The Weekend Thus Far...

As we began our weekend, I had my day in court which has been postponed until November. Walter helped out a friend install a new light fixture and she and her boyfriend took him out for dinner. It seemed that they had a great evening. Saturday we began organizing the yard for the big adventure with the limb chipper.

During the prep work we found one of the corner rods for the yard. Which totally changed the mission for the day. Tim came over to get some monkey grass and he and Walter went into action finding the missing markers. Turned out that the plot plan we had in our yard was the wrong one for our lot. But on a happy note, they were able to find the correct one online through the county. Armed with the correct information they attacked the yard. Of the six rods that were noted on the plot plan they were able to find four without any problem. Number 5 is somewhere in the ditch in the front yard, and the last one appears to have been dug up and discarded with the Verizon FIOS lines installed. But we have a great idea where it should have been based on the measurements.

We went out to Mom & Dad's for a nice very nice pre-Memorial day get together. It was nice getting together with all the siblings for a few hours. I could hardly believe how tall Andrew has gotten. It isn't going to be too long before he has sprout right up and over his Mom, Dad, and start closing in on Walter. All the kids in fact had done a bit of growing. Master Terry had had just enough of the festivities and slipped off to sleep.

Our big surprise came on Sunday morning when we went out to fire up the limb chipper. We turned the key and NOTHING. A saga that continued for hours. We thought it was flooded. We let it sit. We tried again and NOTHING. Of course having rented the darn thing at the end of the day (so that we could have it for the extra holiday days), no one is at the rental office until Tuesday, when it is due back. It has really been such a big help getting the yard into shape after all those trees were taken down. NOT.

Being optimistic about the the limb chipper we headed out once again today to try. Oh well, that didn't last very long. The chipper basically said, "NO" Back to square one, hopefully RentalWorks will be of some assistance on this tomorrow morning.

Mom & Mamaw Stapleton came by this afternoon to visit with us. We enjoyed some time sitting out on the deck. While there Carla romped through the yard chasing the neighborhood cats. She got into a stand off with one of the kittens from the yard behind us.

On the way to the car, we spotted this really cool, odd looking bird hiding out in the brush pile near the driveway. I've never seen one like it before. I was able to get a few shots while it was hanging out in the brush. We even tried a few more once it had flown into the tree, but it was too high up to get a clear photo. Mom's going to check it out in her birding book. Perhaps we'll have an answer this evening.

A Recap

The week has been hectic, surprising, and even frustrating at times this week.

On Tuesday, Foote, Dad, Johnny & Walter all descended upon the property to cut trees down. I wasn't here, but apparently the fellows went wild. The proof is in the 24 trees that were cut down that morning. They were and still are everywhere. It is going to take days to clean it all up. We're thinking about renting a chipper over the weekend to handle all the limbs and small branches.
The dog's issue turned out to be old age. She has a couple of vertibra that are beginning to show signs of arthritis. Pain pills and muscle relaxants have put in right on the road to drugged happiness. (She'll only have to take them for a little less than 2 weeks.)

Court was, what it was. Nothing was really totally resolved, so we'll be back at it in mid-November. Hopefully everyone will be back on track and we can just cruise right through the hearing. Nothing too terribly painful for anyone.

I took the opportunity to slip out and visit at Mom & Dad's for a brief while after court. Mom & I tried taking photos of some of the birds that were hanging around, but for the most part they were just out of camera range. I did get this one of a blue bird.

I'm still working on my Illustrator class. The instructor/professor isn't nearly as good as the one I had for my Photoshop class. He doesn't quite have the instructions in his lecture tweaked 100%. As soon as I figure out how to ready then, the class will be over and it won't matter. Oh well, time to pull out the alternate manual (that's been hanging around the house for a few months) to see what he's actually talking about.

The big adventure for the weekend is going to be getting up the cut logs from around the yard and into some semblance of a woodpile, topped off by the rental of the chipper to take care of all the limbs from the downed trees. In the scope of things the chipper could turn out to be actual fun.

Ya'll have a great Memorial Day!

The dog had seperation anxiety today. Who knew that she could suffer from that. More later...

A Very Busy Week Ahead

Here it is Monday and the week is already spinning almost out of control. I thought that I was going to be able to put my feet up and work on my classwork this evening, but little did I know that instead I would be yet again working on another teleconference. Tuesday promises to be full and long...a normal work day, followed by an in office Implant Seminar, followed by another teleconference. Wednesday, the normal work day, and another teleconference, plus and out of office meeting during my lunch hour. Thursday, work as usual, but with two, count them two teleconferences after hours.

In areas other than work, I've managed to get the day off on Friday, but I've got to go to court with the ex. Such delightful fun to anticipate.

Walter & Dad are going to be cutting down somewhere in the neighborhood of a dozen trees on Tuesday. It'll be an interesting sight to come home to tomorrow evening. Thank goodness there will still be some semblance of daylight when I come home.

Speaking of What Were They Thinking??

Sean got a new haircut, a mohawk!! Then he bleached it blonde and colored it purple. Hmmm...what color next?

What Were They Thinking??

It has been one of those days that just wants you to scream, "What were they thinking?"

I've been battling software installation all morning. Yes, licensing keys are sometimes necessary, but come on...at least the software should work when it is installed. It has taken 3 days to get to this point and it still doesn't work. We've resorted to putting the licensing key on the bosses computer so he can work with it, while we wait on individual keys for all the computers in the office. Ugh!

Then to top off this entirely pleasant morning, I took one of the girls out to pick up her car from the shop. On the way we dropped into the KFC to get lunch for the both of us and one of the girls at the office. simple enough until I go to place my order. Its then that they tell us only 2 orders per car. I tried to reason with the order taker, but a rule is a rule. It wasn't like didn't already have to wait because the food wasn't cooked. Any way. Needless to say, I didn't buy lunch at KFC today, and can honestly say that I'll make the trek to Chic Fillet before even trying there ever again.

Here's hoping that the afternoon turns around.

I've Been Bad...

Here it's been over a week since I last posted to the blog, and so much has happened in the course of daily life that it just got away from me.

On Wednesday, Walter & I, went to see Kenny Loggins at Innsbrook After Hours. He put on a fantastic show. The opening act on the other hand was really lacking, if they had gone on much longer I don't think Walter would have stayed around.

Mom & I went out on Saturday to do the Spring pilgrimage to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens, but ended up not getting to go. They had rented out part of the facilities for some function, which caused them to block off parking to the main building. They were also having a plant sale that morning, which we wanted to avoid. The only way to get in was through the sale, so we didn't. We backed up and headed off back across the river and to the Richmond Metro Zoo.

The zoo has expanded quite a bit since the last time that I have been there. They've added a number of enclosures beyond the camels and a whole African section. Mom hadn't been before and we had a great time photographing the animals. One monkey in particular seemed to be having a grand old time with his walking stick. He looked like a little old man out for a long walk.

You can see more of my zoo pictures by clicking here.

More later....

Saturday

With temperatures soaring into the mid 90's today, Walter & I finally tackled the bagged leaves in the yard. We borrow a pickup to make several runs to the dump. Now as I use to remember it, you could drop leaves off without charge, or it a minimal one. Now the it runs $8.00 a trip! Then to add insult to injury, since I can't burn leaves at my house (we're in the NO burn zone). You can't dump leaves in bags! They make you take the leaves out of the bags! It's ridiculous. Grrr....

We made three runs to the dump and ended up filthy messes from splitting open the bags and dumping them. They had only been sitting in the yard since mid February, when our leaf guy started work. He quit on us in March and we finally were able to get a truck to get them away from here. I had even begun sitting them out with the trash for pick up five bags at a time, but they didn't take any bags last week.

In the midst of the leaf fiasco, as we drove into the backyard to load leaves we noticed that the tree beside our driveway, near the house, had been backed into. Someone had apparently driven into the drive while we were out and somehow managed to back into the tree. It took a good chunk of bark off . I would presume that it did some damage to the vehicle as well. Serves them right. But why is a whole other question, that I don't think that we'll get the answer to.

Double Rainbow

I was out with Walter this evening just at sunset. On the way home we saw this great double rainbow just off Hull Street.

The contractor is finally FINISHED at the house! Yippee!

Breaking News!

Good Fruit Turns Bad!

Road Trip Adventure Part 2

As the clock hands crept toward midnight on Thursday, we were preparing to begin our latest and greatest road trip to the Outer Banks. We began by picking up Mom just before Midnight and off we went. The goal, to reach the Bodie Island Lighthouse before dawn, in order to take pictures of the light while it was still clearly visible in the wee hours of the morning. It sounds easier than it was.

We made it to the Bodie Island around 5:30 a.m. Got things set up and waited. Took a few pictures in the dark, testing out camera setting and such. As the dawn began to break we just kept snapping until around 7:30 a.m.



s
Onward to Buxton to drop Carla off at the motel before continuing the journey on to Ocracoke. We stopped along the way to explore the beach and let Carla run about the beach for awhile. I wasn't quite sure that she would be up to it after her last excursion with the water chasing her.

While waiting for the ferry, this gull was quite the noisy fellow. He kept squawking almost seemingly to say, 'Look at me, look at me!' He did have our attention. The ride over was overcast and not too pleasant. Walter was quite happy to stay in the car. After we docked we drove around the island and got several photos of the lighthouse there before heading back to Howard's Pub for lunch.



The ferry ride back was quite a bit better than going over, the skies had cleared up and there were lots of birds to take photos of. The pelicans were skirting the tops of the water and the gulls followed the ferry. At the dock there were three Canadian Geese perched on tops of the pilings. They almost seemed out of place among the other types of birds.

We made back to Buxton in time to catch the sunset over the sound.

Then on a lark we decided to try to get shots of the Hatteras Lighthouse at dusk. It was much harder than the ones that we had taken first thing in the morning. Then again we had taken a lot longer to set up than we were able to in the evening.

We set up on Lighthouse Road to get these. We did drive around the area for a bit. We saw about a dozen or more deer on the edge of the road just after dusk. We went all the way up to the lighthouse to try for night photos. One wasn't all that bad, but it was terribly grainy. As we pulled around the parking lot we spotted around five deer in the field at the end of the parking lot.

We found out after we got back to the motel that Walter had broken a weld left front of his truck, so Saturday morning was going to be devoted to finding a shop to have it repaired. The remainder of the evening was uneventful and we all pretty much crashed having been up for over 24 hours.

I awoke on Saturday with a start, I had planned on photographing the sunrise, but had slept just a bit late. I did get a few nice shots, just not those as the sun comes up over the horizon.


The repair shop that Walter had been referred to in Buxton, didn't do welding, so they sent him to the go-cart shop. Which was closed. I did a bit of scouting on the Internet, but called Jeff who directed us to Golden Gears in Kill Devil Hills. They were able to fix the weld in no time and we were back in business. Walter was so much calmer afterwards, so much more pleasant to be around. We met up with Jeff and his girlfriend just a few miles further up the road and had a great time getting together. We spent the time on the beach chatting and letting the dogs play on the beach.

Since we had spent so much extra time trying to get the car fixed, we weren't able to get up to Corolla to see the horses, instead we traveled home via the Currituck ferry to Knotts Island. It was a lovely 45 minute ride across Currituck Sound. The weather was absolutely delightful and the birds were abundant.

sp
After we got off the ferry we drove through a wildlife refuge. The birds were everywhere. We stopped at an overlook where we spotted a couple of Canadian geese milling about on the grass. Carla was walking around totally oblivious of them until...I told her to get them. It was really all a ploy to get photos of them taking off. There was no way that she was going to catch, let alone know what to do with them if she even got close.

The one surprise was that we were able to get a photo of a Bald Eagle. I was totally surprised when I saw the shot. I didn't even know what I was taking pictures of at the time. The remainder of the trip was pretty much unphotographable. The light was bad and it is really hard to take pictures out of the windows of a moving vehicle.

All in all I would say that the trip was highly successful and we all had a great time. Can't wait to head back out again for another weekend of finding something to take great pictures of. Thanks Walter for being our chauffeur!

The Chimney Works!

Walter waited until I go home last night to build a fire in the newly repaired fireplace. So here it is two months after our move in we were finally able to enjoy a warm fire on a cold rainy night.

A Week's Worth of Happenings

It has been an extremely long week, as are most weeks that lead up to one of our two day conferences. This week was just a wee bit longer, since on top of the usual preparation necessary, I was working two teleconference calls on the Thursday evening prior. One at 8 p.m. Eastern then the 2nd at 8 p.m. Pacific (11 p.m. Eastern). In the end I didn't get into before until around 12:30 a.m. this morning.

I was surprised this morning, as I headed out for downtown Richmond, with the blanket of fog that was covering the area. Leaving the house it was almost impossible to see further than a car length in front of me. The fog certainly didn't clear out any the closer I got to the river, however things did improve by the time I made it to Cary Street.

There have been some of the usual snafu's along with a few that have been a tremendous hassel. I tried to access the office remotely (usually not a problem) and wasn't able to find the office computer. Turned out that the office router was acting up, all it needed was a reboot and things were back to normal. Yet it took a couple of hours to figure this out.

I'm exploring going back to school to get a Masters Graphic Design Certification. It is a 17 class program and would really do some back filling on what I've been doing. Since I've never really 'taken' any classes in the work that I do. I've managed to slip in a few phone calls about school during the day today and am pretty sure that this is something that I'll be doing. I'll be able to get a student loan for this and that'll definitely help get things underway and give me a way to manage it without a huge chunk out of pocket at the start.

The little squirrel was hanging out next to the fence behind the office this week. He was having a grand old time munching on Cheerios. There was a Blue Jay too, but he was much more elusive, by the time I'd get him in focus he'd fly off. Maybe next time.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought for the Day: (Fortune cookie wisdom) "Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. No one was there."

Cleaning Poem

I asked the Lord to tell me
Why my house is such a mess.
He asked if I'd been 'computering',
And I had to answer 'yes.'

He told me to get off my fanny
And tidy up the house.
And so I started cleaning up...
The smudges off my mouse.

I wiped and shined the topside.
That really did the trick...
I was just admiring my work.
I didn't mean to 'click.'

But click, I did, and oops I found
A real absorbing site.
That I got SO way into it.
I was into it all night.

Nothing's changed except my mouse
It's very, very shiny.
I guess my house will stay a mess.....
While I sit here on my hiney.


Public Restrooms
This is hilarious
When you have to visit a public bathroom, you usually find a line of women, so you smile politely and take your place. Once it's your turn, you check for feet under the stall doors. Every stall is occupied.

Finally, a door opens and you dash in, nearly knocking down the woman leaving the stall. You get in to find the door won't latch. It doesn't matter, the wait has been so long you are about to wet your pants! The dispenser for the modern 'seatcovers'(invented by someone's Mom, no doubt) is handy, but empty.. You would hang your purse on the door hook, if there was one, but there isn't - so you carefully, but quickly drape it around your neck, (Mom would turn over in her grave if you put it on the FLOOR!), yank down your pants, and assume ' The Stance.'

In this position your aging, toneless thigh muscles begin to shake. You'd love to sit down, but you certainly hadn't taken time to wipe the seat or lay toilet paper on it, so you hold 'The Stance.'

To take your mind off your trembling thighs, you reach for what you discover to be the empty toilet paper dispenser. In your mind, you can hear your mother's voice saying, 'Honey, if you had tried to clean the seat, you would have KNOWN there was no toilet paper!' Your thighs shake more.

You remember the tiny tissue that you blew your nose on yesterday - the one that's still in your purse. (Oh yeah, the purse around your neck, that now, you have to hold up trying not to strangle yourself at the same time). That would have to do. You crumple it in the puffiest w! ay possible. It's still smaller than your thumbnail.

Someone pushes your door open because the latch doesn't work. The door hits your purse, which is hanging around your neck in front of your chest, and you and your purse topple backward against the tank of the toilet. 'Occupied!' you scream, as you reach for the door, dropping your precious, tiny, crumpled tissue in a puddle on the floor, lose your footing altogether, and slide down directly onto the TOILET SEAT . It is wet of course. You bolt up, knowing all too well that it's too late.

Your bare bottom has made contact with every imaginable germ and life form on the uncovered seat beca use YOU never laid down toilet paper - not that there was any, even if you had taken time to try. You know that your mother would be utterly appalled if she knew, because, you're certain her bare bottom never touched a public toilet seat because, frankly, dear, 'You just don't KNOW what kind of diseases you could get.'

By this time, the automatic sensor on the back of the toilet is so confused that it flushes, propelling a stream of water like a fire hose against the inside of the bowl that sprays a fine mist of water that covers your butt and runs down your legs and into your shoes. The flush somehow sucks everything down with such force that you grab onto the empty toilet paper dispenser for fear of being dragged in too.

At this point, you give up. You're soaked by the spewing water and the wet toilet seat. You're exhausted. You try to wipe! with a gum wrapper you found in your pocket and then slink out inconspicuously to the sinks.

You can't figure out how to operate the faucets with the automatic sensors, so you wipe your hands with spit and a dry paper towel and walk past the line of women still waiting.

You are no longer able to smile politely to them. A kind soul at the very end of the line points out a piece of toilet paper trailing from your shoe! (Where was that when you NEEDED it??) You yank the paper from your shoe, plunk it in the woman's hand and tell her warmly, 'Here, you just might need this'

As you exit, you spot your hubby, who has long since entered, used, and left the men's restroom. Annoyed, he asks, 'What took you so long, and why is your purse hanging around your neck?'

This is dedicated to women everywhere who deal with a public restrooms (rest??? you've GOT to be kidding!!). It finally explains to the men what really does take us so long. It also answers their other commonly asked questions about why women go to the restroom in pairs.

It's so the other gal can hold the door, hang onto your purse and hand you Kleenex under the door!

This HAD to be written by a woman! No one else could describe it so accurately!

A Friend Is Like A Good Bra...

Hard to Find
Supportive
Comfortable
Always Lifts You Up
Never Lets You Down or Leaves You Hanging
And Is Always Close To Your Heart!!!

FINALLY, SOMEONE HAS CLEARED THIS UP
For centuries, Hindu women have worn a dot on their foreheads. Most of us have naively thought this was connected with tradition or religion, but the Indian Embassy in Washington D.C. has recently revealed the true story.

When a Hindu woman gets married, she brings a dowry into the union. On her wedding night, the husband scratches off the dot to see whether he has won a convenience store, gas station, donut shop, taxi cab or a motel in the United States . If nothing is there, he must remain in India to answer telephones and provide us with technical advice.

Our Conversation with the Sheriff

Walter wanted me to make it perfectly clear to everyone. That when the Sheriff walked up to the car he wasn't poised to give him a ticket. It was just a conversation. The Sheriff only asked for his driver's license, no registration or anything like that. The jist of the conversation was hi how you doing, where you headed, and did he realize that we had just gone through a 25 mph zone. He was telling us this as we sat at the speed limit sign indicating 35 mph.

He wasn't even carrying a ticket book with him. He never told us exactly how fast we were going, so I'm presuming there was no radar involved. He just said we were going a little fast and wanted him to know.

We had just been keeping pace with the vehicle in front of us and hadn't seen any change in speed limit signs, so it really was a surprise to both of us. We did make a point of checking out the street signs on the back through. Turns out that the North bound side of the road was heavily marked with 25 mph sign, while the South bound side only had one! Hmm, can you say speed trap.

Spontaneous Road Trip

This morning (Saturday) Walt & I went out to Target to pick up a few things for the house. Curtain rods, sheers and such, when conversation turned to taking pictures and me wanting to go to the Eastern Shore. Well, much to my surprise, Walter had been harboring a secret desire to find an excuse to head off to Ocracoke. So from the time we left Target to the time we pulled into the driveway at home it had been decided that we were off on a road trip to Ocracoke! Packing took less than 20 minutes and that included getting hotel reservations.

Thus began the adventure for the day. Miss Carla hopped in the backseat and settled in for the ride. We hit 460 and headed East to 17, thru the Dismal Swamp and on to Elizabeth City. We got checked into the hotel then headed off to Ocracoke.

Some where on 460, after Wakefield, I spotted several hogs near the side of the road. One sow even had piglets. I hadn't seen pigs in years, of course a picture was absolutely necessary. While going thru the Dismal Swamp we saw no less than seven hawks sitting on fence posts near the road. The rain made it difficult to get photos, but I did manage one of a hawk in flight. We hit Ivor and saw something that I had seen since Italy! Three wheeled little trucks! They were so cute. I called back to the dealer and found out that they are classified here as motorcycles! Hmm... This could be a interesting turn of events.

On the way to the Outerbanks we passed by Grave Digger and got the obligatory photos. Walter had to stop at Hatteras Hammocks to pose for a picture next to the world's largest hammock. We stopped by the Bodie Island lighthouse for photos and then headed on towards Hatteras.

We made a stop at one of the walkovers and took Carla over the dunes to the beach. I don't know who was funnier, Carla or Walter laughing at Carla. She was so excited. When we got to the dunes she had to stop everywhere to smell everything! On the beach she was so hyper, running everywhere, not quite seeming to know what to do. Walt ran down to the edge of the water and she followed right along. Until....the water chased her. That's when she took off back up toward the dunes. She was having no part of water that moved, no way!

Our ferry ride over to Ocracoke was uneventful for Walt & I, but for Carla it was another matter. We had her out on deck to stretch, but she really shied away from walking too far. She did look much more comfortable once safely ensconced in the backseat of the car, and even more so once the wheels hit dry land.

We continued our trip onward to Howard's Pub. This was the goal of the whole trip, dinner out! Having never dined there I had no expectation other than what Walter told me and the fact that it was good, amazing in itself. I definitely wasn't disappointed. The oysters, shrimp and scallops were fabulous. We even had a bowl of crab corn chowder which was flavorful and really hit the spot on a rainy evening.

The only thing that I should have done before leaving was try to get a cup of cofee to go. The coffee would have really hit the spot while riding back on the ferry. Turns out that, what we would have known if we came this way often, virtually everything on Hatteras Island closes down before 9:00 p.m. I don't know if it's that way during the Summmer or not. We did find one place in Buxton that was still open at 10:00 so we were able to stock up on coffee and a couple of other things for the 2 1/2 hour trip back to Elizabeth City.

That drive turned out to be one of the oddest things I've experienced in quite awhile. There was no traffic on the road. From the time we got off the ferry at 9:30 p.m. to the time we arrived back MilePost 1, Walter counted five cars traveling North. Of that five only 1 car ever passed us the others were just headlights in the rearview mirror. The number going South was markedly higher - giving Walter the creepy feeling that they were 'running away' from something that he was driving right into.

We got back into Elizabeth City around 12:30 a.m. It was nice to be out of the car, dry and able to stretch out for a good rest. Carla definitely seemed grateful as well.

I've posted photos on Facebook and you can see them by click on this link.

Winding Down the Week

Here it is the end of a long week. It has been quite eventful. The big snow, a snow day, a teaser snow day, adventures in ice driving, late work nights, a couple of teleconference, continued on and off construction in the house, window delivery, all to be topped off with the two-day conference.

The conference which was the big build up for the week has gone very well. Our doctors arrived on Friday morning all in good spirits, having come in from all parts of the United States (Connecticut, Florida, California, Minnesota, and even Hawaii). Our group is ever expanding, It was great greeting them all, they have become more like friends rather than just 'clients'. There were several doctors in the group that weren't in attendance and they were greatly missed. I trust that they will be here in June at our next meeting.

Yesterday, during our meeting, I had a conference call and was able to get near a window on the 10th floor of the Omni here in Richmond. The view was quite interesting. It was the reflections in the windows of the neighboring building that were of particular interest.




There was even a view of the James River and train tracks running beside it. Looking a little closer we were even able to see the rapids near the middle of the river.


Driving into Richmond this morning I noticed on the Wachovia Securities building sign that the DOW was sitting near 6650. Wow! Where have I been for the last few weeks/months? The last time that I had heard or noticed it was sitting at just under 10,000. It must be all the hours that I'm keeping at the office (and away from the news media in general). If they aren't talking about it on 107.3 (this is what we have piped into the office) I'm not hearing about it.

As I pulled up to the stop light at the end of the road, the daffodils in the median were in full bloom. It's hard to believe that just five days ago it was nothing but a big pile of snow. On top of that I was plesantly surprised this evening when I arrived back home. There are crocus' blooming in the front yard. It is going to be a Spring full of surprises, since we haven't a clue as to what's actually planted in the yard.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: "The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive. ... I like a little rebellion now and then. It is like a storm in the atmosphere." - Thomas Jefferson

Hot and Cold Sex
After his exam the doctor said to the elderly man:

"You appear to be in good health. Do you have any medical concerns you would like to ask me about?"

"In fact, I do," said the old man.

"After I have sex I am usually cold and chilly, and then, after I have sex with her the second time, I am usually hot and sweaty."

After examining his elderly wife, the doctor said:

"Everything appears to be fine. Do you have any medical concerns that you would like to discuss with me?"

The lady replied that she had no questions or concerns.

The doctor then said to her: "Your husband had an unusual concern. He claims that he is usually cold and chilly after having sex with you the first time, and then hot and sweaty after the second time. Do you know why?"

"Oh that crazy old man," she replied.

"That's because the first time is usually in January and the second time is in August."

The Importance of Correct Punctuation
Dear John:

I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy--will you let me be yours?
Gloria

Dear John:

I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever.

When we're apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?

Yours,
Gloria

SNOW DAY!

Today is my first official 'Adult' Snow Day, in over 25 years. It is a very odd feeling. Way back in the early 80's I had one or two when I was working for Liberty Mutal, but since then...I was always home with the kids. When the kids had a snow day it was a double work day for me. Cleaning up from all the running in and out.

Now that the snow has almost ceased falling, I am in a slight pickle. No snow shovel. I'm not sure where it went from the move two years ago to the apartment, although who really needs one in an apartment. I really should have bought one on Saturday, but I was in denial...it just doesn't snow in Richmond. We get teased, just never enough to be more of annoyance. Until...you're not prepared and get taught a lesson. Looks like that will be an after the fact purchase sometime next week, that won't be used for another five years.

This afternoon...

I headed outside when there was a lull in the snow to dig out the car. I was used a dust pan (necessity is the mother of invention). It did a really nice job, but I wouldn't want to go for a long stretch doing it. Just when I thought I'd gotten things going well I started to go back into the house only to find the utility room storm door stuck. The storm door got too cold and became firmly stuck.

I didn't have keys, but I did have the cell phone. Which turned out not to be of much use since Walter wasn't answering his phone (he was inside the house). I pounded on the door some more then finally had to call Christine to get her to let me in. That's when things really got funny. The door wouldn't open for her...so she tracked down Walter so that he could open it, but then it wouldn't open for him.

He finally resorted to going out the back door, getting a shovel (albeit a very small one) and digging a path for me to the back door so I could get in. By the time we got to the backdoor and were all ready to come in, the backdoor was locked. The little guy in the house locked the backdoor after Walter went outside. After pounding on the door and trying to get the little guy to unlock the door (without success). I gave up and called Christine again to let us into the house.

I'm FINISHED with being outside. No more going out for me, being locked out is absolutely no fun.

I lied. I did head back out, but only with supervision. I wanted a few more pictures, before things got too mushy.

March Snow!

Here it is March 1st and we have our 1st, more than a flurry, snow storm. We started out with a bit of sleet then progressed on to actual snow.

Walter had us order in some pizza for dinner. It was getting late and he noticed that traffic was not moving up the road, so he walked down to pick up the pizza from the driver at the road. It seems that the little hill up to our house is giving a whole lot of people difficulty.

It looks like we have about 3-4 inches of snow on the deck railing. Carla went out to potty, and immediately turned right around and came back into the house. She's not interested in pottying in the cold wet snow. She's not that desperate yet.

The scenery is lovely. I wish I could get photos at night. It is beautiful. We don't get that much snow that looks great. I'm sensing an early morning with the camera outside, I do want to get photos before it melts away.

I snapped these out the side door of the house, they are more of the neighbor's yard than ours, but I was trying to get the snow.

A Few Things From My Email

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought for the Day: 'People will forget what you said, People will forget what you did.' 'But people will never forget how you made them feel!'

159 Years Ago

California became a state in 1850

The people had no electricity.
The state had no money.
Almost everyone spoke Spanish.
There were gunfights in the streets.

So basically nothing has changed except the women had real boobs
and the men didn't hold hands

AUSTRALIAN CARTOONS...NOT SEEN IN AMERICA

Walter

Walter has been home one too many days. I do believe that he is trying to lose his mind. He's watched one too many commericals and they are having an adverse effect on his mental stability. He has become an outspoke advocate of doing away with a number of corporations and products due to the repetitive nature of the advertisements. Craziness run amuck!!!

A Great Beginning

The weekend has started off on a right note. Walter & I headed out last night to O'Charleys to meet up with a few friends. We had a blast. It has been a long time since I've been out on a Friday night. Walter was impressed that 'the old guys' were so much fun.

This morning I've been puttering around the house getting it cleaned up from the week. We're still waiting on the new windows to arrive. It seems that the manufacturer has laid off a number of people and it is slowing down their delivery schedule. Lovely. I think that's the second thing that we've had to wait for.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: This is a quote worth reading and holding onto...let it sink in!

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

~~~ The late Dr. Adrian Rogers , 1931 to 2005, Former Pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis , TN ~~~

It is indeed sad that those who really need to know and understand this very simple logic will never see it and are too dumb to comprehend it.

OBAMA'S TWO-WEEK RECAP
1. The American people elect a black president with a total of 42 days experience as a U S Senator from the most politically corrupt state in America whose governor is ousted from office. The President's first official act is to close Gitmo and make sure Terrorists civil rights are not violated.
2. The U.S. Congress rushes to confirm a black Attorney General, Eric Holder, whose law firm we later find out represents seventeen Gitmo Terrorists.
3. The CIA Boss, Leon Penetta with absolutely no experience, has a daughter Linda we find out, that is a true radical anti-American activist who is a supporter of all the Anti-American regimes in the western hemisphere.
4. We got the most corrupt female in America as Secretary of State; bought and paid for.
5. We got a Tax Cheat for Treasury Secretary who files his own taxes.
6. A Commerce Secretary nominee who withdrew due to corruption charges.
7. A Tax cheat nominee for Chief Performance Officer who withdrew under charges.
8. A Labor Sec'y nominee who withdrew under charges of unethical conduct.
9. A Sec'y HHS nominee who withdrew under charges of cheating on his taxes.

And that's just the first two weeks . . . but who's counting.

America is being run by the modern-day Three Stooges ~ Barrack, Nancy, and Harry ~ and they are still trying to define stimulus.

Stimulus is where the government gives a smidgen of your tax dollars back to you making you feel so good about yourself [stimulated] that you want to run out to Wal-Mart and buy a new Chinese-made HDTV and go home and watch Telemundo!

One Big Ass Mistake America

Mid-week Musings

Heading out this morning I was bombarded by sleet. It was as if a small army had taken it upon itself to try to slow down the movement of traffic and raise the hope of school children everywhere with its attack. It was not to be. Traffic still moved and children still went to school. The snow that followed was pretty, even though it was not long lasting. The rain for the rest of the day just made everything cold and wet. Yuck!

I was steadily busy all day at the office. First thing this morning I was surprised by an email for yet another teleconference that was going on. Wow! The biggest and 'bestest' thing that happened this afternoon was the arrival of the Dell technician to work on our server. What should have been a very simple operation turned into a minor nightmare. As the story goes, the new DVD player for the server that was purchased last week (it took 3 hours to make the purchase) turned out to be for a different server, not ours. The tech spent 1 1/2 hours on the phone trying to track down what had gone wrong. He talked to people in California and Panama. How and why he got connect to Panama we may never know. [Sort of like the old Tootie Pop commericals, "And the world may never know."]

Finally after much fanagling we was able to pass me off to someone who was compentent to handle the situation. Although it was made much more challenging than it should have because the phone call kept getting dropped. The representative did have my number, thank goodness, so she was able to call me back. Come on a dropped call is one thing, but six times is a whole other thing. In the end they were able to save the company over $120.00 on the new part. I guess you could call it the silver lining at the end of a three hour phone marathon.

The evening teleconference happily turned out to be much shorter than anticipated. I was able to have a few minutes afterward to talk with Roz. Normally neither one of us has much time to just chat. Work keeps both of us hopping.

Here's to a speedy Thursday, although it is going to go long. After hours tomorrow the office is having a reception for patients to celebrate Dr. Martin's 25th year of doing implants. In addition to that there are two teleconferences. One at 7 p.m. followed by one at 10 p.m. EST. Busy, busy.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought for the Day: A cubicle is just a padded cell without a door.

Cow's Tail
A man staggered into a hospital with a concussion, multiple bruises, two black eyes, and a five iron wrapped tightly around his throat.

Naturally, the doctor asked him, 'What happened to YOU?'

'Well, I was having a quiet round of golf with my wife, when at a difficult hole, we both sliced our golf balls into a field of cattle. And I noticed one of the cows had something white at its rear end.'

'I walked over, lifted its tail, and sure enough, there was a golf ball with my wife's monogram on it - stuck right in the middle of the cow's fanny.'

'Still holding the cow's tail up, I yelled to my wife, 'Hey, this looks like yours!''

'I don't remember much after that.'

A Day of Discovery

Here we are already into another week Walter & I have been searching the house high & low for his wallet that was last seen on January 20th. I have been through virtually every box, bin and drawer in the house. Well, I got a little note from Walter just as I was heading home from work today letting me know that he had made the great discovery....he found the wallet.

Now before I tell you where I must say the he had already purchased a new wallet, you know buy a new one and you find the old one. He was trying everything before making the dreaded call to the bank for a new debit & credit card. He finally broke down and made the call at the end of last week and low and behold I found his debit card in a box of desk stuff. Today he found the wallet in an ammo box. And as luck would have it today his new credit card arrived in the mail, just what he had been trying to avoid in the first place by putting it off. Hmm....

His message said that he must have been on drugs when he put it there, which is absolutely true. Pain killers from his surgery must have really had him loopy for it to have been put in there. Following the train of 'fuzzy logic' involved with putting your wallet in an ammo box - it would be a safe place. And as luck would have it today his new credit card arrived in the mail, just what he had been trying to avoid in the first place by putting it off. Hmm....

An update came in on what we thought was a dog attack on the cats in the neighborhood. Turns out that it was a grey fox. It had apparently been roaming around the neighborhood and met up with a car sometime in the last day or two.

A Post

I have been informed that I am not blogging enough. Of course, I have been spending quite a bit of time over on Facebook catching up with a whole lot of people from high school.

Let's see...there has been so much going on over the past month it is hard to keep it all straight. We closed on the 9th of January on the new house (Walt bought the house while having surgery.) We moved into the house on the 24th. The movers were great! I even have moving pictures, alas not uploaded or even edited.

The house was to say the least not ready for us. We moved in without the carpets installed, the painting hadn't been done and various other things were in a terrible state of disarray. We slept on the sofas for 3 days before the builder took pity on us and set up the beds in the uncarpeted bedrooms so we could at least get a decent night's sleep. By the next weekend things were beginning to come around

So far the bedrooms have been carpeted and painted. The hallway has a new coat of paint and floating hardwoods. The Florida room has new floating hardwoods and a fresh coat of paint. The laundry room has a new floor and paint job. They came in last week and started re-roofing, but were short by one container of shingles, now we're waiting on the store to be open for them to pick them up. (It seems that President's Day threw a wrench into the works.) We're scheduled to have new windows installed on Wednesday or Thursday. I'm not sure if they which day that will get started. Once they are done the list of things to do shrinks considerably. Leaving only 3 rooms to patch and paint. Hopefully we'll be finished with all the construction by the first of March

On a positive, at the end of last week, a neighborhood guy came by looking to earn some money. Nothing like a teenager wanting to work for money. He's now in charge of raking all the leaves in the yard. He is quite the industrious worker. He has a plan I think to have it all finished or close to it by the end of the week. Walt tells me they are going out of town at the end of the week for a week long vacation (now we know why he wanted to earn some money.) I applaud him though, it is difficult to find someone who's willing to do yardwork.

When Dogs Attack

Well, Walter gave me a call this morning at the office to report on the fracus that occurred in our yard last night. He had heard a dog chasing a cat last night and some questionable noises following so this morning he went out after I left and discovered that a feral cat dead in our backyard. He did some looking around and from what he saw it appears that the neighbors dog took out after the cat, that was sitting next to our deck, and chased it towards the wooded area behind the houes. The cat got about 30 feet before the dog got it. From his account the cat was torn up (not a pretty sight at all). He went next door and talked to the neighbors about it and found out that they have a pitbull. Lovely! Just what we need next door. I hadn't seen that particular dog at all. I knew that there they had a small dog, but a pit bull. No fun whatsoever.

This means we are going to have to watch more closely when we let Carla out in the evenings and probably during the day as well. I wouldn't want the same thing to happen to her - I mean she's not much larger than a big cat.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Stupid Women #@^*">>?##

This morning on the Interstate,
I looked over to my left and there was a
Woman
In a brand new Cadillac
Doing 65 mph
With her
Face up next to her
Rear view mirror
Putting on her eyeliner.
I looked away
For a couple seconds
And when I looked back she was
Halfway over in my lane,
Still working on that makeup.
As a man,
I don't scare easily.
But she scared me so much;
I dropped
My electric shaver,
Which knocked
The donut
Out of my other hand.
In all
The confusion of trying
To straighten out the car
Using my knees against
The steering wheel,
It knocked
My cellphone
Away from my ear
Which fell
Into the coffee
Between my legs,
Splashed,
And burned
Big Jim and the Twins,
Ruined the darn phone,
Soaked my trousers,
And disconnected an Important call.
Stupid women drivers

A Friday OFF

It has been an extreme week. Moving last Saturday into the new house, that is definitely not ready for us. There is still quite a bit of construction remaining to be done. But overall things are beginning to come together. It looks like we just might have all the flooring completed in the bedroom 'wing' of the house by evening. This will be a most welcomed relief. No sandy, sawdusty floors to walk around on before bed. The carpets went in yesterday and they are putting in the floating hardwoods in the hallway. So yes there is a light at the end of that tunnel.

Brian & I put in a late night at the office last night. We shot a live webcast at 7 p.m. and the grimlins got into the software. That caused us to have to reshoot the 'replay' webcast live at 10 p.m. for those on the west coast. The 2nd webcast recorded without a hitch and had us all set up for an archived copy. It was around 11:15 when I left last night. 7:30 -11:15 did make for the long day.

I had today off to work around the house and unpack a few more things, but the productivity hasn't been all that I had hoped for. But on the bright side the floating hardwoods are going in.

Mid-January?

Here we are at the end of another very busy week. Busy week, that's beginning to sound redundant, since just about every week is very busy. We're all prepared at work for our conference that begins this morning and runs through Saturday late afternoon. With all the preparation that has been it will be fantastic if things go as smoothly as planned. No glitches will be an awesome end of the week!

Catching up on the house, they found another place in the joist that had been cut incorrectly. It could have been a big issue later if it hadn't been found. Thank goodness we were already fixing the opposite side of the living room floor. The contractor was being very through in checking for problems. It is going to save us so much further down the line. We've begun taking picture of the interior as they have started working. The carpet was removed a couple of days ago. So Walt will see progress has been made when he heads over that way today.

Only 8 more days till the move, next Saturday is the big day. All the plans are in place. Movers scheduled, utilities turned on. Now just to finish up the final few boxes and we're off. I'll be getting the boxes finalized this weekend as much as possible after our conference.

The week begins.

The day went fairly well. Lots of productivity at work.

Walter met with our builder today and construction will commence tomorrow. YEAH! About time. He also spoke with an HVAC guy who will be getting started in the next week or so. That will get us in and warm. I've still got to find out who to get to come in and clean and inspect the chimney.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

"Horse Looking"
One day a man passed by a farm and saw a beautiful horse.

Hoping to buy the animal, he said to the farmer: "I think your horse looks pretty good, so I'll give you $500 for him."

"He doesn't look good, and he's not for sale," the farmer said.

The man insisted, "I think he looks good and I'll up the price to $1000!"

"He doesn't look so good," the farmer said, "but if you want him that much, he's yours."

The next day the man came back raging mad. He went up to the farmer and screamed, "You sold me a blind horse! You cheated me!"

The farmer calmly replied, "I told you he didn't look so good, didn't I?"

Sunday

Walt was able to sleep in some this morning. He seemed to have done well throughout the night. I spent the day catching up laundry for both Walter & myself. The last load is in the dryer. I did get a few more boxes packed.

It's coming along, I just hope I've got it all together by the 21st. That's my goal for having all but the bare basics ready to move.

Must buy packing tape tomorrow and bring home newspaper for packing.

Saturday

We've had a busy last couple of days. Early Friday morning (5:15) Walter gave me a call wanting me to bring him a couple of things to the hospital before I went to work. It made for a beginning of a very long day. After a very full day at the office I was back over at the hospital after stopping off for a few groceries, which turned out to be a problem.

Somewhere between swiping my debit card at the register and the car I lost it. How, I haven't a clue but needless to say it was gone. Not fretting too much, I figured it was in the bottom of my purse and I just couldn't put my hands on it. While I was visiting with Walter, I dug through the purse and came up empty. I left him sleeping soundly and head back home. I called and reported the card lost and found out that someone had used the card at a BP station shortly after I had been in the grocery store. Thank goodness I'm covered - I'll be reimbursed for any fradulent charges. Now just to wait for the new card to arrive so I can get back to normal shopping.

Today I did get to sleep in for a little while. I started out the day packing the bookcases and trying to get things cleaned up for Walter's return home. He had brought a bunch of boxes in on Thursday and they were beginning to take over everything. Mom jumped in and came over and help to begin packing up the kitchen. In the midst of all the packing, Walter called to tell us that he was being discharged.

I picked him up close to 2 p.m. He was so happy to get home. He couldn't stand the bed at the hospital. I do believe that it was about to drive him nuts. He was able to relax once he got here. I was glad to see him settling in. It does appear that he is doing better this time. Could be a good sign of a quick recovery....let's all hope and pray that is the case.

Dean & Sean came by to visit with him for an hour or so. They had their own good news as well. They are buying a house off Genito Road. So they will be getting out of the apartment in a few months as well. The visit wore Walt out so he's headed off to bed. I don't expect to see him till morning.

An Amazingly Hectic Day!!!

It has been one hectic day! A normal day is hectic enough with ever changing deadlines and new projects, but today really has taken the cake.

I left out this morning with the anticipation of only needing to deal with work and to go visit Walter in the hospital following his surgery. Well...that didn't last long. A quick phone call from Walter threw the afternoon into turmoil. They could schedule closing today! Of course, the sooner the better the only trouble was it was scheduled during his surgery.

So here I sit at the realtor's office awaiting our closing. Walter will only be here in spirit as he is currently in the OR (they took him into surgery at 3:05 p.m.). The title company representative isn't here yet! The pokey person. Punctuality would be great.

Well, I finally got into signing papers around 4:20 p.m. It took about 35 minutes to sign the quarter inch stack of papers in what seemed like triplicate. Sign for Walter, sign for myself, initial for Walter, inital for myself. Ahhhh.... No wonder people don't like to go through this mess too often. Well it was all worth it. Walter bought his first home while he was in surgery.

I made a run by the new house to pick up the key, have one made for Walter and dashed to the hospital. The doctor came in around 6 to let us know how he had done. Everything seemed to have gone fine. They got him in his room around 8:15 p.m.

Mom & I waited until after Walter got in his room before we left. He was in good spirits in general. He was very pleased about his purchase and was definitely ticked about having his own key. The only complaint that he had was lack of morphine. He's on a pump, but it doesn't work the way that the one that he had in Tennessee. We left him as he was finally settling in to sleep.

I drove Mom back home and finally got home myself after 10:15 p.m. It has been a long day and Walter wants me to come by on my way out to work in the morning, so I foresee another long one. Plus I've now got boxes out the ears in the dining room. It will make us look like alcoholics when we move, but they are good moving boxes.

Time to hit the hay. More updates tomorrow.

Closing Day????

Walt was up early this morning and out of the house with me. He went in with me to help finish up the computer from yesterday's virus episode. He took care of everything and was finished up just in time for us to head out to the attorney's office.

We were preparing for the house closing by getting together a few of those necessary legal documents that you need in life. What started out as two documents swelled to seven quickly, at least the services were reasonably priced. We went for two 'freebies' and were up-sold the others. I'm not gripping, they were needed.

We were suppose to close on the house late this afternoon, but things have gotten pushed back to either early tomorrow or Friday morning. The hang up was suppose to be the lack of the water being turned on in the house, but I had that rectified and the inspector was able to verify that was on. The absolute biggest hang up has been the seller's agent. They just don't seem to want to cooperate - not answering emails, phone calls, or even knowing what's going on half the time. It will all be worth it when we finally sit down and sign papers. I know Walter will be thrilled to finally have that part over. Then comes the next leg of the race to our move in date.

Viruses and Rogues

It has been a day full of viruses and rogue computer programs. The morning started off innocently enough, we had the normal beginning of the year 'Annual Planning' meeting. Then the other shoe dropped. The same computer that I dealt with all afternoon yesterday began exhibiting new virus symptoms. Several virus scans later and a phone call to Dell confirmed that the computer would have to be completely be erased and reinstalled. Many hours later we were down to one program remaining to install (the disk wasn't in the box - it must be hiding somewhere).

Back in the groove

Here it is a new year at the office and time to get back into the groove of things. There's video to edit, new magazine's to produce and a whole lot more.

On the whole the day started out fairly well, until the virus crisis struck in the back office. I had to mess around for about four hours getting four trojan virus' and a rogue program off of it. It wasn't just being there working it through it took several trips to research what I was dealing with along with a call to Dell tech support for a clue on what else to do. I was sure glad to see the virus scan come back without any infections.

After work Walt & I ran out to Lowes to pick up out carpet and vinyl for the house. It turned out to be pretty quick. Neutrals colors all around. We even think we found a remant for the utility room that is perfect. Let's just hope that it is still there when the builder goes out to pick it up.

Sunday

It's been a pretty uneventful day. Walt & Patrick came back in from their camping trip to Lynchburg during New Year's weekend. They both seemed to have had a good time and neither was frozen or worse off from the trip.

We made an excursion out this evening to the new house to check on a couple of things. It also gave me a chance to start playing with the furniture layout. Time to break out the graph paper and get things lined up. It will make it so much easier on moving day.

Masquerade Party

The party at Roz's house was as ambitious as ever. The party went quite well. There were loads of people from work, her volleyball team, and family too. I snapped a few photos. These are just a few.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2009 everyone. I've been having a blast chatting with a lot of old friends on Facebook. So glad to have signed up for that darn thing.

Since I was packing anyway, I've been going through all the old photos and scanning in a few.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

THE COUNTRY OF TEXAS
Please note that Texas is the only state with a legal right to secede from the Union . (Reference the Texas-American Annexation Treaty of 1848.) We Texans love y'all, but we'll probably have to take action since B. Hussein Obama won the election. We'll miss you too.

Here is what can happen:

#1: Barack Hussein Obama becomes President of the United States, Texas immediately secedes from the Union.
#2: George W. Bush will become the President of the Republic of Texas . So what does Texas have to do to survive as a Republic?

1. NASA is just south of Houston , Texas . We will control the space industry.
2. We refine over 85% of the gasoline in the United States.
3. Defense Industry--we have over 65% of it. The term "Don't mess with Texas ," will take on a whole new meaning.
4. Oil - we can supply all the oil that the Republic of Texas will need for the next 300 years. Yankee states? Sorry about that.
5. Natural Gas - again we have all we need and it's too bad about those Northern States. John Kerry will have to figure out a way to keep them warm....
6. Computer Industry - we currently lead the nation in producing computer chips and communications--small companies like Texas Instruments, Dell Computer, EDS, Raytheon, National Semiconductor, Motorola, Intel, AMD, Atmel, Applied Materials, Ball Miconductor, Dallas Semiconductor, Delphi, Nortel, Alcatel, etc, etc. The list goes on and on.
7. Medical Care - We have the largest research centers for cancer research, the best burn centers and the top trauma units in the world, as well as other large health centers. Dallas has some of the best hospitals in the United States
8. We have enough colleges to keep us going: University of Texas , Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Rice, SMU, University of Houston , Baylor, UNT ( University of North Texas ), Texas Women's University, etc. Ivy grows better in the South anyway.
9. We have a ready supply of workers. We could just open the border when we need some more.
10. We have essential control of the paper industry, plastics, insurance, etc.
11. In case of a foreign invasion, we have the Texas National Guard and the Texas Air National Guard. We don't have an Army, but since everybody down here has at least six rifles and a pile of ammo, we can raise an Army in 24 hours if we need one. If the situation really gets bad, we can always call the Department of Public Safety and ask them to send over Chuck Norris and a couple of Texas Rangers.
12. We are totally self-sufficient in beef, poultry, hogs, and several types of grain, fruit and vegetables, and let's not forget seafood from the Gulf. Also, everybody down here knows how to cook them so that they taste good. Don't need any food.

This just names a few of the items that will keep the Republic of Texas in good shape. There isn't a thing out there that we need and don't have.

Now to the rest of the United States under President Obama:

Since you won't have the refineries to get gas for your cars, only President Obama will be able to drive around in his big 9 mpg SUV. The rest of the United States will have to walk or ride bikes.

You won't have any TV as the Space Center in Houston will cut off satellite communications.

You won't have any natural gas to heat your homes, but since Mr. Obama has predicted global warming, you will not need the gas as long as you survive the 2000 years it will take to get enough heat from Global Warming.

Signed, The People of Texas

P.S. This is not a threatening letter - just a note to give you something to think about!

SLEEP WELL TONIGHT THE EYES OF TEXAS ARE UPON YOU!!