I just got a response to post from 2008. Now normally I wouldn’t even give it the time of day, much less post something about it, it was spam after all, but it was interesting.

The normal spam I get usually says something about how much they like the blog, but always cuts the graphic layout down. There is, of course, a website that will help me with my layout. This one liked the layout, but wanted to debate me on my limited knowledge of the subject. Hmm, all well and good, I like a good debate every now and then. But the subject? Well it was the color yellow, ragweed and allergy season. That just happens to be one that is found in a few google searches.

I guess I could debate the color yellow. It could be lemon yellow, butter yellow, or any other type of yellow you like. I was going with Crayola yellow. Could be about ragweed. Most of the year it is green. Only in the flower blooms could you say that there is yellow in the plant. Could be about allergies. I’ve only had them for about 36 years, so I’m only an expert my experience. I’m not a Doctor and I don’t play one on TV. I guess I really don’t see a debate, or a definitive lack of understanding. It was a light hearted post, dealing with one color in the original box of 8 Crayola crayons. The ones I had when I started school.

Oh well, waiting for the next comment to trash.

No… not THAT James, I think he has been getting enough press of late.  My cousin, Dan, is on the campus of the Ohio State University at the James Center where is recovering from surgery which he underwent on Friday for an acoustic neuroma (a tumor on a nerve on the inner ear, which is usually benign, and was).  He had been having troubles  with dizziness, vertigo, and some of the other symptoms of the phenomenon.  Glad to relate that other than the recovery, all is well.  Just got done talking to him on the phone and he did sound like (as he described it) he was “run over by a Mack truck.”  I’m sure that Carla will be most appreciative when he can return to normal and help out with the little ones.

The fact that the James was where Emily spent most of her time battling leukemia nearly 2 years ago was not lost on us as Dan made mention of.  But now that he is recovering, hopefully resting, and getting well… he will be reading once again.  Commenting via email since he does not like to comment directly while at work but maybe, while recovering….

Get well soon, Dan Jo… Maxwell Smart.  Remember the days?

Thank you everyone for the many birthday greetings: facebooked, emailed, phoned (from one of my best friends), or delivered in person.  They all were greatly appreciated and helped make my day.  I am happy to announce that I have been offered and accepted the role of Barrymore in The Hound of the Baskervilles.  A much more limited role than my last but important, nonetheless.

Following my audition, I returned to E-town for mass which was being given in memory of Aunt Carol.  Quite a memorable experience.  No one beyond the back 3-4 rows of the church could hear the opening hymn because something was afoul with the sound equipment.  The organist leaned over the loft railing and asked me to run upfront to see what I could do with it.  Being the technological genius I am, I went into the closet and flipped the switch and voila!  Father Steve wears a pack on his vestment and usually turns it off when he is not speaking.  However, he for some reason, kept forgetting to turn it off and lets just say that he does not possess the most glorious voice ever.  Just being honest.  To lie about a priest surely is not a good thing.

After mass, I traveled to H’ville for an impromptu birthday celebration.  I provided a bag of Sun Chips.  The reason for this… the bag they come in is made of some type of material that creates a very loud, obnoxious sound when the bag is rustled but the Harvest Cheddar variety is tasty.  Thank you Mare for the yummy, German Chocolate Brownie cake… a little too much water necessitated the need for an additional package of brownie mix and the result was delectable.

Travis brought an assortment of games.  I was really tempted to pick my obvious choice and was encouraged to do so since it was “my day.”  However, I picked Trivial Pursuit.  Started off well and went downhill.  Later, Amber brought Star Wars Trivial Pursuit and we divided into teams.  I tried to be intelligent and attempted to pick the person I thought would help me most, but that idea was nixed.  I did all right the first round until I received a question I had not excuse for missing.  “Who lives out beyond the Dune Sea?”  UGH!  I was victorious in round two.

After some stargazing and a return to Mare’s house, it was time to hit the road at 4.30AM!  Megan pooped out shortly before.

July 11, is always memorable as I have a liitle buddy who turned TWO!  After I got home @ 4.50Am, I sent a cool ecard as well as a response to my own birthday ecard.  Hope you had a super birthday, BEEBS!

Also yesterday, Yankees fans lost a great one.  Bob Sheppard was the voice of the Bombers from 1951-2007 when his health prompted him to retire.  The voice of the great ones… from Dimaggio, Mantle, and Berra, to Mr. October, and to Captain Jeter.  Ups and downs throughout but Mr. Sheppard had one of the distinct voices in the box.  So beloved that Derek has the voice resonate each time he steps up to the plate.  An honor which humbled the announcer.

And I still have today off until I go back to work!  A fact that stymied a co-worker of mine who thought I was going out of town.  How she came to that conclusion is beyond me.  Coming from one who likes to change schedules without informing the other person involved I didn’t really pay much attention to the comment.  I will be going out of town next Monday and Tuesday.

Ok… this post is quite long enough thanks again everyone!

In addition to added work these past couple of weeks with new dealers to serve, I have also had the pleasure of a new toy.  Much as I espouse a dislike for a certain fruity computer brand, I now find myself in possession of one of their phones.  That’s right- I now have an iPhone.  Realistically, I knew I couldn’t afford a new Android-based phone, which would probably also require my switching providers as I am currently with at&t, and have been for the last several years- being THE iPhone provider they have not seen fit to add the better HTC Android phones to their lineup.  To make things clear, I couldn’t afford a new iPhone either, but when my nephew decided to jump on the iPhone 4 bandwagon he sold me his 3G for a nice discount.  I now have to pay $20 more per month (was paying for insurance on the other phone), but the difference between the two phones will make it worthwhile.  For the last few days I have been downloading several free apps, mostly games but also the Bible, a camera enhancement app, and a couple others.  I also made the mistake of installing Appminer, an app that finds discounted and temporarily free apps- what a time waster!  I have not tried all the games I installed yet, but as they are touchpad-controlled (and gravity-controlled in some cases- can’t forget the accelerometer!) games they are quite a different thing from normal computer or console games.  I couldn’t find any free versions of games I know, but with a different control scheme they wouldn’t be the same anyway.  Note I write free versions- I could pay $5 for Pac-man (are you kidding me??) and I noted a version of Dragon’s Lair, but cheapskate me is only getting free apps at this time.

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In any event, back to the dislike of Apple thing, at least they aren’t getting a dime of this purchase from me- no contract, no new iPhone, and at least for the moment, no 30% of app purchases.  I had to go to an at&t store to get everything switched properly- ended up waiting about a half-hour for someone as I picked a busy time.  Or are all times busy due to the iPhone 4?  In addition to the phone, the sales rep talked us into at least signing up for an install time for their U-Verse (internet and cable over fiber optic) service.  It seemed like a really nice service and I wouldn’t mind switching over from DirecTV, but I have been on Comcast internet for so long, since it was TCI internet, that I am unsure I would want to switch at this time, though for the start we would get much more for a little less than we are paying now for phone+satellite+internet, currently from three different companies so of course some of the savings comes from going at&t for everything. I am just worried at what will happen after six months.  They promise no installation charges and $200 back for signing up, DVRs capable of recording four standard-definition (or two HD) shows at once, networked receivers so anyone can view a recorded show off any receiver in the house, a complete package with all movie channels (something we can easily drop of course sometime down the road since we have been going sans movie channels for quite some time now), and full HD equipment ready for when we eventually need to replace our analog SD TVs.  Fortunately the appointment isn’t until the 31st, giving us plenty of time to consider whether we really want to make the switch.

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I will continue on the camp topic probably next post.

Another year and eleven minutes older…o maybe not exactly, I’ll have to find out what time I actually entered the world.  Well… yesterday, I had to run to the big city and get my picture snapped.  I abhor having my mug shot for my little piece of plastic for three years.  Look at the little smiley sticker, drop your jaw, now move slightly to the right.  UGH!  A fashioned model has it easier and they get paid for it!

Then, I endured a long nine hour work day.  Better yesterday than today especially when I get three days off in a row!  I don’t have to be back until TUESDAY!  Today, I have to go to an audition for Hound of the Baskervilles. I believe that I have stated that I will not be auditioning for either Holmes or Watson.  I think my talents are better served in a return to a more character driven role this time.  And I do not believe that the detective or the good doctor had facial hair… Watson, perhaps.

Tonight, mass at 6 is being given in memory of Aunt Carol.  After that, the sky’s the limit.  Spontaneity on your birthday is always fun!

Well… 22 minutes into another year. Tired, maybe I’ll get some sleep.

For the last two days, it seems the nation has been in the thralls of LeBron fever once again.  Holding out on his free agency decision until a live, hour-long press conference.  I say…. “Who cares?!”  Who does he think he is… Tiger Woods?

I did however, enjoy a sports related movie totally unrelated to basketball.  I enjoyed the 2004 movie, Million Dollar Baby starring Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, and Morgan Freeman.  I must say that Clint has sure made an impression on me with his more dramatic films instead of the macho, big gun shoot fests.  The last few films I have seen have been poignant and emotional.  He plays the curmudgeonly roles quite well.  Accomplished not only as an actor/director but as a musician as well along with his son, Kyle.

I was hoping that Million Dollar Baby was not going to be the typical boxer/trainer situation and I was not disappointed.  The movie was an intelligent, profound piece following the lives of a young female wannabe boxer and the very hesitant veteran trainer/manager.  It’s more about Maggie, the 31 year old’s dream of beating the odds, rising from her “trailer trash” roots, and becoming a contendah in the prize ring.  I know, been done countless times in countless ways.

Eastwood’s character is well-defined as well.  Not the typical one-dimensional trainer but so much more.  Why is Frankie so hardened?  Why does he play it safe with every fighter he manages when he knows they are worthy of their “one shot?”

Not so surprising but a very good movie which won Oscars for Best Actress, Supporting Actor, Direction, and Best Movie of 2004.  And so much more entertaining than the question that seems to have been on the minds of tens of people.

My new phone (the droid with no name), chirps whenever I get weather updates. For the past few days, it has been trying to chirp its speaker off. There have been quite a few “Heat advisories”. I’m very curious about what makes it a heat advisory. Do they have these in places that normally get hot? Do the deserts in the SW have one every day of the Summer?

I realize that the heat can be dangerous. If you don’t get enough water, or if you push yourself too hard, heat related illness can be deadly. But I know people survived many years without air conditioning, without ice water and other cooling refrigerated beverages. How did they do that? (heavy sarcasm…)

Me, myself and I slow myself down on days like today. It may take me twice as long to do something. No need to push myself on the hot days. Days like today are mad for sitting in the shade waiting for that next breeze.

Hot summer days, and warm summer nights. Savor them, you will want them in January.

A little something about the up front games.  They were based on a TV show apparently- Minute to Win it.  On one rainy morning the worship and teaching times were held inside and so we even got to see the blueprint for the game, chocolate unicorn:

If I recall, my team actually won that one though nobody completed “the task”, even with the required number being reduced to six.  Another up front game involved bouncing quarters into a bin that my cabin had happily colored for Miss Lisa, another leader of our church’s kid’s ministry.  No pie-in-face surprises that I know of like last year happened.

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One of the biggest changes from last year was the elimination of the morning competition in favor of a longer instructional time.  In some cases this new, longer instructional was two normal related instructionals tied together in the longer time, such as archery/riflery and wacky water games (actually two competition games from last year that didn’t count for points this year).  There were some new instructionals too.  On Tuesday was one of them- outdoor survival.  This was actually a combo of an older instructional, fishing, with a survival extension to it.  The first thing that happened was Jim, a leader in my cabin from last year, caught a bass which the first group cooked up while my group fished.  He later caught a trout for our group just before we switched.  For outdoor survival the instructor demonstrated cutting the fish, hopefully dead of lack of air by that time, and then taught how to start a fire with a magnesium block (with a flint strip on one side), a little paper and more natural fuel like leaves and twigs, and a pocket knife.  It looks like I failed this course as I was unable to help one of my 5th graders start and maintain a fire.

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A night event turned instructional was a hay ride.  Well, there was hay in a stack elsewhere in camp but not on the trailers.  One trailer was pulled by a 40s-era tractor, and ours (the “boys” trailer) was pulled by something a bit more recent- a little bulldozer like one of those Bobcats, but somewhat larger.  This was in one of the longer morning timeslots so this was a lazy time with a couple of stops, one at a big sand pit.

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We later returned to sand pit in the afternoon bike/hike instructional, though the kids didn’t get play time there this time around, being a shorter instructional.  We had the first day so the assigned instructors were still working out a few bugs such as taking the smaller group biking first, which would have been fine except we were to meet the hiking group along the way instead of back at the tent so there were not enough bikes for the second group- some of us had to run back to the tent and retrieve extra bikes.  I hope my advice of taking the larger group first was followed the rest of the week.  For the hike we walked through the woods for a time, off the literal beaten path.  And mostly downhill.  Did I mention the bike/hike met at the top of a very steep hill?  Well, at least we ended up back near the boys cabin area, so we were able to easily get ready on time for the flag-lowering.  Well, as much as my cabin was able to be on time anyway.  I learned quickly that I needed to organize their bathroom and changing time better.  Not that I did said organization in a timely fashion mind you, just that I learned it needed to be done. 😉

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In any event, this post is getting kind of long, so… more to come.

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PS- A couple sand fort pics! Note: Click on any of the pics for larger versions.

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Quite an enjoyable Independence Day Weekend for us.. made even longer by most everyone having Monday off, as well!  Sunday, I work from 8-noon… four hours at time-and-a-half, pretty quick and the extra will come in handy.  After work, I came home to see the All-Star picks for the game on July 13:  Captain Jeter and Robinson Cano will be starting for the Bombers.  After the selections, we watched a thrilling 6-7 Yanks win over the Blue Jays with Marcus Thames (just of the DL) driving the winning run in during the bottom of the 10th.  Ace catcher Jorge Posada is day-by-day as he received a finger sprain as the result of a foul tip.

Later on the 4th, we commented that we were all hungry for some hot dogs cooked over a fire but no where to build the fire.  So, my oldest brother ran to WalMart to pick up a firepit.  That night, we enjoyed hot dogs, toasted marshmallows nearly falling off the stick, and s’mores.  Then the kids enjoyed throwing some poppers (ok, I did too) and sparklers that must have been duds because most of them would not light.  And we were entertained by the approach of a bullfrog that some thought was a bird.  Have we never heard the sound of a bullfrog?  There was another sound that can only be described as a laughing monkey or some crazed woman laughing hysterically.

To conclude the evening, I returned home and watched a few episodes of The Greatest American Hero on Syfy’s (yes, the SciFi channel changed its identity about a year ago.  I believe, Derek pointed that out) day long marathon. An interesting tidbit about the name of the high school teacher turned questionable superhero.  Click the link above to discover the link between Ralph and a would-be presidential assassin.

Monday afternoon to beat the heat, two of my siblings and their families and I went to the area pool. Jeff  has a pool at home but decided against opening it this year.  The public pool was very fun especially watching Chad jump off the diving board and getting stuck coming down the water slide.  He did, eventually manage to boost himself along.

Monday night, I watched RV starring Robin Williams, Jeff Daniels, and Kristin Chenoweth.  I thought Vacation in recreation vehicles.  Suburban dysfunctional family takes a summer vacation to “become closer.”  May have been cliched but it still had lots of laughs.

I hope all my fellow tangenteers had a fun holiday weekend!

Those who know my family are aware that we have a son named Beeber, pronounced the same as the last name of that popular young male singer, Justin Bieber.  But my son got his cute little nickname from his big sister, who was not even 2 years old when he was born – she could not say his real name, Christopher, and so “Beeber” stuck.  That was way before Justin Bieber became so popular, I might add…

So now that my disclaimer is out of the way, I can share the following story, which has nothing to do with my son Beeber and everything to do with Justin Bieber.  A few weeks ago, someone spotted Justin Bieber drinking beer at a bar, so they called the cops to report underage drinking because apparently Mr. Bieber is just a teenager.  But when the cops showed up and ID’d Mr. Bieber, they found that the “underage drinker” was a 27-year-old woman named Katie.  Given the pic below, honest mistake, don’t you think?  That would be Katie on the left and Justin on the right.

(Thanks to tmz.com for the story and picture)