The Moldy Penny

Next step

2010-12-10T19:36:00.000-08:00

Things are going pretty good. I hope to have the new Dojo open Monday to start taking sign-ups and have our first class on Wednesday. The web service I've been working on for half a year is almost ready to launch. Good or bad, I'm glad it will be online. School is out for the quarter and I'm undecided about taking another class next quarter. I'm afraid if I don't then I may not go back for a very long time, again. The non-profit is on break for December, cool. Regular work is fine, wet, but fine. I am looking forward to June surprise; it still doesn't feel real yet but as the months go on it solidifies. It's all good (=
Take it cheezy............

Give your money to this kid

2010-11-09T23:03:00.000-08:00

If you've got extra cash to donate to a good cause but are tired of the usual charities why don't you funnel some dineros to this kid:

http://greenbuildingelements.com/2009/02/26/12-year-old-makes-homeless-shelter-from-trash/

I hope my son has it going on like this dude when he's 12.

Friends From Afar

2010-05-25T22:27:00.000-07:00

For the last 3 & 1/2 years I have driven the same stretch of highway to work. When we first moved down here I didn't really know anyone except Kel's family. Sure I got along with most of the guys from work and I definitely did not have a problem socializing, but I hadn't really made any "friends" yet.

One of the things that really struck me about this area is the wildlife. You can see bald eagles by the bridge, deer and bear crossing the highway, flocks of pelicans as of a few years ago, and countless other critters everywhere you turn.

During my first few friendless weeks here driving that stretch of highway I spotted a big ass bird standing in the ditch by the side of the road. I watched him as I drove past and he just stood there, still as a statue until I went by. Then in my rearview mirror I saw him dart his head into the water in the ditch and pop back up. Now I don't know what he was fishing for but he got something pretty satisfying from the way he looked around afterwards as if to say "Did you see that shit? Yeah, that's right!"

Well I was pretty sure I knew what he was and I confirmed it when I saw another big ass bird like him and my wife ID'd it as a heron. Super cool and really a surprisingly graceful bird for being so awkwardly tall.

Over the next months I found myself looking for this heron every time I drove by that spot. Sometimes he would be there, sometimes not. Usually he was in the same water-filled ditch (it's wet here most of the year) but sometimes he would be up the road a ways. A couple times I had to slow down to watch him take off into flight. Incredible the wingspan and the power it took to get this lanky Avian off the ground. Usually he would just head across the road to light on the branches of an old snag but sometimes he would soar away into the woods in the distance.

Years went by and this heron became part of my routine. I showed him to my wife a few times and I even considered stopping for a photo opp. thinking he might be docile enough to pose for a pic. When work was rough or boring I always had a place deep down (sounding cliche, I apologize) where I looked forward to the possibility of seeing my bird friend from afar. A friend he had become indeed.

It was inevitable, this great heron and his daily roadside fishing, this great heron and his fearlessness, this great heron met his end this morning.

I came along after the fact, just a fan of wing softly fluttering in the breeze, feathers point skyward in a kind of farewell wave. I figured he probably tried one of his patented take-offs in front of a speeding vehicle unfamiliar with this overly confident great heron's M.O. I just hope he didn't suffer...

Ironically I did not realize how important this bird had become to me, how comfortable I had become with the familiar sight of his tall, blue, feathered head sticking up from the swamp reeds, how he had come to represent a piece of this place that for me was unattached to any of the daily rigmarole and bullshit, until he was gone.

I lost a friend today.

H.ip C.ats R.eading <-- Hidden Acronym

2010-03-23T10:40:00.000-07:00

(I borrowed this pic above and the awesome video below from http://www.idrawcats.com/ )

This video will give you shivers if you're an Arachnophobe like myself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I posted this spiel on a childhood friend's FB wall because I was feeling inspired at the time and was tired of the whining and liberal bashing. Read this if you have absolutely nothing to do and feel like boring yourself to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is a difficult issue to address but we have to start somewhere. You can't just hide from the problem and then snipe at the people trying to make a difference. It's easy to tear down and belittle the efforts of others but where are the rational and reasonable suggestions from the opponents?

It's great that I have insurance and most of us with decent jobs do too. What about those who do not. Do we ignore them? Do you think the young, single mother doesn't deserve access to healthcare because of her mistakes. It must be nice to walk through life with blinders on.
When did it become un-American to take care of our sick and homeless that can't (not don't want) but can't take care of themselves.

Where is the pride that our nation once held strongly enough to boldly proclaim - "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" at the foot of the Statue of Liberty?

I am ashamed and embarassed of so many of my fellow Americans that I should be able to respect.

I wish we could just move forward and make this work for the good of the people and the good of the country.

Non-funny

2010-03-13T22:53:00.000-08:00

So I usually try to put up something amusing here to entertain and keep you coming back every 17 or 18 weeks... but not now, not tonight. No I am simply giving a quick update until I get a chance to make a good and happy post on my vacation in a few weeks. W00T!! I'm very excited about that.

Life is great and busy and challenging.
Baby is growing and talking.
Work is stupid, too many things not going quite right.
Side business is good, too much work, too little time.
I have a lovely wife, I see her sometimes. I'm looking forward to our road trip, we always travel well together.
The non-profit foundation, light demands but heavy on my mind.
Family... have not made enough time for my side of the family. I miss them.
Overall, I feel good about everything regardless of how it sounds. After all I'm stupidly, maybe even manically optimistic.

Now I'm going to watch some crappy horror movie and eat the rest of my wife's Milk Duds. LOL.

Nitey-nite.

Oh yeah!!!

2010-01-13T13:32:00.000-08:00

I haven't made the time to post here in awhile. As all of you who read this blog know life has been pretty busy as of late. Why then you may ask, am I finally posting? The reason is short and sweet.

That the cataclysmic douchebag/worthless pile of canine feces that was my co-worker (whom you may remember from this tale http://shinybeerdragon.blogspot.com/2006/10/keens-or-danskos.html) is LEAVING!!! W00T!!! W00T!!! Let's get the party started!

Yes, I need not say much more other than he is transferring out to another area, very far away. I am ecstatic. I was thinking to myself that if I were to become supervisor here in a couple of years, most, if not all of the people on my crew that I like would be gone leaving only captain assface. But no longer, he is going bye bye. I have pressed my supervisor into getting the job posted already (even before fucktard has left) to be sure that it is filled and he can't get it back.

What a fantastic year this is turning out to be!

Business Launch Official

2009-09-07T00:23:00.000-07:00

I made my first two sales in the first two days in business! I will be designing 6 mobile-websites and QR code signs for some local real estate agents. W00T!

Oh and for the record I am coining the term "QRL". It's a combo of QR and URL and it refers to those QR codes that link to the web! I know, I'm an UberDorkus.

Enormous Fishes

2009-08-30T22:57:00.001-07:00

So I went fishing with Kelli's dad and his friend today up by Woodland bar and guess what? I caught my first Slammin Salmon! He is ugly, black, and huge. We estimate him to be around 35# and I can't wait to eat him. He is a Tule and depending on what the meat looks like he may get smoked or if he turns out to be pink inside I will make steaks out of him and grill him up, YUM!

I had my line in the water for a third time after losing my first lure on something 40 feet below and getting snagged a second time requiring Kelli's dad to get my line free. Anyhow, I was trying to let out a little line because the current was pretty swift and my line kept on going out. I thought that was weird and I stopped letting line out and tried to reel it in a bit. Well it wouldn't come in and I thought I was snagged again so I asked Dale for help. By then my line was starting to cross the other guys' lines and when Dale took the pole he said my line felt funny because I had a fish on! So with lots of coaching I got the fish up to the net and yippee! I got myself a gigantic Chinook. That was fun and I look forward to doing it again.

p.s. Go to Schimelpfenig dot com to see the actual size of the fish. The photo above is a little camera trickery courtesy KDHS. He's a huge fish but not 4 feet long, duh!

Summer flyin', bye.

2009-07-12T11:32:00.000-07:00

Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man

Finished product coming soon

2009-05-18T23:17:00.000-07:00

Kelbel helped me with my design so it looks all crispy now. The new laser printer I bought works great on the waterproof decals. I will reveal more about the mysterious and exciting world of QR codes the closer I get to the official launch of my biz and website.

Work is busy, I'm in training in Montesano all week... sort of. Today I left here at 0630 (that's 6:30AM for you non-military types) and got home at 1830 (6:30PM). Whew, long day... had my head crammed full of telecom industry standards and protocols and lots and lots of other telephony (yes that's a word, and no it probably doesn't mean what you think it does). I'm video-conferencing tomorrow and will drive back up Wednesday for lab, video-conf Thurs, and back up for testing Friday. This is all to get a certification that is only important to my company and really not anyone else in the Telecom industry. ROFL... not.

Getting closer...

2009-03-24T22:16:00.000-07:00

Teh intertubez iz fun, thx lil bro'

2009-02-24T22:43:00.001-08:00

see more pwn and owned pictures

Wayyy behind...

2009-02-17T11:57:00.001-08:00

Since Kel is doing such a great yob keeping the Flickr page updated I haven't felt the need to post anything new. Our lives are very baby-centric and I like it that way. We are starting to incorporate a little time to ourselves into the schedules since we seem to be getting the hang of baby rearing ("You hear that, Ben? Don't let him near the kid, he wants to rear your child!")

Other than that I will soon be adding a couple of pics of the nearly completed, giant pole building behind our house. I am having a good time imagining the possibilities for our new space.

-R

Spoiled.

2009-01-07T15:30:00.001-08:00

Disclaimer: This is actually Kel's post, Flickr sent it to the wrong blog. Just in case you thought it was odd I was so enthusiastic about hippo fabric from Ikea...

Aunt Ruth created all sorts of cool things for Ruary. First she made us an AMAZING quilt (I really need to post a picture of it), a big, awesome diaper bag (which holds everything, by the way!), and a newborn-sized boppy for tummy time. But she also created our crib bumper, where she used some sock monkey fabric along with the cute hippo fabric I got at Ikea. I want to sleep in the crib now, I wonder what the weight limit is?

Anyhoo, Ruru enjoys talking to / laughing at / kicking at the animals on his mobile after he gets his diaper changed. He is at his silliest when his rear end is clean and dry. Really, aren't we all?

Happy Baby

2008-12-20T19:34:00.000-08:00

Ruary checkin' things out

2008-12-16T16:49:00.001-08:00

I was pretty impressed when he decided to turn his head around (not Exorcist style mind you). I am surprised at how strong babies are for their size.

I started a Flickr page for the little guy here: Shimmy Family

The baby is dropping...

2008-11-22T18:14:00.001-08:00

But not like this:

Today is the due date given to us by the hospital. Who knows, maybe tonight? We walked around quite a bit today and Kel got a bunch of tummy rubs from nice people. I just want him out so I can justify my bad nights of sleep and not wake up all night long to every noise thinking it's time to go to the hospital...

The votes are in...

2008-11-04T22:49:00.000-08:00

First off, it's official, we will have a new president for the next four years! Great, the democratic process succeeds again.

2nd, I was thinking wouldn't it be weird and awesome if we had Border Collie puppies and a baby at the same time?

Lastly, it looks like baby will be arriving next week sometime with a little coaxing from the docs. I can't hardly wait!

Well... that's a deep subject.

2008-10-07T21:59:00.000-07:00

So I was driving around today thinking about our soon-to-be newest family member.

Here are some things I was wondering about you Ruary...

What are you going to look like? What will your cry sound like? What kind of music will put you to sleep? Will your dimples show up when you smile? How fast will you grow up? Will the dogs make you laugh when they do stupid stuff? What will be the first thing that you say? What kind of a boy are you going to be? Will I be happy or sad to see you grow up, or both? Are you going to be serious or goofy or both? Will you do well in school? Are you going to be an artist, musician, or maybe a scientist? Or will you work in production or fast food or be a mechanic? Will you respect others, especially your teachers because your mom is one? Are you going to realize the important things in life because I tell you what I think they are or will you have to learn them for yourself? Can you make it through your teenage years without hurting yourself or anyone else? Will I set a good example for you? Can I keep the bad things in life at a distance for you? Will you forgive me for my hypocrisy? Will you forgive me for my faults? Will you always know that I love you and only want the best for you? Will you understand why you are in trouble by us? Will you love life? Do you want to go to college? Where will you decide to live when you're grown up? What kind of man will you be? Will you find love and happiness? Will you succeed? What do you want to be when you grow up? Will you have children? What will you name them? Will they come visit their grandparents? Will you be a good dad? Did we raise you well? Did we do enough for you? Were we good parents...?

Oh hell yeah!

2008-09-30T23:05:00.001-07:00

The top bunk must be the way to go

2008-09-20T00:05:00.000-07:00

1 minute, 16 seconds

Post-Apocalypse

2008-09-04T22:46:00.000-07:00

Ima UBER!!

If I wasn't so lazy I would post a picture of my setup here but I'll just tell you about it.

I am running dual monitors, one 32" Toshiba 1080p as my primary and a 20" Dell as my secondary. Right now I am watching a movie on the Dell from our Dish network satellite box while playing a Youtube video on skateboarding in the Picture-in-Picture on my Dell. On my Toshiba I am editing some Python code and doing this Blog in Firefox as well as learning about the nifty web development features of Google's new "Chrome" browser.

I have the audio from my satellite going through an Altec Lansing 2.1 system and I have the audio from my Ventrilo session going through a Sony 5.1 DTS system.

So much stimulation! AWESOME!!!

Time For A New Post

2008-08-25T23:08:00.000-07:00

The Typo Eradication Advancement League (TEAL)

2008-08-23T01:39:00.000-07:00

I read this amusing article (see below) and felt compelled to link to their website. I found that you can still buy T-shirts but the rest of the site defaults to this error message:

Typo Eradication Advancement League

Statement on the signage of our National Parks and public lands to come
~~~
Note the lack of period completing the sentence, sarcasm high-5. Anyhow, these guys have been slapped with a fine for their well-intended vandalism so I assume if they sell some shirts that will help cover their dues.

I don't want to see all misspellings and grammar no-nos corrected because our language has evolved and there is cultural relevance to some of these mistakes. However, if the signage is in the public eye and used to inform and educate I feel it should be accurate. We don't want to live in a world of stupid do we?

Article as posted on MSNBC --- TEAL

Meth-O-Lantern

2008-08-15T23:10:00.000-07:00

The other day whilst I was driving through a part of town that seems to be kind of thick with meth users I had a rare stroke of genius.

I was thinking about the people that have been on meth long enough to start losing teeth due in part to poor hygiene, malnutrition, and direct contact with corrosive toxins.

With Halloween - my favorite holiday - coming up, I drew a connection between our beloved carved pumpkins and our despised pumpkin-headed tweakers. Hence "Meth-O-Lantern" was born.

I figured I better get it posted on the web because I've used the term a few times with a few different people and it seems to be a hit. You heard it here first ladies and germs.

Have a great day!

Getting ready for the babysaurus

2008-07-27T15:43:00.000-07:00

It's a boy! Ruary Dale is going to be the newest member of our family coming early November. Kel has been doing an awesome job getting the babyroom ready. I have been very busy mentally preparing myself for the next 18 or so years.

Seriously though my big task this summer is making sure the shop gets built so we can get our extra stuff out of the house and get our things out of storage. The shop is coming along nicely and I expect them to be done with it a few weeks into August.

Where the F#$K is summer?!

2008-06-07T23:32:00.000-07:00

It's been raining a lot, aaaaaaaaa lot. I donned my rain gear the other day and went golfing in a veritable monsoon. I shot bad and my hands were cold. I don't know if I'll ever get used to that but I still love the sport.

We've had some tough times around here lately but things are looking up. Kel is feeling better and we've got the spot cleared for the shop to go up. This is going to be a good summer.

Peace out --->

Golfing weather?!

2008-04-15T23:44:00.000-07:00

Yes indeed, it's that time of the year when all my winter hobbies start to get in the way of my favorite summer hobby, golf. I wish I didn't suck so bad. Every time I hit a great shot I think to myself, "Maybe I could make a living doing this." Then inevitably I hit my next shot and predictably my dreams melt into a smoldering pile of shit.

So here's a bit of the list:

Baby upcoming
Bowling ending
Men's golf club started
Men's golf team upcoming
Planning cruise
OBEF auction retreat upcoming
Building the shop
Lots of firewood to cut
and so much more...

I friggin hate clowns-

Playing hookey! No not hockey.

2008-03-06T09:11:00.000-08:00

I'm really looking forward to Age of Conan (a game) that is coming out on May 20th. Check these screenshots from their site:

I'm taking a day off work because I can. I figured since I never call in sick (going on a year and a half) the least I can do is schedule some time off here and there. I am doing some chores around the house and this afternoon I will be working at the non-profit group I am a part of. We are getting ready for this year's auction that raises money for the school district. I'll write more about the group later.

Have a great weekend!

2008

2008-01-01T19:59:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year from us to all our friends and family.

It lives!!

2007-12-29T16:58:00.001-08:00

Ewwwww. 9 days after the doctors did their deed I am limping around with less pain in my knee than I had before the surgery. Good times.

Christmas rocked. I had a blast in Lincoln City with the wife and fam shopping at the outlets and gambilino at the casino. It was over too quickly but I am glad to be sleeping in mine own bedn again.

Happy new year all!!!

Here we go knee surgerino!!

2007-12-18T22:30:00.000-08:00

Thursday at 1:45pm is check-in time for my arthroscopic knee surgery. I have a tear in my medial meniscus and a ganglion syst in my knee! I'm excited because I've never had surgery before. They are going to put me in twilight sleep and go in and shave off the torn cartilage. It should be over pretty quickly and I should get some pain management tools. After a couple of days I will really have to start working the knee out. I'm hoping that I will be a super-human/robot/bionic/cyborgenic/beast-monster/hero when it's all over. I want to free-run (gets cool at about 2 minutes in) and jump and fly and use my knees to lift extremely heavy objects with. I will talk to you all when I can write again, wish me luck!

Apocalyptico

2007-12-05T23:15:00.000-08:00

HOLY SHIT!!!

I am duly impressed. I knew this part of the state was prone to moody and severe weather from time to time. I have seen torrential downpour followed by golden delicious sunshine. I sweated out some nearly 100 degree days and we have had several inches of snowfall on our front lawn since we've lived here. But WOW, this last wind storm was fantastic.

I was out on-call Sunday morning when the wind started picking up. With a wary eye to the towering trees I ventured out of my work van to a customer's front porch. I spent about 10 minutes inside troubleshooting and isolated the trouble. When I headed back outside the wind was blowing so hard I had to hold my hat on my head and it was a challenge to open the door on my van. That was the little storm...

Sunday night the shnickety hit the fizzan. We had some power outages during the day and we had generators running the remote sites to keep people's phones working. I was supposed to go out and fuel up generators Sunday night but I was really reluctant to do it. My boss and I were going to go together but I think he smelled the fear on me and let me off the hook (forgive the telco humor). He went out and met one of our other guys. I was happy to head home and hang with wifey.

We have been doing storm cleanup for 3 days now. I fixed 911 on Tuesday when it was brought to my attention that it was not working properly. Due to a fiber cut in Qwest's network we lost our long distance capabilites and internet access. We have internet back as of this afternoon but I think Qwest has an SS7 (a channel dedicated to carrying long distance call routing information) problem and our long distance is still not working. I spent a couple of hours today trying to figure out if we could reroute our long distance traffic over our microwave shot to Raymond... it pretty much can't be done. Hopefully tomorrow.

I wasn't even able to return the calls from my doctor's office but they were able to contact me today. It looks like my knee surgery will be within the next couple of weeks. I'll keep you posted.

Thaksn fro reidang my crapppola!!

-R

Turkey Week

2007-11-20T22:05:00.001-08:00

My last post was boring so I am hurrying to bury it with something new. Let's see, I had my doctor appt. at 8:30am on Monday. The physician's asst. was cool. He had me walk and squat and bend my knee. He moved my kneecap around and it made popping noises. He actually checked both my knees. Then doctor dickhead comes waltzing in. I don't know if my problem is just so minor that he felt like I shouldn't be bothering him with it or what but he was really aloof and only spent about 3 minutes in the room with me asking a few questions. I guess when you're a specialist you can be an asshole.

Anyways he ordered an MRI for me then he took off. I got to the nurses station and was looking around for him thinking he would give me some instructions about how I should treat my knee. I actually had to send a nurse to ask him for me and she came back to tell me all the doc said was "avoid squatting". So no more crapping in the woods for me for awhile.

Happily they were able to get me in for my MRI Monday night at 8:45pm so I didn't have to drive back into the city. The MRI took about 25 minutes and the only thing I saw all day regarding what was possibly wrong with my knee was the paperwork the doctor's office sent over that send 'Torn Lateral Meniscus'. So I guess we'll find out if that's the case. I prolly won't hear from the doc-tator until after Turkey day.

I did manage to spend a lot of money whilst in the city though. Gotta love REI... and Tonkin Toyota. This is a stock photo and I'll post some of my own soon but here's what my new truck looks like:

Oh yeah, everyone have an excellent holiday!!

The wind and the rain and the ice and the snow...

2007-11-16T22:03:00.000-08:00

Novemberino is here. I will be heading to Portland this weekend. I have a doctor's appt. Monday to get my f'd up knee checked out. I'm going to an excellent Ortho and sport's rehab specialist. We shall see what comes of it. I sat out of bowling league last week because I didn't want to aggravate my injury. It sucked though because I ended up losing all 3 games. So last night I went ahead and bowled. A few beers helped numb the pain and I ended up winning 2 out of 3, 189-134-184. Guess which games I won, lol.

Talk to you after the knee doc! This entire video makes my knees ache... even when the sales guy is talking about his product.

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The Festival of Samhain

2007-10-29T23:32:00.001-07:00

Ahh the dark night approaches. I think one of my favorite things about Halloween is what is means to different people. Some people consider it a super pagan holiday and totally refuse to even recognize it. I like how all the churches have a "Harvest Festival" party, as if calling a horse a marshmallow makes it not a horse anymore. Then there are other people who go decoration crazy and have pumpkins, skeletons, spiders and witchy stuff hanging everywhere. Some people, especially little punks, use it as an excuse to do mischief.
I like to use the time to get in touch with the mystical and horrible types of inexplicable evil, occult and supernatural in the world. This year I will be attempting to conjure a demon (or poltergeist depending on your school of learning) and Wifey and I will be watching for ghosts and monsters by the light of the moon in the front yard.

May All Hallow's Eve see you well...

The results are...

2007-10-26T23:15:00.000-07:00

I finally got an eye exam and my prescription hasn't changed since last year which is good. So I'm going to get fitted for contact lenses Monday and I'm really excited. I don't have anything against glasses but it gets irritating having to switch back and forth between glasses and sunglasses. The weather changes every 20 seconds down here so it happens a lot.

Next, el dentisto. I tried a local dentist and I liked him. I have had a tooth bothering me and it turns out it's broken and I get to have a root canal. Yippee! I have had these before and I was going to go back to my old dentist but I figured what better way to try out a new dentist than to get a root canal!

Last is the thing that hasn't happened yet, I need to get my frigging knee checked out. I really f'd it up, I think I over-golfed or something. I almost bought a cane the other day... it was a really cool, clear plastic cane with a formed grip. I felt like I was one pair of goldfish filled, high-heeled clogs shy of pimpitude when I was trying it out at the pharmacy. But I digress, the knee problem is either a torn meniscus or a bad MCL strain. If there were any doctors around here I wasn't afraid of I would have seen someone much sooner. Off to Longview I go. Wish me luck.

Time for a tune-up

2007-10-17T22:17:00.000-07:00

So we have been living down here for more than a year now and I haven't been to the doctor, dentist, or eye doctor. I tried to make an eyeball appointment last week but work got in the way. I figured the only way to get this stuff done was to take a day off of work and do it all. Next Tuesday at 8am I have a dental checkup and cleaning. Then at 9:45 I have my eye exam. I'm going to learn about contact lenses. Finally I was just about to schedule an appt. to get my knee checked out and maybe get a physical but I decided to go get a massage instead.

Then murphy's law struck. I found out I have an important job to do next Tuesday morning. The last time I did a job like this it took all day long. FFFFfffffFf!!

I guess I will have to reschedule everything...:::sigh:::

Tough day

2007-10-11T21:43:00.000-07:00

It has been a rough couple of days as some of you know. My wife's 83 year-old grandma is not doing well, mentally. She is physically healthy other than being dehydrated and malnourished from refusing to eat or drink anything. I called an ambulance out to her house last night because we felt she needed to be checked out. They ended up taking her to the hospital after much indecision by the family members that were taking care of her. Grandma wouldn't allow the hospital to give her any fluids or do anything to get her better.

I have to take a step back here and remember that I am only the spouse of a grandchild of this woman and the decisions regarding what to do with her do not lay with me. I am just going to do my best to support my wife and her folks.

-out

What is new?

2007-10-03T17:43:00.000-07:00

So the auction is over and it was a raging success. We raised over $76,000 for the foundation! Everybody looked great, check out Secret Squirrel and yours truly on Wife-O-Dactyl's blog, lookin' pretty damn good if I do say so myself.

I am finally getting the hang of being the bowling league secretary/treasurer. The software is great to use once I figured it out.

I am starting to get back into cigars again. Something that I use to enjoy quite a bit and now they are even better with a couple fingers of single malt Scotch.

It looks like it is going to be harder to get out golfing now that the fall is here. Nice days are fewer and further apart. But that's what bowling is for! See you in a few years.

Posting isn't so hard...

2007-09-08T00:25:00.000-07:00

OK, it's been awhile and I know it.

I follow several other blogs like my geek-bro BC his dame Catgirl (my pseudonym for her), the one and only Celerina, and of course WifeOdactyl. These other blogs get updated at random times so I use them as a gauge to see if I'm falling behind in my duties as a blogger. It appears there is no standard interval for blog-posting.

Thank the gods.

Recent info on me is: OBEF auction is coming up on September 22nd. Lots of fun and lots of work. Bowling league started again and I am Secretary/Treasurer. I need to open a league checking account because I just paid the bowling alley the other night with my personal credit card. It came to $315 or so to pay for 37 bowler's games. Work is extremely busy right now because we are short one guy. If anyone knows anyone who knows telecom stuff send them my way and I will detail the job to them. Also trying to finish painting the trim on the house.

My B-day is coming up and damn-almighty if I don't continue to get older. One of the things I want for my B-day is a Rubik's Cube. I want to impress people with my mad Rubik's skills.

Ok that's it; falling asleep at the wheel. I leave you with this and I will see you soon.

Random Task

2007-08-15T00:32:00.000-07:00

Summer is rocketing by and soon I will have my first whole year in at my job. I love my wife and my dogs and I think life is pretty damn good. Talk to you all sooner than later.

You can't tell me this is not cool...

Altar of Sacrifice

2007-07-18T00:40:00.000-07:00

I figured I better throw something up so you know I'm still alive.

I am finally writing a story. I have held the dream of being a writer for a very long time. Hopefully the short story I'm working on will be cool. Kelli will be the first to see it. Then I suppose I will post it here to help pass the time for the few that read this blog. Yes, there is a Sacrificial Altar involved but you will just have to wait to find out what that is about.

Ok, buh-bye.

Blazing Cattles

2007-07-10T21:12:00.000-07:00

H - O - triple frickin' T. However, it was very unlike the giant, steaming, piece of hell that I am sure my old town was today. Gotta love that ocean.

Sculpture by András Hajdu, Balázs Magashegyi, and Krisztián Imre.

NEWS FLASH - THIS JUST IN: The love of money really is the root of all evil

2007-06-30T19:48:00.001-07:00

So I just watched "Who Killed The Electric Car?" and it was fascinating. Watch it, it will amaze and anger. I am all over this electric vehicle thing now. About $8,000 for the conversion kit to turn any gas car into an EV.
I was just scoping out the Tesla Motors EV Roadster, there's a link at the bottom of my blog too. Too bad it's out of my price range - $98,000 for the basic model. Comes in cool colors tho, lol.
EV's are incredible. I was just thinking about how I have been on the waiting list for a Hybrid Toyota Tacoma for about 5 years now. They keep promising they will be in production next year...

Dramatic Chipmunk Hilarity

2007-06-22T08:13:00.000-07:00

This makes me laugh every time I watch it.

Relay For Life this Weekend!!

2007-06-21T22:39:00.000-07:00

I just had to prove I am nerdier than someone else...

Dill (pickle) and Scout

2007-04-30T23:45:00.000-07:00

Password Schmassword

2007-04-27T00:08:00.000-07:00

Every website, blog, login, email, account, etc., requires a password. Passwords that aren't supposed to be easy to guess but are supposed to be easy to remember. Passwords that aren't supposed to be written down but operating systems offer to remember them for you. Apparently it's safer to have Windows store your super-secret, mega-private password than have it written on a sticky-note stuck to your monitor where no one except for friends, family and burglars will ever see it.

You may have guessed that the reason I haven't blogged in while is because I lost my blog login info... again. Anyways, as soon as I find one I will post a pic of my new doggy, Dill. In the meantime enjoy the picture above from: www.spectraleyes.com

Almost April?!@$#%

2007-03-26T22:14:00.000-07:00

We are getting another doggy or two. We are looking at adopting a youngin' and maybe a puppy this summer. It's hard not to take all of them. Just look at those ears!

Borrowing Joe once again

2007-03-13T23:27:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Marmaduke is eating a bowl of fireworks for breakfast while his owner-boy blurts out non-sequiturs.

Penis Headgear

2007-02-20T21:48:00.000-08:00

I hate how the Golden Girls comes on right after Frasier. I really hate the way the intro theme music makes me feel.

Seattle was awesome. Next time I am going to go up in the Needle (yes, Seattle is a junky) so I can check out the whole cityscape. Food was good, the company was great. I am going to miss those rugrats.

I'm fighting off a cold right now so sleep is calling my name. See you soon.

Hi everybody!

2007-02-08T21:27:00.000-08:00

Everybody, meaning me and my wife and maybe my dog.

I bowled a 199. I won some money in a bowling tournament.

Work is good.

Going golfing with some new friends this weekend.

My mom and brother are coming to visit soon.

Going to Seattle in a couple of weeks for the pursuit of the appreciation of art.

I like goldfish crackers and beer.

-R

Lazy

2007-01-01T21:20:00.000-08:00

I'm too lazy to post anything myself right now so I'm just going to link to Kelli's blog. It covers what's been going on as of late.

I'll get around to putting up something new here as soon as I'm inspired.

At the Roseland 2/13/2007!!

2006-12-07T22:20:00.000-08:00

Monsters of Gothic Death Metal

Laughing and Crying

2006-12-06T00:26:00.000-08:00

I have to link to this site because it makes me laugh so goddang hard.

http://marmadukeexplained.blogspot.com/

Marmaduke is harassing a street person.

Tuff weak

2006-11-17T20:55:00.000-08:00

So I had my first real taste of "work" at my new job this week. We are short-handed and there was tons and tons of storm damage. I had people stopping me on the street to tell me their phone wasn't working. I told them all the same thing... call the phone company and open a trouble ticket.
If I stopped what I was doing to work on their trouble I'd never get anything accomplished.

Anyhizzow, I got invited to two private poker games this weekend. I'm prolly only makeit 2 one because I gots 2 wurk this weekend... My boss sprung it on me kind of Office Space style. MmmKay, I'm going to need you to come in on Saturday and why don't you go ahead and come in on Sunday too. Honestly he's a good guy and he felt really embarassed to ask. It's just that we have people coming from other areas to help us catch up and it would look really bad if we were all gone and they were working.

Life is A-OK, we own a house with other people living in it. More on that later. Holidays are coming. Famfam time is good.

Take care all, gots 2 go.

Water water everywhere but not a drop to drink...

2006-11-09T23:02:00.000-08:00

Has it really been this long?!!

The rainy season is here. I had to buy some rainpants because my rainbib is in storage somewhere. Yes, I wear a bib. Sometimes it nice to just be able to drool on yourself without the worry of staining you clothing.

Wife, work, bowl, eat, sss, computers, houses, poker, music (the new COF), family here and there, LOST, Heroes, and obnoxious doggie.

See you soon ||

Like Sting says, "We're starting up a brand new day

2006-10-08T16:20:00.000-07:00

So my new hobbie is bowling. I started about 3 weeks ago after I joined a men's league at the local alley. After the first night I had wrought for myself a sweet 104 average. Now after a bit of practice I'm getting around 140. Hopefully it's all uphill from here... or downhill, which actually sounds easier.

The work thing has kind of ironed itself out. I checked with everyone else on the crew and I'm doing fine and they all think the bad guy is an ass too.

The rain is here and the green things are singing.

Keens or Danskos?

2006-10-03T22:20:00.000-07:00

Badump Bump. That's the sound of the other shoe dropping. Things were going so well then this gigantic douchebag I work with decided that he didn't like the way I smile (sarcastic elaboration).

Really what happened after I just put in an awesome month of work is that this lazy-ass donkey fucker I work with starts belittling me in front of my crew on Friday morning (Sep 29th for the record). He was giving me a derogatory nickname compairing me with some other employee from the past who evidently didn't do much work. I told him we needed to go talk about what he was saying but he was relentless.
I stewed about it over the weekend and decided to tell him on Monday that I would report him to HR for harassment if he ever did that again.
Monday morning came and I had a chance to talk to him alone. I told him that I took offense to the remarks he made on Friday and gave him the HR warning.
Things went very bad from there... at one point I even got caught up in the argument and said there was nothing to his job. He dared me to do his job for a week. I basically let him know he was full of shit and that he better leave me alone.
The last thing he said to me was "Kiss my ass." I replied "Fuck off."
So I'm leaving out a lot of fun back-and-forth banter but that's the gist. Needless to say I'm avoiding this guy as much as possible. I checked with the rest of the crew and no one else holds the same opinion as him so I am vindicated.

Then, after some good times hanging out with my wife and smacking some golf balls around (separate activities), I feel a thousand times better.

And life goes on...

Land Ho!

2006-09-19T21:55:00.000-07:00

Avast ye scurvy dogs! Garrr!!

How many more awesome days until the other shoe drops? Shtuff has been going very well with the exception of this damn cold I caught. I guess 6 years in an office building has turned me into a weakling.

Significo otro KS and I had great B-days. Now is the countdown to closing on our new place!!

Keep it real G's

Mr. Fancy Pants

2006-09-08T22:41:00.000-07:00

Yep, I pretty much got the best yob in the world. Week two went well. I didn't have to crawl where the spiders dwell today because I got a really long extension stick with a hook on the end that allows me to reach under houses and buildings and pull the wire to me!! I did a little dance when I found that dandy tool.

I joined a bowling team. It was lots of fun but my hand is crippled because I'm a lefty and all the bowling balls at the alley are drilled for right-handers. I ordered my own ball and will get it drilled the right way. My average is 104... yeah, I know I'm a bad ass.

It starting to drizzle, I guess the rainy season is on its way.

as;dlkgj4wareiohngbcczlkr4i.@Q$@^%d=0000dotSPAMtark.

Week Won!!

2006-09-02T02:12:00.000-07:00

So I made it through my first week of work. It was great. I love my new job. I get to drive around and stare at the ocean... and do some wiring and telephone stuff too. I had to go to Gig Harbor today for new employee orientation. My new company has great benefits.

We are moving ahead with the house buy. I'm really stoked on that. The sellers agreed to pay half the closing costs. So hopefully we will be moving into our new house by the end of September-middle October.

I think I'm losing weight from the less snacking and more physically moving around. I'm going to start bowling when golf season comes to an end. It rains here occasionally I've been told, so I need a winter sport.

I got new glasses, I like them. This is fun.

Laborial Days

2006-08-27T12:09:00.000-07:00

Work starts tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it. I've enjoyed my time off but I'm ready to get back. At least it will keep me from impulse-buying so much stuff off the web and blowing cash at the local cardroom.
The weather has been phenomenal (<-sp?) and I've been golfing as much as humanly possible. Well, allow me to qualify that statement; my wife hasn't divorced me so I haven't been golfing THAT much.

Have a good Labor Day!

I love lamp

2006-08-22T21:05:00.000-07:00

I love it here.

I am so very happy.

Life is grand.

Eight more days 'till Halloween

2006-08-13T19:41:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been quite some time hasn't it? So let's see, since I last soliloquied I have peed in a cup and handed it to a nice doctor-man, cut off all my powerful locks of strength and virtue (yes it's true), and moved about 80% of my home 100 miles west to a giant storage unit. I also won a bunch of money playing poker and I made another par 3 birdie. I will be back soon once we get the broadband going at our new temporary residence. Peace out <-- Kip style

The People's Court

2006-07-31T22:43:00.000-07:00

Well, it appears we are about to attain one of our goals. We are soon to be laid-off and the royal visier has projected that we will receive some lovely parting gifts.
Now it's packing time. As life is full of humorous coincidences and ironies our county has deemed our street in need of maintenance. So we get to move the moving trailer... again. Then put it back after the road work is complete.
So we have reduced our existence to the simplest forms. Golf, poker, packing, food, bathing and sleep (not excluding other more obvious bodily functions).

The views expressed during this program and the excessive useage of the "Royal We" are not necessarily held or backed by the station managers, owners or subsidiaries thereof.

Sunny day, everything's A-OK!!

2006-07-27T21:10:00.000-07:00

The buyer accepted our counter to the inspection and we are moving ahead!!
and...
It looks like I got the job I was hoping for as well. It should start in about 4 weeks.
and...
It's time for a little vacation; time to go camping with my wife and dog, time to pack, and of course time to golf.

Turning to sunshine

2006-07-13T09:35:00.000-07:00

Well, so far so good with the house... houses. We are waiting for our appraisal of the new place to get scheduled by my lender. And we are waiting (yes you can start a sentence with "and") for the inspection to get scheduled on our Vantucky home. Fingers crossed for no trouble!!
I got a yob interview at the beach next week. I'm stoked. If I get that job I can keep my truck! I love my truck.

A day unlike others

2006-07-12T07:21:00.000-07:00

YEEEEEFUUUUCCCCKKKKIIIINNNNNNHHAAAAAA!!!!!!

We sold our house! I can't wait to get this show on the road. Hopefully everything goes smoothly and all will be right with our little piece of the world.

The Morning After

2006-07-05T15:19:00.000-07:00

Well, we survived the massive and gratuitous displays of "independence" that bombarded our senses and our home. I'm sick of this place.

Gobblessamericka!!

Happy 3rd of July

2006-07-03T11:47:00.000-07:00

It's Impotapenitence Day!!

Tomorrow is the world famous 4th of July party here in Vantucky. I plan on hiding my head 'neath the covers until the noises go away. I think it will be a good nite to rent some DVD's and have a movie-thon with my wife and furry child. Hell, maybe we'll take off tonight and head to the beach.
Damn dirty apes!!

Pentacles

2006-06-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

The weather has cooled off considerably. I fully expect to sell my house within the next two weeks. I also expect to make a birdie while golfing tonight. One of those two expectations is realistic and let me tell you it is not the one that has to do with whacking a ball with a crooked stick.
I think I'm going to take KelBel and Skeeter camping next month. I need some away-from-civilization time to gather my thoughts.
I want to go see Superman soon. It looks cool. Also it really looks like an exact remake of the first Superman... hmm, not sure how I feel about that yet. I'll let you know.

Schweaty Balls

2006-06-26T18:01:00.000-07:00

Did Relay For Life this last weekend. It was a blast! We stayed up all night and I figure I walked about 15-20 miles on the track. We raised $57,000 as a small community. Nice.
It's really hot. I'm going to drink an ice cold beer when I get home.

Ahoy! Chocolate Chippies.

2006-06-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

Long time no blog. Hanks for the mammaries. So long fish. Anyhow, summer is here and that means golf and allergies that I don't have and lawn mowing and restlessly staring out the window at work. Right about now I really wish I had a bunch more vacation to burn. I want to go play with my family and do fun stuff besides being trapped inside a god-forsaken hell hole. I think we might Barbie-Queue sumThing for Rin din dinner 2nite. Mmm, CharBQ goodnesss.

DaVinci Code

2006-06-05T22:47:00.000-07:00

Saw DaVinci Code on Sunday. Hmm, well it wasn't as good as the book. Tom Hanks was a bit dry and didn't seem as mentally active as the Langdon in the book. The sets were neat, looked like I imagined from the book. Sylis (<-sp) the albino was very intense and well played. The actor should win an award for that roll. Overall I will watch it again only when it comes on the movie channels on cable.

Aggerlies

2006-05-31T20:01:00.000-07:00

I don't have allergies but I do have red, watery, itchy eyes and an overwhelming feeling of drowsiness not unlike that which I'm sure is shared by narcoleptics. I'm sure I'm dehydrated and that's what is causing these issues.
So I bought Diablo II, MMORPG. I have been playing D&D Online but getting kind of burned out on it. Looking for something else to do with my late evening freetime.
I think I'll go eat some milk duds.

X3

2006-05-30T00:12:00.000-07:00

Saw X-Men III: The Last Stand, today. It rocked! Stayed pretty true to the books if that's your thing. I like the action and cool superpowers. If I were a mutant my mad skillz would be talking a mile a minute and the very frightening ability to forget anything almost instantly.
Kind of crappy weather at the coast all weekend. It decided to get sunny when Kelli and I were in the movie theater.
I applied for a job that I will talk about after I get it. I hope I get called this week.
Short work week coming up. That's good, I'm getting really tired of my job.
You stay classy, San Diego.

The weekend is in sight

2006-05-25T16:36:00.000-07:00

So I was off work for the last two days. Tuesday was on purpose - dentist and doing stuff around the house. Wednesday was the aftermath of staying up too late Tuesday night... hmm. That was stupid. My coworker is practicing his drumming on his desk today. He has rhythm, something I lack severely. One of my other coworkers gave me the OK to kill him with my 6 iron (I keep one at work to practice my golf swing). He said I should hit him in the temple but I better make it a good one. If it doesn't do the trick on the first whack he's coming after me. Looking forward to this weekend. Poker game Saturday night, heading to the coast Sunday to see family and hopefully go golfing. I'm practicing my blogging. I suppose I'll have to share the link with people if I want to find out how I'm doing.

Enlightened weights

2006-05-24T02:20:00.000-07:00

So me and Jesus were doing back and biceps at the gym the other day and in walks Buddha. He sits down in the middle of the workout equipment and starts to whistle. I was like what are you doing? He said he was waiting for Vishnu because they were supposed to 'max out' on bench press today. I was like dude, don't you know yesterday was Cinco de Mayo? He was like yeah, so? I said well Vishnu is in jail with Tom Cruise. Buddha jumped up and shouted "WTF!" I said yeah, they got drunk on Mezcal and flew to Salt Lake City. They decided it would be funny to spray a giant picture of George W. Bush on the Mormon tabernacle. Buddha was like, huh? George Bush, so? I said the picture portrayed the commander in chief performing oral sex on a Scud missile. The caption below this appalling illustration read "I swallow... the truth." Needless to say the authorities and Chuck Norris did not find this amusing. Jack Bauer from CTU was able to get the charges dropped to criminal mischief fortunately and they would be getting out on bail in a day or two. Anyhow, Looking at Buddha and nodding towards Jesus, I said I thought we should head out to the local brewpub and grab a nice cold beer! I didn't feel much like working out. The gods incarnate slapped high-fives and we made our way to the door. That was one hell of a Saturday.