Splashing Fun

Another weekend has come and gone. Bible School is over and a complete success. Some kids asked if we could do it next week ... they were having a blast. Wild Mom continues to heal and get stronger. Before long she will be back to full strength and on the road again. lady is happy VBS is over so she can rest and shake the last effects of her cold off. I managed to clear cut one half of the back yard jungle. A couple of times I had to follow the bright yellow electric cord back to the house. I will try and finish up the yard today provided the rain holds up. #1 is on a roll, 2 phone interviews in 7 months. I think half of Manassas will faint if he gets a job. #2 is sneaking around trying to find out #1's secret of landing them interviews since #2 is O-fer during the same time frame. Star is fine and the day of her calendar debut is drawing closer. She will be visiting Pennsylvania for a few days. We got a kiddie pool and Lil Princess, Lew and AJ made the most of it. AJ was blue and shivering like a leaf in a hurricane ... but he pitched a fit when we dried him off and took him inside. We had a blast watching them and Lady managed to get a few pictures of them in action. Peanut is doing fine though her are work hours are drawing down ... we knew this would happen from the start but the chance was taken. Saturday, Peanut and I went to see the Star Trek movie. It was ok, but the original series is still the best. Youth bowling is approaching mid-season. I averaged 201 but it takes more than one person to win. It looks like Indiana will be our next trip.

I am tired of Whacko Jacko memorials. Funny how in life they were avoiding or not supporting him (sales were at the bottom) but now are going stupid over him once again. They forget what kind of person he was and pump him up as the Greatest Ever. Funny how we change when we try and exploit him by collecting his stuff.

No need to say anything about the Nationals ... they lived up to their potential.

Summer Reflections

Hot times in Virginia. Today is 90+ and humid. Wild Mom is doing well. Her stamina isn't where she would like it but as long as she goes slow she is fine. It looks like she will be able to attend the Reunion in Lynn Haven Florida next weekend. It has been a long time since my last one ... well, maybe one day I will make it. Lady is really enjoying Vacation Bible School as she has the pleasure of corralling 8 kids under two years of age. Somehow I think she will be ready for another weekend vacation just to recuperate. #1 managed to scrape up an interview and at the same time run the Caddy out of gas. All the while the jungle grows ... even the wild strawberries are having to fight for their sunlight. #2 continues to be a room lizard and dodge any interviews. Star is doing fine. She continues to push to get her life organized. Who thought she would be a famous model ... featured in a calendar. It kind of made me think of a reality show where the young lady informed her parents that she was a centerfold in Playboy magazine. Hmmmm! Rub that thought from my mind! We will get to see Lew and Lil Princess this weekend after missing the last two. How much have they grown? More than the weeds in the yard? Work is the same ... frustrating ... plus Cheng is going on vacation next week but he deserves it for all the crap he deals with.

For those who are concerned ... I am fine. Just a bit disappointed as another piece of my dream dies. I wonder if it is possible to set them too high so that you can never have any real expectation of them ever succeeding? Sure seems like it.

9 Days till the Race ... Tour De France

The cruise is getting closer as the other night we actually started dreaming and scheming of what will transpire on the cruise in January. We have only 6 months till then ... I can feel the breeze on my face as we race downhill to the sailing date. Not to mention ... Lady in a bikini.

Back to Reality

We have landed safely back at home. After the AC was fixed about Monday noon, we headed for lunch and the road. The drive was long and uneventful as usual but we made it. Wild Mom is fine and healing slowly. Today, she had a small issue with some fever but after clearing the drain tube, everything seems to be back to normal. The yard looks like a scene out of the Jungle. It will be quite a job to cut. Maybe I might need a shotgun to take care of the critters that are hiding in the grass. I am amazed how quickly it grows ... when I first started it never seemed to grow but now when I wish it would slow down ... no way. Vacation Bible School is well underway and I am hoping to get there but there are a few issues at work that I am working on. Work is the same with no hope of changing anytime soon.

At least the nationals haven't changed ... thank God for something consistent. I am looking forward to the Tour De France starting soon.

She is on the Loose

Well, we arrived in Florida fine ... just tired from driving all night. Wild Mom's surgery went fine. She went in about 11:30 and they were done about 3:30. She spent the night and was discharged this morning about 9:00. Of course that happened just as I sat down to breakfast ... needless to say ... I finished it an hour later and 30 seconds for the microwave. Also the air conditioner decided to mess up today. The fan motor burned up on a day when the heat index was 103+. The old fan blades were so rusted that it will be Monday before they finish the job. It is running now and the inside temp is 85 and dropping. Lady fixed potato soup and it was good as usual ... and "no" there wasn't any left to bring home. At one point today all five of us were sitting around sleeping. It was funny. As you get older those "power naps" work wonders. The usual computer work gets done as it is amazing how much can get messed up between visits. last night we had to buy more dog food and when we got home ... it was full of bugs. Gee, great price and extra bonus protein. We took the bag back and lo and behold ... every bag on the shelf contained bugs. The Store Manager wasn't happy. It looks like the dealer sold him bad food. The Church down here is having a breakfast for Father's Day, so perhaps I will stuff myself before Sunday School. Lady bought some great looking tomatoes for making tomato sandwiches ... but alas ... we will have to wait till tomorrow to taste test them.

Way Down South

The drive to Florida as uneventful and long. Both of us are really looking forward to a complete nights sleep. We left about 2:30 pm and arrived in Florida at 7:00 am. We did manage to attend the "Over 50" Luncheon at the Cracker Barrel. Even though I wasn't qualified ... they didn't check ID's and we got it. The food was great and the company even better. That drive gets longer each time we make it. I think the days of driving straight through are fast coming to an end. We drove the truck and it ran well. The lowest gas we found $2.39 in South Carolina. Wild Mom is doing well and right now we are sitting here waiting for the surgery to end. They say it will last about 1 hour. With the prep work and stuff, I figure she will be done about 4:00 pm. We got here about 8:30 just to hurry up and wait. Lady is doing fine. Her cold is still hanging on. Good thing about all this waiting is she can catch up on her reading of the book. No change with #1 and #2. Though #1 had a bit of trouble with his teeth. After removing three he does feel better for the time being. Peanut continues to work and find out just how far a paycheck does not stretch. AJ continues to grow stronger and doing what one-year olds do ... get into trouble. Starr is doing well and working at Pizza Hut. She is getting excited as the day of receiving her tax refund gets closer and then she can get her own place. There is no change on the work scene and I have even managed to get caught up some ... but alas ... more projects. Both Bible Studies are doing very good. Every one wants to participate and talk ... thus that makes it easier for me. The Youth bowling is about a third of the way completed. While we both have higher averages than last year we are almost in last place. We are getting killed by the handicap difference. It doesn't take much for a 70 average bowler to bowl over their average.

Florida ... Here we come

June is well underway and lots of things are happening. Watching the D-Day specials just remind me how great those men and women were. They truly are the Greatest Generation. I salute you all.

The Youth bowling is rolling along. Personally, I am doing great (196 with 3 of the 4 series over 200) but the team isn't. Two of our partners haven't showed up and bowling two blind scores just about guarantees you a loss. We try but keep coming up short. It would be nice to find two kids who want to have fun and learn a little about bowling. I have an idea on one but they don't have time. It is a pisser when they grow up or at least think they have. This week I have two Bible Studies starting up and that excites me. The book (The Shack) is great and there is a great potential for a lot of discussion. Everyone that has been reading it so far really likes it. The excitement level for everyone is high. Work is so-so and if given the chance I could think of dozen of things to do in its place. Most people are gone or busy doing whatever they do when they aren't in the office getting face time or creating work for the engineers. The equipment is running fine ... just like we arranged. Fix it right and it runs fine for a long time. Keep the Operator fingers out of it and it runs flawlessly.

We will be heading for Florida on the afternoon of the 18th and returning on probably the 22nd of June. Wild Mom is have some surgery and we are going down to be with her, if nothing more than giggle at her discomfort. Probably even eat a great tasting What-a-burger while she eats that bland and tasteless hospital food. Your prayers would be appreciated for her. Peanut is working and having a great time. #1 and #2 still manage to dodge the work bullet and lay around the house. Though #1 does it with some pain ... his teeth are bothering him. Did AJ punch him in the chops like Lil Princess gave Lew a good shiner? The kids are great and growing like weeds. Lil Princess and AJ are learning to talk and that provides a lot of laughs. Lew is becoming a computer games geek ... hmmm ... just like #2? Vacation Bible school starts on the 22nd and the kids are looking forward to it. They sure get in the way while Lady and I do our planning and getting things ready. Starr is tossing the pies at Pizza Hut. Can you imagine her with flour all over her face and pepperonis in her hair? She and Dave are doing fine and learning that building a home takes some work and I think they will be up here in August. Batten down the hatches ... the storm is coming ashore. We love her and can't wait to see her again. Lady is a little under the weather and trying to rest a lot right now as she apparently tries to shrug off a summer cold. I am about finished with my sinus issues and all the coughing fits it started.

Things we still need to plan is an Indiana weekend (AUG) trip, Virginia Beach weekend (SEPT), Chincoteague weekend (Jul), Maryland Renn-Faire weekend (Sept), and the Training Course in Kansas City Mo (OCT). Of course, already planned is the Western Caribbean cruise in January.

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It is a rare day when the Nationals win ... and to add insult to it ... their fireworks display when they do win has been banned by the Fire Marshall. Talk about losers!

Too bad the stimulus money hasn't been used to stimulate the Alternative Fuels industry ... especially since the Oil Companies are jacking the prices up to bring their profit margins up. No reason for it to jumping like this except greed. Just like Bush, Obama won't do anything to help ... so are they any different? They are both Politicians ... and thus crooked as the rest.

Way to go ... Grasshopper!

Would You Ever Believe III ...

West Virginia Trophy Squirrel

Would You Ever Believe II ...

The rarely photographed South Florida Squirrel

Tick ... Tick

What a life. Today work was one of those days I about tossed the old #1 finger and left. Five people were so important their computer had to be the priority. One of them just needed to wake up and reboot. The other screwed his computer up with 3 viruses and several tracking cookies. They continually say "I don't know where they come from." Knock ... Knock ... Another just wanted to belly ache because they were tired of a pop-up. When you have 30 computers to update ... someone has to be second. The I was in the middle of setting 1 up and later come to find out, the person had logged in somewhere else and was screwing me up. I would log off (windows favorite response to anything) to do the update and then get locked out because of their work. I will fix that tomorrow ... it is called changing the password until I am frickin ready for them to play around. I did get some good done on other computer systems but these nuisances ruin the whole day. Oh I love those emails at 4:00 pm on Friday telling me they need to computers on Monday morning. Duh, don't we plan around here and have some lead time? Oh, that is right ... not in Salem. I also love those listeners that just wait to tell us "what is wrong." If you can't operate your computer then get a pencil and pad of paper. If you have a job where you are supposed to have some computer skills ... then learn the basics other than pushing the power button. Believe me ... I know one person that can't even figure that out. Then there is the question, "Will this automatic function run by itself or should I stay there and run it?" Since that function will cost you your job if it is botched ... be there and be ready for anything. Oh well, enough soap box.

80 and Climbing

Can you believe it is June. If I was a kid ... Summer vacation would be here! Not much has gone on except work and Church. I am starting a new Bible Study up on Wednesday Nights. We will read and study the book "The Shack" by William P. Young. The reaction to this book is unbelievable. I recommend reading it. Wild Mom survived the Wedding reception but now her house is empty. There was a really good turnout though they did not manage to eat all the food. But like all good "Davis's", they put a pretty good dent into it. We will heading down to Wild Mom's for a few days. The actual dates are still up in the air. Lady is doing well but she is very busy. Vacation Bible School starts very soon and that usually wears her out. No change in #1 and #2 other than the storm clouds are gathering and shortly the storm will be upon them. Peanut started her new job on Saturday. It is an office job so that makes it a lot nicer than working for a rental company. AJ is growing like a weed. He is very active and constantly makes us laugh as he does little things. Right now he is battling some congestion. I guess even kids suffer from allergies. Lew and Lil Princess are doing great. Lew is becoming quite the computer gamer. Lil Princess is really expanding her vocabulary now and that leads to some very funny moments. Starr has a new job and soon with some luck a new apartment with no extra roommates. Hmmm, a quiet house is a luxury for only a few. Youth bowling continues and this league has 14 teams. That makes it really nice and it is very competitive as there are some good teams with very good bowlers. We now have FIOS for the TV, Phone and Internet. It has been good so far. I don't do much downloads anymore so I haven't really tested the Internet side. TV is ok especially if you like 9 HBO channels.

Nationals: You can take the players out of Montreal but you can't take Montreal out of the players. 13-36 ... pretty pathetic.