This Is Just Disturbing!...

From today's Dear Abby:

KIDS' ROUGH-AND-TUMBLE GAME POSES THREAT TO TINY GRANDMA

DEAR ABBY: My friend "Nora" was very shaken by something that happened to her recently. While her six grandchildren were visiting, the oldest boy (age 13) shouted, "Let's take her down!" and all six of the children attacked her, knocking her to the ground, then groping and hitting her.

Nora is 73 and only 5 foot 2. Her oldest grandchild is 5 foot 7 and weighs 140 pounds. All of the grandchildren are large for their ages. The youngest, who is 7, weighs well over 70 pounds.

My question is, what can elderly people do to protect themselves? Nora felt helpless. She took the beating because she was afraid if she fought back, she'd be turned in for child abuse. I told her I'd have whacked that 13-year-old monster so hard he'd think twice about ever pulling a stunt like that again.

Now she's afraid of her grandkids because, even though their parents eventually pulled them off her, they did nothing to punish the children for their aggressive behavior. Is there anything older people can do to defend themselves against delinquents? -- SHOCKED IN TOPEKA

EDIT: DEAR ABBY'S REPLY:

DEAR SHOCKED: Are you talking about delinquent children or delinquent parents? Nora's grandchildren were obviously never taught by their parents the importance of behaving respectfully around adults, particularly elderly adults who can be fragile. They could have caused their grandmother serious harm. That the behavior went unpunished is extremely disturbing because if parents don't bother to teach their children right from wrong, their misbehavior could escalate.

..............

that makes me grateful for the raising I had. Until I was 12, my grandparents were literally a mile away. They loved me and I loved them and that contributed to my happy childhood.

Liberia or Bust!

I've added a link to a new blog - Liberia or Bust! My friend Molly K. left yesterday for a two-month mission trip with Mercy Ships. Mercy Ships is a ministry that operates charity hospital ships. Molly is a nurse by trade and will be using her mad skillz to minister in Liberia and Mongolia.

Close, But No Pooch!...

Bad news, gentle readers. No doggie for me today! I got to the HSMO shelter where my prospective dog was, a few minutes after it opened, only to find that another person was already waiting to adopt him. As it is first come, first serve, I found myself out of luck.

I'm disappointed, but it's not the end of the world. I spent the remainder of today touring various shelters and adoption events, undaunted am I.

PoochQuest '07...

looks like the dog I've been looking at at HSMO is still available! so tomorrow I'll be at the shelter as soon as they open to apply for the adoption. I am officially committed to doggie ownership, regardless; I visited my local Petsmart on Wednesday night and invested in a whole cartload of doggie supplies. I have a crate, doggie shampoo, doggie treats, a leash and collar, and some toys. I'll wait to find out what he's been fed at the shelter and continue that diet.

Wish me luck!

iTunes On The Go...

After I received an iPod for Christmas last year, I bought a Griffin iTrip Auto radio transmitter so I could play it in the car. Unfortunately the iTrip doesn't work really well in urban areas where the radio dial is cluttered with many stations. I returned it and hadn't tried anything else since.

Last night i got a hankerin' to try again so i purchased a Monster iCarPlay cassette adapter. After a few volume adjustments, the iCarPlay produced CD-quality crystal clear sound. It's very cool to be able plug in and have most of my CD collection at my fingertips.

Darn the Luck!...

I brushed my teeth really really well, swished with mouthwash, and even FLOSSED for crying out loud! I was all prayed up and psyched up to take on the dentist when....

my car wouldn't start.

Darn the luck! : )

luckily my brother's new office is a short distance away so he came by and jumped me so I could go get the battery replaced.

Tuesday night...

Hello, faithful readers....just a few things tonight.

I have Flickr'd all my pictures from Yahoo! Photos, as Yahoo! Photos is going out of business soon. The transition was seamless. There are a good many more pictures of my kitchen remodel project and my BVI sailing vacation with my family. Looking back on my kitchen remodel from 2 years ago, I am still proud of how it came out.

The dog I want is waiting patiently for me at the HSMO county shelter, he just doesn't know it yet. I can't get off work at all this week so I will have to wait until Saturday....I'm crossing my fingers he'll still be there. I figure if he's still there on Saturday, we're meant to be. I visited him on Sunday and I think he's the one. More details later if I get him! I made a pre-emptive visit to Petsmart tonight to figure out what I'll need.

teeth-cleaning at the dentist first thing tomorrow....ugh..

all is still well with my bro and sis-in-law and baby-to-be. they're preparing to sell their townhouse and scouring the internet daily for new listings.

4th of July Post-Mortem...

I hope everyone's 4th of July was whatever they wanted it to be and more...Both of the gatherings I attended were lots of fun. Some pictures:

A certain co-worker had the most patriotic feet in town!


The spread at the second get-together!
(burgers and dogs/brats are under the blue/red napkins!)


The finale of the fireworks show at Kirkwood Park

I uploaded some more fireworks shots here.

Wildflowers!...

I uploaded some more pictures of yesterday's nature photo shoot/bike ride that I did.

Wildflowers!!!

Meetup.com

The newspaper ran a piece last week about a local volunteer group that formed at Meetup.com. I checked it out and signed up for that group and several other social groups. I'll report on my experience if I ever take part in an event.

TAG!!!!!!!! I'm It...

Bob over at The Four of Clubbs has tagged me with a meme of 8 Random Facts about Yourself.

1) Swing Out Sister is my official Guilty Pleasure.
2) I'm seriously anal about some things.
3) It took me two tries to pass Trigonometry at NMSU/Truman State U.
4) I just took over the task of scheduling the weekly tech help for my worship service at church.
5) Burger King would be my official Guilty Pleasure if SOS wasn't already.
6) I once spent a horrific week working at a Big Don's fireworks warehouse.
7) I became a Christian on the evening of New Year's Day in the year 2000.
8) I lovelovelove red grapes. I have always loved grapes, in general.

A Little Piece Of Heaven...

The St. Louis area weather today was gorgeous, sunny skies with low humidity and a gentle breeze. I took the opportunity to take an early-evening bike ride at nearby Cliff Cave Park. The trail I rode is only a couple of years old and is a really nice trip. It winds through the bottomland of the Mississippi River, with a large corn field on one side and wetland wilderness on the other. Towering above are majestic bluffs with expensive homes looking down from them. Of course, the mighty Mississippi rolls on just to the east. After my ride, I pulled out my camera and spent an hour just taking pictures of the wildflower patches scattered around the park area.

The weekend just passed...

My cousin J visited on Friday night and we enjoyed dinner at Tucker's and "Shrek 3" at the Crestwood Plaza cinema. I thought "Shrek 3" was cute, but not overly amusing.

Saturday, I slept in, got a haircut, worked out at the YMCA, then had lunch before making a trip to the St. Louis City dog pound and Humane Society to peruse their pooches. I applied to become a volunteer dog walker at the city pound. HSMO had 2 male blond golden/lab mixes, one 18 months and the other 3 years old. I'm also considering a 3-4 year old female Walker Hound that Stray Rescue has available.

Barber Roulette...

I started going to a different barbershop a few months ago, as I became dissatisfied with my previous barber. The new shop is a little out of the way but so far it's been worth it. Its 4 chairs are manned by a rotating cast of barbers who work on the "take a number" system. Consequently, I've had 3 different barbers cut my hair since I started going there. So far so good, though. Only thing is you can't say "just give me the usual" when they don't know what "the usual" is. I do believe I will continue to go on Saturdays, though...there was this pretty young female barber working and maybe next time, well, never mind...

It Must Be 4th of July Time...

because my neighborhood sounds like a war zone at night...random POP-POP-POP volleys of Black Cat firecrackers pierce the night air. I'd be annoyed except that they remind me of my childhood.

I have 2 4th of July get-togethers to attend on Wednesday. A co-worker is having a bash at her new place in the city and then I will be off to the party I have gone to for the past several years, hosted by an old friend in Kirkwood.

My Prayers Have Been Answered...

The Spice Girls Reunite For World Tour

(turning flippant mode off, yet again)

Quick Trip to the Hometown...

I had the day off today because I have to cover the night shift this Saturday night. I decided to drive down and check in on the grandparents in Malden. It had been a couple of months, and even though my mom had just been down last week, they hadn't seen ME in a while. I had a nice visit with them and my uncle at his job. My grandpa and I spent some quality time grilling burgers on his Weber kettle for supper. Funny grandpa/grandson moment: his wife left us alone while she went to get some groceries for lunch and supper. I'm not the most talkative person in the world and my grandpa's communication skills have diminished since his stroke so there was a lot of silence but I know he appreciated me being there.

I stopped off and talked to my mom in Festus; I stayed a bit too long because on the way home I ran into a heavy rainstorm that made driving a bit tricky, shall we say. WOW that's an awful feeling, to be so blinded by a rainstorm that you can't tell where you're going. I prayed quickly and thankfully the rain stopped after about 10 minutes.

I arrived home to a nice surprise - my porch pillars were put back in place by the concrete contractor, after 2 weeks. Now, if they would only deliver the dirt to fill in where the concrete forms were....small victories, small victories.

Say Uncle!...

I'd better get used to the idea, because it's going to happen at some point during the first week of 2008! That's right, my bro and sis-in-law are expecting! They actually told my parents and I on the day they introduced us to their puppy a few weeks ago. We were ordered to keep quiet for a few more weeks until the pregnancy was a little further along. This will mean a bigger house for them, certainly, because their little townhouse isn't quite big enough for them, a dog, and a baby.

(kmom: if you haven't heard this from my Mom yet, you certainly will shortly, so act appropriately surprised when you get the news, mmmkay? Thanks! : ))

This was the significant announcement previously advertised. No Paris Hilton-related news, I'm afraid.

Significant Announcement coming...

Stay tuned for a Significant Announcement coming tomorrow in this space.

Weekend plans...

1) sleep late!
2) have a leisurely breakfast
3) bathe self
4) replace burned-out switch that controls my outside electrical outlet and post light
5) continue quest for the perfect pooch for me, the usual adoption events, plus HSMO and APAMO
6) try to find a copy of the new Polyphonic Spree record
7) refrain from cutting grass because it hasn't rained in a couple of weeks!
8) take in the Ambassadors of Harmony spring show at the TouPAC in the evening
9) Sunday church
10) Sunday relax in the afternoon
11) Sunday evening prepare for the week

The Visionary...

Below I have embedded my friend Ben Muehleisen's entry into the recent St. Louis 48 Hour Film Project 2007. Ben gathered up a group of friends to write, film, and produce a short film in the space of 48 hours. This film makes more sense if you know that: all films had to mention "entomologist" (a bug person), the phrase "don't look now, we may have trouble!", the names "Ryan Coccinelle" or "Rita Coccinelle" and had to have a doll as a prop; all these among other things that I can't remember. Sadly, Ben's film didn't make the top 15 films, but it was a worthy entry nonetheless. Enjoy!

Happy Father's Day!!!...

Haven't truly updated in a while, so here goes...

My home-improvement projects for the year are now done. My basement is waterproofed with two inside cracks sealed and an outside drainage system installed. I also had my driveway and front porch torn out and replaced. With these projects have come the inevitable inconveniences; the waterproofers plugged something into my outside electrical outlet that broke it and the post light wired into it. Hopefully that will get resolved this week. I also can't drive on the new driveway until Wednesday at the earliest so I'm parking in my front yard.

I hope all my readers appreciated their fathers appropriately today. I hosted a late afternoon dinner for my folks and bro/sis-in-law. Speaking of the bro/sis-in-law, they adopted a German Shorthaired Pointer pup named Ruby a few weeks ago and they brought her along. This pup is a female, 11 months old and weighs 45 pounds. As a typical GSP pup, she is full of energy and always ready to play. She is a handful but a lot of fun to have around. I can see she's a bit too young and active for my lifestyle so I definitely will shoot for a 2+ year old dog when I adopt a pooch.

(EDIT: whenever I think of Ruby, I automatically hear Kenny Rogers singing "Ruby, don't take your love to town" in my mind. creepy!)

(EDIT #2: Unfortunately Ruby had to be returned to the breeder from whence she came, due to allergy problems she inflicted on her new owners. : ( (6/27/07)

Congratulations to my friends J and G, married yesterday!

Understatement of the Century!!!...

From ABC News comes this quote from the unfortunate Miss Hilton:

"I used to act dumb"


a masterpiece of understatement.

Gettin' The Funk Out ON SESAME STREET!!...

Indulge me another YouTube post--I couldn't believe what I came across today..Stevie Wonder dropping a serious funk bomb on Sesame Street in 1972. Un-believable. On Sesame Street!

Didn't Talk To Anyone!...

I had the day off yesterday because I work on Saturday this week. Something very odd happened - I managed to go the entire day without speaking to anyone. Not a single soul! I stayed in most of the morning, made a trip to Home Depot for a new hose nozzle (self check-out), cleaned up my grill, bagged up several bags of yard waste, made a trip to the grocery for hamburgers/hot dogs (again self-check out), then did my usual evening bike ride. Through all that I didn't talk to anyone.

has anyone else had a day like that before?

Out Of The Mouth Of Moon Man...

During tonight's Cardinals-Reds game, Reds outfielder Norris Hopper (great name!) was lackadaisical in his pursuit of a fly ball hit in foul territory, so when the next Cardinals batter hit a ball in his direction, he was, shall we say, more focused. Or, according to broadcaster Mike Shannon, "he dove for that one like it was the last bar of soap at the Y[MCA]!!"

he was in a rather jovial mood tonight, for some reason.

The infamous Tim Conway elephant story...

One of the funniest bits on the infomercial for the Carol Burnett Show DVDs is the scene with Tim Conway telling a story about an elephant that breaks up the cast. Someone has posted the entire scene on YouTube complete with an outtake so you can now see....the rest of the story.

Boy, Are My Legs Tired...

I've taken an early summer break from my community chorus this year and for the last couple of Tuesday nights, I've done evening bike rides on the nearby Grant's Trail. I managed to do about 12 miles round-trip in about an hour; the last half-mile I rode pretty hard. My legs are definitely feeling it this morning.

I am taking the doggie Behavior and Training 101 class at the Humane Society this evening. It's designed for dog owners, but they say it's good for prospective dog owners as well.

Memorial Day 2007...

was pretty much a pretty perfect day, time-wise. I had "me" time in the morning, a sizable chunk of the afternoon with my parents, and the evening with friends at two different BBQ gatherings. Perfect ending to the day - a rousing game of Taboo, which produced much laughter.

The local CW television affiliate ran a marathon of "Cheers" episodes; that show was definitely one of a kind, one of the funniest, smartest shows ever produced.

News of the Weird...

One of the stranger "News of the Weird" items to come down the pike lately:

Fake police officers have graced News of the Weird (most recently in 2006) for pulling motorists over for officious scoldings on traffic safety, but a March 20 stop in Boca Raton, Fla., by an imitation, off-duty sheriff's deputy was special. He was riding with his girlfriend when he decided to stop a discourteous motorist, and when a real cop later showed up, the "deputy" was revealed to be not a cop and also not a "he." Rachel Otto, 21, wore her hair short on top and shaved on the sides, and her outing as a woman apparently shocked the girlfriend, who had been living with Otto for a week. Police said Otto's rap sheet included nine arrests for impersonating police officers. (Palm Beach Post, 3-21-07)

A cop impersonator who is also a male impersonator...that's just strange!

It's Gettin' To Be A Desperate Situation...

The Baseball Birdos can feel the season slipping away...they lost 2 of 3 to the lowly Washington Nationals this weekend. Their kid pitcher hasn't won since last season and was demoted to the minors today. Who takes his spot in the rotation? None other than a pitcher whom the lowly KC Royals cast off earlier this month and who also has never started a game in his career.

"I don't even know, but we like the possibilities, so he gets it," says the intrepid manager LaRussa. Translation: "we don't know what else to do so we'll try anything, at this point."

It Was Inevitable, Wasn't It?...

This afternoon we learn that the recently-decesased-unfortunately Josh Hancock's family is suing Mike Shannon's restaurant, the unfortunate motorist and tow truck company who was assisting said motorist. They feel the restaurant's bar shouldn't have kept serving him drinks, the motorist is negligent for allowing his car to stall in the far left lane of traffic, and the tow truck driver should have moved his car out of the way sooner than he did.

(shaking my head wearily)

On The Level...

JORDIN SPARKS IS THE NEW AMERICAN IDOL!!!!...

And John Matlock yawned...

Where's That Phone?

I realized today how dependent I am on my cell phone. After finishing the aforementioned business, I was driving across the street to get a haircut when I got paged to call into work. OHNOWHERE'SMYPHONE? At home on the table where I left it. I had to drive all the way home to answer the page.

But I SO Wanted To Prove My Citizenship!...

So my lil' red Mazda6 passed its safety and emissions inspections with flying colors. I proceeded to the DOR license office to do the renewal. I had all the supporting paperwork that the Show Me Proof law required to verify my citizenship. So what happened? The unsmiling clerk immediately handed me back my passport and recent utility bill! She verified the inspections, insurance, and property tax receipts, then collected my 2-year renewal fee (because I SO DO NOT WANT TO DO THIS AGAIN NEXT YEAR) and sent me on my way with two shiny 09 stickers.

I feel ripped off, somehow.

Potentially Shamed By The Shuffle...

(I'm off work today because a crew from Helitech is scheduled to seal a couple of cracks in my basement walls and it's also time for the all-day experience of renewing my car's license plates. Thanks to the new Show Me Proof law I had to gather up: my passport, 2 years of property tax receipts, a social security card and a recent utility bill. What, no note from my mommy?)

Today's inspiration comes from Sarah Lane, she of the "The Screen Savers," a popular show on the old ZDTV/TechTV network. She stayed on for a while after G4 swallowed up TechTV but has since moved on and is doing other things. She copied another blogger's idea of writing about the first ten songs that come up when I put my iPod on shuffle. Now I copy that idea and here, dear readers, is my list:

First Song: "Coracão Vagabundo (My Vagabond Heart)" - Karrin Allyson

Karrin Allyson is one of my very favorite jazz vocalists. The native of Great Bend, Kansas sang in Minneapolis and Kansas City before making her jump to New York City a few years back. This song is from her 1999 CD of Brazilian and French standards, "From Paris to Rio." She sings Portuguese and French lyrics with equal aplomb and she really shines on this CD.

Second Song: "Strays" - Hem

Ah, yes. From "Eveningland" comes this simple song about marriage and settling down. The song's protagonist remembers dalliances with old flames and looks forward to his wedding where he will "teach them not to stray."

Third Song: "I'm So Glad Jesus Lifted Me" - Dave Boyer with the Ralph
Carmichael Big Band

A stellar 1995 release from the old Brentwood Jazz record label. I bought this during my college years when I still bought CDs at Christian book stores. Dave Boyer is a Nashville-area jazz vocalist who never quite hit the big time. Ralph Carmichael is a legend of Gospel music who has written many chestnuts of the church choir repertoire. Put the two artists together with a swingin' big band and you get a very listenable set of jazzy gospel music. Carmichael's arrangement of this old gospel standard is really great. Out of print, unfortunately.

Fourth Song: "A Different Kind Of Light" - The 77s

This is from The 77s' "Echoes O' Faith" concert in 1992, released on CD in 1996. It was recorded during the "unplugged" craze that hit the music business about that time. The song was one of the first they ever recorded as a band back in the early 1980s when they had dreams of teenage stardom. The lyrics are simple and could've been written by a new Christian.

Fifth Song: "Keep Your Monster On A Leash" - Tower Of Power

TOP was preaching anger management way back in 1991 on their CD of the same name. Serious message, but a cheesy, almost comical execution of lyrics and song.

Sixth Song: "Worry About You" - Ivy

Simple song; the singer worries about her lover while he's gone. The music is pure Ivy; an acoustic guitar accompanies the verses, a thumping bass track bridges them, and a dreamy synth-pop vibe pervades the chorus. Luscious, delicious ear candy.

Seventh Song: "There You Are" - Lost Dogs

Was it Yogi Berra who first uttered the immortal phrase "no matter where you go, there you are?" I don't know but the Lost Dogs take it and turn into a metaphor for the wayward Christian. "No matter where you you go, still there you are/you can run but God's love won't be denied."

Seventh Song: "Airstream" - Pat Metheny Group

This ballad from "American Garage" is all about the 70s sound for me. It would have been all over smooth-jazz radio if there had been such a thing in 1979. The ECM Records stamp is all over this track, pastoral and understated.

Eighth Song: "ValGreen" - Fold Zandura

Jyro Xhan's classic paen to a lost lover. The song is a musical mix of his former band Mortal's synthy industrial sound and mid-1990s alternative grunge. Jyro's vocals on this track are at once emotive and heartbreaking.

Ninth Song: "Shucks" - Bill Frisell

This is a track from the jazz guitarist's countrified album "Nashville". I must have heard a song from it on the radio which would have prompted me to buy it. This album finds Frisell collaborating with many of Music City's finest pickers and it's a delight to listen to. Notable also for his version of Neil Young's "One Of These Days," nicely sung by Robin Holcombe.

Tenth Song: "Intermission At The Wonderama" - Randy Stonehill

Stonehill collaborated with old friend Terry Taylor on a Beatles-esque song cycle called "Wonderama" in 1992. Brave souls, these, releasing an album like this to the Christian music market. I bought this CD after hearing the its signature song, "Great Big Stupid World" on my local Christian music radio station. The announcer came on after the song was done and begrudgingly announced the song title and artist. I knew it was a CD I had to own, like, immediately. This track is a classical string quartet piece meant to evoke, what else, an intermission. The crowd noise under the music is a nice touch.

Useless Knowledge, Courtesy of Wikipedia...

DID YOU KNOW...

that the actor who played Mr. Bentley on "The Jeffersons" was the same actor who played the creepy number painter guy on Sesame Street? See for yourself:

OK, so I couldn't find any pictures of Harry Bentley from "The Jeffersons", but IT'S THE SAME GUY, I promise!

**EDIT** - All of the old "Mad Painter" episodes from Sesame Street are available on YouTube; go to this link for some real nostalgia!

Bliss....

Covering the night man's vacation at work tonight, so what else to do but blog?

Today was the annual year-end picnic for my Monday night bible class. The weather was beyond perfect, with abundant sunshine and good friends, food, and fellowship. At this picnic we:


grilled out lots of raw red meat

played tennis

threw the frisbee
played volleyball

and just generally hung out!

What kind of pitch was that?...

The St. Louis Cardinals offense may be floundering, but their broadcasters are already in mid-season form. Jon Rooney uttered this gem tonight, describing a pitch from Cardinals pitcher Kip Wells to Dodgers batter Nomar Garciaparra:

"Garciaparra swings and misses! He went after one that was up, up, and away. That was a 5th Dimension slider..."

Watch out for those stray lightning bolts!...

A couple of pastors from my church were out golfing recently and had a near-miss from a stray lightning bolt. Read and watch their story here:

2 local pastors survive lightning strike without injury.

the well-meaning reporter got the name of the church wrong, transposing the second and third words. Also, the man on the left named Kevin is the pastor of the Quest worship service I am part of.

The new TV commercials for Liberty Mutual...

again feature one of my favorite bands, Hem. They were commissioned to write a new song for the new ad campaign. Here's a link to the commercial:

Why Responsibility?

The full song can be found here.

Eva Cassidy...

While I was at YouTube enjoying the Eva Clubbs 5th Birthday Multimedia Extravaganza, I noticed that someone had posted some performances by the late singer Eva Cassidy.

I discovered Eva Cassidy a few years back while listening to our local community radio station KDHX 88.1 FM . Her voice is truly captivating and unique and could handle almost any style of music. She performed as an undiscovered talent in the Washington D.C. area until cancer took her life in 1996. Readers, you owe it to yourself to at least hop over to iTunes or Rhapsody and check her out. Much of her music was released independently and only became widely available after her death. In particular, her rendition of "Over The Rainbow" is a real tear-jerker and spine-tingler.


Witness her wistful rending of "Autumn Leaves"

Five Things You Love and Five Things You're not So Fond Of...

This was the designated "icebreaker" at the supper gathering I attended at church last evening. I discussed my list with a guitar player whom I didn't know so well.

Five Things I Love (The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were assumed)

(I don't remember all of what I told him, as it was spur of the moment, off the top of my head--this is a mentally-revised list)

1) My mom's cooking
2) Jazz music
3) an early Spring day with a cobalt-blue, cloudless sky, no humidity and abundant sunshine.
4) hiking
5) the smell of my dad's woodshop

Five Things I'm Not So Fond Of

1) talk radio
2) abject hate, in any form and the people who spread it
3) whiny people who are never satisified
4) politicians
5) traffic jams

Walk Between the Raindrops If You Can...

The Adam Again song is certainly true for the past few days. A mini-monsoon season has descended upon the St. Louis area. It has been raining off and on, more or less, since Tuesday. I don't want to hear any more talk about a drought, mmmmkay?

I had yesterday off because I have to cover the Saturday shift tomorrow. I got my crown put on, thus ending the Saga of the Troublesome Tooth which began back on April 9. Later I caught up on e-mail and had lunch at home, then made a tour of the Humane Society branches in the afternoon. The Humane Society of Missouri has 3 branches in St. Louis--the main office in the city, one in the northwest suburbs, and their newest one in the Boone's Crossing area of Chesterfield. I intended to talk to an adoption counselor, but was satisfied with just window-shopping the doggies. One conclusion I made was that there are a lot of black lab-mix dogs in the world. I saw a black lab-chow mix, a black lab-setter mix, and a couple of black lab-rottweiler mixes. I saw a couple of "maybe" dogs. The Animal Protective Association of Missouri also has a local shelter that I want to check out. The day ended with a supper gathering at church for the worship and tech team members who serve in my worship service at church.

The Cardinals put the Josh Hancock mess to rest, at least ceremonially, yesterday. Hancock's death is a certifiable tragedy in more ways than one. The media has outlined them all in-depth so I won't go any further with that. The team's collective mind was obviously somewhere else during this week's series in Milwaukee, as the Brew Crew mopped their floor with our Bird waste. Maybe we've hit bottom early, so we have nowhere to go but up, however, the season's definitely in jeopardy and Tony LaRussa will cement his Hall of Fame resume if he can bring this season back from the brink.

Only in NY...

From Overheard in New York - not a website I would frequent but I followed a link to it from another blog...mostly racy but some amusing content, such as the following:

Yuppie girl #1: Last night I actually had to tie Dave's tie for him.
Yuppie girl #2: Dave, please be more inept.
Yuppie girl #1: I know. It's sad. Where the [heck] would guys be without us girls?
Middle-aged man: Still in the Garden of Eden....

--Penn Station

No Joy In Cardinal Nation...

As if our season hadn't already started off on the wrong foot, now we' ve got to deal with another death in the family. Shades of DK!!!

R.I.P. Josh Hancock.

He was born in 1978, same as my brother. That sends a few chills down my spine. My parents and I had just been to the game last Wednesday night, though Hancock didn't pitch then. Predictably, tributes of all shapes and sizes have begun to appear at the gates of Busch Stadium. The 9:00 local news interviewed several tearful fans who mourned as they would for an actual blood relative.

On a happier note, I took part in my first trivia night last evening. Some friends of mine from bible study regularly participate in trivia nights and needed a fill-in. I had never been to a trivia night before so I accepted their invitation just for the experience, if nothing else. It was a fun night overall but my team finished in 6th place out of 32 teams. If it were a NASCAR race you'd say we "finished back in the pack." I answered a few questions but wasn't spectacular. What was amusing was the passion that people show for their trivia. I had no idea.

I was in a carpool with my friends, since the trivia night was up in Alton, Illinois and we all stopped by a "garden party" hosted by another friend from bible study...it made for a late night so I didn't get to bed till after 1 a.m.

This year's home improvements have been planned. I'll be getting a ground water drainage system installed around the front of my house's foundation and also will get two cracks in my basement walls sealed up. After that, my driveway and front porch will be torn out and re-constructed. These should be my last major expenditures for a while.

I blew the dust off my other blog...

Don't look now, but my other blog has just been updated. My podcast software has yet to be re-installed so I won't do a podcast of it just yet.

Changes under the hood...

One of the things I did during my vacation last week was order up some parts to upgrade my computer at home. It had been 5 years since my last upgrade so it was time. I debated whether to buy a new pre-built system from Dell or use my mad computer tech skillz to perform a DIY upgrade. I have done the latter every time I have needed an upgrade so that's the route I chose this time. The parts arrived on Saturday and I performed successful upgrade surgery before leaving for the concert at UMSL.

(which, by the way, was AWESOME. The Gordon Goodwin Big Phat Band is stocked full of the best Los Angeles studio players and they were at the top of their game. I hope they had fire extinguishers handy because they durn near set the place on fire!)

I started from scratch with a fresh load of Windows XP and all the programs that I use. I only had a couple of minor glitches when the new system board suddenly began short circuiting, due to its coming in contact with metal in the computer case. That meant it would power on for a few seconds, then power off. A few minor adjustments solved that problem.

For anyone who's interested here's my new setup:

ASUS M2N-E Socket AM2 system board
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (2.01ghz) dual-core energy efficient CPU
1GB Crucial DDR-2 RAM (512 MB x2)
Thermaltake 430-watt power supply
WD CaviarSE 160GB SATA2-300 hard drive
Gigabyte NVIDIA GeForce 7300GS PCI-E graphics card (512MB RAM - 256MB onboard)

(all from mwave.com)

I kept my Plextor CD writer and Sony CD-ROM drive along with my 80GB IDE hard drive. The Sony CD-ROM is attached to the on-board IDE and I have a SIIG Ultra-ATA 133 PCI controller card running the other two drives. I also kept my Dell flat-panel LCD.

The new system is really, really fast. The few video games that I play look fabulous and run much more smoothly. I can finally run iTunes with my iPod in real time. My digital photo processing should be much faster as well. This should do me for at least another 5 years! : )

................

on a completely unrelated note, it really stinks to get to work and find that you left your lunch sack at home on your kitchen counter! *EDIT* it turns out I left it in my car, not at home.

OK, I admit it...

I cheated on my barber today. I haven't been getting consistently good cuts lately so I tried out a different shop and was pleased with the result. Sure, it costs a dollar more and I missed the "take a number" dispenser at the entrance but I think I'll be going back.

Just Don't Buy Stuff...

very funny SNL skit starring Steve Martin

Snl_dontbuystuff
Uploaded by shosterman

Ironic...

I bought a new lunch sack at Kmart today. I kid you not, the name "California Innovations" is plastered all over it, and this is what was printed in small type on a tag I pulled off of it:

"Designed and imported by CALIFORNIA INNOVATIONS INC., Toronto, Canada"

and this was the kicker:

"MADE IN CHINA"

so I now own a lunch sack with a brand name of California Innovations, which was designed in and imported from Canada and manufactured in China.

Ironic!

Friday...

Been on vacation this week. I've been trying to take it nice and easy whenever possible. The weather has been wonderful all week. I got in a nice bike ride on Monday and a hike on Tuesday (my birthday!) I packed a lunch and headed for one of my favorite destinations, the flood plain prarie along the Meramec River, off the Chubb Trail. I sat under a shade tree for a couple of hours and caught up on some reading in the peaceful stillness. Wednesday I made an inquiry about a certain dog I had my eye on at the Humane Society...turns out the dog is a bit of a problem child so I think I'll pass. I did figure out that I need to do some more homework on choosing and living with a dog so off to the library I went. I checked out some books and am getting some good tips.

(Aside: At dinner with my parents and bro/sis-in-law Tuesday night my sis-in-law recommended a book entitled "Marley and Me" by John Grogan. I had seen it at the bookstore but didn't pick it up. It is the story of a rambunctious Labrador retriever adopted as a puppy by the author and his wife and how he impacted their lives. I found it at my local library the next day. I highly recommend it to anyone, not just dog lovers. It is one of the best books I have ever read. You truly will laugh and cry. The author is a journalist by profession and he writes in a delicious narrative style.)

Yesterday my mom and I made a quick trip to Malden to see my grandparents. My grandpa is slowly but surely recovering from his stroke. His immediate goal is to trade his walker for a cane. He continues outpatient physical therapy twice a week. He looks great, such that if you didn't know of his recent past you'd never suspect a thing. I hope and pray that he continues to improve as the months go on. On the way, we stopped to visit his twin brother who is himself recovering from heart surgery.

The great St. Louis book fair is happening this weekend and I am going tomorrow with some friends to check out this year's offerings. Tomorrow night I'll be checking out Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band in concert at the Touhill PAC at UMSL.

Arthur Branch for President?

Actor Fred Thompson, currently starring in the "Law and Order" crime drama has picked up his first endorsement for President in 2008. From whom, you ask? None other than Missouri Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder.

So the question I have as a result of this is, "who cares that the lieutenant governor of Missouri has endorsed anyone?" I don't understand a lot of politics but this one is a head-scratcher. To me this endorsement is comparable to the average call to a sports radio call-in show. "Uhhhh, OK! Thanks for calling, appreciate your opinion! Next caller...."

Bill McClellan of the P-D wrote a great column about this topic.

Too moderate for their tastes...

The Missouri Baptist Convention has given the "YOU'RE FIRED!" treatment to their (former) executive director David Clippard. The party line blathers on about his leadership style and temperament but the I believe he was too moderate and sensible for the conservatives' liking. You don't play ball with the Baptists, they'll give you (and/or your church) the boot.

................

Had a nice visit last night with my Uncle John, who resides in Florida with his wife and is rarely seen in these parts. We broke bread at Tucker's with my parents and Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Jim. Uncle J. was here on a return bratwurst run to Hermann, MO after staying there while in town for my brother's wedding a couple of years ago. He will spend today in my dad's basement wood shop building a shipping crate for a miter saw he bought through my dad last fall. He returns to warmer weather tomorrow.

Because I Was A Teenage Boy Once...

It Fell Into A Burnin' Ring Of Fire!!...

Say it ain't so! Johnny and June Carter Cash's former home in Hendersonville, Tennessee was destroyed by fire yesterday. Former Bee-Gee Barry Gibb had bought the home and was renovating it. Bad timing: The interior and exterior walls had just been coated with a flammable preservative.

The songs that were written and the singers and songwriters that passed through that house!! So much history gone up in smoke!

A real shame.

Root Canal City...

paid another visit there this afternoon.

'Nuff said.

Another disagreeable Monday...

My Monday started off with painful jolt around 2:30 in the morning today - toothache city! It's the tooth I had filled back in January. Hopefully it's just a cracked filling...the worst thing is I couldn't get back to sleep! I remember feeling something as I was I was wolfing down my Mom's Easter ham at dinner yesterday. My date with the dentist is today at 2:30, ironically.

(incidentally, why couldn't God have made our teeth indestructible or at least self-maintaining? Would that have been so hard while he was speaking the universe into being back in the day?)

and...it wouldn't be a Monday in my world if a hard drive didn't fail somewhere in the world. Another one crashed today, this time just a clerk's computer, not nearly as important as last week's winner. This one is no problem to recover from.

Cardinals...back to reality...

Jeff Gordon said it best about the '07 Cardinals and their 0-3 record:

"So what concerns you the most about the Cardinals, their poor hitting, spotty pitching or sloppy defense?"

The season's only 3 games old but there is cause for concern.

Thursday, and someone turned off the heater...

Ah, nothing like a nice April cold snap reality jolt, after a couple of weeks of Spring warmth!

I had a good day off yesterday. I slept in and puttered around the house in the morning. After lunch I drove out to Castlewood State Park to check out the blooming foliage on the trees. I hiked the trail on the bluffs and through the bottomland of the Meramec River for a couple of blissful hours. In the evening I took in a great jazz concert at the Sheldon - Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau. Metheny's guitar and Mehldau's piano melded together in a series of satisfying, creative duets. They were joined on several numbers by Mehldau's trio mates, drummer Jeff Ballard and bassist Larry Grenadier. The four musicians played songs from their two recent CDs. The $50 balcony ticket price was a little steep but definitely worth it to see musicians of this caliber.

The hard drive saga from Monday appears to have come to a happy conclusion. I had a message this morning from the data recovery company and they said they were able to make a full recovery of the data. This is good news.

Mondays Should Come With A Liability Waiver...

...that was the punchline in a recent "Frazz" comic strip and boy, did it ever apply to my day. There's an old Willie Nelson song that is goes, "the last thing I needed the first thing this morning was to have you walk out on me." Well, the last thing I needed first thing this morning was to have a critical manager's computer walk out on her. Or rather, to have its hard drive walk out on it. When my VP walked in to our office area and asked that someone go down and "get her computer to boot!!" I happened to be at my desk and, true to my fireman's nature, went to check out the fire. My heart sank when I heard the ominous, telltale, "clunk clunk" from inside her computer. Despite my best rescue attempts, I could not save it. I have shipped it to a local data recovery company in hopes that they can save her data. Oh, by the way, she had nothing backed up to a server so this would be a bad loss. A user losing an entire hard drive is like a boxer getting hit below the belt...computer techs take it personally.

That coupled with the usual Monday flurry of calls made for a stressful day. The fact were down one day tech and one evening tech didn't help matters any. There's a part of me that wishes I'd stayed in bed and extended the weekend a day. There's another part of me that reminds the other part that days like today are part of the business I chose to be in and these days are going to happen, so get through it and get on with it. I'm taking Wednesday off (because I have to work Saturday this week) so there's a bit of a breather coming soon.

What We Need Is A Little Humor!...

Since it's dark, raining, and all-around gloomy this morning and I've already dealt with 2 computers exhibiting Monday-type behavior on a Friday, I feel the need for a little humor injection.
.......................
Two peanuts walk into a bar, and one was a salted.

A jumper cable walks into a bar. The bartender says, "I'll serve you but don't start anything!"

A sandwich walks into a bar. The bartender says, "Sorry, we don't serve food here!"

A dyslexic man walks into a bra.

Why was the ant so confused? All his uncles were ants!

Why was the archaeologist so depressed? His career was always in ruins!


And for all you politics fans out there:

Deja Moo: The distinct feeling that you've heard all this bull before.
.........................

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Weekender...

I hope the weather where you are was as pleasant as it was here this weekend! I took advantage of the sunny skies and mid-60s temperatures yesterday. A new section of Grant's Trail opened late last fall but I never got a chance to ride it. I took a couple of hours yesterday afternoon and rode it all the way to the end. It formerly stopped at the northern edge of Grant's Farm but now extends through the suburbs of Crestwood and southern Kirkwood. A really nice ride! I got in a little head start on the spring yardwork after I got back.

Any March Madness folks out there? This year's field of 64 has been assembled. Illinois and SIU-Carbondale made it in but Mizzou never had a chance. They left their game in Columbia and got embarrassed by the Baylor Bears in their first conference tournament game. If the NIT comes calling, I'd turn them down based on that sorry effort.

Yes, DST came early this year but I'm not complaining. I think I welcome the extra hour of daylight. It's not officially spring for a few mores weeks but as the song says, it might as well be spring...

I submitted my taxes a couple of weeks ago; my refunds are essentially the same as in previous years. I have the funds earmarked for some exterior home improvements and maybe a new computer this year.

Supper...

Birthday meme...

Following the lead of DCBrownie, I have queried Wikipedia and found the following correlations to my birthday, April 17:

Events
1937 - Daffy Duck debuts in Warner Bros.' short "Porky's Duck Hunt."
1964 - The Ford Motor Company unveils the Ford Mustang at the New York World's Fair.
1973 - Federal Express delivers its first package.

Birthdays
1972 - Gary Bennett, American baseball player (current backup catcher for my St. Louis Cardinals)
1974 - Victoria Beckham (aka Posh Spice), English singer

Death
1790 - Benjamin Franklin, American inventor, diplomat, and printer (b. 1706)

Holiday
Feast Day of Saint Stephen Harding (d. 1134), Christian saint and monastic abbot, one of the founders of the Cistercian Order

Latest Evidence of the Decline of Western Civilization...

I noticed this when I was in my local Borders store on Saturday. All I could do was smile and shake my head in amazed disbelief/amusement....I kid you not, a self-help book has been developed into A BOARD GAME!


Oh. My. Gosh. Who would dare show up at a game night with this? Would you take it to a party? ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!! Read all about it here.

Now That's Hockey!...

From Dan O'Neill's "Hit and Run"column today:

Gotta love the way Anaheim Ducks general manager Brian Burke described Brad May after he acquired May from Colorado last week. Burke told the Orange County Register: "He's tougher than a night in jail."

Ever seen a walking birthday cake?

Little Abigail Breslin was the sentimental favorite but didn't win - her co-star oldie Alan Arkin did, though

What happens on the dance floor...

...stays on the dance floor. The scene from Saturday night's BSF Winter Semi-Formal:


I busted a few moves, yes. Shattered them, actually. Disclaimer: This wasn't an "official" BSF social event, just a yearly tradition we organize among ourselves.

Me on a snowmobile!

I finally got hold of my dad's pictures from the snowmobile tour we took on our fourth day of our Colorado vacation. This was the most enjoyable part of the vacation for me! Here's me solo, and me with my mom riding backseat.

An Invisible Man Married An Invisible Woman...

Their kids were nothing to look at.

Pictures...

I finally posted some vacation pictures at Flickr....check them out!

Bald Britney...

[WE TEMPORARILY LOWER THE IQ OF THIS BLOG IN ORDER TO BRING YOU THE FOLLOWING POST ABOUT BRITNEY SPEARS. I PROMISE IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN.]

OK, so Miss Spears does one night in a Caribbean drug rehab, overnights it back to Hollywood where she promptly shaves her own noggin clean and adds to her body art collection.

She's over the edge, folks. Look down into the deep end and you'll find her swimming around it in it. I think the star-making celebrity machine has officially chewed her up and spit her out.

Here's hoping someone intervenes and saves her before it's too late.

Or maybe it is too late.

Me On Skis, The End...

In retrospect, I'm really glad I was able to go on this vacation to Colorado. The long drives to and from and the air mattress I had to sleep on were really minor inconveniences. My ski school experience went just about as I thought it would. This year was all about learning and if I ever come back I imagine I'll have more fun. : ) The most satisfying parts of the trip were the many photo opportunities I had and the snowmobile tour at the end of the week.

Would I go again? Absolutely. Who wouldn't? It was a good vacation and a good way to get away from the daily routine. Did the skiing push me way out of my comfort zone? You bet. I should get out of there more often.

This trip worked largely because of the company I was with. My parents talked up this trip relentlessly and encouraged me during the ski school. They couldn't wait for me to see the mountains. The other couple on the trip were easy to travel and live with. They'd done this vacation for several years prior and they had the daily routine planned out so all I had to do was go with the flow.

They say I need to come back in the summer time for hiking and biking...I hope it's sooner rather than later!

Homeward (Snow) Bound...

Our traveling party left our condo in the pre-dawn darkness of Friday for the trip home. It was snowing moderately as we entered I-70 eastbound. Traveling through the mountains on a snowy interstate is no one's idea of a good time, obviously! : ) Most eerie was that the interstate was closed at the Eisenhower Tunnel so a line of trucks carrying hazardous materials could go through first. The snow continued as the sky became lighter and lighter. Not until Denver did it let up. We headed into Kansas after a breakfast stop in Limon, Colorado.

The drive was uneventful until the sky turned ominously gray about a half hour west of Topeka. Sure enough, we drove into an ice/snow squall that slowed traffic considerably. My dad was driving and grimly noted "we'll have to adjust our ETA." Spun-out cars and semi-trucks began appearing randomly on the road. Traffic finally came to a dead halt for about 30 minutes while a bad accident was cleared. Eventually we started moving and the ice/snow tapered off as we drove throuth Topeka.

The rest of the trip was a white-knuckle navigation down I-70 into Kansas City and throughout Missouri. The highway was alternately ice and snow packed and snow was blowing fiercely, which slowed our speed down to 35-45 mph. Thus a 3.5 hour trip from KC to St. Louis became more like 6 hours. It was nerve-wracking but we made it.

Me on a Snowmobile...

On Thursday we took a two-hour snowmobile tour of some of the beautiful wilderness of Colorado. We caught our ride in a nearby town and headed up into the back country. The van dropped us off at a base camp where we put on helmets and boots and got the required safety briefing. My dad reserved four snowmobiles for our group, which meant my mom rode piggyback on my snowmobile. The tour was guided so we wouldn't get lost on the trails. I had a blast navigating through some of the most beautiful wilderness I'd ever experienced. This feeling was mutual among the other members of our group. Unfortunately, my driving kept me from taking pictures but my dad did manage to get some, which are still on his camera. I will post some when I get copies.

We didn't get to do any snowshoeing because of the way the snowmobiling was timed. I did get in a nice afternoon hike on the bike trail that borders Lake Dillon. That evening we had a nice meal out at a local restaurant then packed up for the trip home.

The picture of above was taken from the snowmobile base camp after our tour ended. I also snapped a couple of pictures of Cooper the camp dog. He'll be in my Flickr set of pictures.

Me On Skis, Part Three...

[Now I'm back to creating posts in retrospect. I didn't have time to pre-compose any further postings]

Wednesday concluded my ski school experience. I got the same instructor that I had on Tuesday, luckily. He said we would warm up on the hill we had skied on previously and would graduate to the big chair lift if we appeared ready to ski a bigger hill. In my heart I knew I wasn't ready and was already planning to stay on the smaller hill if given the choice. As fate would have it, (or maybe God planned it? : ) ) the platter lift on the smaller hill was broken so we had no choice but to graduate. I rolled off the big chair lift and fell to the ground but the operator pulled me out of the way before I got hit by the chair behind me : ) Finally skiing a real downhill slope was a huge challenge for me, mentally. The instructor knew it would be for the whole group so we did it in little bits at a time! The hill wasn't any steeper than what we had practiced on, just longer and dotted with pine trees. I did it, slowly, but I did it! I fell a few times but again, didn't hurt myself.

After lunch, I did one more run down the smaller hill I knew well then packed it in for the day. I spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the village around the lodge and taking pictures. It snowed periodically throughout the three days we skied and made for some nice pictures.

Me On Skis, PartTwo...

[The following post was composed on Tuesday, February 13]

I started out the day in a Level Two class and caught another great instructor. My group today numbered about 7 students They came from places like Miami, Baltimore, Houston, and Great Britain. All female and all married, darn the luck! One of the students was in my class from yesterday and did the remedial course with me. She was from Miami and vacationing with her husband and young son, who was seeing snow up close for the first time.

I learned a lot and made good progress from yesterday. The instructor was mega-patient and very helpful to all of us. I didn’t make it onto the chair lift today, unfortunately. I stayed on the same hill as yesterday and I think I will stay there tomorrow as well. I’m just beginning to get good at making turns with the skis and am not confident enough to move forward. The instructor said that was the right way to go.

The snow was much, much better today. It had been groomed overnight and everyone had a great time on the slopes.

We got smart about lunch today and took most of our own food to eat. All I had to buy was a $7.00 hot dog. That’s right, $7.00 .

The sky at daybreak today was breathtakingly gorgeous. There was just the right mix of clouds and sun. The mountains were majestic as the woke to greet the day. I took lots of pictures and they will be on my Flickr site sometime after I get back in town.

We’ll have one more day of skiing tomorrow then do a snowmobile tour on Thursday. We might have time to snowshoe in the afternoon. Then, it’s a long day of driving home on Friday.

The picture above was taken at daybreak from the balcony of our condo. Our condo is located on the banks of Lake Dillon in the town of Dillon, Colorado. In the winter, the lake is frozen over, which you see as the white space in the foreground.

Me On Skis (The Reality), Part One...

[The following post was composed on Tuesday, February 13. I was too tired to compose it on the 11th. A bit of reading help: "we all" or "we" will refer to all of us on the ski vacation; my mom, me, and the pastor and his wife]

My mom warned me that the first day of ski school would likely be traumatic. She was right. After bundling up, we headed to Breckenridge, about 20 minutes from our condo. Once there, I got fitted for boots and skis then headed out to the ski school area. I had about 10 people in my group from all over the country. Our instructor was a guy from Michigan. (The instructors are dispersed by their supervisors depending on enrollment and skill levels.] Unfortunately, his teaching style didn't click with my learning style and I didn't advance to the afternoon session with my class.

I met my parents for lunch at the ski lodge. To my shock, I saw that food prices were, shall we say INFLATED, to say the least. I paid, GET THIS, $14.00 for a cheeseburger, basket of fries, and a medium-size soda. $14.00!!!! WHAT THE %^@@@%*#????!!! I didn’t know the big oil companies were in the food-court business. It wasn’t just that; all the food was priced at least double what it would be anywhere else. I could only shake my head in amazement! There was really nowhere else to eat nearby, so I guess they have a monopoly. Everyone coming off the slopes is wearing ski boots, which are a pain in the rear to walk around in. Their restaurant is convenient and the only real option so let the gouging begin. : )

As I mentioned earlier, my afternoon ski school was the polar opposite of the morning school. There were three others besides me who needed further help. We were assigned a really great instructor. He took things much slower and explained things so I could understand them, as Forrest Gump would say. Since there were only four of us in the group, he could analyze us individually. Part of my problem was that my ski boots were a bit too loose and he whipped out a tool to tighten them up. This made all the difference in the world! By the end of the day I was feeling much better about my prospects of being a competent skier.

Oh, and encase you’re wondering, I did fall, several times. In inconvenient places, several times. Thankfully, I didn’t get hurt at all. Skiing involves moving most of the muscles in your legs so it helps to have them well conditioned. I had worked out pretty hard but I still ended up with lots of sore muscles. It turns out that the day didn’t go so well for the other skiers in my company. The slopes weren’t in great shape after the weekend and persistent snow showers during the day made for tough skiing. A hot shower soothed my aching muscles while the others soaked in a hot tub downstairs. A hot meal and a game of Scrabble made up the rest of the night.

Interesting aside: what I didn’t expect was the number of foreigners employed by the ski resort. I encountered workers from Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and Argentina, just to name a few.

My dad snapped the picture of me above. Ignore my bad form; I was still learning! The apparatus in the background is a "platter lift." It's a pole with a mini-frisbee attached to the bottom. They are attached to a moving clothesline that goes up the hill. The idea is to grab onto the pole, let the mini-frisbee grab you between the legs, and it pulls you back up the hill. You have to get off at the proper time and start moving forward or you could start sliding back down the hill, as I did a few times until that mental block got unblocked!

Head For the Mountains...

[The following post was composed on Sunday, February 11]

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The other couple on this ski vacation with my parents and me is the pastor of their church and his wife. Instead of going to church somewhere, we had a short devotional time at the hotel this morning. This pastor is beloved to his flock, which included me before I moved away. It was neat to hear him work through a couple of scripture verses.

We fueled up at a nearby IHOP then headed into the Rocky Mountains. The temperature was in the 40s as we started out but fell quickly into the low 30s as we climbed. “America The Beautiful” contains a familiar passage about “purple mountain majesty” and I am experiencing that firsthand. The beauty of the snow-capped peaks is truly awe-inspiring.

Our condo has a great view of a frozen-over lake with the majestic mountains in the distance. The condo is really nice. It’s 2 bedrooms and 2 baths with a living room and kitchen. The living room has a gas fireplace and an outside deck. By the way, neither of the 2 bedrooms are mine; I get a Coleman air mattress to sleep on! : ) The area is lacking in fresh snow. There’s lots of dirty, leftover snow from the blizzards of last December. Fresh snow is forecast for tomorrow, however. After unloading and unpacking, we stocked up with groceries for the week. We will be cooking most of our evening meals in lieu of eating out.

The last order of business was to check out the ski resorts. We stopped at Breckenridge first. I got checked in at their ski school and bought my lessons, equipment rental and ski lift tickets. My dad found a great deal online: 3 days of lessons, ski lift ticket, and equipment rental for $235, a HUGE savings over buying them separately. The slopes were populated with mostly locals that I’m told will be gone during the week. We stopped briefly at Keystone, where my parents went to ski school.. I took my first pictures of the mountains there.

Now I wait in anticipation for what is to come. I’m not sure what to think about learning to ski. My parents’ experience with skiing has been positive thus far so I’m optimistic about my learning experience. With a good night’s rest and breakfast tomorrow I should be ready to tackle ski school head-on.

Home Again...

I'm home again, after a white-knuckle drive through Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri. Snow followed us through the entire return trip. It was snowing as we left our condo at 5:46 a.m. MST and we either drove through a snowstorm or through snowy landscapes the remainder of the trip. I was dropped off at my house at 12:35 a.m. CST Saturday morning (or late Friday night). That's right, we did 18 hours on the road Friday. More on that in another post.

I had no daily wi-fi connection, so I wrote posts for each day as they happened, not in retrospect. My dad and I drove to a coffeehouse and internet-ed for a half-hour on Wednesday before they closed.

Things To Do In Denver...

not much tonight....blogging tonight from a Radisson hotel room in Denver, CO. We rolled out of my place at 6:16 central time this morning and pulled in here at around 6 p.m. mountain time tonight. We'll get up tomorrow and drive another hour west to a condo in Dillon, CO.

The drive through Kansas wasn't so bad. It was lots of rolling hills and farm fields. I did wave as we passed the exit to Ogden! We saw lots of snow along the way. Really odd was the several herds of antelope that were grazing within sight of the interstate near the KS/CO border. Evidently they're not supposed to be so close to civilization. This excited my dad, who was a biology teacher many moons ago.

Irony: the air temperature was 14 degrees at dawn in MO and it's in the 40s here... My traveling companions are really hypeing the scenery to come.

Odd Kansas fact....there is some town (I forget which one; they blurred together after a while) where you can see the world's biggest prairie dog and a six-legged steer. I regret we didn't have time to stop.

Posts will be sporadic this week (so what else is new?) as I encounter wi-fi access.