Candy Cane Delight

Ho, Ho, Ho. Christmas has come and gone. I hope every one had a great time and the season was one full of good memories. We had a great time. Christmas day was a house full of people. The only thing I could think of that would have been better is to do this every day of the year. The kids had no problem opening the gifts and seemed to really enjoy what they recieved. Of course, more would have been better but then again more would have been harder to handle. Naturally, the cameras were working overtime. Red spots anyone?

Now it is time to reflect back on the year 2007 and find a way to make 2008 better. So some of the next few posts will reflect and remember the great times. The yucky old New Year's Resolution are due very soon. It is a good thing we are not graded on our faithfulness in keeping the resolutions, I would have failed miserably.

To top of these few days, Lady and I celebrated our 32nd anniversary. The dinner and wine tasted really good at The Olive Garden. Also having several of our closest friends dine with us made the night special. Thank You to those special friends.

The only thing left to make this season special is to CRUISE!

Baa Humbug II

I find it interesting that the top AP news Story was about Juicer Bonds. Dog-Lover Vick was second and Peeper Bellichick was 3rd. The top non-criminal story was about Florida's Two national Titles and all they could manage is a fourth spot. Isn't that sad that the best story we could muster was about illegal activities by some loser sports stars. I guess the moral is "if you want fame, do it the wrong way."

Well, the end of the week is upon us. Time to find some time to relax in between all the shopping and parties. I sure hope time can be found for some real Mexican food on Saturday afternoon.

Work was the same with new instances of the "Fix Stupid" complex shining brightly. I love how they argue with me like I don't have a clue about what I am talking about. I did manage to hit the jackpot when one office did some cleaning. I managed to get a full licensed version of MS Office 2003, ACT 2005, MS Office 2003 SBE and a 4-port CISCO USB Hub with print server still in the shrink wrap that it came to them in, probably about $750 in value. And they think I am the dumb one!

Looks like the Spears Family is desperate for attention so they allowed the 16 year old to get pregnant and now are bragging about it. What part of this whole affair is wrong or are we too far along in the degradation of our morals. Arrest the 19 year old for statutory rape and then get the parents for child endangerment ... their track record of child rearing is a bit messed up after seeing the lives of these two girls. Oh, that is right .. they are a product of their environment and therefore not responsible for their actions.

Want Hanna Montana tickets? Contact the DC Mayor ... if he hasn't already gave them all away to his family and political donors, he might give you one.

Don't bail out the credit companies for speculating and making bad loan choices ... help the people that were taken. The credit companies are whining that they are losing massive amounts of money because people can't pay. Well, excuse me ... but drop the interest rate from 30% back to 12% ... then they might survive and pay it back. If you really want to help ... drop the interest rate and increase the minimum amount to be paid each month. Give us an opportunity to pay it back. Maybe we need Federal Regulation of all consumer loans. Make the maximum interest rate 12% and the minimum due of 7.5% per month. Also make it so that anyone with a credit score <650 can not get any more credit card offers. It is funny when someone in credit counselling for bad credit gets a letter ... "Due to your outstanding credit, we can off you a new Platinum Card with a great low rate." BS!

Oh well, time to commute home and enjoy the ride as at least 12 "A" types cut me off.

Oh, Well ... Time will tell

The week is quickly slipping by as Christmas is just around the corner. Things are fairly quiet at work this week since a lot of people are gone. The weekend proves to be busy once again starting with a Holiday Party on Friday Night. I have been sitting around trying to figure out what gifts to give and who deserves one. Hmmm, I wonder what is on the Movies this weekend ... that will help me decide. TV will start getting bad as all the "Best of 2007" shows get started. I would even settle on playing a game on X-Box but it seems we have no games ... Hmmm.

11,000 Democratic earmarks ... no wonder the budget will never get balanced. It looks like they are just like the Republicans ... despite their claim to fix things if we voted them into office. Anyone feel a bit cheated? It seems a politician is the same regardless of their tie, lapel pin, or banner they stand under. I think it is time for a third party to emerge ... let the right person run and I would vote for them.

Steroids ... give the Players Association some time and they will sweep it under the carpet. To fix the problem means less money in the dues bucket. Start the Olympic type testing program ... then let Clemens and Bonds show us their innocence. A few examples would go along way to discouraging this culture of cheating is OK if you make enough money. Gee, we are harder on a cork batter than a drug addict. Hang the gambler but look away from the cheater looking for an edge.

Brrrr .... It is Hot!

Another weekend sneaks by and Christmas quickly approaches. I guess I need to start shopping, rather, I should start planning what day I will shop on. This weekend we had the awards day for the Youth league. At least we didn't finish in last though the bottom was closer than the top. In four weeks we will start a new season again and hopefully the outcome will be much better. I know I can't do any worse. Sunday was the Christmas program at our church. It was nice but a lot of work for so short a time. maybe we need to do an encore show? I would like to get on my soap box about family at this time of the year but I think it would fall largely on deaf ears. That is a shame since it is a time that is forever lost and the aches the lost causes won't show up until someone close is gone forever. Saturday Night was spent at Lady's Christmas Party put on by her employer. It was a lot of fun and the food was plentiful and good.

The supposed bad weather missed us by a country mile. It would be nice to have some snow to go with this blowing cold wind. The only other option is to cruise to the Caribean where it is 80+ but finding people to go is hard.

Work is work and resists change.

The Batlimore Ravens are enjoying their loss to Miami. I was told they were having a giant "L" tatooed into their forehead.

Getting back into the Habit.

Well, I survived the Monday after the vacation. It was tough but I managed not t get run over by "stupid." Nothing changed at the workplace but I guess I should have been realistic and not expected something like that. I still have my ear out for other opportunities to use my skills, but I am being selective and definitely pushing for better compensation for my time. No freebies anymore ... you want it ... you pay for it.

This grey and rainy weather is for the ducks and they have already headed south. Either get cold or warm up.

I am tired of hearing about Michael Vick ... please find something more news worthy. He is busted and has to pay the price, end of discussion.

Now starts the onslaught of Christmas Parties and other Activities. By the end of the month I will eagerly await a day off on the weekend. It could be January before I get back to El Agave for some good Mexican Food. Now that is a travesty.

The next planned road trip is March 2008 to Albuquerque NM. Then another cruise may follow in July 2008. That depends on where NCL travels too out of the Charleston SC Port. I wonder if Punk and Lil Princess want to go?

We Are Back!!

All is well for the Travellers. Everyone made it safe and sound and even managed to have a lot of fun. I think everyone wants to go again. I will try in the next couple of days give a better account of the week but right now I just wanted to let everyone know we are back and safe.

Bowling was not quite so fun today. The youth team finished in the middle of the pack. The Sunday Night team managed to participate.

As usual I had a lot of fun. Sometimes keeping track of 10 people got weary but we all managed to do what we wanted. Dressing up was fun as we all managed to don our finest threads and act civilly for an evening. The Chocolate madness was a smashing hit as our sugar level went through the ceiling.

Wild Mom lived up to her name. At one point I wondered if the Pina Colada supply would run out and she would then change to the dreaded "Long Island Ice Tea's". We enjoyed having her there and hope to do it again.

Lady looked great in the swimsuit competition. Yes, I am a bit biased but what the heck. Her highlight was the Butterfly Conservatory on Key West. Oh, the home-made Key Lime pie was a winner.

#2 managed not to get thrown off the ship. Not withstanding the weed offers and the $2 breast flashes in Cozumel. I think if he had more pesos he would have been tempted more. Cuban cigars are OK but not his cup of tea. He says "hot stone massages are better than sex," as if he knows! He was even successful in the Casino and managed to leave a winner.

Princess managed to break a minimum of hearts. I spent most nights guarding the door. The deck outside our room sounded like a Chicago back alley with the cats howling. Her highlight was her beach horse-back ride, first Marguerita, first hot stone massage (minus clothes). Cingular stock dived $10.00 a share from her non-use of the phone last week. However, today it jumped $15.00 a share in after-market trading.

Kritty managed to turn a few heads as several crew members hit upon her. We were really proud she fought the effort to marry one and return home to America. Ask her about the Ghosts!