I was sitting here this morning staring out my bedroom window at the gray and gloomy skies trying to figure out what to write. But you know what I can't think of anything to write about. Or maybe there is and I just can't pry it from the crevices within my head where it has fallen. I even tried shaking it loose but all that got me was dizzy. So I'll just have to let it come to me of it's own accord I guess.
Oh yeah the quit smoking update. Still hanging in there though it's far from easy. Don't know how many times I've reached for that pack that's not there out of force of habit. All I can say for now is I'm still trying. That's it for now. Later
Looks like the cooler weather has given way to some nice and warm weather, at least for a few days. This would have been a nice day to be out taking pictures, but instead I was bouncing back and forth between this here computer and one of the few employments agencies here in town, as I kicked up the old job search another notch. And I want to hand out a big thanks to Seduced for handing down some good job hunting advice and also some newer avenues for me to go down.
So on a lighter subject, ok, maybe not a lighter subject, I watched the presidents press conference yesterday. Did anyone else have the privilege to see it. No? Well let me tell you as far as press conferences go you didn't miss much. However as a dancing exhibition it went very well, in fact the only thing missing was Bush's dance partner as he danced around the questions asked of him like the pro he is. In fact I haven't seen as many questions danced around since......since......humm yeah since the last news conference held by a politician. But I must hand it to Bush he double talks so well that ahhhh even he almost believes it. Just can't wait to see another one. Ok that's it for now. Later.
What a world we have these days, California is burning up while the middle East is blowing up. Where is the goodness, where is the goodness?? Will say this, my thoughts go out to all those in the way of the flames on the West coast, hopefully they will get a handle on this soon.
Today has been sort of an emotional roller-coaster for me. Was sitting here this morning drinking my coffee when i felt my normally positive optimistic self start to fade only to be replaced with a feeling of being overwhelmed by approaching bills and the lack of an approaching job. This lasted for about an hour when I was able to convince myself that sitting around feeling down or even feeling sorry for myself wasn't going to get it done. I need to keep at it, stay on the move, kick doors down if I have to. I just got to keep in mind there is a job out there somewhere, but if i resign myself to sitting back I'll never find it.
I'm out of bed but am I awake
have eaten yet still hunger
educated though knowledge fails me
old but have not lived
YET!!!
Just a little something that came to me while I was feeling somewhat down. Not very good I'm afraid, but then I wasn't in a very good mood either.
Update on my quitting smoking. It's only been one day and I have to be honest, I did give in to a moment of weakness and cheated. I bummed a cigarette from a friend, but now I'm back on course. I know this much it's not going to be easy, but I'm going to give it my best shot. Also a big thank you to all those who offered encouragement in my quest to kick the habit, it really helps. That's it for now. Later.
The time is here, it's now. I knew it would get here and I've even tried to prepare for it. It being my last cigarette. Yes I've decided to quit smoking, ok so maybe my budget had a little more to do with it then me, either way I'm quitting. I smoked my last cigarette a short while ago, though I really wasn't sure if I should smoke it or enshrine it as some kind of memorial. So now the fun starts, right. But I think I can do this, although I can already feel the nerves tightening ever so slightly. Oh well maybe if i tell myself enough times I only want the cigarette....I don't really need it, I may start believing it. That's it for now. Later.
Yesterday was a cloudy and cool day, yeah the seasonably cooler weather has finally caught up with us. Thus making me glad I got out last week and finished the things I had to get done outside while the weather was still nice.
Stayed in yesterday and mostly read, watched NCAA football and oh yeah, listened to my K-State team roll up their second win in a row beating in state rival the Kansas University Jayhawks. That is until it was time to go down to the funeral home and pay my last respects. The ex-coworker that I wrote about a couple of posts ago didn't make it. To me doing this is one of the hardest things to do, but sometimes you just have to suck it up and do what needs to be done.
After watching some of the NFL games on today I spent some of this afternoon watching "I Love The Eighties Strikes Back" on VH1. And unlike a lot of people who watch that show might say, so that's how it was back then, with me it was like yeah that's how it was then. Or thinking, god was it really like that back then, and I stop and think for a moment and, yeah it was. Come to think of it I could say the same thing if I was watching I love the seventies, or the sixties. Possibly even the fif_ no wait I draw the line at the sixties. Ok, enough of this talk before you all start to realize the relic I really am. Ok so I admit it, I may be a relic, but I damned sure don't feel like one. And that's what counts....right? That's it for now. Later.
It's Friday again and I'll be damned if another week hasn't just flown by. Although I am sure those who have had to work all week would probably tend to strongly disagree with me.
Today's been kind of a take it easy day, not that I don't have things I could be doing, but because I'm somewhat tired today. Alright let's be honest, I screwed around last night and didn't go to bed till three this morning, and since i don't seem to be able to sleep past seven thirty or eight in the morning I have been dragging some major ass today. I didn't actually screw up, rather I came across a Sidney Sheldon ( one of my favorite authors) book I had forgotten about, and started reading it. Next thing I knew it was three in the morning and I was still up and going strong.
Tried taking a nap this afternoon, but really couldn't fall asleep. Just kind of laying there not quite asleep but but not fully awake either, sort of adrift in a sea of thought. Not very conducive for getting any kind of rest. One thing's for sure I shouldn't have any trouble sleeping tonight.
I thought i had something else I was going to write about and if I did I can't seem to jar it loose from it's hiding spot in my brain. Wait! I've got a brain?!?! Quick must find Dorothy and cancel my little trip with her down that damned yellow brick road. I guess that's it for now. Let's all go out and have one hell of a weekend!! Later.
These last couple of days I've been reminded just how short and unpredictable this game of life can sometimes be. And since I am nearing half-time in this game of life , or maybe I've passed it who knows, the saying live each day to the fullest takes on a little more meaning for me. Not that I'm planning on dropping out of this game of life anytime soon. Thing is most people don't plan on dropping out of the game. But as we are often reminded sometimes the choice isn't ours to make. So yeah I guess we do need to make the best out each day we have.
Just like Ryan's motto that he shared in the comments of my last post goes "regret what you did, not what you didn't do". He's right, you have to go for it when it's there. There's nothing worse then regretting that you didn't do something when you had the chance to do it, for the odds are that same chance may never come around again. A perfect example of that happened to me some years ago when I was in San Antonio going to school for the Army. Anyway one weekend a bunch of guys decided to go down to Corpus Christi and wanted to know if I wanted to go along. I declined figuring I could find something more interesting to do without going out of town. What the hell, was I nuts or what, I mean a weekend in Corpus Christi and I turned it down. What was i thinking??? To better help you understand my regrettable screwup, this weekend was only going to cost me three dollars a night plus meals. Yeah, that is one time I later wished I'd have just gone with the flow. There have been other regrettable times but I won't bore you with them now.
I have gotten better at, how shall I put it , umm yeah going for it. Especially this last year. In the span of a year, less then a year really, I have somewhat conquered my shyness and reached out and met new people and made new friends. I quit my job at the rock quarry, before it finally sent me tumbling into the rubber rock room. Tried to start up a business of my own. Traveled for the first time, not only out of state, but out of the country as well. And although not all things went as I had hoped they would, and at this moment I'm not sure which direction my life is going to head in, i'm ok with it. In other words I have no regrets at all doing the things I did or the chances i took. And though there are still some things to get back on track, I still have decided no more what ifs.
Today has been about doing chores and ducking and dodging news, which still found it's way through. Though it was not all bad news, it still left little to stand up and cheer about. The first bit of news was a call from my brother. Seems he blew his knee out and had just underwent surgery to repair it. And that was the better of the news. The second bit of news came when an ex-coworker from the rock quarry where I used to work messaged me tonight. He told me that the guy I used to ride to work with was in the hospital with a rare disease and not expected to make it through the night. And this guy is all of 30 years old. So I've just sitting here these last few minutes in awe taking it in. It's been about two years since I had seen him and we didn't really stay in touch, still my thoughts go out to him and his family. Sure makes my problems I've been going through lately seem extremely insignificant
We had a little excitement in our sleepy little town today. Seems a sheriff's deputy spotted an object that looked suspicious in nature on the entrance ramp to the interstate. To be on the safe side they immediately closed a portion of the interstate down until a bomb squad from a near by army base could get there and check the situation out. It turned out to be a short piece of PVC pipe with tape on the ends. There was nothing found inside the pipe. Whether it was placed there as a prank or simply something that feel out of the back of a pickup truck nobody really knows. Anyway shortly after determining what they had on their hands they reopened the interstate and everything went back to normal again.
Normal? I really don't think so. For if everything was as it used to be, or normal if you will, then that PVC pipe probably would have been driven by a million times over without anyone so much as taking a glance at it, let alone a second look. Yes times have changed, even here in the middle of the country. Whether you choose to call it being overly cautious or being paranoid, we seem to be more aware of things around us now. Objects on the ground that we never would have noticed before, we now look at with a very trying eye. Or the sounds we never really heard before are now catching our attention.
So yes things aren't normal anymore, they can't be. For the recent events that have happened in our country have taught us that we can't afford to let it be as it was. Sad but true.
Ok, back to watching the world series. And for my blog friends from New York Go Yankees. That's it for now. Later.
I was over reading Seduced By Sanity, a new blog I found following a link in the comments section of Brand Trueboy. Anyway one of the posts there today was about Nathaniel Heatwole. He's the guy who took it upon himself to test just how good our airline security is by trying to take weapons (box-cutters) onto airliners. He not only tried but he succeeded in carrying these items on the airplanes and hiding them on the aircraft. After doing this he e-mailed the national transportation agency and told them exactly what he had done. And he didn't try to hide anything from this agency because he gave out all the personal information need to be able to contact him. To cut to the chase, it turns out that instead of a grateful government thanking him for pointing out what appears to be huge gaps in our nation's airline security, he found himself in court today facing criminal charges of carrying a weapon onto an airplane. Seduced pointed out how messed up that was and I agree. Hell, they should have given this guy a medal and offered to make him head of the agency responsible for airline security. Not that working for this government is a really good idea these days.
Seduced also said that all the networks were taking polls today and the fact he should be thanked and not punished was winning hands down. Well to me polls would be a good thing if there weren't so many of them or if the people who the information is geared toward would act on it in a positive way. To me i think most polls are a waste of time, because they do go unheeded by those in power to use the information and make changes, especially if it involves the government. Question: What do you call a poll that has made its way through the White House or any other government agency. Answer: A pretzel !!!
Opps it would appear I've drifted off the point, sorry. Anyhow I say instead of Nathaniel facing criminal charges, we should give him that medal, send him on a whirlwind tour of the talk shows, hell give him the key to all our cities. After all, if it weren't for him, we'd still be shuffling along like herded cattle believing that our airline industry had been made safe and secure. Makes you wonder just how many other things aren't as safe and secure as they (the government) would have us believe them to be.
Ok It's two in the morning and I think i better stop for now, since the sentences are beginning to look like one long word. That's it for now. Later.
It's time for the big game, at least if you're a Kansas City or an Oakland fan. In just a matter of hours now, one of the oldest and what used to be fiercest rivalries will renew itself once again. Although there is still no love loss between these two competitors, the rivalry still lacks the intensity it once had years ago. It used to be it wasn't a true Kansas City-Oakland game unless at least half of each team was threatened to be kicked out of the game for fighting and other acts of roughness not normally associated with the game of football. However it appears those days are gone, at least for now. Don't get me wrong, the rivalry is still there, just without as much of the hatred as there used to be. Which I think is a good thing, because now we can watch football played at it's best, usually.
With the Chief's being 6-0 and the Raider's 2-4 one might mistakenly think it should be a cake walk for Kansas City tonight, and i hope it will be. But as is usually the case with most rivalries, this one being no exception, you can throw the record books out the window. It's been proven many times that when these two teams get together anything can happen.
Only thing left to say right now is let's get ready for some football and.......let the war begin!! That's it for now. Later
I've already started this post four times only to erase it and start over because it just wasn't flowing from my mind to the keyboard the way that I wanted it to. So I'll go back to the rule of keeping it simple, and no not for any of you who might read this, but rather for the fool (me) who is trying to write it. Meaning.....I will drop that topic and write about something all together different.
Today was a carbon copy of yesterday, you couldn't ask for any better weather for the middle of October. Also with it being Sunday it meant NFL games to be watched, although the biggest game of all does not happen till tomorrow night on Monday Night Football. Of course I'm talking about the Kansas City Chiefs- Oakland Raiders game. So one might think I would be torn between getting out and taking advantage of the good weather and maybe taking some more pictures or staying in and watching football on TV. Turns out neither one of those two options came into play. Instead once again I was out trying to finish some outside projects around the house before the weather finally does turn off cold. So yeah I guess I was outside taking advantage of the weather, I just wasn't doing what I would have rather been doing. Such is life I guess. I'm running out of things to say so I guess that's it for now. Later.
Oh yeah Ryan wrote one hell of a good post on his site Muscle68 you really ought to check it out.
I'd like to think we shot through winter and back into summer already. Of course it hasn't, but it sure felt like it with the temperature shooting up to eighty-six degrees today. That's just the way it is here in Kansas, especially this time of the year. Today it was hot and it's possible that I could wake up to snow on the ground in the morning. No, I don't believe it will do that, but I have seen it happen. It's like they say about the weather here in Kansas, if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes and it will change. Ok, so I don't think Kansas can claim sole rights to that saying, but again it is something I have witnessed. It happened one day a few years ago, alright many years ago, but who's counting. Anyway I remember it being sunny and warm in the morning, yet it was cloudy, cool and raining by noon. Not unusual you say, well by three that afternoon it was freezing and snowing. So within one day we had gone through three out of four seasons worth of weather, about the only thing missing that day was a tornado. So yeah, I firmly believe in the weather's ability to change very rapidly around here.
On an even more serious note concerning something important to me.......no, wait, don't run off, I'm not about to inflict any more of my political views upon you. What I wanted to say is THE CAT'S ARE BACK. Yes my K-State team broke it's three game losing skid by knocking off the University of Colorado today 49-20. And the good news is we still have a chance of winning the Big 12 championship. Of course I'm sure the chances of a national championship went out the window long ago. Ahhhh such is life. That's it for now. Later.
I have been sitting here tonight enjoying the renewed quiet and serenity that has returned to my humble abode. It turns out that the surprise visit by my brother and his family was just a pit-stop on his way to my other brother's house in Kansas City. They planned to stay the night with him and go to Worlds of Fun, an amusement park just outside of Kansas City. And then they were heading home to Oklahoma on Sunday. So all in all the visit wasn't as bad as it could have been.
Right after they left I turned on the TV to C-Span to see how the Senate was progressing on the president's request for the 87 billion dollar spending package for Iraq. They were voting on the bill, and guess what it passed. Surprise! Surprise! Although when they showed the highlights of the day, after the vote, it turns out I did miss some very heated debate when Sen. Stevens basically said Sen. Byrd didn't support the troops in Iraq by voting against the spending bill.
Now as most of you have probably figured out by now I have not been a big supporter of the war in Iraq. At least not for the reasons given by the president for starting the war. I'm sorry but I just have a hard time buying into it being a part of the war on terror. I mean where was the imminent danger Bush said we were in when he launched the preemptive strike against them. Yes Saddam was an evil dictator, and the people of Iraq are better without him. But since when does liberating a people call for a preemptive strike. On that note there is something that is really bothering me. With all the money we are spending, not to mention a majority of our attention, resources and troops concentrated in Iraq, what do we seem to be losing focus on. That's right, that evil bastard Osama, you know the one who was the actual mastermind behind the September eleventh attacks. The same one who is still running lose, and probably planning more shit to do against us. Now is it just me, or does anyone else think our priorities have gotten a little misplaced. Just something to think about. That's it for now. Later
I've been invaded and preparing to run for the hills as I type. It was a total surprise attack catching me completely off guard. No it wasn't an army of any sort that invaded my space, in some cases this could be worse. The invasion I speak of is a surprise visit by my brother and his family. Now that shouldn't be so bad you might say, except for the fact that my normally serene atmosphere has been turned into chaos with his six kids ranging in age from two- ten years old. And my brother had the nerve to say "I think I'll just leave these kids with you for a while". It was like, ahh no thanks, I'd like to keep what little sanity I still have.
Well shit, they're back from their dash to McDonald's, so I guess I should go play the perfect host. Anybody seen my earplugs? More later.....should I survive.
Just finished watching the Chicago Cubs Florida Marlins game a little while ago. And the Cub's lost to keep their streak of not making it to the World Series since 1945 alive and well. And well to tell you the truth the way the Cub's played last night and tonight, I think I had a better chance of running into Charlie Brown's "Great Pumpkin" in the above pumpkin patch then they did of winning and going to the World Series.
Now I'm not trying to run them down, hell I was actually pulling for the Cub's. But I mean they had a 3-1 lead in the seven game series and all they had to do was win one out of three games, but they didn't. So now the question the Cub's fan's across the country will be asking is how did this happen? What went wrong? The now famous goat curse.....maybe. I don't know much about curses, but somehow I don't think that's a viable reason for the Cub's losing.
Oh I know, they can blame the infamous Cub's fan. You know the one I'm talking about, yes, the one who got in the way of the Cub's player while trying to catch a foul ball. Yeah the one all the people in Chicago wanted to kill last night. All I have to say is get over it people. He did not lose the game for or even cause the Cub's to lose the game. And to lay all of the blame on this poor guy's shoulders is pure chicken-shit. After all according to the umpire it was a foul ball, out of the field of play, and I don't think he did anything different then any of the rest of you beer throwing Cub fan_atic's would have done, had you been in his place. It certainly doesn't merit issuing death threats against him, let alone wasting perfectly good beer.
When you stop and think about it the answer as to why the Cub's got beat by the Marlin' is quite simple. It's the same thing I learned about a month ago when K-State got beat by Marshall University in football. And that answer is they got out played plain and simple. Maybe the better team won, maybe they didn't. But one thing is for sure the team that was playing better (Marlin's) at the time won.
Now I know losing is never any fun, unless maybe you're playing strip poker. So there's only one thing you sad sad Cub's fan's should do now, and that is go out tonight and drown your sorrows, cry if you must, then...... get over it and wait for next year.
I was making my rounds checking out the blogs I usually do each day and while at Bing's I noticed in her post that she is doing more reading these days. Reading of books that is, something I think is becoming somewhat of a lost art these days, at least for me. And I say good for her, for I know it's something I don't do as much as I used to or maybe even should. But with the availability of various forms of multi-media and the internet, it's so much easier to bypass books altogether. After all why read it if it's in video form. How many of us, myself included, are guilty of the saying, I'll just wait for the movie. Also if we search enough on the internet we can usually find a condensed version of the information we are looking for. Sure you still have to do some reading, but still it's not the same as picking up a book and reading it.
All the previous views are based on what I see looking at me. Not having done any research I can't say what it's like for everyone else. Therefore this is just food for thought. Myself, I am going to try to put aside a little more time to read. That's it for now. Later.
Unlike yesterday it was a nice sunny day. It had all the ear marks of a nice summer day, but wait it's October remember. I was looking out the window this morning and thought to myself, why is it, if it is almost the middle of October am I looking out over a lawn that needs to be mowed. Damn, will this grass ever quit growing. So yeah that's what I ended up doing this afternoon, hopefully for the last time this year. I really shouldn't bitch to much about mowing the grass, before I know it it will be time to shovel snow. No wait a minute before i have to shovel snow it's got to snow. And if previous years are any kind of measuring stick, that won't happen. For some reason it just doesn't snow much here anymore. And I'm not complaining. That's it for now. Later
It was a gray cloudy sky right from the get go today. I guess you could say it was a typical Autumn day here in the mid-west. And yet I found myself more then once today thinking to myself that it wasn't warming up very fast today. And then it was like duhhhh, no shit, as I reminded myself what season of the year we were actually in. It's just that the Summer seemed to fly by so fast I guess I feel it should still be summer. Sure wish it could be Summer year round. Later
Let me start off by saying the following post in no way means I am one of those anti-war chicken-shits, if a war is justified then I'm all for it. But also don't let that last line mislead you into thinking I support the actions in Iraq, I don't. Again don't get me wrong, I support the troops now that they are there, and I whole heartedly support the war on terror. But wait, this is starting to turn into a more serious post then I intended, I will save those and other thoughts for another time and get back to what my original thoughts were were going to be. Besides i'm sure I've probably gotten you completely confused by now. I know I am. So let's let the post start already.
Last saturday morning while waiting for the football game to come on I was flipping through the channels and came upon the end of a movie called The Postman. Since I only caught the last ten minutes of the movie i didn't really get the gist of it. But i did tune in just in time to hear Kevin Costner deliver what i think was a pretty classic line. From what I was able to gather about the movie Costner was leading one group that was about to do battle with another, but before the battle the two leaders met under a white flag. It was then that Costner said " Wouldn't it be great if wars could be fought just by the nuts who started them." I couldn't help thinking now there's an idea, instead of fighting long drawn out wars where thousands get killed, we just let the two leaders go at each other. Winner take all. One thing is for sure, if this were to actually happen, you could bet we'd probably start electing presidents who were younger and in good shape.
A seemingly good idea though i know not at all practical. Who knows maybe in some future time. But for now it still falls along the lines as was so aptly stated by Black Sabbath in the song War Pigs,....
"Politicians hide themselves away
they only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor
Still.....if that wouldn't put the Ultimate into the Ultimate Fighting Championships I don't know what would. That's it for now. Later
Woo Hoo, praise the lord and pass the whatever it is you pass, I forget how that phrase goes. What i'm wanting to say is hooray, my weekend wasn't a total loss, football wise anyhow. Yes even though my K-State Wildcats lost (again) at least the Kansas City Chief's were able to win, thus stretching their winning streak to six now. They won despite having not shown up for the first quarter, or so it seemed, and overcoming a 34-14 deficit in the forth quarter to take the game into overtime. Oh yeah and a little bit of luck, especially after recovering a Green Bay fumble after having a field-goal attempt blocked on their first possession of the overtime. Fortunately the Chief's took advantage of this second chance in overtime to score on a fifty-one yard touchdown pass to win the game.
Now if only my Wildcat's can find the winning ways again my football weekends can go back to being joyous and complete. That's it for now. Later.
So I watched the K-State game today and unfortunately the streak continues. This now makes three games in a row they have lost. For sure not the same K-State team I've come to know over the last few years. Hell it's been a long time since they have lost three games in one year let alone three in a row. And no crying in the beer this time, more like just shaking my head in disgust and disbelief. It appears as though they have jumped off a cliff and gone through the basement and are still falling. I really don't know what's happened to them all of a sudden. Well actually I guess I do. It's hard to win when the offense doesn't block and your quarterback has suddenly forgotten that you are supposed to throw the ball to the people on your own team. It's equally as bad when what once was one of the most aggressive and feared defenses in the country suddenly looks like a pack of dazed and confused wimps getting pushed around all over the field. There that about covers it. All I can say is they better pull they're heads out of their asses or the only bowl they are going to see this year is the one they pour their cereal into in the morning.
In case you couldn't tell this game left somewhat of a sour taste in my mouth today. However I'm through ranting, and yes I do feel a little better now. And even though this game today did irritate me, I'm not ready to give up on them. I've been a K-State fan for as long as I can remember and I will continue to be. It's just sad to see so much talent not being played up to it's potential.
It's going on one in the morning so like what the hell am I still doing up? And why am I asking you? That's it for now. Later
Sitting here in my room, looking out at a dreary, gloomy rainy day. What a wonderful way to start out the weekend. So it looks like I'll be staying in for the most part. Not to worry, this being an autumn saturday means ncaa football. So there will be plenty to watch on TV. In fact it's just minutes away from kickoff of the K-State Oklahoma State game. Here's hoping my K-state team can pull it's head out of it's ass and break the two game losing streak they are on. No predictions from me this time, I'm just gonna watch and hope.
Ever run into someone you haven't seen in a long time and the first thing they say to you, you're not really sure which way to take? Yesterday at the grocery store I ran into someone I hadn't seen in several years. It was the mother of the gal I was involved with about fourteen years ago. Anyhow the first words she says to aren't how ya doing or anything like that, instead, the first thing she says is "well, you're not fat but you sure have put on some weight." I thought ahh ok nice to see you too. If I wasn't such a nice guy and the fact she has always been a nice lady, I'd have told her yeah it's probably because I'm not living under the stresses I had when I was with your daughter. Can't hardly wait to run into the next person I haven't seen in years.
Time to stop for now, it's closing in on kickoff time. Later
Today was an on the go day loaded with things I wanted to get done. I actually had a list I had made, a short one, at least I thought it was when I started. But suddenly it seemed that as I accomplished one task two more magically appeared on the bottom of the list. As this went on a sense of urgency overwhelmed me, so much so I felt compelled to pick up the pace. It wasn't long before I felt as though I was whirling around the house with the pace of a mini tornado. Good thing i had those three extra cups of coffee, or maybe that was part of the problem.
One of the last things on the to do list was a trip to the store. A simple chore really, and as far as the actual shopping went it was. But as I left the store and headed for the car my incredible sense of bad timing I've had lately reached out and slapped me again. As I approached the car I noticed that something wasn't quite right, what I was seeing was definitely out of the ordinary. The street next to the store, which had been pretty calm when I went in was now overflowing with people. For as far as I could see in both directions people, young and old alike were standing, sitting on the curb, even breaking out lawn chairs to sit on. It was then I remembered that the local high school was about to have their homecoming parade. Oh yay lucky me, because naturally this is the road I need to take to get home. So I thought what the hell, I'm stuck, I might well watch the parade, and maybe take some pic's.
I did take a few pictures, ok more like twenty-four. But that's the way I do it, I always take a bunch figuring somewhere along the line I'll come up with a few I can use.
So anyway twenty minutes after the start of the parade I was on my way home. At which time i decided it was time to sit and relax a while. To hell with the rest of that list. Well at least for now.
Oh yeah, as you can see from these two pic's, you never know what will be entered as a parade float around here.
Yes those are llamas, and the next time I'm headed East down the interstate I'll try to stop and get a picture of the camels grazing in the pasture. You just never know what you'll see next.
To start today's post off let's talk about a little known, yet highly inconsequential fact about me. I sometimes tell people nowadays that I have three set of eyes. And no, none of them in the back of my head, although there are times when I wish I did. Actually what I mean is I have my eyes and two pairs of glasses. Why two pairs, simple one pair I wear all the time and one I wear to read or work on the computer. Really it sounds worse then it is, cause I'm not really as blind as this makes me sound. I mean it could be worse, at least the lenses are not a quarter inch thick. I have been wearing glasses for about three years now. At first I was like most people not wanting to admit my eyes were going bad. After all isn't that what they say starts to go first or is it your hearing, maybe it's your memory? Ahh hell I don't remember what they say. Wait a minute did I just answered my own question there. Let me get back on track before I stray any further. What I was going to say is that I finally decided it was time to see the eye doctor when I realized it was either that or figure out some way to extend my arms two more feet so I could read the newspaper or anything else.
Earlier today the phone rang, and ignoring all the silent warnings being given off by the caller ID (which said UNAVAILABLE) I answered it. On the other end was the sweetest sounding female, of course, and yes it turns out she was with some sort of cancer prevention society. She said they would like to be able to keep up the work they are doing and and would I be interested in helping, but she says I don't want a donation now. However, if she were to send me a pledge card could they rely on me to give forty dollars to their cause. Humm, if that don't sound like wanting a donation I don't know what is. Anyway I proceeded to tell her that I've been in a tight spot lately and no I wouldn't be able to do that. So then she says well how about just twenty dollars, again I said no I can't. I'll give her credit she didn't give up easy, because next she says well how about if you dug real deep into your pockets could you find fifteen dollars to give. Once again, and with all the politeness I could muster up even though my patience was wearing thin by then, I said no. Come on, I mean what part of i don't have any extra money so I can't give to your cause didn't she understand. Don't get me wrong I'm not against giving to charity, but i felt like saying listen lady if I could dig down deep enough to find an extra fifteen dollars it would probably go into my gas tank. Then made a mental note to myself to find out why this no call list thing isn't working. And how was your day?
Yesterday I started some of the cleanup work involved with this little home improvement project that was started here. I was out cutting up the boards that came off the old porch. Actually all I was doing was cutting them in two, to get them down to acceptable size and the garbage man would be so kind as to haul them off. So I got the power saw my brother left here, placed the boards onto the saw horses and cut them. Sounds simple right, and it would have been but I soon discovered that this power saw did not operate like a normal one should. After sawing about two thirds through the first board I discovered it liked to bog down and then suddenly kick back on you. Now, being one who is kind of partial to keeping all my limbs intact I decided maybe this wasn't such a good tool to use. So I did the next best thing, oh yeah, I got the old handy dandy handsaw out. However after sawing just one board that way, suddenly I wasn't so partial to my limbs. Ok so that's not quite true, but I did go back to using the power saw, only with a little different strategy. I figured out if I sawed through half of the board going one way and turned it around and sawed the other half from the other direction that the saw wouldn't kick back on me.
But I only got half of the job done because all the bending over was creating a pain in my lower back. Must be a sign of impending age oldedness. Well anyway I was going to finish it today, but as you can tell from the pic above, mother nature had other plans. So I've just been wallowing away the day inside. And now I'm off to finish my laundry, if I want any clean clothes to wear tomorrow that is. Or I could just become a nudist hummm......naw don't think this world's ready for that. That's it for now. Later
There's always tomorrow. What a wonderful catch phrase, applicable to many many situations. And oh so easy to use, sometimes way to easy to use. I've realized lately I have fallen pry to this very thing. You know there's always something we'd rather being doing then the one thing we so easily put off. But if we let enough tomorrow's turn into today's we usually find out we're to late. And thus the next phrase....why, oh why did I wait.
Indian summer's back it looks like, well at least for a few days anyhow. As I've said before it could last all winter and it wouldn't bother me any. It's not been a bad day considering it's Monday, and nothing really eventful has happened today. Unless you call the half hour I spent deleting the spam in my e-mail today eventful. Usually I don't let spam bother me, I mean how hard is it to hit the delete key, right. But when I opened my e-mail today and it said I had 56 messages, I thought holy shit I don't ever get that much e-mail, especially not at one time. So I opened my in-box and sure enough there they were 56 messages all from different senders, all with different subject lines. However I soon discovered that the spamers are resorting to tricky methods. Because 40 of those messages that had different senders and subject lines, were really the exact same e-mail advertisement. So after having my momentary bubble of notoriety busted I commenced a mass deletion.
All through the climb
People, places and things kept coming at him from different directions, with no logical explanations.
Yet after getting past that he would soon find
That the climb, itself, to the top of the world was the easy part,
it's the balancing act on the tip of the axis that is the hardest.
Today's been sort of a work some, goof off and then work some more kind of day. Got up early, ok not to early after all it is Sunday right. Anyway after a couple cups of coffee to pour some life into my body I was ready to head out and help with the porch. We worked on it till noon at which time we called a time out and went into the house to watch my Kansas City Chiefs win their fifth straight game of this young season. The 5-0 start for the Chiefs is their best start in the teams history. And now to keep them playing this way all the way to the super-bowl. After the game it was back out to work on the porch until the sun dropped from the sky. Which I must say is happening faster and faster everyday.
Maybe I've missed something but there seems to be something about early October and apples. It seems the past week or so a lot of towns around here have been having things like Apple days or Cider days. Now I can see how a thing like Cider days could catch on, especially if it's the good cider. You know the kind where after like three glasses you're saying I don't care what kind of day this is just keep this sweet nectar of the little round red gods coming our way.
Judging from the overflowing TREE in my neighbor's backyard it would appear that Johnny Appleseed made an appearance in this area at one time or another.
I'd like to go on but I've run out of things to say. Really I'm surprised I had this much to say. So anyhow everybody stay cool and don't let Monday sneak up and bite ya in the ass. Later
I was going to post earlier but I've spent the last few hours crying in my beer. Ok not really, well I might have if I was a drinker. After all isn't that what's supposed to happen when certain things don't turn out the way we want them to.
In case you haven't heard, although I would think that by now the news would have been shouted by every town crier on all the street corners. Well, it's true, my team (K-State) let a second game in a row slip through their fingers. In the past i would have stewed about it for days on end. But now I'm able to say, yeah, they blew it and lost and let it go at that. I mean after all it's only a game, where unfortunately one team ends up on the losing end. Losing is not good, and it's never really easy to take, but we must soon realize that losing a football game is not the end of the world. There's just no sense turning your life into turmoil for days because of it. You just have to come to terms with the fact that the world will not stop turning, the sun will rise in the morning and there's always next week. Time to move on. That's it for now. Later.
I was straightening some things up in my room this afternoon with the TV on in the background not really paying attention to it, when I heard it.
A young girl was thumbing through an old photo album, and when asked why she was doing that she answered she was hunting for the point. "What point" he asked. "The point where it all went wrong" she replied, " If I can find the point where it all went wrong, maybe I can fix it and start over again. Why can't I just start over again?"
Hearing that froze me in my tracks. Yeah, I thought to myself, if only it were that easy.
The end of another week is upon us, leaving me to ponder what to make of this upcoming weekend. As of yet I haven't decided what to do. I could jump on a train and take advantage of the tracks I have pictured above to get away. But as good as that plan may sound it won't work, seeing how passenger trains have long since been extinct in my little part of the world.
Oh wait, I almost forgot there's that weekend project or should I say what's turned into the project of many weekends, that of replacing the front porch on the house here. The reason it's a weekend only project is because I am not versed in the art of carpentry and therefore have to wait for those who do know what they're doing to help me. And since they have other jobs during the week the only time we can work on it is the weekend.
Tomorrow is a sorta day of reckoning for the people of this area. Ok, so maybe not for everyone here, but rather for those who are K-State football fans. Yes I know it's sad, but not everyone around here is a K-State fan. Anyway tomorrow is the day we find out just how much heart this team has. Can they rise up from the adversity of two weeks ago when they lost a game they shouldn't have and watched their hopes of a national championship go by the wayside. And even though it won't be an easy game, traveling to the University of Texas, I'm betting they will go into this game with their heads held high looking to seek some vengeance. Oh and it won't hurt that we finally have our starting quarterback back in the lineup. GO CATS!!!
Had a couple of other things I was going to write about but I've run out of time. I need to get my ass down to the hardware store and get something to strip away the rust on the porch handrails so we can get them painted and they will be ready to go back on the porch when we get to that point.
Again the saying what a difference a day makes comes into play. Yesterday it was cloudy, cold and rainy, in fact I sat around half expecting it to bust loose with some snow flakes. Today it turned out with some nice sunny blue skies and temp's that were well within a person's comfort range. I even went out with my cam in hopes of capturing some fall colors. But soon discovered that it's still a bit early for that. Though you can tell the leaves are in the process of changing they are not there yet.
Today I was also watching the debate in the US Senate on the 87 billion dollar appropriations bill for Iraq. During this debate some of the senators wanted to split the spending bill into two parts, the part with money to be spent for the troops and the money to be spent on the reconstruction of Iraq. They wanted to be able to pass the spending of the money for the troops right away, while taking the time to more closely scrutinize the money that the administration wants to spend for the reconstruction effort. This was a move that I thought made very good sense, but since it was an idea brought forth by a Democrat in the Republican controlled senate it didn't pass.
I did notice I have mixed emotions about the spending of this money for rebuilding Iraq. I mean how is it we can find the money needed to renovate the Iraqi utilities, hospitals and schools? While in our very own country we are faced with school budget cuts, hospitals closing, and an electrical generation and transmission system that is in dire need of being updated. So the question is I guess, at what point do we quit trying to fix the rest of the world and start taking a good long look out the back door at our own yard??? That's it for now. Later
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