What the Heck

I have been seriously debating the value of blogging---I guess I have to admit that it is pretty cool to be able to see what everyone else is blogging about even though I am pretty poor about putting stuff on line myself. I have had a lot of questions regarding why anyone would put all that stuff out there for the world to read and can't seem to get past that part of it. I guess I just come from another time and place.

I don't spend a lot of time on doing the blog stuff each day but it is nice to be able to take a few minutes and see what everyone else has been up to. But like everything else I don't have a real exciting life---except when I am having a real exciting life---at which times I don't have time to even get through my job let alone blog something. So I wonder why do it at all.

WHEW

Well Thanksgiving 2007 is history and history was made at our house. We had 31 for dinner and I kept myself in a low enough profile that I didn't piss off any of them. It was good to see our 7 children and the spouses of those that are married but it was great for me to see the 16 grandkids and see how they are growing up and also how well they get along at Grandpas.

Inside Stories spent most of her waking and sleeping moments cooking for the tribe and it turned out great---at least for me---can't speak for her. The food and the company were both good and the day passed into history gently.

We had some family portraits taken by Dr. Psycho and they turned out good---it has been 16 yeaars since we have a photo with all of us in it so that was fun---they also took a picture of all the grandkids piled into the stairs---I haven't seen that but it should be great too.

Hope everyone else had as good of day as I did!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME

Today I got the news that my daughter's ex had again really screwed up her life---I thought we had passed the point where she would have anything to do with him---over the weekend he ran up over $700 on her credit card and would have done more except he maxed it out---I got to talk to him about that---I certainly hope he pays the bill as he said he would---if not it leaves one more reason for my daughter to regret her relationship with him. Time will tell but time can't heal all wounds in this case.

DANCIN' WITH THE DEVIL

This is a pretty nice shot of a very small fire whirl. When these are showing up is a good time to be really paying attention to what is going on with your fire. These are great indicators of very unstable air. They are fun to watch move across a fire---they bob and weave and swirl around.

They are pretty and pretty scary!!

IT NEVER GETS EASIER

A couple of nights ago I got a call from my son and I could tell immediately that something was bad wrong---I could hear the shake in his voice and the trembling of his lips. His daughter had just been shot in the eye with a BB gun. It was really hard on him 'cause he is about 400 miles away from them and really has to work to get where he can help.

We struggled with the news through the night and all the next day. Last night we found out that after all the CT scans and all the other tests that she is probably going to recover 100%. That is a great relief to us. She is having a very difficult time doing what the Doctor tells her she has to do---think about what it would be like to sleep at a 45 degree angle and not be able to move around or lift your head---I think it would be extremely tough even for me to meet those requirements.

When I was young we used to have BB gun fights in the old barn out back of the house. We did it every day and for many years. The end of those wars came because one of the participants got shot in the eye while he was looking through a crack in the barn. There were lots of tears and lots of concern and we were all terribly sorry about what happened---the rules were you couldn't shoot above the belt---but how do you explain to the parents what the rules of a game doing what you had been told all your life not to do---YUP---IT NEVER GETS ANY EASIER.

Just so y'all know he turned out OK too but through luck---not good management.

SECOND HAND LIONS AGAIN

OK this afternoon I watched Second Hand Lions again to see who I reminded my daughter of---guess it is OK that he was the one since I can see some reasons I may remind her of him.

And by the way it for sure is a love story---both from the Princess and from the young boy standpoint---a real love story---I especially liked the Lion the second go round because she truly loved the boy too---maybe I have a new show that I can watch as much as I watched 8 Seconds---when I do that the world will wonder what has happened to my mind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AGAIN!!!!!!

THE PRICE WE PAY

Today is a Federal holiday---it is not necessarily a State or Local holiday---it is for sure not a school holiday so while I have the day off my wife, who works for the school, does not. So what do I do on a day that I have off alone---well for starters today I have been reading through all of the jokes I have on the computer trying to find some that are appropriate for my boss' going away party---notice I said trying---I am doing the MC for her party so wanted to at least have a few good jokes to throw in there---I now have a few (very few).

I went in to work very early this morning because I forgot to do something Friday---It has been bothering me all weekend and I didn't want it to ruin today too---it was good to get it done---I no longer feel guilty.

After I finish this up I think I will go take a nap---that is always an appropriate use of time off.

Oh such a beautiful day---I look forward to the 20 days of annual leave I will be taking in the next two months---I think I should get the paint shook and start painting the hall that the girls started stripping the wall paper off from---yeah that is part of the price too---to finish what others started and didn't have the time to finish.

Great Day

Here is a shot of a bomber dropping slurry against a house with the lead plane for the next load just to the right of it---this was taken on the Hayman fire in Colorado---one of the best shots I have ever seen. One of the most amazing fires I ever went on also---It was the largest fire in Colorado history and nearly got Denver during it's initial run.

A PENNY SAVED

I just learned today that when you are replacing plumbing parts that you should always take it clear to the wall with whatever you are replacing. I replaced the faucets and drains on all of the bathroom sinks in the house a couple of weeks ago. One of them leaked---pretty badly---all over our towels. I got stuck under that particular sink while I was replacing the drain so I was pretty upset when it is the one that leaked. I decided today that I was going to fix it after I got off work---no matter how nervous I was about crawling back inside the sink cabinet---so I took everything out when I got home and went to the plumbing store (not Wal Mart or K Mart or Home Depot) and took all the parts in with me.

I asked the guy that waited on me if they had a new drain part---he went into the parts part of the store and came back with a new drain and all of the parts for the pea trap---I asked why I needed the pea trap stuff---he said that when you tightened up new stuff that the gaskets were pinched into the pipes and made them water tight---when you did it the second time if you got the gasket exactly like when you took it out it was fine but if it didn't match it was likely to leak.

I told him I thought as long as you tightened things good you didn't have to worry about that. He said that is why he loves home plumbers---he gets to sell the first replacement parts then when it leaks he gets to sell all new parts to stop the leak---yes he asked me the first time if I needed the pea trap stuff---I told him no---

Just as I was leaving the store he told me that I needed to cut all of the pipes the proper lengths and showed me how to measure the pipe to be sure the length was right before I put it together. He explained that if I didn't do that then when all the parts were matched up it was likely that one of them would be too far into the other pipe and would touch the place where the pipe turned and would act as a plug---when I got ready to put everything back together I measured the inside of all the pipes and cut the two that I needed to cut to the proper size---when I checked it for leaks I was astounded by how well it drained---the old pea trap pipe and the drain pipe itself were too long and plugged the drain---I didn't know drains could take water out that fast---I have never seen one that drained that well.

I'm sure glad I found out that a penny saved is not necessarily a penny earned---No matter what Ben Franklin said about that---unless he liked wet towels---oh yeah he didn't have inside plumbing.

I LOVE FALL

What a great fall day--sunny and bright and temps in mid 60's all day with no wind---you gotta love it.

Actually fall has always been my favorite time of year, mostly because things are starting to slow down a little and it isn't quite so crazy about what you are going to be doing tomorrow---and you are probably not going to leave town on an unknown assignment.

We watched Second Hand Lions last night. It is a great movie---now I just wonder which of the eccentric old bastards my daughter thinks reminds her of me. Bottom line is it doesn't matter since there isn't much we can do to change what we think and who we are unless we make a very concerted effort to do so. Anyway I loved the movie...

Great Timing

I have been really trying to manage the time I work so that I can use up all of my annual leave before the end of the year. I get 208 hours a year so figure that out---it is 26 days or five weeks and one day. Lots of time. So I have been trying to work four or five hours a day and take the rest of the day off. It has been great and I have really enjoyed having the afternoons off. Today (Friday) I was supposed to work until 11 a.m. then go for the rest of the day and I was really looking forward to doing that. As I was getting ready to leave I had someone come in and ask if I would accept a large poster from one of the schools for the school presentation we do every year. I told them OK, I would do it. They said good they'll be here between 2:30 AND 3:00P.M.---so much for the time off---and I can't not accept the poster from the kids---that would be way out of line!!!!!!!!!!!!