sean over for awhile this afternoon to help out. He'll be coming over tomorrow to give him a hand at a couple of other chores. Hopefully they will get everything taken care of before the wet weather gets here.

Bounce has been all over everywhere today. We picked him up another chew toy at Pet Smart while we were out and he has gone wild with it. It doesn't stand a chance. He has shook it all over the living room and finally go so tuckered out that he fell asleep.

Great Day!

Today was my Friday at the office. I've got the next four days off to do whatever. With the expected foul weather this weekend it may have been a really good thing that I'm off. Who knows if we'll actually get any frozen stuff or not, but a roaring fire vs. going out will win out every time.

The dogs have been having a field day this evening. Both of the ran out the backdoor to chase cats. It was so funny, they went round and round the woodpile, while one of the cats sat on top and another had worked his way into space at the base. Bounce still hasn't figured out exactly what he's looking for yet, but once he does the cats will be in BIG trouble because he's going to get bigger than Carla.

Bounce was being really playful after dinner. He had gotten his tennis ball and was having a grand old time, until he chased it under the coffee table and promptly bopped his head. Afterward he sulked off like someone had been mean to him.



It seems that Bounce and Carla are going to keep us in stitches. They both have been sleeping on the sofa while we watched television. Then Carla took a notion to get down and sleep in the crate. It was so odd. Then not too much later, Bounce went off to Walter's room and climbed into Carla bed. Too funny. They kept switching places.

Happy Birthday Faith

How God created Virginia

God was missing for six days. On the seventh day, Michael, the archangel, found him - resting.. He inquired, "Where have you been?"

God smiled deeply and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds. "Look, Michael. Look what I've made."

Archangel Michael looked puzzled, and said, "What is it?"

"It's a planet" replied God, and I've put life on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a place to test Balance."

"Balance?" inquired Michael, "I'm confused."

God explained, pointing to different parts of Earth. "For example, he said, northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth, while southern Europe is going to be poor. Over here I've placed a continent of white people, and over there is a continent of black people. Balance in all things."

God continued pointing to different countries. "This one will be extremely hot, while this one will be very cold and covered in ice."

The Archangel, impressed by God's work, then pointed to a land area and asked, "What's that one?"

"That's Virginia, the most glorious place on earth. There are beautiful mountains, ocean, rivers and streams, lakes, forests, hills, and plains. The people from Virginia are going to be handsome, modest, intelligent, and humorous, and they are going to travel the world. They will be extremely sociable, hardworking, high achieving, carriers of peace, and producers of good things."

Michael gasped in wonder and admiration, but then asked, "But what about balance, God? You said there would be balance..."

God smiled, "Right next to Virginia is Washington, DC. Wait till you see the idiots I put there."

Puppy Bulletin

ounce, the new puppy's tentative name, did really well through the night. He was able to stay in the crate during the night. Of course he did have to go out several times, but he just hopped right out there, took care of business and bounced back into the house. Early in the wee hours of the morning - it began raining here and that was the only "kink" in his going out. He wasn't too interested in getting wet, but Carla came through for us and had to go out herself and that gave him just enough motivation to go out himself.

Headed out this afternoon for an eye doctor's appointment. Nothing better than getting your eyes dialoated and then trying to look at anything clearly! It is almost a form of torture! Everything is a okay, so I won't be heading back there anytime soon.

Walt's heading out this evening for another job interview. This is for a part-time evening position. Good luck Walt!

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Weapons of Math Instruction

A public school teacher was arrested today at JFK as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, protractor, compass, slide-rule, and calculator. At a morning press conference, Attorney General Eric Holder said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement. He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.

'Al-Gebra is a problem for us', the Attorney General said. 'They derive solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute values.' They use secret code names like 'X' and 'Y' and refer to themselves as 'unknowns', but we have determined that they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with ... See More coordinates in every country. As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, 'There are 3 sides to every triangle'. When asked to comment on the arrest, Holder said, 'If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, he would have given us more fingers and toes.'

Weapon of Math Disruption

A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption. The teacher had been trying to explain how the roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He had acquired his size from too much pi. I was wondering why the basketball kept getting larger. Then it hit me.

Day Two

ay Two of the puppy invasion. The little fellow did great yesterday. We had gone out yesterday and pick up a crate for him to sleep in, but that didn't even get used. He slept on the sofa all night with Walter. Walter went out with him every couple of hours all night. He's reported that the little guy will hop out the backdoor, take care of business, and hop right back into the house, grab a nibble of food and drink, then sit waiting to be put back on the sofa to go back to sleep.

This morning we have been busy. He played around quite a bit and even let us know when he needed to go out to potty. Very good boy. He is beginning to move around the house more and getting the hang of the steps. Walt told me this morning that he'll even hop out the house and go potty by himself and turn right around to come back inside. That is going to be really nice,if he keeps it up.

A New Puppy

This morning I was in a mood to get out and about early, so I ran by Panera for some breakfast and headed to Mom & Dad's. We had a great visit.

Then I finally made it out to actually see the puppies. Well, that went really well. Mom's puppy, Brandi, is just a little doll. She puts me in mind of Carla. There were a couple of other little females that quite friendly. After getting Walter to bring Carla out and introducing her to a number of the puppies, we decided to bring home the pudgy little male. He is just so laid-back.

So far so good. Carla hasn't been upset about him being here. We packed up Carla and the puppy and headed to Pet Smart to pick up puppy supplies. The trip went well.

Puppy Photos

Happy Birthday Mom!

Email Catch Up

've been a bit neglectful of my email newsletters and really need to get back to keeping up on a daily basis. The week's mail was full of interesting stuff!

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought for the Day: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." --Article II, Section I, U.S. Constitution

Computer Screen Cleaning

You probably don't clean your computer screen very often and it is really hard to do the inside, so here is my present to you.

click on the word "here" above and wait for a few seconds and the inside of your screen will be cleaned for you!

Character: Lee and Jackson

"Let each man resolve to be victorious, and that the right of self-government, liberty, and peace shall find him a defender." --Robert E. Lee

"[M]y religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me. That is the way all men should live, and then all would be equally brave." --Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson

Today we take a moment to remember the birth anniversaries of Robert E. Lee (Jan. 19) and Stonewall Jackson (Jan. 21), two of the greatest military commanders in American history. They also were great men of faith who gave their all (Jackson his life) for the cause of liberty and states' rights, which we at The Patriot hold so dear. Some may question our decision to honor men of the Confederate States of America, but we encourage those readers to consider our correction of the record. The honor we give these men has its roots in the founding of this great nation.

Mark Alexander notes in his essay,"Lincoln's Legacy at 200," that "the causal case for states' rights is most aptly demonstrated by the words and actions of Gen. Lee, who detested slavery and opposed secession. In 1860, however, Gen. Lee declined Lincoln's request that he take command of the Army of the Potomac, saying that his first allegiance was to his home state of Virginia: 'I have, therefore, resigned my commission in the army, and save in defense of my native state... I hope I may never be called on to draw my sword.' He would, soon thereafter, take command of the Army of Northern Virginia, rallying his officers with these words: 'Let each man resolve to be victorious, and that the right of self-government, liberty, and peace shall find him a defender.'" - Patriot's Post Brief · Monday, January 18, 2010

Then there was this little jem that I hadn't seen until today. What an attractive pose for the President of the United States. It speaks for itself. Wow!

Congressional Reform Act of 2010

1. Term Limits: 12 years only, one of the possible options below.

A. Two Six year Senate terms
B. Six Two year House terms
C. One Six year Senate term and three Two Year House terms

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

2. No Tenure / No Pension: A congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security: All funds in the Congressional retirement fund moves to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, Congress participates with the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, server your term(s), then go home and back to work.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan just as all Americans.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

6. Congress looses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

7. Congress must equally abide in all laws they impose on the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

8. All contracts with past and present congressmen are void effective 1/1/11. The American people did not make this contract with congressmen, congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

Hump Day!!

reat day! I put to bed five editions of our magazine by end of business today. Took a little jaunt downtown to a meeting about the upcoming RAUG meetings for the year. Then this evening rode out with Walter on one of his famous random excursions. A truly fun filled day.

Too bad there was so much cloud cover this morning and evening. I was hoping to get another shot at a spectacular sunrise/sunset. Oh well, as Scarlett said, "Tomorrow is another day!"

Way Cool

om shot me over this link to a really cool link to a full length video on Hummingbirds that was done by PBS. I always thought that Hummers were interesting but WOW! Amazing footage.

I have truly enjoyed the wonderful weather this afternoon. I got out of the office for 30 minutes or so around lunch this afternoon. As I walked out of the office, the church bells were ringing and everything was just calm. Great way to start the afternoon.

Walt's off to this evening to work in Colonial Heights, hopefully he won't be there too late this evening. Or rather, hopefully he is there to work long enough to make it worth his time for even driving down there.

A New Week

o glad that the weather is beginning to seem like it is turning nice. I went outside for a few minutes this afternoon and had thoughts of opening up the windows. It will be a few more months before that becomes a reality, but there is the promise that it's coming soon.

On the way in this morning the clouds were gorgeous! The brilliant reds and yellows to the East and in the west fluffy white clouds on a spectacular blue sky. I caught this really neat reflection in the parking lot near the office.

Winter Poem

WINTER
by Abigail Elizabeth McIntyre

Crap It's Cold

The End

Saturday Afternoon

usy morning today. I made a coffee run for everyone before meeting up with Dad & Walter at a firearms class put on by T.A.C. Solutions at Bob's Sport Shop. The class was great! Some of it was a refresher of the information that I had when I was taking law enforcement classes at Tyler, all those years ago.

While we were waiting to get our class attendance certificates, everyone was roaming around the Bob's and low and behold Dad found something. Here he is modeling the jacket that he found. He didn't get it but I could see the wheels turning when he tried it on.

Samuel's is over to spend the night. I'd promised him that he could back at the end of the year. He's been having a grand time playing Walt's XBox 360. We're going to order up some pizza for dinner and maybe even watch Spiderman 3 a little later.

Saturday Sunrise

Afternoon Errands

he day has been surprisingly busy. I was able to accomplish so much before noon! I was having some trouble getting the computer to back up online, but it wasn't me this time. There was a software update going on at the company, which was only affecting people who were trying to do their initial backups. Which, needless to say, included me. But I'm back up an running now. Happily uploading in the background.

Sean came back over to visit for a few hours. While he was here he showed me this poem that he had written today:

The Hearts Grace

With this rose I give you my heart.
I give my love, deep from my heart.
Light fades, heart’s desire.

Your voice my guide, your hand my staff.
Your strength my shelter. Your love is the
light that brightens my way.

You rid my pain, you cast away my fears.
Forever lost in a sea of love.
Rich with faith, rich with hope our hearts fall in love.

He wrote this for his girlfriend, very sweet, and it isn't even for Valentine's Day.

We ran out and did some errand while the maids were at the house. Being a teenager, he had to eat or he was going to starve. Then we dropped by Car Pool to get the car washed. It was in desperate need of a good wash and vacuuming. It's been so long since it has been washed, that I don't remember getting it done the last time.

We ran past Tropical Treehouse Florist to pick up a rose to go with the poem and I even splurged for a bouquet for the table. They had a really nice bouquet for only $5.99 and it look a 100% better than the ones you can get from the grocery store that cost more.

After dropping Sean off, I headed back home for a bit more R&R. Although I did make a quick stop at Fordham Lake to see if there was any photographic inspiration there this afternoon. Nope. Maybe another day more fruitful.

My Day Off

ell my day off has had an early beginning, Sean spent the night at the house last night and had to be taken to school in Chester this morning. Dang, I didn't even get to sleep in, in fact, I was up earlier to take him to school than I'm up to go to work.

On the bright side to getting up and out that early, was getting to see the beautiful sunrise this morning. I did get a couple of good shots, but the majority of them are marred by the power lines, street lights or signage. It's hard finding a place to get a good sunrise without all the interference.

I've been piddling around the house for most of the morning. Getting the trash out, laundry done, putting stuff away that just doesn't need to be out. Molly Maids is coming this afternoon and if I've got the junk put away they can be in and out in no time.

Carla has been enjoying having me home today. She's all curled up on her bed in the dining room keeping an eye out on the going ons. The warmer temperatures are perking the both of us up. She may get to spend a lot more time outside this afternoon and tomorrow. Maybe she'll not be too upset when the rains come back at the first of the week.

Mid January Rundown

ard to believe that it's already the middle of January! The new year is off and definitely running, sometimes I think it is really sprinting along a bit too fast.

The end of the year was plagued with computer issues, which have spilled over to this year. The transfer of all the data from one computer to another seems to take forever and then there are all the applications that need to be reinstalled or heaven forbid be "refound". I just love some of those neat little apps that you find for free, but coming up with them again can take some time. Sometimes the trick to all of them are the registrations - you've bought it or gotten it for free, then your hard drive dies and you either have to wait to get it for free again or repurchase it because the new computer that you've picked up isn't the same operating system or they've upgraded the software!!! It's such a vicious cycle.

The office has been busy - I've been working on getting a new book together for Dr. Martin; also searching out some new graphics for another book as well. Then there has been the cd's that have needed putting together. Not really terribly difficult just slightly time consuming.

Procrastination has caught up with me, the tree absolutely has to come down this evening. I was 'waiting' on the elves to help me take care of it, but they have been no where in sight. At minimum, I'll get the ornaments off an stored before the maids show up in the morning to clean up from the holidays.

Maybe...I'll even get to take the day off. Here's hoping! This just in, I have tomorrow OFF!!! and it's even suppose to be a nice day. Yeah!

Thursday Night: Wow have plans changed! Sean's coming over to spend the night this evening. Since I'm home I'll be able to take him to school in the morning. Then Samuel's coming over for to spend Friday night. I'm finally making good on my promise to him. I do believe that he's already excited. Pizza, Mountain Dew, and PlayStation! He'll be in hog heaven.

Packing Away Christmas

It's time once again to pack away all the Christmas decorations that we have put up only a little over a month ago. Somehow I think this stuff actually multiplies dramatically once it has been released from it's captivity. Once the tree finally gets taken down, the living room will look so naked without it. Right now we are loading up the guest room with all the decorations, then the great challenge will be to take them up into the attic.

I was able to 'bribe' my neighbor's son into filling the wood rack on the front porch this afternoon. I am looking forward to a roaring fire either later on tonight or first thing in the morning.

Fordham Lake

Fordham lake located at the end of our street. Dang, it's even for sale! So if you're interested in owning your very own lake for ONLY $49,900, check it out at www.FordhamLake.com

More Photos of the Lake

Catching Up

A little catching up is in order, since I have been totally neglectful of my blog for the past week or so. Not much extra ordinary has been going on. My major goal has been to stay warm. Burr.

With seemingly arctic temperatures and snow! Virginia just hasn't been feeling like itself lately. Here we all have been inundated with how we all need to pay money for carbon offsets because we are causing global 'warming', well...you could have fooled me. You would certainly not expect temperatures in the teens and 20's, let alone snow! I think someone is trying to pull the wool literally over the eyes of the world population. I wonder? Could there be a huge financial gain in selling carbon offsets? Follow the money to find out who is stirring up the ruckus.

I'm just loving the frozen 'lake' in the office parking lot. As of Friday the ice was as thick as four-inches in some places. One day soon we're going to drivethrough there and be swallowed by a huge sink hole.

I hopped online last night to sort of catch up on the news and I am kidding you not the following were stories that were on the Drudge Report:

• Human sacrifices 'on the rise in Uganda' as witch doctors admit to rituals...
• TSA agent arrested at LAX after declaring: 'I am God, I'm in charge'...
• Carville: They can 'measure my penis'...
  
• Mind-reading systems could change air security...

I'm not too sure what's been going on, but it seems to me that things are going just a wee bit crazy. These headlines alone make you shake your head and laugh because they just seem so outlandish. Granted the human sacrifices is a tragic thing - witch doctors admitting too it is just strange. After reading the articles they make sense, but the headlines, whoa.

Spent a great evening last night out with CHHS alumni, we had a pre-get-together get together for dinner and then headed out to Buffalo Wild Wings for a late evening. We had a little birthday celebration for Josh & Wayne, turns out that they were born 3 hours apart. I'll keep it a secret as to who's the oldest. Birthday cake all around made for a nice ending to dinner.

Photos of the birthday boys and at Buffalo Wild Wings.

I don't know exactly how I did it, but I managed to leave my keys at home (Walter was driving) which normally wouldn't have been an issue, but Walter got called into work. Hmm...no problem Kelly was a doll and gave me a ride home. The trouble was I had no keys! Mom to the rescue. Poor thing, I called her at 11 p.m. to see if she had a key to the house, she did and a quick drive by later. I was able to get into the house. Tragedy averted. I guess the worse thing that could have happened would have been a night in a hotel or at Mom & Dad's house.

Happy New Year!

I took a little road trip down to Hillsborough, NC to a New Year's Eve party at Jeff's. This little fellow was hanging out at the North Carolina Welcome Center. He didn't seem to have a care in the world, he wasn't even afraid of people.

We had a great time ringing in the New Year. He and Sarah did a nice job with the party. We got in a round of spirit Apples to Apples just before midnight.

This morning it was off to Cracker Barrel for breakfast before I began to meander home. It was an interesting drive. Definitely worth the extra time it took.

Road Trip Photos
Here's something that you just don't see, cattle running. I'm not sure what they were all stirred up about, but they certainly were in a hurry.