A Proud Guy

Happy Birthday to my lovely wife

2011-09-14T06:21:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday

Today is my beautiful wife's birthday. She is special and I realize that I am truely a very lucky man to have been married to her for so long. I hope she has a great day.

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Dear Debi,

Happy Birthday to you!!!!!

Happy Anniversary

2011-06-13T07:44:00.000-07:00

Today is our 41st anniversary. Its true I did rob the craddle. She is still as beautiful as she was when we were married this day in June. The poor flowers in the back ground are really pretty but they only pale in comparison. We were meant to be together and in spite of everything, she still loves me. Is it ever so true that men marry up and women are so soft hearted that they generally fall for the smuck that she can help to be better. Thanks Honey for all the love and understanding. May God bless and keep you.

Train Ride

2011-02-07T04:49:00.000-08:00

On Thursday I had a doctor's visit at UT southwestern in Dallas. Well that shouldn't be a problem but because of the winter wonderland that was visiting the Super Bowl and the roads were covered by ice and the fact that lots of "Bubbas" were out driving their 4-wheelers, I decided to take the new Dart Green Line train to my appointment.
I enjoyed the ride and the train went about twice as fast as I would have in my car. I saw lots of people slipping and sliding on the road.
So, having never riden the train to anywhere but between two stations in Carrollton, when I arrived at my stop, which was elevated, I tried to hurry down to get out of the cold wind. I then tried to get my bearings but I was pretty surrounded by construction. I then started walking toward a street and saw signs that said pathway to hospital. So I went that way and after about 8 blocks, I found myself totally lost and not knowing where I was. Thats when I spotted a sign for the UT Shuttle. I stepped inside a building and waited. After about 40 minutes a bus appearred but was not marked as to where it was going. I approached it and asked and yes it was the shuttle I should take.
I still had about 20 minutes before my appointment, so I thought "Lets ride". Well I then found out that my stop would be the last on the route. (because it was the stop just before where I got on the shuttle). Oh well, at least its warm.
Well I was just a couple minutes late for my appointment but did not have to wait to long to be seen. And it gave me time to look out the 8th floor window at the are below. Now I realized that I was really only 4 blocks away from the train station that I had gotten off at. Oh well at least I got my exercise for the day. :D

Great Bunch of Kids

2010-12-30T08:17:00.000-08:00

In August I started teaching a Primary class (Sunday School) on Sunday. These guys are my reagulars. They are a great bunch. It took some doing to get them to pose together as the age of yucky. They are happiest to sit on oposite sides of the room rather than to sit anywhere next to each other. But I am positive that will change in the coming years.

The eye in the sky

2010-12-09T17:23:00.000-08:00

Last night I got to monitor one of the new DART rail stations for the Carrollton Police Department from a self contained tower called Sky Watch. The trailer that is attached to sky box has a diesel generator that supplies all the electricity that is needed to raise and lower and to power its heating/air conditioning.

It has a decent size swivel chair to allow the operator to spin around without standing up or leaning around to see out. The windows are tinted in order to hide the occupant from being seen from below. After some radio classes, I will be allow a police radio to notify the police dispatch of any incidents in the area. Well it was pretty quite last night and I didn't get to call out the police to "get" anyone but I enjoyed watching the people and 2-3 people waived at me as they past me. The tower goes up about 25 feet and from a distance the people looked about the size of a GI Joe doll and with the wind blowing, the people didn't lolly-gag getting to their cars. Stay tune "You never know" what may happen. Oh yeah by the way it does shake alittle if I move around or the wind blows too hard.

Evan the chocolate nose boy

2010-10-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

This isn't a really great picture but we didn't have our regular digital camera when we visited Kristie, Barth and their family back in September. Anyway, this is a picture of little Evan the chocolate monger. We went to McDonalds for dinner and ice cream. I had almost forgot that I needed to post the picture. Although I had a few "fix" items, I did have a great time visiting and playing with all the kids. I really love that we could be there for Brian's baptism. The older boys play flag football and it was a lot of fun to stand on the sideline and yell encouragement. It kinda took me back to the times when I coached soccer for my boys.

What a day for a memorial fish out

2010-08-22T13:35:00.000-07:00

Aaron would have definitely enjoyed the day. I arrived right around 7:30 am. and immediately began snagging fish. The day was pleasant with about 78 degrees or so with a wind of 10-15 mph out of the south. I sat up my claim to the shore near the willow tree at the south-west side of the pond. A small boy and his grampa were there feeding the ducks. Little fish were jumping close by and an egret was close watching me as I was pitching the little sunfish back into the pond. The above picture was taken about 45 minutes after I had arrived. Its a small bass, not big enough yet for the dinner table. :D After about an hour, some friends of mine, the Chatwins, showed up just to visit and watch me fish and to chat. I really enjoyed their company and time flew by so fast that the time that I had set aside for the fish out was over. I didn't catch any big fish like the Master Fisherman but I had a wonderful time fishing and reminiscing with the Chatwins about things that Aaron had said or done with their son Robert.

The Fifth Annual Aaron Whitley Fishout

2010-08-03T04:27:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Michael took his girls to celebrate and remember his brother Aaron, The Master Fisherman. I plan on spending his birthday in the Dallas Temple. But on Saturday morning August 21, I plan on spending an hour or two at his favorite fishing hole. Not sure if anyone else can come and enjoy but I want to keep this tradition alive. I know that I won't be able to catch all the fish that he would have caught. I love you Aaron. I know the fish still remember you and I'll try to keep them thinking that you're still here. So fish beware I am coming to take the toll.

2010-05-29T18:20:00.000-07:00

For the last 15 weeks I have been taking the Citizen's Police Academy and on May 25, 2010, I graduated with a certificate and a handshake from the city's new police chief. I have learn about gangs, guns, tactical equipment and the operations of the Swat team. The class met every Thursday from 7pm until 10pm.
Now that I have graduated, I can take 4 other classes and then I would be allowed to ride patrol within the city.

Winter wonderland in Texas Yall

2010-02-11T06:54:00.000-08:00

No this isn't the Mid-Atlantic area of the United States but we did get some snow this morning. I drove by Aaron's grave site and took a picture of scene. The trees are ladened with the frosty stuff and the ground is perfectly covered with a couple of inches of snow giving the area a very serene feel. Maybe this is what Heaven will look like without the cold.

Even ol' Josey Ranch is covered in the white stuff. This is mostly for Kristie and her kids to show that they aren't the only ones to get some snowball making, downhill sliding, finger-numbing snow.

The monkeys have come to roost again

2009-11-27T05:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday for Thanksgiving some of the grandkids came over to share the holiday with us. It was alot of fun and Grandma took the little "Monkeys" out in the front yard and of course they all had to get up in the tree. She took everyone's picture but I wanted to post because we've been having trouble with our internet connection and Debi has been pretty frustrated because she hasn't been able to post or do her thing on the computer. Well it looks like its been the phone line as we have good ol' dial-up.

History has a way of repeating itself

2009-09-20T12:27:00.000-07:00

Well I guess Michael just didn't learn his lesson about riding really fast on the road. The second time that he was allowed to ride his bike to school, Micheal took a spill going down a hill coming home from school and blooded up his head which was fixed by stitches just above his eye.
Well Michael has moved on to bigger (not better) things. Saturday morning, he riding in one of his bike races in the major metropolitan cities know as Greenville when one of the riders just ahead of him got his front wheel clipped by another rider. Well the person directly ahead was able to steer clear but Michael didn't have too much time to react and his bike hit part of the bike of the rider that went down. At that point, his bike stopped but he didn't and did a spectacular somersault over the handlebars and landed on his shoulders then his back. His feet were still attached to the pedals by means of clips which allowed him to catapult his bike some 15 feet from where he landed. This really scared him and began moving his fingers and toes.
Well he didn't wait to be checked out and sat up and then managed to climb into the "spare wheel" truck that had seen the accident and stopped to help. Anyway to make a long story short and to allow him to enjoy re-telling his glory, he went to the ER in Greenville and had x-rays and was told that he broke his collarbone in four places. Some friends that also was at the race shuttled him home and there he has been keeping the ice on his shoulder and popping pills in order to live with the pain. Now I have to mention that his wife is taking very good care of him and waiting on him and doing whatever would make him feel better. Thanks Heather.

Remembering My Father-In-Law

2009-08-06T18:24:00.000-07:00

I remember Dave Drew as a very kind man. He came to visit several times after I married his daughter. I know that he has been very many things in his life: a cook, a realtor, a computer guru, but most of all a guy that knew everything about amateur radio.
I was first introduced to his hobby on our first visit with him in Washington. He showed me through his Ham Shack and told me all about the different people throughout the world that he has QSO'd with on the radio, mostly in morse code(CW). Then it was off to my first "Field Day". We went to a park where a good many other Hams were either setting up their radios or "talking" on them to make as many contacts as possible.
I also remember that he at one time had a tele-type machine connected to his radio that he could receive messages and send message over the tele-type.
Dave knew PERL, a computer script language, and had worked with tektronics as a computer specialist.

In the 1980's and 90's, I worked for Johnson Controls and helped install some computer controls at the John Day and the Dalles dams which allowed me to visit him and Rose quite a few times. Whenever I spent the weekend with them or just came over on a Saturday, Dave would take Rose and me to the beach. I really enjoyed those times. We visited Long Beach and Cannon Beach. We went to Sand Castles at Cannon Beach, a memory that will always stay with me. As a matter of fact, whenever my family and I have gone to the beach at South Padre Island, I like to make my version of Sand Castles in the sand of the Gulf coast with my Texas Gator.
Dave has always encouraged me to do more with my radio license but I just can't seem to hear the difference between a dit and a dah.

I love you and will miss you. 73's until we meet again.
Love Mike

Boyhood homes

2009-03-19T15:58:00.000-07:00

My mom sent me some pictures of my boyhood homes. This one is the very first home that I lived in in San Antonio, Texas. Im not sure exactly where in San Antonio but Im sure that it is somewhere in the Northpart of the city. I can remember being on the front porch listening to my brothers and others telling stories. The houses back then did not have any fences and most of the cars packed on the street. My mom said the house was a GI house that cost $50.00 a month. I also remember that down the street was a railroad track, I guess I just can't get away from the trains.

This is the second and last home that I lived in in San Antonio. My family moved to Austin when I was 9 years old to the house that my mom lives in today. Of course when I lived in the house, it did not have a tree, the big shrub, or all the "extra" yard decorations. It looks as though a fireplace was added inside what used to be the garage where the wreath is hanging next to the large bush. I used to play alot of the times in the alleyway behind the house. When I lived there the alleys were ribbon style with grass in the center. My dad used to have a large train layout in the garage and we would climb up on barstools to watch the train run around the layout with switch tracks, water tower, a train station and a tunnel.

JCI Reunion

2008-11-21T03:56:00.000-08:00

Saturday on October 18, 2008, I was able to attend the latest JCI reunion at a local BARBQ restaurant. It was really great to see some of the faces (even if they are getting older) of the friends from Johnson Controls. Its been 14 years since I worked for JCI and we have lost a few of the folks. I try to attend each year because I did make some great people the 15 years that I worked for JCI.

In the front row, going from left to right is Joel Bryan, Barbara Oros, Dave Pierce, and Rhonda Morgan. The second row is Eddie Joe Power, Linda Mandulay, Frank Stone, Mike O’Brien, Me, Jim Fairchild, Shelly Newman, and Yvonne Field. Those behind the second row include Pam Kerpet, Bill Banks, Chip Fowler, Bill Elsberry, John Taylor, Janne McNeill, Larry Reynolds, John Matter, Randy Fuller, and Bill Newman. Not in the picture because they showed up after the picture was Trevor Conner and Mike Hughey.

The reunion was suppose to go from 3 to 6pm but it was after 7 before I left. It was so good to catch up with everyone.

A Daddy/Daughter Outing

2008-11-04T17:58:00.000-08:00

On Friday, October 17, Melissa and I packed up the tent, a couple of chairs, flashlights and a lot of anticipation about spending some time together at the annual Daddy/Daughter event held in Hidden Cove park just north of The Colony on lake Lewisville. We picked up some dinner on the way out to the park which we devoured shortly after arriving even before setting anything up. We almost beat the traffic going through The Colony but not quite. I was thinking that other Dads would already have taken a lot of the best places but no Melissa and I were the first to arrive.

After spending about 10 minutes at the gate trying to explain that we were part of a church group that had made previous arrangements and that we really did not need to pay the $10.00 entrance fee, the lady at the booth let us sign a paper with a promise that we would come back and pay if the fee wasn't taken care by the morning. I really believe they let us in because by now we had 12 - 15 vehicles behind us and we were holding up everyone. The people at the park were nice but pretty insistant that we pay but they relented. We drove around the area where we to camp "looking for the others". We then decided that the place where we stopped was "the place", we ate and unloaded our stuff.

We then call Brother Caroll and confirmed where we suppose to be before setting up the tent. He said that he was just getting there and would be at the site shortly. Well we setup up our camping site and then helped several other dads setup tents. I think that Brother Caroll won the award for the largest tent. I didn't take the tour of the castle but I swear that the tent must have had a second floor.

As it started getting dark, I helped startup the bonfire and then went back and Melissa and I started our campfire so that she could roast her marshmellows. I really think that she ate them mostly "raw" like she usually does. Melissa was dragged off for the annual capture the flag and I got an opportunity to visit with Brother Harriel for a little while.

About 20 minutes later, I went to join the game but by now the game had changed to a new game of "latch on the dad's legs". I didn't have a chance, mostly because of little sister Lewis who grabbed me and would not let go for nothing. I was very glad that Melissa and I had put the fly on the tent, there was a VERY heavy dew that night and the temperature dropped to about 50. The next morning, I could not even see into the car because of the dew on the car.

We had a great breakfast of pancakes sausage and bacon whit juice or milk. Melissa and I dried a lot of the water off the tent and then let one side dry in the sun then the other. It took more than an hour and a half to get the tent dry. Melissa was again dragged off by some of the girls wanting to go down by the water. I even saw some of the girls wading in the lake with their dads watching on. Melissa wasn't one of them thank goodness.

3rd Annual Aaron Fish Out

2008-08-21T17:27:00.000-07:00

On Saturday August the 16th the Aaron Whitley Memorial Fish Out was held at Josey Ranch Pond. Aaron’s Brother Michael and his girls held a fish out a week earlier because he wasn’t available on the 16th. I may get some pictures from him later. Check out the notification on my website for the announcement. And I haven’t counted out Aaron’s sister Kristie and her boys either to hold their own fish out.

Steven and Pierce joined me at the pond about 8am where we proceeded to hook all the fish possible. I tried to get an advantage by taking the magic fishing pole that belonged to Aaron, the Great Snoopy Fishing Pole. But alas, it didn’t start pulling in any fish until Steven and Pierce showed up. I m not sure just who caught the most fish because we really didn’t keep a count of the number of fish.

We started out fishing from the pier and then moved to the bank where most of the fish were caught. This really helped me a lot because I seem to be getting my hook caught on the pier or my shoes. I brought some sunflower seeds to share and everyone ate them. Aaron loved to eat “seeds” while he fished.

The day was mostly overcast with a nice wind blowing. The pond was full of water because it rained the day before about half an inch. The hotdogs still are the main bait to use at THE POND. The fish ranged anywhere from a couple of inches to about 8 inches. We took pictures of almost all the fish that were landed. Steven was alittle slow with a shot of my monster fish and it flipped back into the pond but he got its splash.

We had the whole pond to ourselves except for the people who came to stroll around on the sidewalks. And we were visited by a couple of little dogs that came to see what was going on by the pond before their owner came and retrieved them.

Oh yeah, I know that Aaron was visiting because Steven didn’t catch a single turtle the whole time which he has caught a couple in past normal fishing at THE POND. It was a great day for fishing and remembering Aaron, his Birthday and his love for fishing at THE POND Happy Birthday to the Master Fisherman, Aaron I know that you had a great birthday. We all love you very much.

Please send me any pictures taken at your own fish out and I'll add them to my collection here.

Speed Racer

2008-05-27T08:57:00.000-07:00

Here we see The New Speed Racer. I didn't get a picture of him "juicing up" his "bike electric generator" but I told his mom that I would get a picture of him before he started his races. Today is May 25 - Saturday late afternoon. Of course its about 93 degrees but there's about a 15-mile-an-hour wind out of the south to help keep the heat from being overbearing. You can tell its the beginning because he's smiling, you'll see what I mean in a picture below. (Don't Peek).

Michael started out just great in fifth place in a large pack of bikers. I know that he fell behind so that I could snap his picture and that way no one else could steal is glory but alas, the best laid plans sometime go awry. But he did finish the race before all the others because he rolled in way before all the other bike riders. I was sure that he finished first and told his mom. Hey, anyone can make a mistake. It doesn't matter I was still proud of him.

After an hour of rest he went out and gave them a real run for their money. The picture above was taken at the end which he finished the whole race without being lapped. Way to go Son, I knew ya had it in ya some where. His first race the speeds were somewhere around 25-30mph and the second, I think, were around 20mph. I'll join him on the track when they get that speed down a bit to maybe 5 or 6mph. NO, thats the speed not just down that much. As a side note, if he could ever get Emberly on a bike with her energy and speed; she should be able to get to 60-70mph easily. When we let loose of her in the parking lot, she could cover 20 feet in a second or two. Her feet could easily set new land-speed records.

What's this neighborhood coming to

2008-05-01T06:15:00.000-07:00

On Monday, I took my usual walk in the park and ran into my wife and daughter as they rode their bikes through the park on the way to the library's pond/walk path. Debi stopped to say hi and then on around to meet Melissa who had taken the other path and was across the pond from us. Well, I finished my walk and headed home to wait on the girls.

I took my school book into the house and then came back outside to enjoy the cool breeze and to look for a couple of the loves of my life.

Man, what a shock did I see. I know that I don't live in the best part of town but really. I almost couldn't believe my eyes. Up the street came two biker babes, riding their bikes right there in MY Neighborhood. I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. I know its very hard to believe so I whipped out the camera and took their picture so you'd believe.

Oh the Texas Blue Bonnets

2008-04-22T05:59:00.000-07:00

Well its taken me awhile to get "the lead out" and post some of the great Texas landscape this time of the year. BLUEBONNETS. Both of these pictures were taken at North Lake College where I attend a class. I haven't seen anyone else taking pictures but of course Im not there all the time either.
This one's alittle blurry but the blue are the bonnets. The whole hillside is full of them. And I did notice that the ground keepers mow around our beautiful state flowers.

New Neighbors

2008-04-06T07:08:00.001-07:00

I tried to meet the "New Neighbors" but they were too busy taking their stroll in the neighborhood to stop and chat. They were also talking between themselves as they strolled around the block. I heard them saying "quack, quack, quack". I wasn't sure if they were arguing are just calling me a name.

But anyway I watched them walk around together. I first spotted them in the front yard then they strolled down the street then crossed over the street towards Chuck's old house then back up the other side toward Dania's old house and that's when I decided that it was time to head into the house myself because I had just gotten home from school and I needed to eat and get ready to go to church to watch General Conference.

Oh those Easter Days

2008-04-03T16:38:00.001-07:00

As you can see the times, they are a changing. Not to mention the size of the Easter participants. The good ol' Easter Bunny used to leave all sorts of neat stuff for the boys and girls. I guess the bunny this year wanted the boys to be really cool while hunting the eggs.

With baskets in hand the hunt was close at hand or it was already over depending on how you would look at the baskets with eggs already inside. What a bunch of stairstep kids.

Now I ask you have you ever seen a more cute bunch of egg hunters in your entire life! If you look closely you can see the honeysuckle bush just off the patio. And the cool Dudes still have their sunshades on in the house. Man.

Oh, I didn't forget to add the last Easter egg hunter. Our backyard posses a time warp ripple that allows different time periods to exist. Not mention the fact that by the time Melissa came on the scene, she had less hunters to contend with for the eggs.

Oops, what happened to the lovely ivy back by the back fence. Hey, don't forget to notice that there is the ol' tire swing. You know that both Kristie and Steven are keeping count of their eggs. From time to time the eggs would slip out of the baskets and Presto, there were more eggs to be hunted.

More pictures from yester-year

2008-03-14T04:55:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of my mom when she was about Melissa's age with G'ma. Not real sure but this maybe about the time when she married my dad because of the nice big bunch of flowers. If you enlarge the picture you can tell that my mom hasn't changed her shoe style, still has sandals on her feet. Oh by the way Im not real sure who the boy is on the porch behind them. Old pictures are great, especially if you know who they are.

This is my grandma and grandpa. They used to live in Denver. Grandma is my dad's mother and Sam is the guy who got me hooked on wooden tops. when they came to visit every few years, he would bring or buy me and my brothers tops. We spent hours out on the carport spinning the tops trying to make them battle. I loved them very much, they were oh so sweet. The picture is from a picture that my mom had and I sanned it in. Sam was a tailor by trade even though he kinda looks like a mobster here. I am not sure how old the picture is but I would venture a guess that it is probably before 1960.

Borrowed Pictures

2008-03-01T12:47:00.000-08:00

I thought that I would make a post of some pictures that Aaron
had on his pc. I tried to find something of everyone. And being
that I am making this post in honor of Aaron, I thought it only
appropriate that I start with him posing by the only kitchen
appliance that he didn't try to buy - a fridge.

I thought that Pierce might like to see that his Uncle Aaron did
get some time with him before Auntie M would whisk him away.
Aren't they sweet.  I love pictures of babies.  The 4th of July
isn't that far off.

I couldn't find any pictures among Aaron's photos of just Ansley
and Haley except for this one of Haley's baby blessing. Man,
what a good looking crew. I know I am missing Emberly but
I just couldn't find her in the few pictures of the family that
Aaron had (Yes, I know she wasn't here yet).

And last but not the least is Kristie and the first half of her
bunch. I remember how much Brian, Weston and Aaron were
such good buddies. And now the boys have grown so much,
not to mention that they have grown to be such good big brothers.

Hey, I almost left a very important picture of ol' Auntie M.
This was one of the most favorite things for Missy and
Aaron to do after any kind of snow fall. Of course I haven't
seen any pictures of any Idaho snowmen yet. Thats ok, I
would rather she study and work on her school work.

And oh yes, I mustn't forget Debi because none of this would
be possible without "the world's prettiest woman in my world",
my beautiful wife. I have to admit that I have NO PREJUDICE.
To quote an old cowboy movie: "No brag, just fact".

The Family

2008-02-02T07:11:00.000-08:00

I know the picture is alittle old but I just have to work with whatever I have as far as pictures go. These are my girls and I can’t express just how much I love them. Each one has either been to college and graduated or is currently attending college. I have had this picture riding along with me in my car for years. They all play the piano. They all have very sharp elbows(which tend to keep me awake in church). They all have beautiful singing voices which didn’t come from me. Now, I understand that if I had put the girls pictures between me and their mom on the “look-a-like” meter that there would be no contest. Thank Heavens, that they look like their mom. I am so very, very blessed to have three of the most beautiful women in my life. I am a very lucky man.

These are my boys. What a legacy of great men. I am really glad that none of them followed in my footsteps as a “computer-man”. J As I have said many times, I like to fish and my boys do also and sometimes they “LET me” out fish them but not always. Its a lot of fun to watch them do some of the things that I have done. They are working on telling real good jokes like their dad but they don’t have the experience that I have. The picture of them will soon adorn my car next to the girls. Its been a REAL challenge to find a picture of them without “rabbitears” or weirdo faces. I think that they must get that from their mom’s side of the family. I am also very proud of them as I am of the girls. Its really amazing how the Lord blesses some people regardless because as I have said many, many times “I know that I have been truly blessed.”

A trip to that land of Davy Crockett

2007-12-18T16:49:00.000-08:00

This is my take on the trip that Grandma and I made to help our out-of-state daughter move into their new home in Kentucky. Needless to say I didn't have to unpack too many boxes as I was the designated "baby-holder" and Kid entertainer. On the day above, I became the human snowball target and was pelted beyond belief. Notice the cheering fans on the banister behind Weston and Brian. The snow came about mid-week and was very pretty to look at from inside next to the fireplace while holding the baby.

Aaron and Grandpa had alot of fun playing jacks but not the normal way that most people play.
We would put them on top of one of the moving boxes that the boys were playing with and I would spin one of the jacks until it hit others and knocked them off the box at which time Aaron would grab them and put them into his pile.

Grandma took her turn at holding little Amber while we went and ate dinner at McDonalds. She just looked at me like "and tell me, Why aren't you holding me?"

I know this is alittle dark but it was at night even if we were inside. Oh well, it was fun and filling to get out of the house that Kristie kept us chained up in until her mom and her got almost everything unpacked. Oh, I also helped out by walking around the house looking for "new house bloopers" or spots that needed touching up by the builder. It was a great trip and I didn't mention one time that Debi tried to kill us both on the way out of the airport.

2007-11-21T04:57:00.000-08:00

Just for everyone's info, school is going along great but will be glad when its over for the year. And, sometimes you just have to be at the right spot with the right person. Since Steven has started up his new gaming company, my company has decided to move to a different location not far away but smaller in size because of "re-sizing". Anyway my company's office has given the edict to dump everything thats old or not being used. Well getting back to Steven, I have been able to procure about 20 office chairs and a large conference table for his new office. The only drawback is that all the chairs are red but not bright red. (Maybe I'll add a picture later).
The other thing that I wanted to mention was that since my lovely bride and I are now empty-nesters and have been for a couple of months. But so far between school and church and work, we haven't had too much time be "just alone". We have taking a walk and two at the park and we have gone out to dinner a couple times, We are still very busy. Oh well we could runoff and hop a freight train and be hobos like we used to talk about when we were dating. I personally don't think that I could catch a freight train if it were stopped. But we are planning a trip to see our newest granddaughter soon and that should be fun.

What a Labor Day

2007-09-05T06:23:00.000-07:00

I now know why people call the day Labor Day. I started out working on the wife's car. I cleaned out the drains located just below the windshield. I then turned the garden hose on the front of the van to test my work with good results; no water in the passenger side front floor board.
I then scrapped the front door jam to remove some peeling paint. Once down to bare wood, I used a really good primer and then applied a fresh coat(rabbit, I think).
I decided to crank up the ol' van but alas, the battery died. I jumped it off and took it to Wally World. Would you believe it, the battery was bad. Imagine that and to add insult to injury they didn't have the battery in stock but the other store in the area did. Another jump and I arrived at the Marsh store only to be told that it would be 3 hours because they were short-handed. Well, I waited and after about an hour and half, I saw a young man carry a battery out to the car. ONLY ONE BIG PROBLEM - IT WAS NOT THE CORRECT BATTERY. I mentioned the fact to the service manager who re-looked up the model for the van and said: "Hey, you're right thanks." After another hour I was ready to go.
I then went by my office where I loaded up some office chairs left by a company that just moved out the week before. I took them to Steven's new office. So he now has chairs and a server cabinet in the office. He's setting up his new company.
NOW THE GOOD PART. I got some fish bait(hotdog) and went to the pond for alittle fishing. Five or six families were already fishing at the pond when I arrived but my spot under the willow tree was open. Well needless to say Aaron's skills were still with me as I pulled fish after fish out of the pond. 20 minutes later two little boys, about 9 and 5, came down to ask what was I fishing with. I told the oldest that I was using a hotdog and a small fish hook. I then broke off half my hotdog and gave it to the oldest and he skampered off back to his family. Then the 5 year old just stayed looking at me. I said to him if he wanted something and he pointed at the remaining hotdog laying on the ground. I picked up the reamining hotdog and gave it to him which brought a big gleeful grin and he was off in a flash. I made a trip back to the car and retrieved another hotdog and I was again ripping (just for you Debi) the fish from the pond. The fish would grab the bait before the slack was even pulled out by the weights. Anyway, all total I was at the pond about an hour and a half and probably caught 3-4 dozen of those monster fish(perch). Needless to say, just as Aaron would do, as soon as I picked up my chair and started to walk away, several people made a beeline for my spot. Good luck, I remarked to them as I left.
I then went to the house where I had a good-ol' frozen fish dinner. MMMMM. And then studied for internet class.

Sorry no pictures. I need to remember to bring my cheap little camera next time.

A year ago this month

2006-10-06T15:39:00.000-07:00

It was just a year ago this month that I went to New Orleans and spent the weekend there helping the prople there cleanup. We slept in tents and one of the guys brought his grill. The destruction was unbelievable. This photo was taken in LaFette, La of the town center which had just opened backup to the public(residents and workers). The buildings and trees had a six high salt water mark on everything. The residents were oh so grateful.

Trees were down in nearly every yard except the yards without any trees. This was one perticular neighborhood where most of the fenses survided. This yard had limbs from the neighbor and a large tree directly behind the house that was laying on the roof. Everett Bluth and Robert Chatwin are waiting to haul the cut up pieces out to the front of the house.

One of my favorite pets

2006-09-28T14:18:00.000-07:00

He doesn't really eat a whole lot but he doesn't care much for urban development. He's been my "pet" for as long as I can remember. Its just that he doesn't get out much but he does keep the neighbors' dogs from leaving fertilizer in my yard. Oh yeah, he doesn't care too much for cold weather, missles, warplanes, or exposed powerlines.