Hump Day Again

Can't believe that Bounce has been so good lately. His behavior has improved greatly since Sarah came up and taught him a thing or two. Next time Jeff & Sarah come up they will definitely have to bring Borla up with them so that Bounce can play with him.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

LET ME SEE IF I GOT THIS RIGHT!!!

IF YOU CROSS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET 12 YEARS HARD LABOR

IF YOU CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY.

IF YOU CROSS THE AFGHAN BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU GET SHOT.

IF YOU CROSS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE JAILED.

IF YOU CROSS THE CHINESE BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU MAY NEVER BE HEARD FROM
AGAIN.

IF YOU CROSS THE VENEZUELAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE BRANDED A SPY AND YOUR FATE WILL BE SEALED.

IF YOU CROSS THE CUBAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE THROWN INTO POLITICAL PRISON TO ROT.

IF YOU CROSS THE U.S. BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET

1 - A JOB,
2 - A DRIVERS LICENSE,
3 - SOCIAL SECURITY CARD,
4 - WELFARE,
5 - FOOD STAMPS,
6 - CREDIT CARDS,
7 - SUBSIDIZED RENT OR A LOAN TO BUY A HOUSE,
8 - FREE EDUCATION,
9 - FREE HEALTH CARE,
10 - A LOBBYIST IN WASHINGTON
11 - BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS PRINTED IN YOUR LANGUAGE
12 - AND THE RIGHT TO CARRY YOUR COUNTRY'S FLAG WHILE YOU PROTEST THAT YOU DON'T GET ENOUGH RESPECT

I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE I HAD A FIRM GRASP ON THE SITUATION.

Are WE dumbasses or what ????

Tuesday

It was a great day, the weather was lovely! I was out at lunch time and took advantage of the time to enjoy the wonderful weather and sunshine.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

The House Behind The House

One of my fondest memories
As I recall the days of yore,
Was the little house, behind the house,
With the crescent o'er the door.

'Twas a place to sit and ponder
With your head all bowed down low;
Knowing that you wouldn't be there,

If you didn't have to go.

Ours was a multi-holer, three,
With a size for every one.
You left there feeling better,
After your job was done.

You had to make those frequent trips
In snow, rain, sleet, or fog--
To that little house where you usually
Found the Sears catalog.

Oft times in dead of winter,
The seat was spread with snow…
'Twas then with much reluctance,
To that little house you'd go.

With a swish you'd clear that wooden seat,
Bend low, with dreadful fear,
You'd shut your eyes and grit your teeth
As you settled on your rear.

I recall the day Ol' Granddad,
Who stayed with us one summer,
Made a trip out to that little house
Which proved to be a bummer.

'Twas the same day that my Dad had
Finished painting the kitchen green.
He'd just cleaned up the mess he'd made
With rags and gasoline.

He tossed the rags down in the hole
Went on his usual way,
Not knowing that by doing so
He'd eventually rue the day.

Now Granddad had an urgent call,
I never will forget!
This trip he made to the little house
Stays in my memory yet.

He sat down on the wooden seat,
With both feet on the floor.
He filled his pipe and tapped it down
And struck a match on the outhouse door.

He lit the pipe and sure enough,
It soon began to glow.
He slowly raised his rear a bit,
And tossed the flaming match below.

The Blast that followed, I am told
Was heard for miles around;
And there was poor ol' Granddad
Sprawled out there on the ground.

The smoldering pipe still in his mouth,
His eyes were shut real tight;
The celebrated three-holer
Was blown clear out of sight.

We asked him what had happened,
What he said I'll ne'er forget.
He said he thought it must have been
The pinto beans he et!

Next day we had a new one
Dad put it up with ease.
But this one had a door sign
That read: No Smoking, Please

Now that's the story's end
my friend, Of memories long ago,
When we went to the house behind the house,
Because we had to go.

For those who never had to trot out in the Cold....
Just Give Thanks to God above!!!

MOVING TO MEXICO

Dear Mr. President:

I'm planning to move my family and extended family into Mexico for my health, and I would like to ask you to assist me.

We're planning to simply walk across the border from the U.S. Into Mexico , and we'll need your help to make a few arrangements.

We plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, Passports, immigration quotas and laws.

I'm sure they handle those things the same way you do. Here. So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Calderon, that I'm on my Way over?

Please let him know that I will be expecting the Following:

1. Free medical care for my entire family.

2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all Services I might need, whether I use them or not.

3. Please print all Mexican government forms in English.

4. I want my grand kids to be taught Spanish by English-speaking (bi-lingual) teachers.

5. Tell their schools they need to include classes on American culture and history.

6. I want my grand kids to see the American flag on one of the flag poles at their school.

7. Please plan to feed my grand kids at school for both breakfast and lunch.

8. I will need a local Mexican driver's license so I can get easy access to government services.

9. I do plan to get a car and drive in Mexico , but, I don't plan to purchase car insurance, and I probably won't make any special effort to learn local traffic laws.

10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does not get the memo from their president to leave me alone, please be sure that every patrol car has at least one English-speaking officer.

11. I plan to fly the U.S. Flag from my house top, put U. S. Flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments from the locals.

12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes, or have any labor or tax laws enforced on any business I may start.

13. Please have the president tell all the Mexican people to be extremely nice and never say critical things about me or my family, or about the strain we might place on their economy.

14. I want to receive free food stamps.

15. Naturally, I'll expect free rent subsidies.

16. I'll need Income tax credits so although I don't pay Mexican Taxes, I'll receive money from the government.

17. Please arrange it so that the Mexican Gov't pays $4,500 to help me buy a new car.

18. Oh yes, I almost forgot, please enroll me free into the Mexican Social Security program so that I'll get a monthly income in retirement.

I know this is an easy request because you already do all these things for all his people who walk over to the U.S. From Mexico I am sure that President Calderon won't mind returning the favor if you ask him nicely.

Thank you so much for your kind help. You're the man!!!

OKLAHOMA MAY JUST BE THE PLACE TO LIVE!

An update from Oklahoma:

Oklahoma passed, 37 to 9 (had a few liberals in the mix), an amendment to place the Ten Commandments on the front entrance to the state capitol. The feds in D.C., along with the ACLU, said it would be a mistake. Hey this is a conservative state, based on Christian values! HB 1330
Guess what? Oklahoma did it anyway.

Oklahoma recently passed a law in the state to incarcerate all illegal immigrants, and ship them back to where they came from unless they want to get a green card and become an American citizen. They all scattered. HB 1804. Hope we didn't send any of them to your state. This was against the advice of the Federal Government, and the ACLU, they said it would be a mistake.
Guess what? Oklahoma did it anyway.

Recently we passed a law to include DNA samples from any and all illegal’s to the Oklahoma database, for criminal investigative purposes. Pelosi said it was unconstitutional. SB 1102
Guess what? Oklahoma did it anyway.

Several weeks ago, we passed a law, declaring Oklahoma as a Sovereign state, not under the Federal Government directives. Joining Texas , Montana and Utah as the only states to do so. More states are likely to follow: Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolina's, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, West Virginia, Mississippi, Florida. Save your confederate money, it appears the South is about to rise up once again. HJR 1003

The federal Government has made bold steps to take away our guns. Oklahoma, a week ago, passed a law confirming people in this state have the right to bear arms and transport them in their vehicles. I'm sure that was a setback for the criminals (and Obamaites). Liberals didn't like it, but --- Guess what? Oklahoma did it anyway.

Just this month, my state has voted and passed a law that ALL driver's license exams will be printed in English, and only English, and no other language. We have been called racist for doing this, but the fact is that ALL of our road signs are in English only. If you want to drive in Oklahoma, you must read and write English (Really simple).

By the way, Obama does not like any of this. And Guess what? Who cares? Oklahoma is doing it anyway.

Wispy Rainbow

I popped out for lunch this afternoon and just about missed this partial rainbow in the clouds. It was one of the oddest things, seeing it in the wisps. This was the best of the photos, but then again, I was sitting at the stoplight when I saw it.

Saturday Fun

We had a little adventure this morning, as we headed out to breakfast with Jeff & Sarah we discovered that the truck had a flat. Not a terribly large problem, but with it trying to rain it was going to be a mess to fix. After a quick trip to Sheets for air, we headed off in search of a covered area where the tire could be changed without the guys getting soaked. Turned out the best place was the self-serve car wash (no one was there and it was a dry covered area). There was a tense moment or two when the jack slipped and the truck almost fell off the jack. With a bit of pushing from Sarah and I we were able to help hold the the vehicle steady until they could secure the tire. Crisis avoided.

We had a very uneventful breakfast, but the food was great. We had a great visit. After we got back we introduced Bounce and Borla to one another. It didn't take long for them to get acquainted. From there it was all fun and games. Borla even got hold of Bounce's leash and "walked" him around a bit.

Bounce & Borla Photos



Another Video of them Playing Together

Friday Night on the Patio

Off to Glory Days Grill for a great evening of food and conversation. We had just a small group of nine, but we all had fun. Tim & Elda even made it over this evening for their first appearance at our 'little' gatherings. Kelley was even able to make it after she got off of work.

We even had a little extra fun by sneaking over to the Desserterie at the end of the meal to get dessert to bring back (we had an unusually slow waitress). Dessert was sinfully good.

What a great way to end the day and week!

More Photos

Surprise For Me

I got a bit of a surprise this morning, turns out that I'd worked a bit too much this week and I got to leave the office at 1:00 this afternoon.

Back to Work

Been working diligently for the past couple of days to finish up a website. Finally got the darn thing finished just before close of business this evening.

Walter's been doing yard work for the last couple of days. So far he's planted the new clumping birch tree in the side yard; planted grass seed; and Monday installed a new light post next to the driveway.

We've finished up the website this week. Yippee. There are a few tweaks yet to be done, adding extra images, videos and a few more pages of content. These don't have to be done right away, but a little at a time.

This week Bounce has found a new toy to play with, loose tiles in the foyer. Every time that I turn around I find him with another piece. Turns out that it isn't the actual tiles that he is chewing on, it is the grout. He's a hoot.

Here we are at the end of the week and the grass seed that Walter had thrown out has taken root and we definitely have lots of green stuff up. A little more rain and it won't be long before he'll be out there with the mover.

Timmon's Group came out today and surveyed our property. We didn't get one when we first bought the house and thought it was about time to do since we are beginning to work on the yard. Turns out that all of the property markers that we had found were correct and the elusive final point was a whole 36-feet further back from where we thought it was. Man is the backyard HUGE!!! The final corner for the yard almost sits directly in front of the neighbor behind us front door. His road frontage is apparently very narrow.

Saturday Stuff

Headed out early to Mom's house this morning. She was having the dickens of a time getting her iPad to sync with her computer. We spent a couple of hours trying to restore it to factory defaults.

While we were waiting for software to download she and I took pictures 'stuff' out the kitchen windows. Nice way to kill the time while waiting on the download.

Once the software was downloaded and we finally got the it reset to the factory defaults it didn't take anytime at all for things to start moving right along. Turned out that the USB port that we were using was causing the issue. Once we changed ports things hustled right along.

We got her photos synced and a few other things so now all she has to do it play with it. I know she'll be having fun sharing the photos with everyone.

This afternoon Walter & I made a trip to the Apple Store. Big mistake. They didn't have anything in the store that we were looking for. Not that I am a big Apple fan anyway, but it seems that what I was looking for was going to have to be ordered. Could have saved us the trip, but the ride was nice.

I hadn't ever actually gone into the Short Pump Town Center, well now I can say I have and I really don't know if I want to do it again. Definitely a very different place.

Girl's Day

Mom & Alice are joining me this morning for a Girl's Day in. We don't have the opportunity to get together that often any more.

Mom is bringing her iPad for us to 'play with'. It is so cool that she won it through an app on Facebook.

UPDATE:

We had a great time today. Alice made a quiche and Mom brought the iPad. We even watched Julie & Julia on the iPad through NetFlixs. How fun!

I'm sure that Mom will find a number of uses for the iPad once she gets it all up and running with her computer. Can't wait to see how her pictures come out on it.

We received an update from Tim as well, his iPad arrived today.

Tax Day

Here it is tax day with everyone rushing around getting those tax forms in the mail. It is a real mess. I wonder if there are any parties going on at any of the Post Office branches this evening as there have been in past years. I'm inclined to believe that there aren't that many people who are really excited about paying any taxes this year especially with the way things are being managed in D.C.

I had procrastinated this year on getting my own out, but Josh to the rescue! He got all the forms completed and electronically filed. It's nice not to have any paperwork to mail. Refunds will be coming shortly. Next year, I'll do better. The first of February is the perfect time to get this stuff out of the way.

Walt & I went out for awhile this morning - checking out a few things for the house. He is going to have to reset some of the tiles in the foyer, the grout has given way and the tiles are coming up without any effort. This has presented one small problem...Bounce likes to play with the tiles and eat the old grout. It's keeping me busy getting up any additional loose tiles and the grout pieces.

We browsed the tile at Home Depot and Lowes for a future replacement for foyer, kitchen and utility room. We didn't come up with something that we just 'had to have'. I'm sure when we find the right tile it will be at just the right time to get it. I did however find a nice clumping River Birch for the yard - we're going to plant it on the South side of the house in alignment with the kitchen window. It will be a nice barrier to block the neighbor's backyard full of vehicles.

I've been busy working on homework assignments for my Graphic Design class and doing some housework that has been put off for quite some time. I even was able to get shampooing all the area rugs and one bedroom of carpet. Bounce was funny - he freaks out when I run the vacuum (shampooer). He once again ran and hid under the bed until he was sure that I had finished. Since I finished, he's been bouncing around the house trying to make up for the time that he was hiding out.

Looking forward to a 'Girls Day' tomorrow. Alice & Mom are coming over to spend some time. It promises to be fun.

Cleaning House

Walt had a sweet tooth this morning and we headed across the river when he got home so he could pick up some fresh doughnuts from Krispy Kreme. To his delight the 'HOT DOUGHNUTS' sign was lit up. The doughnuts were wonderful - not scalding, but definitely very warm.

After a few errands, not really, but anyway they were outings this morning, I've been doing some house cleaning. Bounce not accustom to the vacuum running this much has decided to hide himself under one of the beds. He really isn't going to like me much today. I'm cleaning the furniture shortly. Hope he doesn't stay hidden too long.

Photos

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought for the Day: "It does not take a majority to prevail ... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." -- Samuel Adams

Road Trip Day 5

Mom & I got up early this morning to shoot the sunrise from the motel balcony in Yorktown. We got lots of great shots. After piddling around with cameras for an hour or so, we were off again, this time we headed up Colonial Parkway in search of Herons, Osprey, and Eagles. We found the Osprey, but were having a terrible time getting good photos. Most of the time we were shooting into the sun, which does not work at all. I believe that Mom may have gotten a few though. She did spot an Osprey nest near one of the pull-offs.

Road Trip Photos

Morning at Yorktown

The Road Trip May Resume

Now that the staff meeting is over...we're back on the road this evening. We're settling in for the night in Yorktown.

The dock looked great from the motel balcony. It was fun trying to get a night shot.

We Interrupt this Vacation....

...for a STAFF MEETING!!!

Road Trip Day 3

We began our morning with breakfast the Pink Cadillac Diner. The building was painted pink with posters of Elvis all over the interior of the restaurant. There was even the requisite Pink Cadillac out front!

The adventure for the day was the Virginia Safari Park. We arrived at the park at 10 and didn't leave until nearly 3:00 p.m. We toured the park by car, then walked through the small animal enclosure area, went into the aviary. Then we tour the park a second time, this time I did the driving. There was a lot to see.

We traveled on up I-81 to Staunton to visit Sunspot Studios. I pick up a couple of new beads for my bracelet and Mom got a few pictures. We had a great dinner at Kathy's before heading back to Richmond.

Tomorrow is a work day, but in the evening we are headed for Yorktown to spend the night so that we'll be there for sunrise.

TRIP PHOTOS

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

The Dam

This is an actual letter (has not been check for authenticity, but it's a good read anyway-js) sent to a man named Ryan DeVries regarding a pond on his property. It was sent by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Quality, State of Pennsylvania . This guy's response is hilarious, but read The State's letter before you get to the response letter.


State of Pennsylvania 's letter to Mr. DeVries:

SUBJECT: DEQ
File No.97-59-0023; T11N; R10W, Sec 20; Lycoming County

Dear Mr. DeVries:

It has come to the attention of the Department of Environmental Quality that there has been recent unauthorized activity on the above referenced parcel of property. You have been certified as the legal landowner and/or contractor who did the following unauthorized activity:

Construction and maintenance of two wood debris dams across the outlet stream of Spring Pond.

A permit must be issued prior to the start of this type of activity.. A review of the Department's files shows that no permits have been issued Therefore, the Department has determined that this activity is in violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Pennsylvania Compiled Laws, annotated.

The Department has been informed that one or both of the dams partially failed during a recent rain event, causing debris and flooding at downstream locations.. We find that dams of this nature are inherently hazardous and cannot be permitted. The Department therefore orders you to cease and desist all activities at this location, and to restore the stream to a free-flow condition by removing all wood and brush forming the dams from the stream channel. All restoration work shall be completed no later than January 31, 2010.

Please notify this office when the restoration has been completed so that a follow-up site inspection may be scheduled by our staff. Failure to comply with this request or any further unauthorized activity on the site may result in this case being referred for elevated enforcement action..

We anticipate and would appreciate your full cooperation in this matter. Please feel free to contact me at this office if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
David L. Price
District Representative and Water Management Division.

Here is the actual response sent back by Mr. DeVries:

Re: DEQ File
No.. 97-59-0023; T11N; R10W, Sec. 20; Lycoming County

Dear Mr..Price,

Your certified letter dated 11/17/09 has been handed to me. I am the legal landowner but not the Contractor at 2088 Dagget Lane , Trout Run, Pennsylvania .

A couple of beavers are in the (State unauthorized) process of constructing and maintaining two wood 'debris' dams across the outlet stream of my Spring Pond. While I did not pay for, authorize, nor supervise their dam project, I think they would be highly offended that you call their skillful use of natures building materials 'debris.'

I would like to challenge your department to attempt to emulate their dam project any time and/or any place you choose. I believe I can safely state there is no way you could ever match their dam skills, their dam resourcefulness, their dam ingenuity, their dam persistence, their dam determination and/or their dam work ethic.

These are the beavers/contractors you are seeking. As to your request, I do not think the beavers are aware that they must first fill out a dam permit prior to the start of this type of dam activity.

My first dam question to you is:
(1) Are you trying to discriminate against my Spring Pond Beavers, or
(2) do you require all beavers throughout this State to conform to said dam request?

If you are not discriminating against these particular beavers, through the Freedom of Information Act, I request completed copies of all those other applicable beaver dam permits that have been issued. (Perhaps we will see if there really is a dam violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Pennsylvania Compiled Laws, annotated.)

I have several dam concerns. My first dam concern is, aren't the beavers entitled to legal representation? The Spring Pond Beavers are financially destitute and are unable to pay for said representation -- so the State will have to provide them with a dam lawyer.

The Department's dam concern that either one or both of the dams failed during a recent rain event, causing flooding, is proof that this is a natural occurrence, which the Department is required to protect. In other words, we should leave the Spring Pond Beavers alone rather than harassing them and calling them dam names.

If you want the damed stream 'restored' to a dam free-flow condition please contact the beavers -- but if you are going to arrest them, they obviously did not pay any attention to your dam letter, they being unable to read English.

In my humble opinion, the Spring Pond Beavers have a right to build their unauthorized dams as long as the sky is blue, the grass is green and water flows downstream. They have more dam rights than I do to live and enjoy Spring Pond. If the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection lives up to its name, it should protect the natural resources (Beavers) and the environment (Beavers' Dams).

So, as far as the beavers and I are concerned, this dam case can be referred for more elevated enforcement action right now. Why wait until 1/31/2010? The Spring Pond Beavers may be under the dam ice by then and there will be no way for you or your dam staff to contact/harass them.

In conclusion, I would like to bring to your attention to a real environmental quality, health, problem in the area It is the bears! Bears are actually defecating in our woods. I definitely believe you should be persecuting the defecating bears and leave the beavers alone. If you are going to investigate the beaver dam, watch your dam step! The bears are not careful where they dump!

Being unable to comply with your dam request, and being unable to contact you on your dam answering machine, I am sending this response to your dam office.

THANK YOU,
RYAN DEVRIES & THE DAM BEAVERS

Road Trip Day 2

Wow! Have we been busy today.

Uncle Louie picked up Mamaw Stapleton this morning at 7:00 a.m. and they were off to Detroit. Mom & I grabbed some breakfast and then headed off to Wally World. We had some time to kill before we were suppose to meet up with Aunt Goldie around 10:00. It was a successful shopping excursion. Mom found some gift items and I found a few things as well. During the pass off of Mamaw Stapleton's stuff the handicapped parking permit was forgotten. No worries. We stopped at the post office in Ben Hur and sent it on it's way to Detroit. The darn thing should be there by Monday.

We had a nice visit with Goldie and finally left Pennington around noon. It's hard to believe that we piddled around in town for that long.

Our return trip began with the goal of getting to Abingdon,VA. Our first stop was the Southwest Museum. We toured all three floors and checked out the quilt exhibit that they had there.

Now we weren't about to hit the main drag to get there, we meandered along the back roads. By the time we got to Norton, Mom noticed a sign for High Knob Recreation area and we were off on another side journey. Now we didn't have any idea where we were going or how far we needed to go. But onward and upward we went, further and further up the mountain. We finally hit the entrance to the Jefferson National Park, but we still were not at our destination. Around and around we went, through the woods, up higher and higher, through switch back after switch back. The s-curves were really something.

We finally reached High Knob at the very tippy top of the mountain. It's hard to believe that there was an actual parking lot there. After a climb of about 100 yards we were at our destination, with no where else to go but back down the mountain. There were some breath taking vistas. The trees hadn't budded yet at that altitude, but we did see loads of butterflies. That I wasn't expecting.

On the trip back down the mountain we stopped for several photo opportunities, a waterfall, really cool looking rock formation and even a stop at the Upper Norton Reservoir.

Now that was quite a walk, it was hard to believe that there was actually a boat landing there. I certainly wouldn't want to drive up this mountain towing a trailer.

The rest of our journey was heading from Abingdon on to the Natural Bridge area. Tomorrow we are heading over to the Wildlife Safari Park. It promises to be another big adventure day.

Road Trip Day 1

This morning we left out early for Pennington Gap. The trip down was pretty uneventful. We found a few things to take photographs on the way down.

We stopped in Hillsville to visit with Wanda and almost got stuck in a huge traffic backup. We were able to find an alternate route around the mess. Along the way there was a herd of Shetland Ponies, really cool to see. We hit Kingsport at dinner time and had dinner at the Golden Coral with Teresa.

We finally made it to the motel around 8:30 p.m. after a stop off in Woodway for Mamaw to visit with an old friend.

Once all checked in I headed out to for coffee and to get ice. Coffee all secured from the McDonald's in front of the motel, I stopped at the ice machine to fill up the ice bucket. It was a good thing that I'd paid cash for the coffee...the ice machine was coin operated!! Now I've done a bit of traveling and so has Mom, and I've never run across a coin operated ice machine. Really strange.

Fear of Square Plates

It has been a hugely busy day today. I was trying to cram in as much as possible before heading out with Mom in the morning for a short road trip. With some help from Brian F., I was able to get over halfway through a massive project that I have been working on all week long. The rest will just have to wait, although I don't think the general public will notice the missing parts of what we've been working on.

The Square Plate Incident

In a sort of mini-celebration of my mini-vacation, I took Walter out for dinner at O'Charley's this evening. Now here's when things got very interesting for the evening. We placed our order no problem and things were going along just fantastic until the waitress brought out our main course. Walter, being a smart alec asked her what was up with the square plates. She told him that they just like to get new ones from time to time. He asked if anyone ever had any problem with them.

She did get an odd look on her face, but said no. To which Walter said, "Do you want to?" She jumped at the chance. She told him that she would be happy to have them put his meal on a round plate.

When she got back from the kitchen, she was about to bust a side. She told us that she had gotten three different comments and they though had never heard of anything like that. She also told us that they had asked out table numbers, so we would probably be seeing other waitstaff and managers milling about to see who had 'raised the fuss'.

It wasn't too long before one of the managers came strolling by to check on how we were doing. We only said that things were fine and never mentioned that anything odd was happening.

Our waitress brought by our bill and we asked if they had a comment card to fill out, they didn't so in lieu of that we got her to bring us back a bit of extra paper when she brought our receipt. She said that she had had a great time serving us and that it had been quite fun.

Oh, that little slip of paper, I left a note for the manger basically telling how wonderfully that the server had handled our odd situation and that Walter had had this problem since an incident in his childhood. I finished it off, stating that she had handle the situation with the utmost care and compassion.

We left her a better than normal tip. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall to hear what was said after we left.

Oh one more thing...on the way out I tried to get Walter to carry the take out box, and he gave me this frightened "are you crazy look". I'm sure that this only was icing on the cake of the performance of the night.

We were talking about it later and can only image how long that this will be talked about. Then you never know, the next time you go into a O'Charley's if the menu has a note on it that says, "round plates available upon request" you'll know why.

Have a great evening!

Outside My Window

While doing some internet research at the office today I caught a glimpse of a Robin in the flower bed just outside my office window. Amazingly enough, I was able to open the shutters and get a few photos before he left for parts unknown. Maybe the Catbird will be back later in the Spring, he was quite entertaining last year.

This evening I've been enjoying working at the new desk. It really is more conducive to working than where I was working before.

We had a special treat this evening - I found leftover snow cream in the freezer. How terrific! Especially with the nearly Summer like temperatures the last couple of days.

iPad Meltdown

What a waste of new hardware! These kids either have way too much time on their hands or way too much money to waste or possibly both.


Now if it were a defective product that they couldn't get replaced that would have been another story. Then they would have been right up there with the guys in Office Space that beat up the defective printer.

iPhone Chuckle

I got the biggest laugh today, one of the guys that I work with (Mac/Apple user) phoned the office with a very odd technical problem. It seems that his iPhone was acting up, he couldn't get it to make or receive calls except when he was using his blue-tooth in his car.

Now iPhones are really cool looking (and if they were available on Verizon, I might already have one, but...this was just too funny. The worse part to the whole thing is that he's a programmer and usually is the one I call to get to fix all the little buggy things that come up. Poor thing has reset his phone to factory presets and still not having any luck with it. Hope they can fix him up soon, that running back and forth from his desk to the car to talk can't be very helpful.

Easter Out

I packed up around mid-morning and headed out to Mom & Dad's to spend the afternoon. Mom's back was hurting so she had stayed home from church this morning. We sat on the porch, talked and took photos of the Blue Birds.

This evening, I've repotted some houseplants and just generally knocked around the house not doing very much.

I did stir up some trouble, possibly, with our next door neighbor. There was a cat hanging out in our driveway (near the middle of the yard) and I threw a rock it's way to scare it off. You'd have thought that I was trying to kill the thing. She wanted to know why I was throwing s**t at her cat. I simply told her I was trying to scare it out of the yard.

I used to like cats, but have come to really dislike them. One cat is okay, but the fact that there are about 15 or more around here has caused me to want to have them all rounded up and taken away. I don't care where they go, just want them to go away.

Easter Day Photos

Sunny Place to Work

Just finished putting up my desk in the sun room. It's going to be a great place to do homework or just goof off surfing the web.

Happy Easter!

Saturday Shopping

It has been a long.... time since I've been out on a Saturday doing any shopping. The morning started out early with Walter. We hit Food Lion, Burger King, WalMart, & Goodwill before 9:30 a.m.

Once we got home we loaded up the trailer and headed off to the dump to get rid of the broken fence pieces. Then on to Home Depot, for a couple of plants and pots. Back to Goodwill to pick up a table that I found earlier, that is going to make a fantastic desk. Home again to meet up with Sean to go back out for more shopping.

Sean and I were off to find him some clothes. Kohl's, Old Navy and then back to Wally World. It was a whirl wind outing.

We got back to the house in time to do some more yard work before I took him home for the evening.

I was thrilled to get the yard sprayed for bugs, man do I hate bugs. I was able to successfully kill off two or three huge ant hills. YEAH!!!

Finally Friday

It has been a very full week. I've been locked in the windowless conference room for the past three days working on a website. The few minutes that I was able to get out during lunch were heavenly.

The weekend is going to be busy, perhaps I'll be able to hang out in the yard for a while and soak up some sun.

Spring Photos

More Catching Up To Do

What glorious weather!! I sure wish I was had been able to sit outside for a couple of hours this afternoon. The sunshine would have been great.

My heart is fill with joy this evening. Kaylah at work has started using some of the Word tricks that I showed her. Yeah!!! It was so great to see. Thanks Kaylah for making my day.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

An Idea Whose Time Has Come

For too long we have been too complacent about the workings of Congress. Many citizens had no idea that members of Congress could retire with the same pay after only one term, that they didn't pay into Social Security, that they specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed (such as being exempt from any fear of prosecution for sexual harassment) while ordinary citizens must live under those laws. The latest is to exempt themselves from the Healthcare Reform that is being considered...in all of its forms. Somehow, that doesn't seem logical. We do not have an elite that is above the law. I truly don't care if they are Democrat, Republican, Independent or whatever. The self-serving must stop. This is a good way to do that. It is an idea whose time has come.

Have each person contact a minimum of Twenty people on their Address list, in turn ask each of those to do likewise..

In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one proposal that really should be passed around.

Proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution:

"Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States".

Here is your chance.
Rate the President for CBS News!

Everyone should get a shot at this. Takes all of fifteen seconds and that is if you take a look at his current stats.

Great!

First, it's hard to believe that CBS is actually doing this.

Second, that they're brave, and honest enough to actually show the ongoing polling results.

Take the poll yourself and when you submit your grading of how he is handling the top issues, a second page will come up showing you the current results of how America is voting. Please note, this isn't Fox doing this. This is mostly people who watch CBS. That's telling.

DO THIS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and pass it on.

This is a CBS poll on Obama's first year performance.... Here's your chance to grade the President!

This teacher is truly a genius!

As the late Adrian Rogers said, "you cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class.

That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan".

All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B.

The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.

As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D!

No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

Couldn't be any simpler than that.

Remember, there is a mid-term election in 2010!

Adrian Roger's makes good sense.

Socialism, like communism reflects this ideology:

To each according to their need;
From each according to their ability.

And politicians pragmatically implement it this way:

The more you make, the more we take.
The more we take, the more we make.
The more you need, the more you need.
The more we get, the more we keep!

Until, as Margret Thatcher said, "Socialism works until you run out of other peoples money".