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Teenager + Period + Mother + Argument

I want to kill somebody, anybody.

...and my granddaughter is revving her engines.

What a summer it's going to be.

My granddaughter had a homework assignment tonight that was to interpret the lyrics of any song she chose. In effect, to analyze poetry.

She chose Imagine by Lennon.

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

She came to me for my ideas. You'all would've been proud of me. I hardly even mentioned that this was a lyrical interpretation of the communist manifesto written by a socialist fellow traveler. I just stuck with the standard utopian 'one world' tripe.

Silky ponies and fuzzy bunnies. No religious strife, no nationalistic turmoil, no greed and separation of economic classes. All the standard stuff that the schools want to hear nowadays.

Of course, I got a little deeper. I couldn't help myself. She certainly wouldn't get an alternate take on this from the school.

Update: She did so well on the report that it put her over the top for placing out of the English final.


Here is another take on it.

A1C test (3 month blood sugar level) = a bit below 6
LDL = 110
HDL = 47
BP OK as always
Stroke symptoms receding slowly (too slow for me)
No other problems.

Wrapping Gifties for wife, 3 kids, 2 main squeezes, one daughter-in-law, and one grand-daughter...stretching from the tube to the end of the piano. Not including 8 stockings stuffed with gag-gifts and weird stuff. (Plus 2 extra stockings that are for me and the dog - a telling comparison).





...and now I'm making my famous Kristmas Kringle for tomorrow.  Yet Another thing that I can't eat. 

The traditional roast beast Christmas Eve dinner was nice....

The Kringle is baking - filling the house with the smell of almond - everyone has a glass of port and they're watching the Emmett Otter Jug Band Christmas.  The mooch is gnawing on a greenie and enjoys having company down.  Hard to get better than this.

My friend and former student Kyle Cassidy, author of Armed America is getting play in the New York Times.  From what I can see on Google, he has been well received by the gun community also.  When my copy shows up, I'll review it from the perspective of an unreconstructed gun nut.  I got my copy from Amazon as well as a book of Smith&Wesson serial numbers.

So I goes and attends a party about 8 years ago at Kyle's Philly digs.  The reason for this party (as if he needed one) was the purchase of a meat-locker sized main-frame which was sitting in the middle of his living room cuz it wouldn't fit anywhere else...and surrounded by academic types mainly from the Annenberg and various Philly area universities.

Eccentric to the max, one of the highlights of the night was a digiridu concert, not a solo you understand...everyone but me it seemed brought an instrument.  To spend a lot of time with Kyle is to see the other side of the looking glass...and not in a bad way.  Even back  then, with photography not yet his main focus, you could see in his pictures that his eye saw the world at a 90^o angle.

His new book will be called War Paint.



Check out some of the photo's he has so far and see if you can pick out the famous warrior in there.  I was able to help a bit getting him pointed at some Vet groups, and he has more trips coming up for War Paint.

My own tattoo has faded away, as red ones tend to over time...and dorsal male pornography wouldn't be appropriate anyway.

She:  Walk the dog with me, I don't like to walk in the dark on a Saturday in the Summer.

Sucker:  I'm not much protection in my present state.

She:  That's OK, you can fall on them.

Nice to know I still have value.  Leave it to a wife to remind you of it.

I need to rest.

We had my 16 year old going on 30 granddaughter this past week.

New Hope, Boardwalk, Fireworks, Mall, Pool, Ocean, Where is She now?, Pool, Boardwalk, Mall, Fishing, Fireworks in the Yard, I'm Hungry, Aren't there any Boys in this Neighborhood, Crabbing, My iPod Died, Where the Hell is She Now, Take me for Ice Cream, No you can't use my work laptop to get on MySpace, I Lost a Fishing Hook in the Back Yard, Miniature Golf...

I love you Grandpa

Yeah, you can come down for another week later in the Summer.

So my grand-dotter drops her ipod.  It's actually the one thing she has taken care of for an amazing 3 years.  The hold button gets stuck and it locks the device up.

Banging it on a table didn't help (Hey, I'm a guy - try percussive repair first), so I took it apart and reconnected all the little bits that had become separated when she dropped it.  I didn't even know you could take them apart - but it was coming apart whether or not it wanted to anyway.

I notice that I am a hero.  For the moment.

I let this face recognition software check out my picture, and give me  comparisons to 'famous' people.

Robin Williams  73% (Used-to-be funny comedian)
Ang Lee    72%  (Rikes)
Yitzhak Rabin  71%  (Israeli politician)
Sergei Bubka   70% (Ukrainian pole vaulter)
Roman Polanski  68%  (Director and Rapist)
Francis Crick    68% (of DNA fame)
Greg Bear        68% (SciFi author)
Mikis Theodorakis  68% (Greek composer)
Sir Edmund Hillary  67%  (Mountain climber)
Edsger Dijkstra   66% (Computer guru)
J Robin Warren  66% (Nobel Pathologist)
Hugh Hefner   66% (Double Yikes)
Marco van Basten  61% (World Cup Soccer coach)
Jackie Chan  61%  (Triple Rikes)
Magic Johnson  61% (Quadruple Yikes)
Bobby Charlton  60%  (World Cup Soccer player)

Some pertinent notes:

I am not Chinese
I am not Black

Younger I looked like Richard Dryfus in Jaws and now I look like Dick Chaney in terminator.

My wife scans as Sally Field (68%), Kathleen Turner (54%), with Julianna Marguiles, Miranda Richardson, Susan Sarandon (Gak - divorce), and Blake Lively as lesser matches.

She actually always reminded me of Sally Field in Gidget.

Obviously this program is crappola for men and fairly accurate for women. My wife agreed with the female renditions, but knows I don't look anything like Robin Williams...the terminator picture got an agreeful laugh out of her.

My daughter came out as 75% Scarlett Johansson, 71% Eliza Dushku (from Buffy), Elle Macpherson, Jennifer Aniston, and a bunch of other starlets.

Thru Xavier's Thoughts, I find that one of my old students is getting quite a bit of play lately.

Kyle is the author of Armed America: Portraits of Gun Owners in Their Homes - Krause Books.

He is a character.  One night at his place we all got serenaded by his didjeridu while drunkenly celebrating his acquisition of a mainframe computer for his home - a large gray box sitting in the middle of his living room due to the lack of space elsewhere.  Half the college faculty of the Annenberg Center showed up.  I always wondered if his wife was going to paint it to match the walls.

Even back then he had published graphic novels - my favorite being a short 'sin city' type effort using Barbie.  It doesn't go well for poor Barb.

From Cowboy Blob comes....

We will be driving to rural upstate New York for family business in the AM Wednesday. Be back Thursday evening.

I built some Almond Pecan Danish Kringles tonight in between wrapping, etc. They've got too many death pellets in them for me to eat one, but apparently they were a hit. Not bad for a first try.

And a cartoon from R. Crumb that pretty much captures our family Holiday dinners....close, but he left out a few types of nutbunnies.

The meal was wonderful. Our holiday tradition is for Roast Beast. I think this is my wife's favorite recipe as you can cut this thing with a sharp remark. We cook two beasts - one for those who show up on Christmas Eve, and another for those who are still here on Christmas afternoon. There was literally one inch of Kringle left - even with it competing with two types of cheese cake and pecan pie. I have been honored by a request from the wife to make it for a New Years Eve party we are trekking off to...believe me, that's a first. We also make several vegetarian entrée for those who require it, but they change every year - and are supplemented by noodles, stuffing, veggies, and the like.

Presents were exchanged with great anticipation and everyone did just fine. I kept up my 10 year tradition of giving the kids something useful for avoiding becoming prey - and I'm already thinking crossbows for next Christmas.

Now for the wrapping...

Update: Gaaaa, will it never end?

The advantage to having children in your early twenties, and grandchildren in your mid 40s is that you get to go to Sweet Sixteen parties for your grandchildren while you still have your own teeth. I've got yuppie friends my age who have kids just hitting 16. What a nightmare that has to be. We received a lot of abuse about getting married young and having children so early (I had three by 28 - the wife was 24)...

...but my house has been empty now for years. Who's sorry now?

Off we go. Pictures when we get back...

The school that Abbey goes to has been ravaged by the flu to the point where teachers were barfing up in the halls and everyone was wearing surgical masks. We weren't quite sure if she would feel well enough for a party, but she decided to gut it out. I mean, presents and all....

We got her clothes, jewelry matching what she always borrows from my wife, more jewelry, a jewelry box, and some other stuff. She got a freakin' ton of her favorite Estee Lauder makeup types from my daughter, perfume, and from her parents....

They also got her an amp, so it was a bit noisy for a while....

She kept her energy level up most of the day, and got a bit pooped out at the end. What a doll.

The food was catered by Famous Dave's....ribs to die for. A good time was had by all.

My wife can't stop. She paints, sculpts, papers, sews, molds, bends, folds, staples, and mutilates. She's in the middle of completely refinishing the bedroom set - one piece at a time. I have to admit it's coming out pretty cool. So to take a break, she took this $3 garage sale clock and turned it into this. Believe me, in my house it's dangerous to sit in one place too long. You'll get improved.

My granddaughter gifted me with a book of Poems. The 100 Best Poems of All Time Edited by Leslie Pockell I thought I would share one with you. Waiting for the Barbarians Constantine P. Cavafy (1863-1933) Cavafy speaks franky to readers, expressing themes of political irony. What are we waiting for, assembled in the forum? The barbarians are due here today. Why isn't anything happening in the senate? Why do the senators sit there without legislating? Because the barbarians are coming today. What laws can the senators make now? Once the barbarians are here, they'll do the legislating. Why did our emperor get up so early, and why is he sitting at the city's main gate on his throne, in state, wearing the crown? Because the barbarians are coming today and the emperor is waiting to receive their leader. He has even prepared a scroll to give him, replete with titles, with imposing names. Why have our two consuls and praetors come out today wearing their embroidered, their scarlet togas? Why have they put on bracelets with so many amethysts, and rings sparkling with magnificent emeralds? Why are they carrying elegant canes beautifully worked in silver and gold? Because the barbarians are coming today and things like that dazzle the barbarians. Why don't our distinguished orators come forward as usual to make their speeches, say what they have to say? Because the barbarians are coming today and they're bored by rhetoric and public speaking. Why this sudden restlessness, this confusion? (How serious people's faces have become.) Why are the streets and squares emptying so rapidly, everyone going home so lost in thought? Because night has fallen and the barbarians have not come. And some who have just returned from the border say there are no barbarians any longer. And now, what's going to happen to us without barbarians? They were, those people, a kind of solution.

Son Jesse of wild adventure fame told me yesterday that the Marines had contacted him... "Wanna come back?" I don't think so. Working as a netadmin for Princeton has it's advantages.

A busy weekend of family obligations with some interesting highlights. We drove up north for a housewarming at my nephew's new home. Nice place...Designed for outdoor living and parties. They're a young couple without children yet so that's to be expected. Damn tho, they're paying more just in property taxes than I am for a mortgage and taxes. Jersey is a nearly impossible state to get started in...Stay away. On Sunday I went to the indoor range with the visiting Justin and Amanda, Jesse and Kim drove in from Princeton and went to the same range as we did but later in the day...We weren't able to hook up. They may be marginal moonbats, but I raised my kids to shoot and they've kept it up on their own. We had plans to run out to Fort Dix and work out the 30-30 and the AR but the weather didn't cooperate....Damn global warming. We took the marlin 1894 out to the indoor range with Justin's SAA's in .30 carbine and .45 colt along with the Makarov in .380. Interesting. Justin buys some reloads in .45LC from his local shop and the first time he tries to use them they drop straight thru the cylinder on his SSA. Turns out they were .44 Special reloads in a .45 LC box....That was one pissed off Okie. He had to buy a box of that stuff at $26 for 50...geeese. Dirty rounds too...He was always surrounded with smoke when he was shooting them. As soon as Amanda touched the Marlin, she decided she was in luv with it...Not unexpected. First time she grabs it she starts cutting the forehead out of a Q target. As the Marlin is going to Jesse, I have the sneaking suspicion I'm going to have to buy two more...One for me and one for Amanda. Damn that's a nice little carbine. I had one annoying jam with the Makarov, but it occurred when I released the slide (using the thumb release on the frame) to put a round into battery. It was fine when you jacked the slide by hand, and there were no failures to feed during firing. That's the first glitch I've had with that pistol in 3000 odd rounds. But that one jam locked the slide and the mag, so it was hard to clear. A busy weekend with lots of time in the car and not enough sleep. Oh well, I can always sleep at work.

and where my daughter likes to eat when she visits. Clipped a car, but no one was hurt. Apparently it got tangled in the sign it was trolling along the beach. Another one came down on the lawn of the middle school the same day. The sky is falling.

Last Tuesday morning I woke up with a lump. Seein' I just had my yearly physical, and it appeared overnight, I figured it wasn't too serious...but it was still a lump. I figured a hernia altho generally one has to actually exert oneself to get a hernia and I'm not a charter member of the comfy-chair commando for nothin'. After living with it for a few days, without pain, It started getting sore...but didn't act like a hernia. Off to the doctor on Friday...(my first instinct is always to guts it out, rub dirt in it, grit my teeth, and be a Marine). That drives my wife crazy. It turned out to be abscess probably caused by a combination of a hot night, sleeping neckid on top of the sheets with the windows open, and an insect bite. Fucker got big...like 3 or 4 grapes under the skin. My doctor took one look (did the standard cough thing) and pronounced me abscessed (obsessed? - possessed?}. A soak in a hot tub brought it to a head and it drained away...antibiotics needed for a week ($90 bucks for 15 pills, thank you). I have been bit, beaten, battered, broken, stabbed, cut, and diced. I've got pins in my body and a shoulder held together by wire. I've lived a sheltered monastic life and still have a dozen scars on my hands and another dozen on my body. I've swallowed bees and got a wasp sting caught in my shirt and it let me have it in my armpit. Jersey mosquitoes have been known to sting thru concrete...and I can roll in Poison Ivy without getting a rash. One crummy little insect bite had me all swollen and crazy. I guess getting old makes all the aches and insults seem a bit more serious. Intimations of mortality and all that crap.

The wife's Buick is wacked...transmission shot, window cracked, and overheating. More to fix than I paid for it. 120,000 miles in two years on a '92 as a commuto-box was a bit too much for it. We started first by checking out the dealers, and I pretty much decided on a late model mid-sized SUV. My wife liked a Honda CR-V we looked at (for the color), but at $17,000 for a '02 with 98K miles on it...I was beginning to think about '92 commuto-boxes again for less than $2,000. Then we took the dog for a walk and as we rounded the corner.... The neighbor is putting a 'for sale' sign on a late model SUV. The neighbor's daughter just got divorced and wanted to sell her car for what she owed on it. A red 2004 Blazer with 20K milage, trailer package, auto 4x4, and full length side step rails, and 18 months left on the bumper to bumper warrentee....$12,000. They were $18 - 19,000 with 50K milage at the dealers...with no extras. I bought it on the spot. Not only do I have an SUV back (I miss my Trooper), but it'll piss off the extreme tree-huggers. Oh, and I've got wheels again that can carry this...the Buick was havin' none of it.

The kids called...nice. We went to dinner...bad for me. I did absolutely nothing around the house...sweet. Yesterday was our 34th anniversary...thirty. four. freakin'. years. Unbelievable. We met on January 9th, 1971. I was still in the service and recently divorced. Shortly after we met I was sent to a bird farm...a big bird farm, for my last tour. She waited. After I got de-mobbed we were married on June 17th 1972. I could have done a lot worse. I could still be married to my first wife...yikes! I still find it hard to believe that the current one put up with me for three and a half decades...chauvinist pig that I am. I'll tell ya...there's been a lot of water under the bridge, but when I look at her I still see that 19 year old hottie I met in '71.... Who could be luckier than me. A sweet wife, 3 great kids, progress on the 2A, and the collectivists on the run. About the only thing I'm not thrilled with is the milestone three-score birthday coming up next month. That and the lack of adventure as I got older and settled down. Yep, that's me...a member in good standing of the 101st comfy-chair commandos.

Oh well, the alternative is that Fumble Fingered Fat Brown could have killed me with that little mistake* he made whilst we were removing the explosive detonators from a MK61 lo those many years ago. *It was a two man job. The access port close to the detonators was too small to actually remove them. You passed them to another sucker who removed them from a larger hatch on the other side of the bomb. As I passed this thing, he dropped it. Now you have to understand that the detonators were charged with PETN...with a drop test ratio of 50 times more sensitive than TNT. That means if you drop a one KG weight onto a bit of it from an inch high, it'll self detonate 50% of the time. With my arms still in the bomb I slid my foot under and caught this 3lb canister on my shoe. Now with my arms bleeding, I pulled them out of the bomb, grabbed a screwdriver, reached over and stabbed Brown. Meanwhile the control member of this fiasco was listening me go apeshit nuts homicidal on the other end of the radio. Brown was the only man I knew who cut a finger on the same hand he was holding scissors with....and was a bomb disposal tech. I didn't get in trouble, Brown healed and stayed in the service as a career. After that I was always waiting for a large explosion somewhere in the world. Come to think of it now, I got lucky a couple of times. Shit, that was a nasty job.

I overheated in traffic on the way to work and had to pull over near the Raritan bridge to cool down for an hour. I made it back home (without traffic) and got the termostat swapped out for $140. The tranny was acting up so I took it in this afternoon for a checkup. Trashed. $600 just to pull it off and whatever it'll cost to fix it. I made an appointment, but the last time I had the same problem (with another Buick as it happens) they wanted $2000 for repairs. I think I'll just buy another car. I've been looking at the Honda CR-V LX. I can get a 2002 with less than 50K for about $15,000. It seems to be rated "much better" or "better than" average on all Consumer Reports Automobile catagories.

I got the results of my yearly comprehensive checkup tonight.... Blood Pressure at 138/80 Prostrate OK Electrolytes OK BUN (Kidneys) OK except for a freakin stone once every couple of years. Lungs OK Enzymes OK Thyroid OK No Gout Triglycerides OK Cholesterol OK A bit of Arthritis in one knuckle but no pain or loss of motion Heart OK Blood Count OK Diabetes under control by diet - no more pills - no shots. 3 month blood glucose on the edge of the no-diabetes to at-risk range...averaging about 140. Seeing my blood sugar was near 300 with Triglycerides at over 400 a couple of years ago (when I got sick enough to go to a doctor)...I figure Ive been doing well the last couple of years. Sugar I go for testing every 3 months and watch it daily with a blood test meter. Not bad for a broke-dick old fart. The only thing that bothers me now are old injuries...and that's the price of a mis-spent youth and living longer than I thought I would at the time. I don't need a weather report...the wires, pins, scars, and joints tell me all I need to know.

From the Will to Exist If you wonder where your tax money goes, perhaps you should read this article. And where did that 40% of your income go? Most of it, if you’re under 65 and working at a regular job, went to the less fortunate. The numbers are stunning. Federal expenditures were $2.55 trillion, with $495 billion going for national defense and another $272 billion going for purchased goods and wages paid. At the same time some $1.69 trillion was transferred to someone else — well, actually a lot of someone elses. That’s some federal case. Income redistribution makes up the lion’s share of your stolen sweat, your pilfered time and your wasted dollars. No wonder most of you are cheating.

I'm not exactly a tax cheat...but I'm sloooooow. I'm still paying off my business' 2003 taxes. 2004 was a net plus so I did those up to date...2005 was a net plus also. I see exactly no reason to pay taxes on time when I owe money. The fines are minimal for the amount I'm behind, and they only ask for a couple of bucks a month. I have absolutly no confidence that the guv'mint will spend my money wisely. After reading this article, my mind hasn't changed.

As part of our travels today, we stopped at the local bike shoppe to check out the Felt bikes. I had written about them here. They didn't have the 'claire', but they had the 'desire'. And the 'torch'.... It don't look it in the pictures, but the torch is about as big as a Harley. This is the one that grabbed me.

The American Drumslinger has a post up about a few exotic bikes that he's hot for.... So SHE is looking over my shoulder ("why are you looking at naked women") and sees the bike. She has me check out the manufacturer and finds this.... And there's a dealer about a mile from the house.

From a great photo blog ...Attic Downstairs, the ...another

A couple of Dottie's creations...click on it to get a larger picture. Update: The Commute of Death I've been driving the Garden State Parkway for 30 years. Right now I'm doing a 144 mile round trip to the train. I've never seen as many accidents as I have today. The normal hour ten drive home from the train took about 3 hours. Hell, it was just lightly raining. It wasn't that icy. There was a serious accident (with towing and ambulance in attendence) averaging one every 7 miles, and with minor fender benders in betwen where the drivers could still pull over. There were cars overturned, cars shreaded against the medians, and cars in the trees (and there ain't that many trees up in North Jersey). I hate it when I drive by an accident and the medical team is just standing around doing nothing. In the scale of the world a nasty commute now and then is not that important...unless you're one of the people who were killed today trying to get home from work. Yet another reason I hate this fucking state. We're the toll capital of the world and the roads still suck.

So Toms River finally makes the National News.... Our water is radioactive. Great. I was wondering about those green tentacles on my wifes head...but I didn't want to ask in case it was some kind of new fashion statement.

I first met my wife on Jan 9, 1971...we were married the next summer and are still very much together. That should pretty much say it all...35 years of doing what she tells me to. So I get home late and sit down to check my email. As I am deleting the 56 pieces of spam, I'm idly watching the screen as the offers to hide $50 million in Nigerian oil revenues flow by....click, Russian watches, click, viagra, click, etc. Then I stop. It's funny how the brain works so much faster than we think it does. Something caught my eye as it flashed by....so, undelete. It was one of those 'Find your High School Buddies' ads. This one showed Rutherford High School up in North Jersey, with an old blurb about the 40th anniversary reunion for the class of '64. With the (maiden) name of my first wife as an organizer; with a current address. Those of you who have read this know a little of how I felt about that marriage (scroll down to the Erma). The family was fine old line Southern, wealthier than ours, patriotic, and religious to the core…good people. For some strange reason, the oldest daughter thought I might be a good marriage choice. She was a very bright girl, and this was probably the worst choice she has ever made. I off’d to the service a couple of months after we were married in college. I haven't seen this woman since I got belle'd (and Dear John'd) in 1969. Mutual friends had told me she remarried after our divorce (almost immediately, and had a kid. None of this can be confirmed by me. It's been 35 years since I had any word at all about her...I didn't even know her married name. So still married (hopefully) or still using her married name for some things and her maiden name for others, she shows up in a blurb for her 40th reunion. Which leads to some bare info about what she has been doing for 40 years. Did we both get the life we deserved? I don’t know. She is doing well, and our choice of employment has paralleled – technology and teaching at colleges. I wish her the best. Oh, when I told my wife about it (you didn't think I wouldn't, did you?), she thought it would be cool to look up her first husband...she had married him at 19 and me at 21 (something of a slut, don'cha know). Freakin' Google....we found him. He works at a high school in Texas. As for the first wife: No, I’m not going to go stalk her...she kicked the crap out of me the first time – and has 40 years more practice now. Pass.

I got one of these for Christmas from Amanda and Justin....the Phillips Senseo I love it. The coffee is very very good...and frothy. That was a bit strange. With some web surfing I learn that frothy is a feature, not a bug. Apparently it's very continental to have frothy coffee and Phillips warns that you won't get that frothy goodness if you don't use their pods. I reserve judgement. Well I'm going to try some experiments....like putting cream in the cup first (frothy milk?), different flavors, and different pod brands. I'll be drinking frothy euroweenie coffee from this beauty as I put my all-American death stick together (big chunks of which were bought by my other kids)...what could be better than that.

On Tuesday I was called in from New York to my home office to disassemble a SAN I had built for a Department of Defense certification. If you haven't hefted a supervisor engine from one of these things, you're missing too much fun. I had two of them in the array at a hundred plus pounds apiece...not to forget the multiple terrabyte drive arrays at about 60 lbs each, plus a couple of CIA quality encryption boxes. The whole array went about 400 lbs. Needless to say, I'm getting too old for this crap and irritated a tendon in my calf. So now I'm limping thru snowstorms in the city at speeds approaching a half-mile an hour like a fucking old man. The worst is when I stop...it stiffens up immediately. Then I've got to start moving again. [Editors Comment: Grit your Teeth, Rub dirt in it, and be a Marine.] Fortunately I do squat for a living. No-one really understands what the hell I do, and they haven't a clue if I'm really working or not. I stare intently at the computer screen (if anyone is watching), hit a few keys, and then make (1) groaning noises, or (2) noises of great joy; depending on how I feel at the moment. Whoever is watching certainly doesn't want to interrupt my concentration by boorishly asking me what I'm doing. Things work - they're happy with that. When things don't work - it's not my fault. This is as good as pitching Global Warming...too hot = Global Warming, too cold = Global Warming. Perfect. What they really don't understand is that guys like me live for problems to solve. On the high-end techie forums I frequent the common thread is ..."I can't believe people pay me to work with this stuff." And don't call me a geek...this job is physically easy (usually), is interesting, is magical to most people, and pays very well so I can play with what I really love. Guns. Oh, and Sweetie.

The sun is barely up and sweetie is whispering sexy nothings in my ear like ..."I'm hungry, take me to breakfast." Then the obiligatory nightmare of holiday shopping. 18 stores later, a grand total of about $24 bucks. It's now just after noon. Next is 4 hours in the wet, windy 30s hanging Christmas lights...remind me next year that I'm supposed to check function BEFORE I hang them from the roof. Then I had to take her out to dinner. Then we went food shopping. So now it's 9PM and I ache all over and my feet are still cold. Thank God for work tomorrow.

It was nice that all the kids came to visit the old folks for Thanksgiving. Personally I didn't think my turkey came out as good this year, but my son kept his BDS to an absolute minimum, which was nice. Remember, my libs are of the truly patriotic, pro-military, gun-toting variety...so no worries, mate. They can be just a bit vocal about our leader maximus...as can I. Friday morning I worked for a couple of hours doing a remote BGP install with load-balancing on some routers in NYC....at least I could do it from home and didn't have to drive in. I only kicked myself off the network once for doing something stupid, but that's why I made sure a techie was there. In the afternoon we went to see Harry Potter. My wife thought it was 'darker' than the others (and it was). It was also great and portends the tone of the remaining three books. If I had any complaint, it is that a little teeny-bopper love goes a long way. No elves - thank goodness. I also liked that there was 'macro' magic....big expansive magic covering miles of terrain; filled with pissed off dragons, mermen, and death-eaters. Gots to luv those Beaubaton girls! If my wife thought this movie was dark...wait until the next two come out.

asked me to take her to the voting station. At 101 she is still spry. Still proud she voted for FDR each time he ran, she also told me that in over 75 years of voting Democrat, the only guy that truly disgusted her was Jimmy Carter. Personally, my vote for disgusting democrat would go to the bloated murderer and with BJ coming (sic) in a close second...but I bow to her superior experience.

Great Uncle Leo was in the 3rd Regiment of the New Jersey Volunteers circa 1898. A hundred years later his great great nephew joined the Marines. Lose the face fuzz and we've got a match....check out the ears. Of course this is the same kid that would go over to the Van Gogh exhibit at the MOMA in NYC and stand next to the self-portrait print (with a bandage on his ear).....it played with people's heads.

Too much stuff going on to blog...12-14 hour days getting started at this new job. That, coupled with the total loss of my desktop has made it too difficult at the moment....and I hate working on a laptop. Believe me, I'm a traditionalist. If I could get away with using Windows for Workgroups 3.11...I would. I work on switches and routers that start at $25K and servers that start at twice that... and limp along at home with what I build from bits and pieces. I've got a new box halfway built, but still need a motherboard/chip combo for it. I guess I'll have to finish it. Example: Left Friday morning at 6:30AM for a 2 1/2 hour drive to Bridgeport. Did four hours of work, and then it took 5 hours to get home in summer weekend traffic.

I'm at: 39 56' 45.13" N 74 08' 03.71" W Google Earth It gets a lot closer on the program...you can see what make car I have in the drive....

In fifty years weve gone from teaching Greek and Latin in high school, to teaching Remedial English in college. - Joe Sobran

I took 4 years of French, and 2 years of Latin. Don't remember squat. After reading some laments about the quality of education and hearing some simple question and answer interviews with so-called college graduates, I sat my middle son down and asked him some questions. Arguably he was a late bloomer, caused us heartbreak in middle and high school, but buckled down and graduated from Rutgers with a science/technical degree a few years ago. He is better than me in math and geography...and about 95% in history. He couldn't tell me exactly the year the Civil War started (missed only by a decade), but answered all my other American and World history questions perfectly. English and Literature were never his strong suits, and I asked no questions about that...I wasn't looking for a metrosexual here, I was looking for a basic scientific, mathematical, and historical founding. That he had. I'm sure my others would do as well...all having gone to the same highschool, and probably listening more closely than my wild Irish boy. I'm pleased. And yes, he voted for sKerry.

Thanx to the CEO for the Sobran quote...

We were married 33 years ago today. A fool there was and his goods he spent (Even as you and I!) Honour and faith and a sure intent (And it wasn't the least what the lady meant) But a fool must follow his natural bent (Even as you and I!) This fool is glad to see that things haven't changed since 1897. But I still don't have a clue what she wants.

And yes, I look this beat up. And here is my sweetie...she told me she had a dream that she was Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. I've decided to sleep in the guest room with the door locked....at least until she has a dream that she is the high-end hooker in Firefly. Go here to make your own character.... Thanx to Cowboy Blog for the pointer to Suitably Flip.

Dorothy has added some of her softies to a Halloween crafter forum.... Her first computer posting. She is driving me nuts checking it every few minutes to see who has been looking at it.

Blogging, blogging, we don't need no stinkin' blogging! Especially when Dottie demands the bathroom be redone. Remove wallpaper (gah, what a job) and drop ceiling, repair walls, sheetrock ceiling, taping and finishing, sanding (gag), base and top coat paint (several layers), lighting, shelving, accessories, new floating floor, new molding, new doors.... And we haven't even bought a medicine cabinet, sink and sink base, fixtures, and tub surround yet. She can't decide if she wants the insanely expensive ugly set or the hideously expensive grotesque set. She's looking at sink tops made out of one piece of chipped rock (the cost of a cherry Python) and I'd be happy with a bucket (and the Python). Looks good (for a house built in 1910) so far. Lots of work tho, and I'll be snotting out gypsum dust for a week. In this old house, everything turns into a major project. Stick a molly into a wall that turns out to be 1/4 thick and it won't hold crap...new wall. Pull down a drop ceiling and there is absolutely nothing above it...no ceiling, no studs, no beams, no squat; just the floor of the attic 2 feet above...hours of carpentry before you can even hang rock. Don't even ask me about the windows. I think they were patented in 1873 by Rube Goldberg's father. If she tells me I missed a spot one more time, I'll be blogging from my cell in Rahway. But you know, I doubt a jury of married men would convict me.

While Rachel's dogs hate grackles..The Mooch hates tree rats. Just say the word 'squirrel' and he is up against the back door barking to be let out...those bastards better not be on his patch. Today as I let him out he spotted one of the pests out in the middle of the yard. He chased the beast up into a tree...the wrong tree according to the current inhabitant. This started an squirrel argument that ran from tree to tree, across the roof, and back into trees across the yard, around and around...all followed with great interest by the Mooch. When things quieted down he returned to me with a big shit-eating (squirrel-eating?) grin on his face. He showed those bastards again. One advantage to this for us is a recent lack of ripped up lawn cushions becoming nesting material for tree rats.

Geeeze, it's the end of May and it's 40 degrees out there and windy as hell. It ain't fit weather for cats or squirrels. And still that big bastard drags me out for a walk in the pouring rain. At least the little soft one toweled me down and covered me up on the couch with my pillow and blanket. I need a belly rub. Is it time for dinner? Bleeech!

Sometimes, when the squirrels are slow and the frisbee's thrown low...ya just gotta smile.

One of my students has completed his masterpiece...a waffle iron PC. This thing must be seen to be believed....Bill has too much time on his hands. Click on the thumbnail to see larger pictures...better yet, follow the link above to Bill's site. If you want to be the first guy on the block to have a PC in the shape of a waffle iron...it's for sale. Contact bill at wbatzle@gmail.com

A buddy of mine just called me from Kalifornia. He moved his office around and had lost internet connection. I walked him step by step through setting up his 2000 domain controller in RRAS as a NAT server. I think he was doing the work while in a hot tub with a cellphone in one hand and a margarita in the other...that's usually the state you can find him in. I also think he is the only gay Republican in San Francisco...although occasionally the pressure gets to him and moonbats fly out. Anywho...he is up and on the internet. It didn't take long as he knows his way around a computer, but there were a lot of doobie breaks on his end. Kalifornia...if it wasn't for the gun-grabbers, the moonbats, the commies, the collectivists, the illegals, the mudslides, the forest fires, the gang-bangers, hollywood, and the earthquakes...it'd be a great place to live.

Someone got a grip on the numbers on Dottie's credit card and within the past two days tried to charge nearly $4000 thru internet orders...mainly at shoe and clothing stores. As this is a credit card that rarely gets used (last time was 4 months ago), the card company declined the larger purchases (+$2000) as being outside of our buying habits...but let a total of nearly $900 go through on smaller individual purchaces. Those charges I caught on the same day because I check the card accounts electronically at least once a week. The guys at the card company told me that it appeared to be someone using randomly generated numbers...bullshit. They have either had numbers stolen, or someone got Dot's numbers somehow. You need to know the CVV number on the back of the card to use these things on the Internet nowadays. Well, this made for an interesting afternoon...not the least which was Dottie's reaction to $900 in charges she didn't have the fun of doing herself. She'll get a new card and any untoward charges will be removed.

A good lesson for you out there. You can protect your card and shread your receipts as we do...and someone can still luck onto your numbers and make charges on your card....chances are you might not even notice if they don't go crazy. Do what I do...create an internet account with your card company and bank and check the statement each week....even on accounts you don't use that often. I've got shortcuts set up in my favorites and it takes less than 5 minutes to check the bank and 4 cards.

Today is Dorothy's birthday. Her actual age is a bit fuzzy...mainly because of the concussion I received the last time I mentioned it out loud.

A mop named Oreo who owns my son Pete and his family.... The Mooch and one of his two dozen Frizbees in this awful white stuff that has continuously fallen from the sky since last September....

Yesterday it was 65^o and sunny.... Today it's 25^o and snowing...a March blizzard. I walked the dog at 11AM and it was raining a bit, now it's 3:30PM and we have 3" of snow with 40mph winds. On days like this I wonder about my wife's desire to live where they have 'seasons'. I would think warm white beaches and azure water would be just the ticket. Update: It's Friday the 11th, and it is 65^o and sunny again.

At least down here at the shore. Before