Dog days of August Almost here

Well, it is Friday and the end-of-the-month once again. I have been less than timely in keeping this blog updated. The main reason is I haven't really had anything to say. Well, actually, nothing good to say. Many things are acting as irritants in my life and that makes it hard to get motivated. Especially to write or say anything positive. Yeah, I could get on here and blast away but I don't want to go there. I have many wants and wishes but those are stories for future blogs. Hey, maybe I need a vacation. Hmmm!

Summer Bowling sucks as I think after last weeks sterling performance, the team is in last place. My average is the highest I have had in a while but it is a team event and that is where is is collapsing. Maybe I ought to get rid of the bowling stuff and take up golf or fishing once again. Then again, bar hopping and gambling could prove interesting!

Wild Mom is in camping mode once again. Must be nice to be retired and on the move all the time. Lady continues to bless everyone and Lil Princess is spending the week with us. Next week is Lew's week and we will manage to squeeze in day camp for him. #1 and #2 have no real change except for getting older and bigger! Peanut has reached maximum carrying weight for the new kid. Sometime in the next couple weeks, he will make his grand entrance. Gung Ho Jen is preparing to desert us and head for Germany to work. Starr and Chicken man are in their second month of marriage and surprisingly, she hasn't pissed him off yet or is it the other way around? We wish them the best and hope things fall in line for them to have a great life together.

Meaning of Flag Draped Coffin

All Americans should be given this lesson. Those who think that America is an arrogant nation should really reconsider that thought. Our founding fathers used GOD's word and teachings to establish our Great Nation and I think it's high time Americans get re-educated about this Nation's history.

Pass it along and be proud of the country we live in and even more proud of those who serve to protect our 'GOD GIVEN' rights and freedoms.

I hope you take the time to read this ... To understand what the flag draped coffin really means ... Here is how to understand the flag that laid upon it and is surrendered to so many widows and widowers.

Do you know that at military funerals, the 21-gun salute stands for the sum of the numbers in the year 1776?

Have you ever noticed the honor guard pays meticulous attention to correctly folding the United States of America Flag 13 times? You probably thought it was to symbolize the original 13 colonies, but we learn something new every day!

The 1st fold of the flag is a symbol of life.

The 2nd fold is a symbol of the belief in eternal life.

The 3rd fold is made in honor and remembrance of the veterans departing the ranks who gave a portion of their lives for the defense of the country to attain peace throughout the world.

The 4th fold represents the weaker nature, for as American citizens trusting in God, it is to Him we turn in times of peace as well as in time of war for His divine guidance.

The 5th fold is a tribute to the country, for in the words of Stephen Decatur, 'Our Country, in dealing with other countries, may she always be right; but it is still our country, right or wrong.'

The 6th fold is for where people's hearts lie. It is with their heart that they pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America , and the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.

The 7th fold is a tribute to its Armed Forces, for it is through the Armed Forces that they protect their country and their flag against all her enemies, whether they be found within or without the boundaries of their republic.

The 8th fold is a tribute to the one who entered into the valley of the shadow of death, that we might see the light of day.

The 9th fold is a tribute to womanhood, and Mothers. For it has been through their faith, their love, loyalty and devotion that the character of the men and women who have made this country great has been molded.

The 10th fold is a tribute to the father, for he, too, has given his sons and daughters for the defense of their country since they were first born.

The 11th fold represents the lower portion of the seal of King David and King Solomon and glorifies in the Hebrews eyes, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The 12th fold represents an emblem of eternity and glorifies, in the Christians eyes, God the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit.

The 13th fold, or when the flag is completely folded, the stars are uppermost reminding them of their Nations motto, 'In God We Trust.'

After the flag is completely folded and tucked in, it takes on the appearance of a cocked hat, ever reminding us of the soldiers who served under General George Washington, and the Sailors and Marines who served under Captain John Paul Jones, who were followed by their comrades and shipmates in the Armed Forces of the United States, preserving for them the rights, privileges and freedoms they enjoy today.

There are some traditions and ways of doing things that have deep meaning.

In the future, you'll see flags folded and now you will know why. Share this with the children you love and all others who love what is referred to, the symbol of ' Liberty and Freedom.'

John's Chicken Farm

John was in the egg business. He had several hundred young layers (hens), called 'pullets', and ten roosters to fertilize them. He kept records, and any rooster not performing went into the soup pot and was replaced.

This took a lot of time, so he bought some tiny bells and attached them to his roosters. Each bell had a different tone, so he could tell from a distance, which rooster was performing. Now, he could sit on the porch and fill out an efficiency report by just listening to the bells.

John's favorite rooster, Obama, was a very fine specimen, but this morning he noticed Obama's bell hadn't rung at all! When he went to investigate, he saw the other roosters were busy chasing pullets, bells-a-ringing, but the pullets, hearing the roosters coming, would run for cover.

To John's amazement, Obama had thought of a way to do it without work, he had his bell in his beak, so it couldn't ring. He'd sneak up on a pullet, do his job and walk on to the next one.

John was so proud of Obama, he entered him in the Chicago County Fair and he became an overnight sensation among the judges.

The result was the judges not only awarded Obama the No Bell Piece Prize but they also awarded him the “Pullet surprise” as well.

Clearly Obama was a politician. Who else but a politician could figure out how to win two of the most highly coveted awards on our planet by being the best at sneaking up on the populace and screwing them when they weren't paying attention.

Vote carefully next fall, the bells are not always audible.

Sprint to a Wedding

The wedding went great and the knot was tied. Dana offered her home for the wedding and reception and she did a fantastic job. It was amazing the effort she put into it. As for the wedding, it was just as great. Of course the wedding music got off beat since Casey's knees set a different beat and sounded like a bass drum. It is amazing how many wolves are in Georgia. Friday night, it seemed they howled all night even with no moon visible in the sky! Lady and I sneaked over to Smokey Bones BBQ Saturday night and it was very good. We will have to try it on our next trip through North Georgia.

I started watching the movie "Inception" but some honeymooners took a break from all the bedroom antics and visited us. Oh well, I will have to get the DVD and watch the movie again. It is a good one.

Bowling is going well, the church service changes has their moments and the work frustration level is high so basically nothing has changed since the last blog. We are now in the process of getting ready for Wild Mom to visit, a baby shower for Peanut and Vacation Bible school. I leave tomorrow to attend the Anderson reunion, see wild Mom and her sonny-do list and then drive her back up to Virginia for a short visit. It seems to never end ... one thing after another!

I managed to get my hands on the 4 volume "Song of Fire and Ice" series. Now it is time for some serious reading.

Road Trip Prep

This is the start of a busy two weeks for me. We leave Thursday to spend this weekend in the Atlanta area for some peace and quiet. Lady is looking forward to this trip! Next week is a whirlwind trip to Florida for a reunion and to bring Wild Mom back to Virginia for a short visit. This week I have a physical scheduled on Tuesday so that means a lot of poking and prodding. The Lab work was done last week. Youth Bowling started last night and it was ok. We are doing 2 person teams so the pressure is on me and Lew to perform. So now the challenge is to keep him focused on bowling and not on playing with the kids. I sometimes wonder when I will learn not to compete against the natural tendency of him to play. Work continues to maintain a level of frustration. Oh, the conference call on Friday about the possible new job went well. Onward to the next step. Not sure what that is but it sure sounds good.

This weekend included two birthday parties. Nothing like three kids (7,4,3) in a car for 90 minutes each way and hyped up on sugar. No wonder I don't have any hair. I love having a sponge bob sticky hand smack me on the side of the face while I drive. One downside to having a little one leave diapers for real underwear, "Papaw, I have to go to the bathroom" and that means stop very quickly even if you are deep in the woods. Gotta love it!

P.S. The Atlanta trip is really for Starr's and Casey Marriage on Friday the 17th.

Summer Thoughts

It is the weekend and El Agave was as good as ever. The weekend led off with a trip to Bella Vita and it too was good. Wild Mom is getting better just in time to get ready for our family's reunion. Lot's to do and little time to do it.

Friday we booked our next cruise. We will adventure to the Eastern Caribbean on the Carnival Ship Liberty. For 7 days we will cruise St. Thomas, San Juan, Grand Turk Islands and Half Moon Cay. This will be our first non-NCL cruise and it will be interesting seeing the difference. Our room is on the Panorama Deck (Deck 10) but not really knowing their layout there is some questions. The web site isn't the easiest to find the answers we want. Our trip down will be a bit more condensed since the cruise sails on Saturday instead of Sunday. We may have to fore go a trip to "Bubba Gumps" until the return home. I also ventured into the world of rentals with some of my points. I am hoping it will turn out good. If not, we will squeezing in several vacation weekends in December in order to use up the points that come back from not getting the rental.

Also in the works is a trip to Christmas Town at Busch Gardens in early December. We went last year and it was great. So this year we will get adventurous and take a couple kids. Even so, it will be another great time.

Salem made me a job offer and after a teleconference this week I will be able to elaborate more as to who, what, when and where this job entails. Still in discussion is location and money. Maybe I will get lucky and they will let me telecommute from St. Kitts in the British Virgin Islands. That would be a dream come true!

The bible study in "Hebrews" is going well. It has stirred up many questions and comments. The last couple of weeks have been tough reading but that is what makes it fun ... it makes you study.

Summer Finally Makes it

Well, time flies and I am once again behind schedule in keeping this site updated. Life continues onward with not a lot of changes. The grass is getting tall as the lawn mower picked this time to croak. Youth Bowling on Sunday Night has started. It is a short season, 10 weeks, but it fills in Sunday night. On the horizon is Starr's wedding and a trip to Florida for the Anderson Reunion (Wild Mom's family). I will drive her back up here so we can get her Saturn all fixed up and running right. The first month of the new church schedule is done. I will just bite my tongue and leave my comment as " I am underwhelmed." Peanut's pregnancy continues and gets closer to the day she can return to normal. Well, as normal as a mom with 2 kids under 4 can. Work is progressing and I am currently in discussions for a job change. After 6 years, I guess it is time for a change. Oh well, more on that down the road. Wild Mom is excited that I will be there for the reunion. It has been a long time since I was last there. I can't wait to get my cheek pinched by some old lady with blue hair, red lips, combat boots and no teeth as they say " I remember when you were ... !" Actually, it should be fun seeing people I haven't seen in ages. I will have to start dusting off some of my best jokes for the new crowd! lady is fine and enjoying life. She got to skip work and get a slight sunburn as her workplace enjoyed a cruise of the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay on the bosses' boat.

Down to the Homestead!

Well, I best write something since it has been a few days since the last entry. I guess since the rapture occurred this weekend and I am still here, I must not have been good enough! Funny thing is that I see a lot of my friends, so obviously we were all mistaken as to how good we were!

Happy Birthday to someone very special to me. I can't wait to see what the next XX birthday's bring!

We just returned from spending the weekend in New Bern NC. It was a very quiet and relaxing weekend as we helped Lady to adjust to the next year of her life. The laptop was never powered up ... an unusual occurrence for me. It was nice having very limited cell and wireless service. I didn't even visit one cemetery looking for dead people. We really enjoyed the quiet. Every morning the turles would congregate on the bank of the pond just outside the room. It was funny watching several dozen turtles sunbathing. In the afternoon they would migrate to the other shore for the afternoon sun. We found a very good seafod house in Arapahoe NC. Suprised us since it is way, and I mean way out in the woods. The nearest grocery store was 8 miles from us. Sunday, the drive home was nice as we avoided Interstates and drove the country roads. We even managed to squeeze in 2 ferry rides. One near New Bern and the other at Jamestown. Dinner was a little late but it was at Pierce's, one of the best BBQ's we have found.

Now we must readjust to normal life because the next scheduled trip is in June and then October. i wouldn't mind another trip somewhere but no one has any time left to take off.

A sign at a church we passed -- A dusty Bible means a Dirty life.

Soap Box Sunday

Well, it is May and life goes on. Bowling is winding down and we will have to find something else to do with our Sunday evenings. Today is AJ's 3rd birthday party!

Soap Box time --

Don't you just love how people flock to church to praise God when a disaster occurs. The News channels are really playing that aspect up. God must be helpless when times are good, or is it safer to say "We don't need you when it is good." Oh, I know ... prosperity is God's Kryptonite! Wow, how did I miss that. Also, where is all the international help to aid in the recovery? I don't see any mass calling for aid in a lot of the countries we helped! In most international papers, the story doesn't even rate front page coverage. Oh yeah, our money is only good when it goes in their direction. But then again ... we (America) don't need God except when it is convenient. So why should another country display christian ethics and values ... we don't.

Libya claims their leader is targeted, but NATO says it isn't so. Isn't it targeting when you send a drone to strike the compound where they know he lives? Or, were they 100% successful because they targeted his grandchildren and son instead! Someone had to program that drone, so given the fact he lived there in that compound ... we targeted him. We are killing civilians just to stop him from killing civilians in their civil war. I guess death to stop death is acceptable as long as we are the second to starting the killing. Sadly what makes our choice to intervene more deplorable is that we use machines to do our killing. Isn't it nice to know machines have no conscious. And when it errs and kills a human it becomes accidental and a tragedy of War. Now I can sleep better tonight knowing humans don't kill humans. It is those dang machines ... perhaps the terminator series is real! Also, Syria is killing people by the hundreds. Where is the outcry for them. Are the Syrians no better than the Libyans! Come on NATO, target the Syrian President and have the UN authorize deadly force to enforce a no-fly zone so you can send in the drones thereby you can sleep better at night.

Easter 2011

The greatest man in history, named Jesus, had no servants, yet they called him Master.

• Had no degree, yet they called him Teacher.
• Had no medicines, yet they called him Healer.
• He had no army, yet kings feared him.
• He won no military battles, yet he conquered the world.
• He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.
• He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.

Praise Him and get on his winning side!

SpringTime 2011

Well, tomorrow is a day off. Fancy that. So I get to do my favorite chore ... yard work. I had thought about contracting it out but they never showed back up. Oh well, fun in the sun time. Life continues marching on as April is almost gone. It is amazing that Nationals was almost 4 weeks ago. Where did the time go? Sunday night is the last night of bowling on the adult team and the kids have only two more weeks to go. I am back to a day shift at work. My sleep pattern is all messed up. Work is about the same or at least returning back to the way it was. It will never get completely back to that point as the new philosophy is, "If it Works, Break it and make it better!." You sometimes wonder how long some people stay awake to come up with these ideas. This is either an attempt to get more involved with my work or and attempt to create stress so that they can micro manage more. I have always ways work on the idea, "if it works, leave it alone." The improvement comes from making and testing changes on the side. Maybe it will get better by time we go to North Carolina. Yeah, right! I booked our stay at Great Smokies in October. We had a great time last year and expect the same this year. Hopefully the leaf changing will cooperate and do a better job than last year. Wild Mom has started the moving process. She has a contract on a new house and her present place is on the market. Hope it sells quickly.

Enjoy your Easter Season and remember this is why Christianity is different than all other religions.

Ponderings of a Different Sort

Well, the weekend in Williamsburg was great. We basically sat around and did what we wanted to. We didn't do any sightseeing as our goal was to rest and recollect our thoughts. Lady worked on a new quilt that she is making. I did absolutely nothing ... I did not even turn my laptop on. I did manage to use the jacuzzi tub every night to melt any stress and sore muscles I had. We had lunch on Saturday at Pierce's BBQ. That place never ceases to amaze us with the good food and our timing was impeccable as we had no waiting to place our order. We are all looking forward to our weekend getaway in New Bern North Carolina in May.

Bowling is winding down with only 3 weeks left on the leagues. The Sunday Night team has done suprisingly well even with a vacant spot. We have climbed up to the middle of the pack. That sure beats being next to last, only better than the blind team.

Wild Mom is fine and looking forward to a weekend can get down there to do a few sonny-do's. She is looking at relocating to a new house with less yard to maintain. Hmmm, I wonder how my packing and moving skills are? There is no date for the move as she is just started the process.

May 1st is when our Church changes it order of service and Sunday School. Right now I am really undecided on how to respond to this change. I have managed to keep my mouth shut and try not to irritate an all ready stressful event. I wish I had a positive attitude about this but I don't. Keeping my mouth shuts gives no one an opportunity to question my religious convictions. Funny thing is, #2 asked us to come and go to church with him. Who would have thought we would get an invitation like that ... after all the years of us going to church, he offers his church.

Work is going well with Cheng back on staff. Right now I am working mid-shifts so I can complete some projects without having to deal with the daily interuptions that come with day shift. It appears the replacement engineer will be heading back to Kansas the end of this week. I guess this is as best it will get so the prudent thing is to grin and bear it. With 6 years to go ... has the countdown started?

Our Bible study group is starting a study of Hebrews this week. Tough book but the potential rewards are great. Probably my biggest fear is generating the excitement and devotion to the study that is needed to make this a successful event. Most of the material is being pulled together by me and I hope I don't miss something.

Well, spring time is here and that means yard work! Something I really don't relish doing but if I don't do it, then we will eventually live in a jungle of weeds and tall grass.

USBC Nationals - Final Day

Well, the trip is over and I am now back in Washington DC. The train was packed so that meant less room to spread out to sleep. That is usually the way it goes ... when you want something it isn't there. So I basically just stayed up all night. I was too restless to try and stay in one seat. During this part of the trip, I had several conversations that were really interesting. Of course there is always one ... an older lady who disagreed with everything I said. I spoke of the snow I saw Monday and she said there was no snow, "There can't be, I came through there LAST Tuesday and there was no snow." I quickly replied "Well maam, I came through there YESTERDAY and there was snow." She disagreed with everyone on everything. Talk about someone in bad need of a good slap and kick in the arse! Dinner was great and the conversation equally good. The ride was hard since my rear end had reached it limit and was sore and no seat felt soft or comfortable.

Several people who were taking the Bible Study Fellowship course were talking highly of the course. What amazed me was their excitement level. I will have to check into that course if it was that good! Also interesting was that all 3 couples weren't friends but just happened to be traveling on the same train to different locales. But after their discussion, they were friends and equally excited.

I think I have found a new train to get to Chicago the next time I go to Reno. The "Cardinal" that leaves from Chicago and comes through Manassas. That will save me some time going back and forth from Union Station. If anything it is a different route after taking the Capitol Limited and California Zephyr to Reno the last 12 times.

Time to return to Reality and start talking about other things.

USBC Nationals - Day Nine

Well, Day nine was a very quiet day. The mountains are behind me and in front is farmland. The snow finally stopped just east of Gaylesburg. I don't expect to see many animals except deer and rabbits. They aren't very photo worthy. Today I skipped lunch but ate breakfast and dinner. Funny thing is, I ordered eggs, bacon and grits. Most of the people around me had no idea what grits were ... so they saw me eating them and in turned ordered them some grits. Of course, I had to offer advice on the best way to eat them ... butter and pepper. The waiter smiled and told me that this was the most grits he had ever served. The South Rules Again! The train stations rolled by as we cruised across the heartland. I think everyone was very tired as the conversations were at a minimum and most people napped the miles away. The lay-over in Chicago was about 4 hours. I did learn that AMTRAK's Cardinal Train stops in Manassas. I will have to check that out for my next Reno trip in 2013 and 2014. Besides it leaves an hour before the Capitol Limited ... less waiting time in Chicago. I would definetely be riding than sitting in a waiting room with screaming brats that the parent can't control. We finally got out of the station 20 minutes late as we had to wait for another late train to arrive with people who had connections on our train. Dinner was great as I dined with a couple who loved to cruise especially on NCL. They had done the maiden voyage on the Epic, NCL's newest and biggest ship. They too agree that the Epic is TOO BIG. They did not like the fact the midship elevators were replaced with escalators, so the elevators were at the ends of the ship. They also said the Casino, which was a small area on most ships was now a whole floor on the Epic. The spiked hair kid who sat at our table said very little during dinner. Now it is dark and hard to see anything except when we are in some town. Plus it is the time that most alcohol impaired people take control of the Observation car. I can't comment on the world since I have avoided the news for this week. Gee, things seem so simple without the world's problems piled on.

Guess I better get some sleep.

USBC Nationals - Day Eight

Travel day home. Not a lot going on but sitting on my keester and watching the scenery go by. I tried to get up based on eastern time as I tried to start getting my body back on the right time. After breakfast at 6:30, I spent the majority of my time scouring the landscape for animals. Here is what I found:

• 1 Beaver
• Many Deer
• Several Sheep
• 4 Turkey's
• 20+ Mule Deer
• 1 Eagle
• 2 Moose
• 2 Coyotes eating a dead cow
• Lots of snow scenes on the mountains
  

Numerous fuzzy shots because the train was going so fast and the trees even faster the other way.

Other interesting things going on:

• One young lady going around to the different guys whining how she was so unlucky in love. Sounds like a fishing trip to me.
• The Conductor found a cigarette butt (hand-rolled) in the bathroom and was walking around looking. At the same time, some young knucklehead rolling 4 more cigarettes for the next smoke break.
• 4 young adults looking for fun when they said "let's go use 1/2 of the shit left over." Gee, are they a couple of poop players.
  

It never ceases to amaze me some of the stuff that goes on when you ride the train. Dad and I use to laugh a lot about some of these goings on. Conversation was kind of lacking today as there weren't many people on board from Reno to Denver. The problem I guess was the fact the train started in Reno and not in Sacramento. This was due to snow and mud slides in the Sierra Nevada's.

One young man on board got a phone call from a friend who said the one on the train had been served divorce papers. Then the real fun started. Now, I had been watching him hit on 2 young ladies ever since Reno. So he then told his seat mate that he couldn't understand why his wife did that. Then he decided he would try and call all her friends and see if he could get something on her. Did she have something on him? Then he told the seat mate he would make something up if need be. Then to cap this whole drama off ... he told his seat mate, "lets get some beer and see if we can get them (the girls) drunk. Now why would he do that if he was so faithful? A leopard just can't change his spots.

We left Denver on time so lets see if they can hold it. Guess I should try and go to sleep!

USBC Nationals - Day Seven

Well, sad day ... time to go home and re-enter the rat race of life. No, going home isn't sad the sad part, it is just leaving a small group of very good friends knowing we won't see each other for a year. Bowling this tournament for 21 years you manage to get to know the bowling and personal life of many people. Perhaps the scary part is not knowing if you will ever see them again. This has happened several times with just my team members. George died 2 months after the 2008 tournament and Vince about 3 months after the 2009 tournament. This doesn't count the number of life issues that have kept some people from ever bowling again. Looking back, I get a small appreciation of just what my 21 consecutive years means.

I was lazy and didn't get up till 10:00 am once again. Packed my memories away and checked out of the Silver Legacy until I return to Reno in 2013. I checked my baggage at the train station and wandered back to Stadium for my last goodbyes.

On the train and headed home ... and I am lucky ... no man-lovers anywhere near me! I had an interesting dinner with a lawyer and a doctor. The lawyer was recovering from a recent snowboard accident. Remind me ... to stay away from snowboards. We even have musical entertainment. Two riders are playing music on a flute and guitar. Makes you feel like campfire time at a Boy Scout campout.

Well, the sun is down and complete darkness descends upon us.

USBC Nationals - Day Six

Big bowling day. I slept in and ate breakfast about 10:00 am. Today I bowled in the Bowling This Month (BTM) tournament. It is a great tournament with a shot very similar to the one at the National Stadium. I bowled 4 games across 4 pairs of lanes. I averaged 180 on a tough sports shot, so it was respectable but not enough to win money. I did manage to squeeze some nacho's and cheese in before I bowled my National's singles and doubles match. After 10 games in a matter of 7 hours, I was running on empty. I actually started cramping during dinner. Nothing like a arm cramp and a leg cramp at the same time. I had dinner with the Visionary Bowling crew at The Rail City Casino Buffet. I have to say it was absolutely great. Where else could you get a buffet for $7.95 that included your drinks and had crab legs! I did not do crab legs but I did manage to put a severe dent in their fried shrimp supply. Also what made dinner great was listening to stories of Frankie May while he was touring as a PBA professional. I think running a booth at the National Tournament would be the best job ever. The pay isn't great but you sure can meet some interesting people every year. Finally, I managed to go to bed about 1:30 am .... cramps and all.

USBC Nationals - Day Five

Today started with more snow flurries. Most of the day was spent getting my bowling equipment ready for Friday Night. I tried to sleep in but at 4:00 am PDT I was wide awake. I guess the old body is stuck in Eastern Time. I walked around town a bit to see the changes. I guess the biggest change is the Bus Station moved nearer the Train Station. Lunch was nice and I sat where I could watch the people walk by. Some sights are such you should never have to see them in public. You have to wonder what the person was thinking when they got dressed.

The bowling team was pretty much the same as last year. Just a little more gray and a tad bit slower in their movement. Nate was unable to come because of personal issues and without fail the USBC representative showed up to give him his 20 year pin. We called him from the bowling lanes to tell him what he missed. I listened to their tales of their drive up here since they had to deal with the snow storm in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Plus they saw gas range from $4.15 to $4.69 a gallon. Gee, and we think $3.50 is high.

The Visionary Bowling team is the same. They talked with me about being a official Visionary Bowling Products equipment tester for the next year. So I will have to think about it before I commit to the job. We are planning on going out to dinner Saturday night. We did that last year and it was a blast. One of the managers and VISE representative is from Panama City ... specifically from Southport. Small world!

Well, I bowled tonight and it was fun to participate. I could never get anything going. My stomach was on the fritz so it distracted me a lot and my energy was low. So I will get back to the room and get rested and hopefully feel better tomorrow. All I can figure it was the Killer Nacho's and beer I had for lunch.

USBC Nationals - Day Four

I woke up as we pulled into Winnemuca on a side track while they decided what to do. The night went pretty good as there wasn't much civilization around to provide lights to watch as the train went by. My Buddy with the loud mouth and a penchant for men wound up getting moved by the Conductor after someone else complained about he language and language topics. Of course he blamed me for starting it all. Grow Up!

After about 90 minutes they decided the track was clear enough for us to proceed to Reno. Yeah! Of course that meant that we had to backup some seven miles so they could switch back onto the main line. After a lazy breakfast of French Toast, we headed for Reno and an uneventful 200 mile ride.

I got to my room about 11:30 and proceed to get rid of the train smell that had soaked in for 3 days. This is when I discovered I had no socks in my suitcase. Guess where they were? Yep, a 3 year old took them out after I placed them in the suitcase. Oh well, there were worse things I could have forgotten or left behind.

Tonight, I will hopefully have a practice session at the local lanes with the Visionary Bowling Team. That should be fun.

USBC Nationals - Day Three

Day 3 started with our arrival in Denver. That place has changed. They now have a new AMTRAK building near the old Union Station. But after getting off for a leg stretch, I saw that this new setup is just an accident waiting to happen. The new building is on the other side of the street. To get from the building to the train, you have to walk 150 feet and cross a 4 lane road. Even today about 50 people got on and the end of the line while they were waiting stuck out into the road. The last guy almost got hit when the light changed and the car took off. Who ever thought of this design needs to get their smarts checked out. Of course we had snow flurries but I don't care because it is warm in the train. The climb through the mountains was beautiful but there is definitely more commercial building going on. Especially at WinterPark and Glenwood Springs. Saw a lot of wildlife including some "Wapiti" and there were also 3 moose in Frazer Canyon. Lunch was nice. I ate with 3 widowers heading for a retreat in Moab UT. It was fun because they all had hearing aids and trouble hearing. Everything I or they said was followed by ... "say it again, I missed what you were saying." Laughs a minute.

God must have something out for me this trip. Every stop someone of the same sex persuasion gets on and call all their friends. They only know one voice ... loud. At one point about 10:40 at night, I had enough and asked the young man to take his phone to the observation car. Of course, he asked me if "I was going to be rude all night." I replied, "I am sorry but your discussion of your and your life-mates adventures with a horse are over the top. Beside, it was quiet hour." He finally moved after some other Lady nearby called the Conductor. I tolerate a lot but sometimes I balk at TMI. I did laugh out loud when he told his friend on the phone that "he was volunteering in San Fransisco with the Health Department Exposition to provide STD counseling and information and then asked his friend if it was too much to dream he would meet the man of his dreams." Just where you want to meet someone ... at a STD meeting. Anyways, I hope things calm down a bit and everyone returns to normal.

Dinner was filled with talk of bowling and flying. Three guys from Michigan were also heading to Reno to bowl.

Great news ... the rail track across the Sierra Nevada's is snowed over and rock and mud are mixed into the mess. The plan now is to put me on a bus to Reno when we get to Winnemuca UT. The train will detour to another track to get to Sacramento. This really mucks the plans up. They don't know how Sunday will work when I try and return home. I guess flexibility is the game plan.