So Dad gave the Ok for more information.
His blockages are as follows: 100, 95, 70, 65 in the various arteries. JL's has been hard on his arteries.
Dad is going in on the 17th of August (time unknown as of right now and will continue to be unknown until a few nights before). The surgery will take 3 hours (approx.) and will be in Intensive Care Unit for a minimum of 1 day and a maximum of 2 (this has all been reported before). Please note that this is immediate family only by request of basically everyone. After ICU, then he goes out to a normal room and then feel free to come in, take pictures, stare at him for hours on end without saying anything, etc... He will be in a normal room for 3-4 days. The way I understand is that he will be in for 5 days total. If he's in ICU for 2 days then he will be in a normal room for 3. If he's in ICU for 1 day then he will be in a normal room for 4 days. I could be mistaken and will let you know if I am.
Now we get to the penalties section of the post. So you decide that you want to go see him in ICU anyway, what would the consequences be? Imagine this... Imagine his son is dealing with a very bad situation with renters and is stressed up to breaking limit. But his son can't do anything to the renters because they are in his house. Now imagine his son needs a release of frustration and anger because of said situation and doesn't care who he takes it out on. Said son has two choices, family or random stranger. Here's a tip... Random stranger gets it every time.
Sorry for ranting on and on but when it comes to hospitals and us, we haven't had a lot of luck with people being polite.
nc
Friday, July 31, 2009
camp.
Went and helped out at the camp. Cleaned, dusted, moved benches, vacuumed, etc... Got there about 4:45 and didn't get home until about 8:30. Busy night.
nc
nc
Thursday, July 30, 2009
lately.
Sorry about all the videos lately. I just had to put that last one on there. I loved the section about normal guy Tim Geitner and Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geitner.
I talked to Miranda about my insurance plan and she agreed (in spirit anyway). After I talk to the insurance guy, I will tell you more. Whether it works out or not. It was a part of my depression also. It will all make more sense on Tuesday.
My life is at least 1/2 over (35 x 2 = 70). Honestly I probably won't make it to 70. As I live longer, I'm beginning to think that nothing really works out permanently. Small things happen but overall it just gets progressively worse and worse from here on out until you die. So I am learning to be thankful for how things are right now. A friend of mine at work, his wife has come down with ovarian cancer. She's late 30s. It's been classified as 3C or 3D (I forget which) and has a 17% survival rate. Of course most of the women that get ovarian cancer are older women so that skews the statistics. But it's scary. I'm thankful for 2 great, healthy children, 1 great, healthy wife, and the rest of my family (sick (I'm looking at you Dad!) or not). I'm even thankful for my MIL.
Unfortunately we have a healthy dog too.
nc
I talked to Miranda about my insurance plan and she agreed (in spirit anyway). After I talk to the insurance guy, I will tell you more. Whether it works out or not. It was a part of my depression also. It will all make more sense on Tuesday.
My life is at least 1/2 over (35 x 2 = 70). Honestly I probably won't make it to 70. As I live longer, I'm beginning to think that nothing really works out permanently. Small things happen but overall it just gets progressively worse and worse from here on out until you die. So I am learning to be thankful for how things are right now. A friend of mine at work, his wife has come down with ovarian cancer. She's late 30s. It's been classified as 3C or 3D (I forget which) and has a 17% survival rate. Of course most of the women that get ovarian cancer are older women so that skews the statistics. But it's scary. I'm thankful for 2 great, healthy children, 1 great, healthy wife, and the rest of my family (sick (I'm looking at you Dad!) or not). I'm even thankful for my MIL.
Unfortunately we have a healthy dog too.
nc
Economics
This is hilarious!
nc
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Home Crisis Investigation | ||||
| ||||
nc
hmmm...
Posting under "humor". The origin of my name (it isn't William but it originally came from there) is
"will, desire, and protection". I don't think you could go through the Bible and every place that it says any of those words, replace it will Bill and then say it was talking about me. Would be interesting to see though.
nc
Dad.
Found out last night that Dad cannot drive for 3 months or so (4?). Of course, we are going to Lafayette in October (71 days). So I guess I get to drive. Mom doesn't like to drive and Miranda would but her and mom are usually gabbing. Between TomTom and Dad's Garmin we should make it fine. Dad's Garmin is built-in on their Tahoe because they are filthy rich. Just kidding.
As I've mentioned before, this weekend is the McCormick family reunion. Miranda, Jane, and Angie got the bright idea to rent a jump tank (or whatever they are called) for the children. Of course, the adults will probably decide that it would be fun to jump also. News reports will let people know what the loud explosion coming from Scammon, KS was when my MIL jumps in! Just kidding!!! It was funny but will turn out to be more trouble than it was worth.
Got our truck back and they apparently didn't look at the brakes. They fixed an emergency brake line but didn't look at the actual brakes. So we have to take it back in on Monday. On Monday also we have to talk to the insurance guy (State Farm) and go through our coverages. I've have a sneaky idea that I will mention to the State Farm guy. I may or may not mention it on here. It's not illegal or anything (in case you were wondering). Miranda may know already what I'm talking about or have an idea.
Tonight is work night at the camp. Guess I will run over after work and see what damage I can do (if any). I'm guessing they have little use for a 34 year old, out of shape, computer programmer. Too many 18-30 year old, in shape guys.
nc
As I've mentioned before, this weekend is the McCormick family reunion. Miranda, Jane, and Angie got the bright idea to rent a jump tank (or whatever they are called) for the children. Of course, the adults will probably decide that it would be fun to jump also. News reports will let people know what the loud explosion coming from Scammon, KS was when my MIL jumps in! Just kidding!!! It was funny but will turn out to be more trouble than it was worth.
Got our truck back and they apparently didn't look at the brakes. They fixed an emergency brake line but didn't look at the actual brakes. So we have to take it back in on Monday. On Monday also we have to talk to the insurance guy (State Farm) and go through our coverages. I've have a sneaky idea that I will mention to the State Farm guy. I may or may not mention it on here. It's not illegal or anything (in case you were wondering). Miranda may know already what I'm talking about or have an idea.
Tonight is work night at the camp. Guess I will run over after work and see what damage I can do (if any). I'm guessing they have little use for a 34 year old, out of shape, computer programmer. Too many 18-30 year old, in shape guys.
nc
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
mood.
As most of you have realized, I've been pretty down lately. I'm slightly obsessive-compulsive and just can't let things go. I'm also fairly nuts but that just goes with the territory.
Now since the house "process" has started, it's time to pick myself up and continue.
I give you the Crimson Permanent Assurance.
nc
Now since the house "process" has started, it's time to pick myself up and continue.
I give you the Crimson Permanent Assurance.
nc
Dad update.
So Dad has scheduled his heart bypass. I will just say "mid-August". It's going to be a Quadruple (4) bypass. All because of JL's but it was worth every minute. It is expected to take 3 hours and he will be in intensive care at least 1 day and up to 2 days (I'm talking about the heart bypass and not JL's now).
If I am given authority, I will release more information or feel free to call him. At 1:00A.M. He will be awake.
nc
If I am given authority, I will release more information or feel free to call him. At 1:00A.M. He will be awake.
nc
Home.
I'm home again. Delivered the notice. The guy owns the world and we are just using it. He is apparently a habitual liar. He is lying. He knows it, I know it, and I think that he knows that I know. He swears up and down that we are going to get the money. The odds of that happening are approximately the same odds that the Pope decides that he has had enough of this Christianity thing and decides to move to Tuscaloosa, Alabama and live in sin with a 450 pound Filipino woman named Henryetta and her pet Llama named Buford (about 1 in 5).
Anyway... Enough of the house. It's time to move on. I know you will welcome the change of pace.
Camp is almost upon us. I have decided to run an informal poll at camp. I will give a code phrase every day at camp (assuming I remember to do it). It will be something like "The wind whistles at midnight". If you get a chance to, please come up to me and repeat the phrase. This will confuse people and will be fun.
nc
Anyway... Enough of the house. It's time to move on. I know you will welcome the change of pace.
Camp is almost upon us. I have decided to run an informal poll at camp. I will give a code phrase every day at camp (assuming I remember to do it). It will be something like "The wind whistles at midnight". If you get a chance to, please come up to me and repeat the phrase. This will confuse people and will be fun.
nc
Off to Monett
Off to Monett today. Going to hand deliver the eviction notice. When you rent from the nuclearcowboy, you get service! I'm guessing the situation will get ugly also. I don't mind ugly.
Unfortunately, due to the lease, we may be stuck with the house until May of 2010 (when the lease runs out). We will have to talk to a lawyer about that (I'm guessing).
Hopefully this will be the last of the house posts for awhile.
nc
Unfortunately, due to the lease, we may be stuck with the house until May of 2010 (when the lease runs out). We will have to talk to a lawyer about that (I'm guessing).
Hopefully this will be the last of the house posts for awhile.
nc
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Sigh!
Got an email from our "renters" where he says he is going to "come clean about a problem they are having and come to an agreement". Two months ago might have been a good time to come clean. Now is not. I am not a fun person to deal with when I'm unhappy. After two months of lies and more lies the time for action has come.
Unfortunately I have to be somewhat cordial because they have control of our house. I don't like being cordial when I'm unhappy.
I'm supposed to get a call from him this afternoon. Yay! I bet he starts telling me that he now has a 2 headed unicorn that poops $100 bills and the money will be here in no time.
nc
Unfortunately I have to be somewhat cordial because they have control of our house. I don't like being cordial when I'm unhappy.
I'm supposed to get a call from him this afternoon. Yay! I bet he starts telling me that he now has a 2 headed unicorn that poops $100 bills and the money will be here in no time.
nc
Boing!
If you look really hard, you can see the check bouncing from where you live. Luckily for me, I have to go to Monett on Wednesday. I will probably run by after work and try to catch him.
Looks like VPN is down at work. A VPN is a "Virtual Private Network" and it's how I connect to work. I will have to call in at 7:00.
Last night we watched Airplane II. It drove Miranda crazy. I was laughing and giggling like a schoolgirl. Here's a sample quote:
nc
Looks like VPN is down at work. A VPN is a "Virtual Private Network" and it's how I connect to work. I will have to call in at 7:00.
Last night we watched Airplane II. It drove Miranda crazy. I was laughing and giggling like a schoolgirl. Here's a sample quote:
Simon: Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet your captain, Captain Oveur.and another:
Clarence Oveur: Gentlemen, welcome aboard.
Simon: Captain, your navigator, Mr. Unger, and your first officer, Mr. Dunn.
Clarence Oveur: Unger.
Unger: Oveur.
Dunn: Oveur.
Clarence Oveur: Dunn. Gentlemen, let's get to work.
Simon: Unger, didn't you serve under Oveur in the Air Force?
Unger: Not directly. Technically, Dunn was under Oveur and I was under Dunn.
Dunn: Yep.
Simon: So, Dunn, you were under Oveur and over Unger.
Unger: Yep.
Clarence Oveur: That's right. Dunn was over Unger and I was over Dunn.
Unger: So, you see, both Dunn and I were under Oveur, even though I was under Dunn.
Clarence Oveur: Dunn was over Unger, and I was over Dunn.
Prosecutor: Dr. Stone, would you give the court your impression of Mr. Striker?Pretty funny stuff for me.
Dr. Stone: I'm sorry, I don't do impressions... my training is in psychiatry.
nc
Monday, July 27, 2009
Frustrating day.
I hate leaving people voice mails and then they don't bother calling back the same day. Appears that is going to happen to me. Especially when you are trying to check on status of stuff. Bank won't return my call (unrelated to house).
Car is still in the shop after today. Apparently the emergency brake is messed up (broken?) and they are going to fix that.
Tonight is a sit and relax night. Probably watch Airplane II. Funny movie. I think it's funny anyway. But you know me.
nc
Car is still in the shop after today. Apparently the emergency brake is messed up (broken?) and they are going to fix that.
Tonight is a sit and relax night. Probably watch Airplane II. Funny movie. I think it's funny anyway. But you know me.
nc
another week
Off to another week.
Tonight (I believe) the check will bounce so we will send the eviction letter off tomorrow. Today we are getting the tires rotated and the brakes fixed on the Expedition.
This next weekend is the McCormick family reunion. We will be going to that.
The Wiggles concert is also next weekend and Patrick has been whining to go to the zoo. So next weekend is going to be very busy.
Charles and Leora Schenck have been married 12 years! Congrats on that!
Camp meeting is getting ready to go. Thursday night is a work night and I'm going to try to go over there to work (assuming they have something that I can do). Camp starts the 6th.
The Tour de France is over and Alberto Contador won.
That's about it for my life.
nc
Tonight (I believe) the check will bounce so we will send the eviction letter off tomorrow. Today we are getting the tires rotated and the brakes fixed on the Expedition.
This next weekend is the McCormick family reunion. We will be going to that.
The Wiggles concert is also next weekend and Patrick has been whining to go to the zoo. So next weekend is going to be very busy.
Charles and Leora Schenck have been married 12 years! Congrats on that!
Camp meeting is getting ready to go. Thursday night is a work night and I'm going to try to go over there to work (assuming they have something that I can do). Camp starts the 6th.
The Tour de France is over and Alberto Contador won.
That's about it for my life.
nc
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Hmmm...
Today Sunday School lesson was problematic for us. We are really hoping that God isn't trying to make a point. The lesson was over the year of Jubilee and the verse that caused us the most concern is Leviticus 25:23:
'The land shall not be sold for ever..."nc
Saturday, July 25, 2009
2010
2010 appears to be tougher than originally thought at my job. Getting somewhat concerned about it (again... still?). Anywho... I went to careerbuilder.com again and found a job in Houma, LA. It's sitting at a whopping 10 feet above sea level. Plus is a major Cajun center! Miranda (of course) shot it down as quickly as I got it out of my mouth.
As of today, the check that our renters/buyers gave us will bounce. I call the bank every day to check funds. I told him that after the check bounces, expect an eviction notice. They will lose their $3,500 deposit. We will put the house for sale up again without the option of lease to own. After this school year, if we still own the house, we will have to revisit this situation and come to a decision.
Life is too complicated and you can't make plans for every contingency. That is my main complaint about life. Too many unknowns. My job, house, cars, etc... Other people seem to be able to handle this fine. I do not.
Mom and Dad are coming up today to pick up the truck. The check engine light came on so I took it to the mechanic and they put it on the computer (nice little gadget, I need one of those). Apparently the ignition coil or something. It was fairly vague. I will offer to pay to get it fixed but I already know how that will turn out. We are going to Vinita today and the children will probably ride with them.
Dad goes in soon to get a surgery appointment. I will not be divulging dates and/or times in respect of their privacy but will try to give updates. Unless I die first.
nc
As of today, the check that our renters/buyers gave us will bounce. I call the bank every day to check funds. I told him that after the check bounces, expect an eviction notice. They will lose their $3,500 deposit. We will put the house for sale up again without the option of lease to own. After this school year, if we still own the house, we will have to revisit this situation and come to a decision.
Life is too complicated and you can't make plans for every contingency. That is my main complaint about life. Too many unknowns. My job, house, cars, etc... Other people seem to be able to handle this fine. I do not.
Mom and Dad are coming up today to pick up the truck. The check engine light came on so I took it to the mechanic and they put it on the computer (nice little gadget, I need one of those). Apparently the ignition coil or something. It was fairly vague. I will offer to pay to get it fixed but I already know how that will turn out. We are going to Vinita today and the children will probably ride with them.
Dad goes in soon to get a surgery appointment. I will not be divulging dates and/or times in respect of their privacy but will try to give updates. Unless I die first.
nc
Friday, July 24, 2009
weekend chores.
I have some weekend chores that I have to get done.
1. Fix the date on my watch. It's a fancy-schmancy dial thing but I have it set incorrectly. If it's before noon, it's a day late. For example... At 8:00 this morning, the date was the 23rd. At 2:00 this afternoon, the date is the 24th. Here's a tip... If figuring out the date involves adding or subtracting by 12, you're probably doing it wrong.
2. Fix the compass on my watch. It has decided that South-West is North. This is also problematic.
3. Fix the tides on my watch.
Please note that it displays the time correctly.
nc
1. Fix the date on my watch. It's a fancy-schmancy dial thing but I have it set incorrectly. If it's before noon, it's a day late. For example... At 8:00 this morning, the date was the 23rd. At 2:00 this afternoon, the date is the 24th. Here's a tip... If figuring out the date involves adding or subtracting by 12, you're probably doing it wrong.
2. Fix the compass on my watch. It has decided that South-West is North. This is also problematic.
3. Fix the tides on my watch.
Please note that it displays the time correctly.
nc
found them.
Apparently Mom and Dad are up at Whiteside Camp (up around St. Louis). They didn't even check-in with me to see if it was alright to go! They think they are adults or something. They are headed home today.
I think we will go visit them on Saturday. Maybe we can get them to come up on Saturday to pick up the truck? Not sure about that.
I fixed the side-view mirror. It's a true Red Green fix. Well not "true" because duct tape was not involved. I used JB Weld and welded it back on. The mirror is cracked but very much usable. It was working great as I took the truck to lunch.
Obama is giving Cash for Clunkers and I think our car is one that meets the criteria. If we wanted to, we could get $4500 for it. I don't think we will though.
nc
I think we will go visit them on Saturday. Maybe we can get them to come up on Saturday to pick up the truck? Not sure about that.
I fixed the side-view mirror. It's a true Red Green fix. Well not "true" because duct tape was not involved. I used JB Weld and welded it back on. The mirror is cracked but very much usable. It was working great as I took the truck to lunch.
Obama is giving Cash for Clunkers and I think our car is one that meets the criteria. If we wanted to, we could get $4500 for it. I don't think we will though.
nc
weekend
The weekend is almost upon us.
I tried to call Mom and Dad last night but couldn't get a hold of anyone. I tried all 3 numbers (home, cell, and Tahoe). We are thinking about going to Vinita this weekend but want to talk to them to see if it's alright.
Last night was spent around here. Patrick and Nellie went out and practiced casting their fishing poles. Then we took the bike and the Cozy Coupe up to the basketball court. Patrick is really coming along on his bike riding.
Patrick has gotten hooked on Pink Panther Cartoons.
Off to work.
nc
I tried to call Mom and Dad last night but couldn't get a hold of anyone. I tried all 3 numbers (home, cell, and Tahoe). We are thinking about going to Vinita this weekend but want to talk to them to see if it's alright.
Last night was spent around here. Patrick and Nellie went out and practiced casting their fishing poles. Then we took the bike and the Cozy Coupe up to the basketball court. Patrick is really coming along on his bike riding.
Patrick has gotten hooked on Pink Panther Cartoons.
Off to work.
nc
Thursday, July 23, 2009
walking.
The other day Miranda and I were walking through the woods and we came up to a small stream. I hadn't seen it before so I asked her how deep it was. "About 4 inches", she said. I took one step in and sank up to my eyes. "That's funny", she said, "It only comes up to halfway on my duck."
nc
house.
Check deposited, firefighters in San Antonio have been put on alert. Hot check? Get it?
Today is going swimmingly (good). I am ready for the weekend though. No real plans this weekend but we're ready for it.
Radio Shack, which used to be such a neat store but now is useless, have teamed up with Lance Armstrong to create a new cycling team. I would think they would want to use that money to get something worth selling but it's not my corporation. I did buy a neat shortwave radio from them quite a few years ago. However shortwave radio just isn't that great. Or I may be missing the point.
I haven't ate a real meal since Tuesday night. Last night was iced tea. Lunch today is Diet Mt. Dew. Not hungry at all. I guess I'm not over my sickness yet.
nc
Today is going swimmingly (good). I am ready for the weekend though. No real plans this weekend but we're ready for it.
Radio Shack, which used to be such a neat store but now is useless, have teamed up with Lance Armstrong to create a new cycling team. I would think they would want to use that money to get something worth selling but it's not my corporation. I did buy a neat shortwave radio from them quite a few years ago. However shortwave radio just isn't that great. Or I may be missing the point.
I haven't ate a real meal since Tuesday night. Last night was iced tea. Lunch today is Diet Mt. Dew. Not hungry at all. I guess I'm not over my sickness yet.
nc
house.
Well I'm depositing the check today. At this point we are really hoping that it bounces so that we can start the eviction. Called the lawyer and depending on how long they decide to drag it out, it will take from 1 month to about 3 months. Then we start the process all over again. Yay!
Not sure what will happen next but if I was a betting man (which I'm not but probably soon will be), I would bet that next May we end up moving back to Diamond. What a disaster.
nc
Not sure what will happen next but if I was a betting man (which I'm not but probably soon will be), I would bet that next May we end up moving back to Diamond. What a disaster.
nc
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine said "These are the times that try men's souls". I guess the bright spot is that I'm finding out exactly what I'm made of during these trying times. I'm mostly made of tacos. I found this out last night when I got sick.
Miranda made taco's last night and boy oh boy. "Yikes!" is all that there is left to say. I must have caught some kind of stomach flu.
Between the house and tacos, I slept for maybe 1 hour last night.
Right now you are thinking to yourself... "I have really got to avoid this blog". Admit it! Every one's blogs that I read always have these inspirational and/or cute stories. Well not me. I don't have inspirational/cute stuff. I just have my life and it's a bit ugly lately. Maybe I'll have some cute Patrick and Nellie stuff but for right now it's all about homes, horses, and sicknesses.
nc
Miranda made taco's last night and boy oh boy. "Yikes!" is all that there is left to say. I must have caught some kind of stomach flu.
Between the house and tacos, I slept for maybe 1 hour last night.
Right now you are thinking to yourself... "I have really got to avoid this blog". Admit it! Every one's blogs that I read always have these inspirational and/or cute stories. Well not me. I don't have inspirational/cute stuff. I just have my life and it's a bit ugly lately. Maybe I'll have some cute Patrick and Nellie stuff but for right now it's all about homes, horses, and sicknesses.
nc
house update.
So yesterday I got a call from the renters saying that he was driving over to bring my cash. I didn't go and deposit the check. I waited up until 11:00PM and unsurprisingly he didn't show up. I left him a voice mail (because he forwarded his calls to voice mail) saying that something had to be done and lawyers were going to be contacted. I get another call this morning and he is "leaving right now to come over here". Right. He said he ended up in Arkansas City and some other baloney and that's why he didn't make it.
I called a few lawyers. The one I got a hold of was in Springfield and he suggested using a local lawyer because it's a fairly straight forward process and would save money. So I found one but he's busy this week in court.
I called the bank that the check was written on and they do not have enough money to make the transaction (as of today and I'm betting that won't change).
At this point, it appears that we are headed back to Diamond. This really depresses me because I'm getting used to Independence and I'd really like Patrick and Nellie to get to go to school here. But apparently it just isn't supposed to work out.
nc
I called a few lawyers. The one I got a hold of was in Springfield and he suggested using a local lawyer because it's a fairly straight forward process and would save money. So I found one but he's busy this week in court.
I called the bank that the check was written on and they do not have enough money to make the transaction (as of today and I'm betting that won't change).
At this point, it appears that we are headed back to Diamond. This really depresses me because I'm getting used to Independence and I'd really like Patrick and Nellie to get to go to school here. But apparently it just isn't supposed to work out.
nc
Anniversary!
For 9 years today I have been in love with one woman. If Miranda finds out, she'll kill me! Just kidding.
Happy Anniversary, Miranda! It's been a wonderful 9 years and I couldn't ask for a better companion to go through life with.
Now if I could get you to learn French with me!
Je t'aime.
nc
Happy Anniversary, Miranda! It's been a wonderful 9 years and I couldn't ask for a better companion to go through life with.
Now if I could get you to learn French with me!
Je t'aime.
nc
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Rest of the week.
Miranda is at Bartlesville all this week for some training. That leaves me at home by myself. The silence is nice but I will miss having a lunch partner.
Today I've got to run errands so I will probably eat out at lunch. The choices are: McDonald's, Arby's, or Taco Bell. Leaning towards Taco Bell.
Here's what we decided to do... Our SUV isn't exactly a valuable vehicle to put it mildly. They did come out and fix the windshield and that leaves the side mirror, front fender, drivers-side rear door dented and a fairly large white area (it's a black SUV and the horse got a nasty burn I'm sure). We have decided for forget about the cosmetics part of this. Fender and door issues will stay the same. We are going to get a replacement for the side view mirror. So I've got to go to O'Reilly Auto Parts to get a replacement. It's like $50. The Expedition is a 2000 model and has 140,000+ miles on it.
Miranda got a new cell phone. I'm green with envy. I would like to get a iPhone but I don't want to spend another $30/month for the unlimited data package. I already spend too much for my Internet connection for work. It would be a fun toy though. That doesn't persuade Miranda at all.
nc
Today I've got to run errands so I will probably eat out at lunch. The choices are: McDonald's, Arby's, or Taco Bell. Leaning towards Taco Bell.
Here's what we decided to do... Our SUV isn't exactly a valuable vehicle to put it mildly. They did come out and fix the windshield and that leaves the side mirror, front fender, drivers-side rear door dented and a fairly large white area (it's a black SUV and the horse got a nasty burn I'm sure). We have decided for forget about the cosmetics part of this. Fender and door issues will stay the same. We are going to get a replacement for the side view mirror. So I've got to go to O'Reilly Auto Parts to get a replacement. It's like $50. The Expedition is a 2000 model and has 140,000+ miles on it.
Miranda got a new cell phone. I'm green with envy. I would like to get a iPhone but I don't want to spend another $30/month for the unlimited data package. I already spend too much for my Internet connection for work. It would be a fun toy though. That doesn't persuade Miranda at all.
nc
Ugh.
Back home from Monett. Long and uneventful day.
Congrats to Mom and Dad who had their 30 somethingth anniversary either yesterday, today, or sometime this week. I'm on the ball.
Yesterday at work, I learned something interesting. Apparently spelling bee's aren't a big thing with the Army. I was a speaking dictionary but I can't gripe. I can't gripe because he was in the Army Rangers and can probably kill me three different ways with his pinkie. You'd think an ex-Ranger would be a bit more intimidating though and I never would have guessed that he was an ex-elite Army guy. I figured elite unit guys all looked like Michael Clark Duncan (6'5" 315 lbs) but apparently they don't.
Speaking of the military... Our "renters", and I put renters in quotes because to rent means that the landlord get money from the transaction, decided to withdraw all the ex-rent that they owe us from an ATM. They decided to do this at the last minute because they are "on the ball". As you probably know, you can only withdraw a maximum of $500 dollars a day and this is unfortunately less than a third of the money that they owe us. I didn't even get that because the money "was with his wife in Springfield" (because they are "on the ball"). So they decided to write yet another check and I'm sure it will also bounce higher than the Empire State Building. Both of them are in the National Guard and he is about to deploy to Iraq again. Of course, he is the one telling me this, so he is really probably going to where ever the opposite of Iraq is. When he is gone to Iraq and we have to evict his family, we will be the evil landlords that evicted a man serving with the Armed Forces in Iraq and will show up in all the newspapers. You will know it's me because the same article will also mention a murder/suicide. Just joking. They cannot afford rent but they did put in an above-ground pool in the back lot. They can also afford iPhones and a host of other stuff. Another months rent will be due next Saturday bringing the total up to three. This doesn't even count the fact that in a year they are going to be "getting a loan" to buy our house. Right.
I really need nuclear weapons.
Anyway... It appears that our move in Diamond is even more imminent at this point. I would give them the benefit of the doubt on this next check but the "benefit of the doubt" well has appeared to have run dry.
Sorry for venting on you but that's the way it goes, baby.
That's how my week is going. That's how my life is going as well. If Charles Dickens wrote about my life, it would start out "They were the worst of times, they were the worst of times". Get it? Charles Dickens? A Tale Of Two Cities? Never mind.
Je suis désolé.
nc
Congrats to Mom and Dad who had their 30 somethingth anniversary either yesterday, today, or sometime this week. I'm on the ball.
Yesterday at work, I learned something interesting. Apparently spelling bee's aren't a big thing with the Army. I was a speaking dictionary but I can't gripe. I can't gripe because he was in the Army Rangers and can probably kill me three different ways with his pinkie. You'd think an ex-Ranger would be a bit more intimidating though and I never would have guessed that he was an ex-elite Army guy. I figured elite unit guys all looked like Michael Clark Duncan (6'5" 315 lbs) but apparently they don't.
Speaking of the military... Our "renters", and I put renters in quotes because to rent means that the landlord get money from the transaction, decided to withdraw all the ex-rent that they owe us from an ATM. They decided to do this at the last minute because they are "on the ball". As you probably know, you can only withdraw a maximum of $500 dollars a day and this is unfortunately less than a third of the money that they owe us. I didn't even get that because the money "was with his wife in Springfield" (because they are "on the ball"). So they decided to write yet another check and I'm sure it will also bounce higher than the Empire State Building. Both of them are in the National Guard and he is about to deploy to Iraq again. Of course, he is the one telling me this, so he is really probably going to where ever the opposite of Iraq is. When he is gone to Iraq and we have to evict his family, we will be the evil landlords that evicted a man serving with the Armed Forces in Iraq and will show up in all the newspapers. You will know it's me because the same article will also mention a murder/suicide. Just joking. They cannot afford rent but they did put in an above-ground pool in the back lot. They can also afford iPhones and a host of other stuff. Another months rent will be due next Saturday bringing the total up to three. This doesn't even count the fact that in a year they are going to be "getting a loan" to buy our house. Right.
I really need nuclear weapons.
Anyway... It appears that our move in Diamond is even more imminent at this point. I would give them the benefit of the doubt on this next check but the "benefit of the doubt" well has appeared to have run dry.
Sorry for venting on you but that's the way it goes, baby.
That's how my week is going. That's how my life is going as well. If Charles Dickens wrote about my life, it would start out "They were the worst of times, they were the worst of times". Get it? Charles Dickens? A Tale Of Two Cities? Never mind.
Je suis désolé.
nc
Monday, July 20, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Quiet Sunday.
Just sitting around relaxin' today. Children were supposed to take naps but didn't.
Patrick is still wanting Christmas to get here so he can get a computer. We aren't sure what he will even use it for.
Getting ready to head out for church in a bit.
Tomorrow I go in to Monett to work. Will find out about the house, tomorrow night. Hope that works out.
nc
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Today.
Today was a lot of fun. We hit Woolaroc and it was nice. It was mostly museum so Patrick seemed a bit disappointed. We got to pet some animals but Patrick wouldn't. I can tell we are city people because as soon as we walked in, both children were holding their noses and complaining about the smell. Afterward we had a picnic lunch on the grounds. A friendly squirrel came up and we fed it a cookie. I'm sure we weren't supposed to but it was funny to see.
We headed home and on the way Nellie wanted to watch Mickey Mouse Saves Santa. Mickey Mouse has his clubhouse and he always says "Do you want to come into my clubhouse?". Nellie said "ummmm.... no....". It was funny.
On our way home, we were going through Caney and they have a Safari Zoological Park. It was better than a regular zoo. It was all big cats, monkeys, and bears and you could get close to them. Very close. They also had Grey Wolves and we got them to howl. There was also a "tour guide" that would take you around. I think she was basically there to make sure you didn't get eaten. I was like a little boy in there. Patrick and Nellie loved the animals except Patrick was a bit freaked out with the bear. We are going to have to make that a regular stop. It was a bit pricey ($10 for adults, $8 for children ages 2 and up) but well worth the money. Since this is becoming basically an advertisement, here's their website.
Mom and Dad brought up the truck and camper so thanks for that guys! Very appreciated and sorry we missed you.
The children are outside practicing casting with their rod and reels so I better go join them.
nc
We headed home and on the way Nellie wanted to watch Mickey Mouse Saves Santa. Mickey Mouse has his clubhouse and he always says "Do you want to come into my clubhouse?". Nellie said "ummmm.... no....". It was funny.
On our way home, we were going through Caney and they have a Safari Zoological Park. It was better than a regular zoo. It was all big cats, monkeys, and bears and you could get close to them. Very close. They also had Grey Wolves and we got them to howl. There was also a "tour guide" that would take you around. I think she was basically there to make sure you didn't get eaten. I was like a little boy in there. Patrick and Nellie loved the animals except Patrick was a bit freaked out with the bear. We are going to have to make that a regular stop. It was a bit pricey ($10 for adults, $8 for children ages 2 and up) but well worth the money. Since this is becoming basically an advertisement, here's their website.
Mom and Dad brought up the truck and camper so thanks for that guys! Very appreciated and sorry we missed you.
The children are outside practicing casting with their rod and reels so I better go join them.
nc
Children
I find that the only French I'm learning lately is commands. We have to ride Patrick to get dressed. He piddles around and we have to tell him over and over to "Get Dressed!". So now it's "habillez-vous!".
nc
nc
Today.
Miranda took Patrick to the Independence Zoo yesterday because he was wanting to go to the Zoo. When they got there he said "Not this zoo!". Apparently he wanted the Tulsa Zoo because Papa and Grandma took him to the Tulsa Zoo and he loved it. So today we are going to take them to Woolaroc. I guess we will see if they enjoy it.
Mom and Dad are going to pick up their camper and truck today and they are going to loan us the truck for the week. They are much too nice to us.
This morning has been busy. Oil change in my S-10, haircut, and off to Woolaroc. My barber is a young Vietnamese kid here in town. He cuts hair with his dad (I think). His dad (step?) is a ex-Marine and was in Vietnam and (this is where my assumptions start) and I think married a local woman and had the boy. They give the best cuts in town that I've found. Old fashioned style. When they flipped out the straight razor, the first time I saw it, I almost took off running. They are recently moved here from Seattle. I was talking to them (what? me talk? no way!), and the boy was saying that he finally found a Vietnamese market in Tulsa. He was really missing the food of Seattle. I (of course) asked if they speak Vietnamese. He does but his dad doesn't. Guess I'll have to learn a bit. I don't want to learn much more than "hello" or something like that. I've never really had any interest in Asian stuff and I'm not sure why.
Anyway... leaving soon. Maybe they will have Cherokee language stuff at Woolaroc.
nc
Mom and Dad are going to pick up their camper and truck today and they are going to loan us the truck for the week. They are much too nice to us.
This morning has been busy. Oil change in my S-10, haircut, and off to Woolaroc. My barber is a young Vietnamese kid here in town. He cuts hair with his dad (I think). His dad (step?) is a ex-Marine and was in Vietnam and (this is where my assumptions start) and I think married a local woman and had the boy. They give the best cuts in town that I've found. Old fashioned style. When they flipped out the straight razor, the first time I saw it, I almost took off running. They are recently moved here from Seattle. I was talking to them (what? me talk? no way!), and the boy was saying that he finally found a Vietnamese market in Tulsa. He was really missing the food of Seattle. I (of course) asked if they speak Vietnamese. He does but his dad doesn't. Guess I'll have to learn a bit. I don't want to learn much more than "hello" or something like that. I've never really had any interest in Asian stuff and I'm not sure why.
Anyway... leaving soon. Maybe they will have Cherokee language stuff at Woolaroc.
nc
Friday, July 17, 2009
Sigh
Miranda went to insurance company. Luckily they are going to take care of it except for the $100 deductible. However the truck is going to be gone from Tuesday until the rest of the week. Miranda has to go to Bartlesville every day next week (except for Monday) so I guess she will take my truck. Not sure what I will do. Guess now is the time to buy the Porsche 911!
nc
nc
More changes.
We change plans faster than a speeding bullet. We have yet again changed our 10 year anniversary trip (for next year).
Royal Caribbean has a 7 night cruise of New England/Canada. One of the shore excursions is a ride on this beaut.
That is the trip that is leading the pack right now and it's 1/2 the price of a trip to Europe.
nc
Royal Caribbean has a 7 night cruise of New England/Canada. One of the shore excursions is a ride on this beaut.
That is the trip that is leading the pack right now and it's 1/2 the price of a trip to Europe.
nc
Last night
So last night was nice. We stayed around the house. Nellie and Patrick brought out their fishing poles and we went outside and practiced casting. Patrick is really doing well but Nellie wants to keep holding the button down.
After the practice session, we aired up the tires on Patrick's bike and went up to the tennis/basketball/volleyball court and Patrick rode it around. Next step is to take off the training wheels but that will be awhile. This is the first real place that he's had a chance to ride his bike. In Diamond, we lived on a down slope.
I need to get out my roller-blades and practice those some more. The court would be a great place to give myself a concussion.
It is finally Friday and we have no plans for the weekend. Next weekend we are going to try to get a baby sitter because next week is our 9th wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe that it will be 9 years. I think we are going to try Fleming's Steakhouse. They have a good seafood menu but it's pretty silly to go to a steakhouse and order seafood. I will probably have a steak but I am not ruling out seafood.
nc
After the practice session, we aired up the tires on Patrick's bike and went up to the tennis/basketball/volleyball court and Patrick rode it around. Next step is to take off the training wheels but that will be awhile. This is the first real place that he's had a chance to ride his bike. In Diamond, we lived on a down slope.
I need to get out my roller-blades and practice those some more. The court would be a great place to give myself a concussion.
It is finally Friday and we have no plans for the weekend. Next weekend we are going to try to get a baby sitter because next week is our 9th wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe that it will be 9 years. I think we are going to try Fleming's Steakhouse. They have a good seafood menu but it's pretty silly to go to a steakhouse and order seafood. I will probably have a steak but I am not ruling out seafood.
nc
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Hobby
You cannot imagine how quick this hobby was shot down by Miranda. $2,900 for a remote controlled boat went over like a lead balloon.
nc
Playing around.
So I've been playing around with this Text To Speech Translator.
I copied some text off of Pravda.ru and come up with this. I have no idea what it says.
Here is "The man who gives his wife the dog" in German. I got the phrase off of Wikipedia.
Click here.
nc
I copied some text off of Pravda.ru and come up with this. I have no idea what it says.
Here is "The man who gives his wife the dog" in German. I got the phrase off of Wikipedia.
Click here.
nc
Today.
Today has been steadily getting worse. It's finally calming down now but it's been crazy. Miranda is gone today and the children are in day care so it's been quiet with a capital 'K'. Not so quiet at work.
Yesterday I started saving for a sailboat. Miranda and I have decided that I spend too much time in front of rectangles. I need a hobby and one that is outdoors. All my other hobbies are indoors (Languages, Steel Guitar, to name two). A lot of my hobbies involve computers as well. So anyway... We have decided that a sailboat would be a good hobby and even if it does take some upkeep. Guns would also be a popular choice except that I'm mentally unstable. So that is out. Of course there is always this project!. A New Zealander set about to build a cruise missile for less than $5,000 with only information available from the Internet. He was achieving that goal but apparently his gov't shut it down. Take that project and combine it with the home-made fusion device and I could become famous! Obscurity is nice though. I am already probably on an FBI watch list due to finding this book at a used book store and buying it. I love languages.
Tonight I'm hoping for boredom. It's been quite a day. I'll be glad when Miranda gets home. I'm missing having her around today. Guess I better get used to not having her around because school will be starting soon.
Monday we find out about the house. I'm not going to say much about it on here because of the lawyerly details but we are really hoping that it turns out. When we get rid of the house, it will be party time.
nc
Yesterday I started saving for a sailboat. Miranda and I have decided that I spend too much time in front of rectangles. I need a hobby and one that is outdoors. All my other hobbies are indoors (Languages, Steel Guitar, to name two). A lot of my hobbies involve computers as well. So anyway... We have decided that a sailboat would be a good hobby and even if it does take some upkeep. Guns would also be a popular choice except that I'm mentally unstable. So that is out. Of course there is always this project!. A New Zealander set about to build a cruise missile for less than $5,000 with only information available from the Internet. He was achieving that goal but apparently his gov't shut it down. Take that project and combine it with the home-made fusion device and I could become famous! Obscurity is nice though. I am already probably on an FBI watch list due to finding this book at a used book store and buying it. I love languages.
Tonight I'm hoping for boredom. It's been quite a day. I'll be glad when Miranda gets home. I'm missing having her around today. Guess I better get used to not having her around because school will be starting soon.
Monday we find out about the house. I'm not going to say much about it on here because of the lawyerly details but we are really hoping that it turns out. When we get rid of the house, it will be party time.
nc
Change of plans
So we surprised Mom and Dad last night by going up to Niangua for the night. We were planning on spending the night in Springfield and I would just work from Monett. Miranda has to do some stuff in Joplin (eye doctor, shopping, etc...). So she was just going to mess around in Joplin all day. However on the way to Springfield, we decided to just head for home.
We have two payments left on the Expedition and it's ours! Of course.... On the way home.... At 12:30A.M..... We hit a horse. Technically the horse hit us as we were almost stopped. Everything I do, I have to do it big so instead of a 100 pound deer, we hit a 1,000 pound horse. The hood/fender is dented, the side mirror is ripped off, the windshield is cracked, I kept seeing horses pop up in front of me all the way home. The usual stuff. So Miranda is going to see what insurance will do later this week. We couldn't trade insurance information with the horse because he ran off. We also didn't file an accident report because the horse was in seemingly pretty good condition (better than our vehicle anyway), but he will probably have a nasty headache for a few days.
So anyway, I'm in today.
nc
We have two payments left on the Expedition and it's ours! Of course.... On the way home.... At 12:30A.M..... We hit a horse. Technically the horse hit us as we were almost stopped. Everything I do, I have to do it big so instead of a 100 pound deer, we hit a 1,000 pound horse. The hood/fender is dented, the side mirror is ripped off, the windshield is cracked, I kept seeing horses pop up in front of me all the way home. The usual stuff. So Miranda is going to see what insurance will do later this week. We couldn't trade insurance information with the horse because he ran off. We also didn't file an accident report because the horse was in seemingly pretty good condition (better than our vehicle anyway), but he will probably have a nasty headache for a few days.
So anyway, I'm in today.
nc
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Economics
Speaking of Economics. Unemployment in Michigan just hit 15.2%. The link also cites some non-shocker information by showing that unemployment is 20% higher in Democratic strongholds. Luckily for us, Obama will take those same policies that were such an outstanding success at the state level and implement them at the national level.
I'm feeling lucky!
nc
I'm feeling lucky!
nc
tonight
Tonight we will be out of pocket. I will be in the office tomorrow. So I will be away from the blog for a day or so.
As usual, I will try to leave you something to look at.
Start here. I found that site while researching the word moustache. Moustache is a French word whose meaning is quite obvious. What is not obvious is why it's a feminine noun!?! That probably says more about French women than it does the French language.
Next we move on to the tide schedule for Bar Harbor, ME. Back so quick? That didn't take long!
Next we move on to Bizarre Japanese Game Shows (WARNING! These contain a LOT of risqué double entendres.).
Lastly we head off to learn about Economics.
That should keep you busy for awhile. See you when I get back.
nc
As usual, I will try to leave you something to look at.
Start here. I found that site while researching the word moustache. Moustache is a French word whose meaning is quite obvious. What is not obvious is why it's a feminine noun!?! That probably says more about French women than it does the French language.
Next we move on to the tide schedule for Bar Harbor, ME. Back so quick? That didn't take long!
Next we move on to Bizarre Japanese Game Shows (WARNING! These contain a LOT of risqué double entendres.).
Lastly we head off to learn about Economics.
That should keep you busy for awhile. See you when I get back.
nc
hmmm...
I'm following Lance Armstrong on facebook and the other day he posted a quote from Gandhi.
nc
Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from indomitable will. - GandhiI'm not sure about that. It's one of those statements that sounds good, but the devil is in the details. Either way, I'm out of luck because I have neither. Too bad it wasn't something like this:
Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an intense love of donuts. -nuclearcowboyThat would be my only hope.
nc
Last night.
So last night, we went to see the Union Bible College. It was a really nice time and a really great group. I used to think Bible College's were basically useless but I'm not so sure now. They fill a niche area and are performing better than state colleges and universities. For those not wanting to read the link, 4 year colleges are graduating 53% of students in 6 years. Now please note that these people were supposed to graduate in 4 years and they aren't getting 47% of them in 6 years. So if you take 1 year at Pitt State (approximate cost of $19,970 according to them), times 6 you get a college debt of $119,820 and you still don't have a degree.
Anyway... enough of my rant.
Nellie started singing "Here Comes Santa Clause" last night. Between her and Patrick, it's Christmas in July.
nc
Anyway... enough of my rant.
Nellie started singing "Here Comes Santa Clause" last night. Between her and Patrick, it's Christmas in July.
nc
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Big congrats!
Big congrats to Miranda who lost 4 pounds this week!
She has lost clear down to ....
I'm proud of her.
nc
She has lost clear down to ....
I'm proud of her.
nc
Interesting.
One of the riders in the Tour de France is Samuel Dumoulin. He is 5 foot 2 1/2 inches and weighs 120 pounds.
nc
nc
Happy Bastille Day!
Things are going fairly wonky around here.
Terry McCormick is coming over to put up some trim in the house.
We are waiting to hear the latest status on our house. No sure what is going to happen there but I'm preparing for the worst. I'm going to start trying to figure out our move back to Diamond next May. We should hear something today but whether it is meaningful is another story.
Tonight is the singing at Parsons church and we are hoping to get to go to that.
I think Mom and Dad are at camp meeting in Niangua, MO. I tried to call them and couldn't get anyone.
nc
Terry McCormick is coming over to put up some trim in the house.
We are waiting to hear the latest status on our house. No sure what is going to happen there but I'm preparing for the worst. I'm going to start trying to figure out our move back to Diamond next May. We should hear something today but whether it is meaningful is another story.
Tonight is the singing at Parsons church and we are hoping to get to go to that.
I think Mom and Dad are at camp meeting in Niangua, MO. I tried to call them and couldn't get anyone.
nc
Monday, July 13, 2009
House.
It appears that our house may not be sold. I won't comment on specifics yet but may in the future. Assuming the house has to go up for sale again, we may end up just moving back to Diamond.
Voodoo is called for.
nc
Voodoo is called for.
nc
Patrick
So we got a flyer from Wal-Mart and they have colorful Dell Inspiron Laptops for pretty cheap. Miranda mentioned that we ought to get Patrick something like that for Christmas. He overhead it. Now he keeps asking if it's Christmas yet because he wants his new computer. Miranda keeps telling him that it's a long time till Christmas but he won't drop it. Today she told him that Santa was asleep and he said that he was going to jump on the bed to wake him up.
Christmas can't come quick enough for Patrick.
nc
Christmas can't come quick enough for Patrick.
nc
The week ahead.
The weekend is over (unfortunately). Now on to the work week.
Still having all kinds of house issues (our house in Diamond). If that doesn't get settled soon, it's probably off to a lawyer.
Found an interesting vacation idea. A Maine Sailing Cruise (and I'm not talking about sailing in the generic sense of riding a boat. I'm talking about wind and sails). Miranda is really susceptible to motion sickness so I'm guessing it won't be the one for us. Would be a hoot though.
The Tour de France is on a rest day. I really want to watch it tomorrow as the French teams go gangbusters since tomorrow is Bastille Day which celebrates the sans-culottes storming of the Bastille and the starting of the French Revolution. One or more Frenchmen always take out on a breakaway and breakaways have been working this year.
Tomorrow night is a singing at the Parsons Church by a group from some college. I think it's this one but don't hold me too it. I am also unaware of the time that it starts. I'm really on top of things.
This is Miranda's last week of freedom. After this week, she will start getting busy again for the school year. It can't come quickly enough as she is going insane. It does not work for her to sit at home because she worries and worries and starts to fall apart. When she is working at school, it keeps her occupied. I will miss the nice breakfasts. I will also miss her being around, as it's nice to have someone to chat with during the day.
nc
Still having all kinds of house issues (our house in Diamond). If that doesn't get settled soon, it's probably off to a lawyer.
Found an interesting vacation idea. A Maine Sailing Cruise (and I'm not talking about sailing in the generic sense of riding a boat. I'm talking about wind and sails). Miranda is really susceptible to motion sickness so I'm guessing it won't be the one for us. Would be a hoot though.
The Tour de France is on a rest day. I really want to watch it tomorrow as the French teams go gangbusters since tomorrow is Bastille Day which celebrates the sans-culottes storming of the Bastille and the starting of the French Revolution. One or more Frenchmen always take out on a breakaway and breakaways have been working this year.
Tomorrow night is a singing at the Parsons Church by a group from some college. I think it's this one but don't hold me too it. I am also unaware of the time that it starts. I'm really on top of things.
This is Miranda's last week of freedom. After this week, she will start getting busy again for the school year. It can't come quickly enough as she is going insane. It does not work for her to sit at home because she worries and worries and starts to fall apart. When she is working at school, it keeps her occupied. I will miss the nice breakfasts. I will also miss her being around, as it's nice to have someone to chat with during the day.
nc
Saturday, July 11, 2009
weekend.
Today we slept in! Then we went to Sears and bought a new refrigerator. They delivered it about 11:30 and we got it inside and setup.
I changed the filter in the air unit today. We are getting stuff accomplished!
Tomorrow is church and we are going over to see Paul and Jane during the afternoon.
nc
I changed the filter in the air unit today. We are getting stuff accomplished!
Tomorrow is church and we are going over to see Paul and Jane during the afternoon.
nc
Friday, July 10, 2009
today.
It's Friday. That's good.
We (Miranda and I) went up to the Travel Agency to talk to them about our trip. Apparently we need to wait a bit. The lady said about December but she gave us some brochures. So now we just need to decide. There are a couple of interesting ones.
1. Normandy and Northern France. Get to see the beaches of Normandy, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, with a possible side expedition to the palace of Versailles.
2. Belgium, Luxembourg. Waterloo and a tour of a Belgian chocolate factory. A lot of other stuff too.
Those are our 2 favorites so far. Both are guided tours. There was also an Ireland one but it just didn't see that interesting when compared with these two.
Tonight is going to be ice cream/tropical sno and maybe a visit to the Independence Zoo to see the monkeys. We were going to Youth camp but I don't think they are having a regular service. Plus we just want to stay home.
I'm listening to my Sirius radio and the song Crazy (by Patsy Cline came on). This reminded me of this joke.
Q. How many female singers does it take to sing Crazy?
A. All of them, apparently.
Here's another:
Q. Do you know what perfect pitch is?
A. When you throw the accordion in the dumpster and it lands directly on the banjo.
Guess I'd better get used to accordion music because there will be a lot of it at the Cajun Music Festival.
nc
We (Miranda and I) went up to the Travel Agency to talk to them about our trip. Apparently we need to wait a bit. The lady said about December but she gave us some brochures. So now we just need to decide. There are a couple of interesting ones.
1. Normandy and Northern France. Get to see the beaches of Normandy, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, with a possible side expedition to the palace of Versailles.
2. Belgium, Luxembourg. Waterloo and a tour of a Belgian chocolate factory. A lot of other stuff too.
Those are our 2 favorites so far. Both are guided tours. There was also an Ireland one but it just didn't see that interesting when compared with these two.
Tonight is going to be ice cream/tropical sno and maybe a visit to the Independence Zoo to see the monkeys. We were going to Youth camp but I don't think they are having a regular service. Plus we just want to stay home.
I'm listening to my Sirius radio and the song Crazy (by Patsy Cline came on). This reminded me of this joke.
Q. How many female singers does it take to sing Crazy?
A. All of them, apparently.
Here's another:
Q. Do you know what perfect pitch is?
A. When you throw the accordion in the dumpster and it lands directly on the banjo.
Guess I'd better get used to accordion music because there will be a lot of it at the Cajun Music Festival.
nc
good stuff.
Thanks to Jon and Shelia Wade, we now have some jalapeño peppers! They stopped by while we were at Youth camp. Sorry for missing you.
Please note that I got the diacritical marks on the ñ. I'm awesome. I finally figured out how to do this by using the International Keyboard using this page. So now I can type "le garçon" (boy) and "le ministère de affaires étrangères" (foreign minister). This will come in handy when Patrick becomes the Foreign Minister of France but not until then.
nc
Please note that I got the diacritical marks on the ñ. I'm awesome. I finally figured out how to do this by using the International Keyboard using this page. So now I can type "le garçon" (boy) and "le ministère de affaires étrangères" (foreign minister). This will come in handy when Patrick becomes the Foreign Minister of France but not until then.
nc
Last night.
So last night we went to Youth camp. On the way down, we stopped at Bartlesville and ate at Rib Crib. After that we went to the mall for a bit since we were running a bit early.
Before we went into the mall, I told Patrick "Ecoute moi. Ne courir pas". Also known as "Listen to me. No running.". I have been working on French with him. Anyway... we go into the mall and he is, of course, running around and Nellie is chasing him. So Miranda says to him, "What did Dad say?". Patrick says without batting an eye, "Ecoute moi". Miranda was lost at that point and I was laughing. Before long, he will speak better French than he does English. Of course, it's the classic case of "the blind leading the blind" so I'm not sure how well either of us will do but it appears that before long, French will be the primary language of the men in this household.
Youth camp was nice, if you are in to that sort of thing. I'm not. The preacher decided to tell them, "You have a purpose in life". Try telling that to the 20+ million people that died in the Great Leap Forward. Or the 73 million people (about 25 million of them were 18 year old soldiers) that died in WW II along with 6 million Jews that died just because they were born Jewish. I guess they did have a purpose but it was just to be part of a statistic. But I always look on the bright side. My purpose in life is to bring you down and depress you.
On to the depressing news now... Gary Filsinger passed away. I didn't know him real well but we passed them every Sunday on the way to church when we were going to Redwood. We'd wave as we passed.
I saw a funny sign on the way to Bartlesville. It said something like "No one every said 'Snap out of it, it's just diabetes'." It was an advert for DepressionIsReal.Org.
On to more exciting stuff.
We are going to go talk to a travel agent to try to come up with a trip next year for Miranda and my 10th anniversary. Not sure when this will happen but soon hopefully. I want to get our plans finalized because otherwise I just don't think we will go anywhere. So you will probably be reading here about the fights that Miranda and I will be having when trying to decide on where to go.
It's 3:40 in the morning and I can't sleep. This is for everyone that is wondering why I'm slightly off kilter. I got to bed about midnight, got up at 2:00 and appear to be up for the day. This will not make for a good Friday. I was in the process of having a panic attack and decided to get my mind off onto other things. So I blog. And depress you. Isn't this fun? I get to do all the talking and you get to do all the listening. I am now going to try to go back to bed. See you in 2 hours and 20 minutes.
nc
Before we went into the mall, I told Patrick "Ecoute moi. Ne courir pas". Also known as "Listen to me. No running.". I have been working on French with him. Anyway... we go into the mall and he is, of course, running around and Nellie is chasing him. So Miranda says to him, "What did Dad say?". Patrick says without batting an eye, "Ecoute moi". Miranda was lost at that point and I was laughing. Before long, he will speak better French than he does English. Of course, it's the classic case of "the blind leading the blind" so I'm not sure how well either of us will do but it appears that before long, French will be the primary language of the men in this household.
Youth camp was nice, if you are in to that sort of thing. I'm not. The preacher decided to tell them, "You have a purpose in life". Try telling that to the 20+ million people that died in the Great Leap Forward. Or the 73 million people (about 25 million of them were 18 year old soldiers) that died in WW II along with 6 million Jews that died just because they were born Jewish. I guess they did have a purpose but it was just to be part of a statistic. But I always look on the bright side. My purpose in life is to bring you down and depress you.
On to the depressing news now... Gary Filsinger passed away. I didn't know him real well but we passed them every Sunday on the way to church when we were going to Redwood. We'd wave as we passed.
I saw a funny sign on the way to Bartlesville. It said something like "No one every said 'Snap out of it, it's just diabetes'." It was an advert for DepressionIsReal.Org.
On to more exciting stuff.
We are going to go talk to a travel agent to try to come up with a trip next year for Miranda and my 10th anniversary. Not sure when this will happen but soon hopefully. I want to get our plans finalized because otherwise I just don't think we will go anywhere. So you will probably be reading here about the fights that Miranda and I will be having when trying to decide on where to go.
It's 3:40 in the morning and I can't sleep. This is for everyone that is wondering why I'm slightly off kilter. I got to bed about midnight, got up at 2:00 and appear to be up for the day. This will not make for a good Friday. I was in the process of having a panic attack and decided to get my mind off onto other things. So I blog. And depress you. Isn't this fun? I get to do all the talking and you get to do all the listening. I am now going to try to go back to bed. See you in 2 hours and 20 minutes.
nc
Thursday, July 9, 2009
woohoo!
Apparently Dad's nurse was fluent in Cherokee and Creek!
anyway... I was just talking to Dad and his next doctors appointment is July 29th or something. So apparently the doctors aren't too worried about his heart.
nc
anyway... I was just talking to Dad and his next doctors appointment is July 29th or something. So apparently the doctors aren't too worried about his heart.
nc
more worried.
So it appears that the refrigerator is on its way out a lot quicker than originally thought. It wouldn't be so bad if we owned the place. But with us just living here, we aren't sure what to do. I guess we will talk to Steve Schaper tonight at youth camp and see what he wants us to do. Pretty frustrating stuff.
Today has been really hectic but the day is flying by.
nc
Today has been really hectic but the day is flying by.
nc
Wii
Last night we got the Wii out. It was a lot of fun playing and Patrick had a big time. He likes Baseball and Bowling.
Apparently the refrigerator is going out on us. It's the schools refrigerator and it's old. We may end up buying our own and telling them that it goes with us. They may want to fix it though.
nc
Apparently the refrigerator is going out on us. It's the schools refrigerator and it's old. We may end up buying our own and telling them that it goes with us. They may want to fix it though.
nc
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
aggravating.
So I finally made it back home. When I was going into the hospital this morning, I took special care to remember where I parked my truck in the parking garage and I actually remembered where it was in the parking garage. However it would have been even better if I would have remembered where the parking garage was. I'm not sure how I managed to lose the parking garage but I did. I blame inadequate signage. I also blame inadequate signage for ghosts because who knows where to go after you die? I'll be the guy asking "have you seen Death anywhere? I need to know where the Arrivals department is." No one will answer me because they know where to go (apparently every one else just knows that kind of stuff because of genetics or something).
Anyway... that's my rant on inadequate signage.
Better go because Patrick and Mom are trying to figure out the Wii and not having any luck.
nc
Anyway... that's my rant on inadequate signage.
Better go because Patrick and Mom are trying to figure out the Wii and not having any luck.
nc
update #4.
There is another Allen in the heart center and they keep getting them confused. They almost gave dad a surgery by accident. Some guy just wandered in and is apparently a nurse (he's wearing the clothes) but I'm not sure that he knows what he's doing. I bet he's a homeless guy that just found some scrubs in a garbage can someplace and decided to earn a few bucks.
Now the doctor is in and he's confused too. He doesn't know where he is. Literally.
Dad did well according to the doctor. Apparently stints aren't going to be the answer. Medications apparently won't be the answer either.
Here's the plan:
Get the leg better (over the next couple of hours). Go home today. He has to lay still for 2 hours and no heavy lifting over 3 days.
See a surgeon over the next week or two. It's no rush since he's doing well.
Bypass surgery and a week (or more) stay in the hospital. This is the real surgery.
nc
update #3.
They are finished with the procedure. Doctor should be coming out soon to discuss the results. Dad is back in the room.
nc
nc
update #1.
We are sitting in dad's room waiting for the procedure. Mom griped at me because I said it was a heart surgery. Apparently there is a difference between a "heart catheterization" and "heart surgery". He is having a heart catheterization. Apparently a HUGE difference. It's all sematics to me. People have been calling Mom thinking that Dad is dying. So sorry for the confusion.
I have access to the internet here, as you may have noticed. I took a picture of him in the bed waiting but I don't have Bluetooth to upload it. After he gets better, he will attempt to kill me and then I will be having "Heart Surgery".
nc
I have access to the internet here, as you may have noticed. I took a picture of him in the bed waiting but I don't have Bluetooth to upload it. After he gets better, he will attempt to kill me and then I will be having "Heart Surgery".
nc
Off to T-town
I'm going to be heading off to Tulsa in a bit. It's 6:10AM (half tide and rising). We went to Youth camp last night and it was nice. The minister was good. I'm not sure what his name is but his last name is Hooker (and no, it's not T.J. Hooker).
I'm not sure if we are going to Youth camp tonight. Depends on what time I get back from Tulsa.
nc
I'm not sure if we are going to Youth camp tonight. Depends on what time I get back from Tulsa.
nc
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
tomorrow.
My boss let me have a day of vacation to go with Mom and Dad to have his heart surgery. Dad will be overjoyed to hear that. He told me to stay home. I think Mom will appreciate me being there though because she doesn't like to drive in Tulsa. I love driving in Tulsa because they are the worst drivers in the world. They don't mind if you decide to cross 3-4 lanes of traffic to hit your exit (and I mean "hit your exit"). Driving in big cities is a lot of fun but was more fun when I had my Mitsubishi 3000 GT.
Miranda is babysitting Angie's children tomorrow so she won't be going with me which is a bummer. Miranda is fun to travel with (and to live with but that goes without saying).
Mom and I will go out to eat tomorrow while Dad is recuperating from years of eating out in Tulsa. We will make our trips to have the surgery done at a later date. Well... not me... I'm going to be going to the hepatologist later in life. You knew that was coming didn't you? A hepatologist is a liver doctor for those that didn't decide to google it.
I still haven't heard any vacation plans with the family for next year. I'm guessing this next weekend, we will go over to see Paul and Jane (I'm not sure though because Miranda hasn't said anything). If we go over, I'm sure Jane and Miranda will go hog-wild discussing vacation plans. Please note that the phrase "hog-wild" means no reflection on either my MIL or Miranda. So put the guns down.
We are now on our 5th house or so that we just "have to have". There is still 8 months or so until we will be purchasing one. We will last that long because we are having a bugger of a time getting our rent. This is only a minor fault of the renters. I really dislike banks. Good thing we didn't jump into a new house.
nc
Miranda is babysitting Angie's children tomorrow so she won't be going with me which is a bummer. Miranda is fun to travel with (and to live with but that goes without saying).
Mom and I will go out to eat tomorrow while Dad is recuperating from years of eating out in Tulsa. We will make our trips to have the surgery done at a later date. Well... not me... I'm going to be going to the hepatologist later in life. You knew that was coming didn't you? A hepatologist is a liver doctor for those that didn't decide to google it.
I still haven't heard any vacation plans with the family for next year. I'm guessing this next weekend, we will go over to see Paul and Jane (I'm not sure though because Miranda hasn't said anything). If we go over, I'm sure Jane and Miranda will go hog-wild discussing vacation plans. Please note that the phrase "hog-wild" means no reflection on either my MIL or Miranda. So put the guns down.
We are now on our 5th house or so that we just "have to have". There is still 8 months or so until we will be purchasing one. We will last that long because we are having a bugger of a time getting our rent. This is only a minor fault of the renters. I really dislike banks. Good thing we didn't jump into a new house.
nc
well that was quick
Lance Armstrong is already 3rd in the Tour de France and we aren't even in the mountains yet. Team Astana hold 3 of the top 6 spots and #1 and #2 will drop out as soon as they get to the mountains since they aren't "climbers".
nc
nc
Monday, July 6, 2009
drool!
A terabyte hard drive for under $100.
You are saving for a sail boat Bill. You are saving for a sailboat.
My first hard drive was 20 megabytes. A terabyte is 1000 gigabytes. A gigabyte is 1000 megabytes. So a terabyte = 1,000,000 megabytes.
The 5 1/4" floppy disk was 360 kilobytes or .36 megabytes. Basically, you could fit about 10 - 30 jpeg pictures on one of those babies.
nc
You are saving for a sail boat Bill. You are saving for a sailboat.
My first hard drive was 20 megabytes. A terabyte is 1000 gigabytes. A gigabyte is 1000 megabytes. So a terabyte = 1,000,000 megabytes.
The 5 1/4" floppy disk was 360 kilobytes or .36 megabytes. Basically, you could fit about 10 - 30 jpeg pictures on one of those babies.
nc
Busy day.
Haven't had a chance to blog today. It's been hectic and a little bad.
Been reflecting over my life lately. I'm an idiot. 'nuff said.
On the bright side, I won't have time to sit at home and get depressed. This week (except for tonight) will be spent going back and forth to Ochelata.
Tonight will be hanging around here.
I found a way to watch the Tour de France online through Versus. It costs $35. I'm not sure I trust our connection to deliver a good enough picture though.
nc
Been reflecting over my life lately. I'm an idiot. 'nuff said.
On the bright side, I won't have time to sit at home and get depressed. This week (except for tonight) will be spent going back and forth to Ochelata.
Tonight will be hanging around here.
I found a way to watch the Tour de France online through Versus. It costs $35. I'm not sure I trust our connection to deliver a good enough picture though.
nc
Sunday, July 5, 2009
vacation.
We may have a family decision that we aren't going on the big RV trip next year. Aaron and Lindsay didn't want to use all their vacation for the entire year (and I agree!). I'm in the same situation. Plus with the price of gas and spending 10 days with my mother-in-law. Well it'd be the crazy house for me.
So we are looking around for another smaller vacation to do with the whole family. I would suggest a 7 day sailing cruise and I can definitely hook us up with a 13 foot sailboat for $500. It may be a bit cramped for 13 people. I guess we could each have 1 square foot for a week. I will be the captain and skipper. The rest of the people can bail the water while we are sinking.
nc
So we are looking around for another smaller vacation to do with the whole family. I would suggest a 7 day sailing cruise and I can definitely hook us up with a 13 foot sailboat for $500. It may be a bit cramped for 13 people. I guess we could each have 1 square foot for a week. I will be the captain and skipper. The rest of the people can bail the water while we are sinking.
nc
This week.
This week is going to be somewhat crazy. Ochelata Youth Camp is going this week and so starting Tuesday night, we will be going down there each night.
On Wednesday, Dad is having his heart surgery. I am going to try to take off that day and go down to Tulsa to sit with Mom.
We were planning on Niangua camp over next weekend but with Dad's surgery, this won't happen. So next weekend will be somewhat quiet.
nc
sound
That big *whew!* sound that you hear is coming from Vinita, OK. Mom and Dad made it home from Canton, TX after being with us and the children for a couple of days. It was hot down there (about 100+) but it was fun.
Canton, TX is kinda like Hillbilly Wall Street. Vendors selling everything imaginable for acres and acres.
Patrick and Nellie hung out with Mom and Dad and rode on their rented scooters while Miranda and I walked. We didn't see 10% of it but it was a lot of fun.
The Tour de France has started and will run the entire month of July. This will be the first year I've missed it since I started about 4-6 years ago.
Funny story about Patrick. He was riding with Dad on the scooter and Dad was trying to make it up onto a sidewalk but hit the curb instead. Patrick told him, "You've got to watch what you are doing." And he said it in the way that we was explaining something to Dad. It was hilarious.
Back to the grind tomorrow.
nc
Thursday, July 2, 2009
accents.
Want to hear a variety of accents? I know you don't but it's fun anyway. Of course, you have to take the fact that I'm a dork into account.
Thanks to GMU (George Mason University) you can hear all kinds of them. I couldn't get it work work correctly now though. My quicktime is up to date but it isn't playing. Maybe you'll have more luck.
There will be a test when I get back.
nc
Thanks to GMU (George Mason University) you can hear all kinds of them. I couldn't get it work work correctly now though. My quicktime is up to date but it isn't playing. Maybe you'll have more luck.
There will be a test when I get back.
nc
fireworks.
We went out and shot off some fireworks last night. Nothing big or exciting but Patrick loved it. Nellie didn't. Although they both loved the sparklers. I think Miranda will probably have some pictures on her blog sometime.
This is Miranda's last day (this week) to work at the school but she volunteered to work next week if they would let her off tomorrow. They were having problems finding someone to work next week because of Ochelata Youth Camp. So that helps all of us out. We get to leave tonight instead of tomorrow night for Canton, the school has someone to answer phones next week, and I get another week of quiet from 8-12.
We will not be taking our computers to Canton with us for a variety of reasons. Anyway, I will be away from this blog until Sunday or Monday. I will try to find stuff to do to keep you busy though.
nc
This is Miranda's last day (this week) to work at the school but she volunteered to work next week if they would let her off tomorrow. They were having problems finding someone to work next week because of Ochelata Youth Camp. So that helps all of us out. We get to leave tonight instead of tomorrow night for Canton, the school has someone to answer phones next week, and I get another week of quiet from 8-12.
We will not be taking our computers to Canton with us for a variety of reasons. Anyway, I will be away from this blog until Sunday or Monday. I will try to find stuff to do to keep you busy though.
nc
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
children.
Our children are something else. It's 5:46 and they are already in their pajamas. They decided to undress themselves and put on their pajamas.
I think tonight we will go into town and buy some fireworks and pop them tonight.
Sometime I need to work on the schools computers. Mr. Brewer has a computer that has given up the ghost and I need to try to repair it. Also, the network keeps dropping and I think a router is the issue. I need to look into both issues. I'm just not sure when I'm going to have the time. Seems like every weekend is packed.
Tomorrow night we head out for Canton, TX. Mom and Dad are coming up to pick up Patrick and Nellie tomorrow morning and they will head down early. Miranda and I will leave after I get off work tomorrow.
Paul is doing really well after his back surgery. Apparently his back really doesn't hurt him but his leg is going numb. I think that will correct itself over a period of time. It's been less than a month since his surgery. Of course Paul isn't doing too good because he's still married to Jane! Just kidding, Jane!
nc
work.
So I found out at work that we have off on Friday! That means that we get to leave to go to Canton a day early. Pretty exciting. I will miss the fireworks though. We might buy some today and shoot them off tonight.
Patrick was so excited for me to get home last night. Miranda had bought him some Spiderman pajamas and he couldn't wait to show me. Kept bugging her over and over. As soon as I walked in the door, he came running.
Nellie got a new outfit for Canton and she had to show me that too.
Miranda went out and picked some onions from the garden that Wayne Rogers had offered us. Thanks Wayne!! It's very much appreciated. Nothing like fresh food.
At Diamond, my blackberries came in and the new owners called and told me about it. Made me mad because I didn't get any sweet blackberries last year. It was the first year I planted them. They are also going to keep the blueberry bush. The birds got all the blueberries last year. My next house will definitely have blackberries planted nearby. I'm not sure about blueberries. Miranda doesn't care for blueberries but I love them.
nc
Patrick was so excited for me to get home last night. Miranda had bought him some Spiderman pajamas and he couldn't wait to show me. Kept bugging her over and over. As soon as I walked in the door, he came running.
Nellie got a new outfit for Canton and she had to show me that too.
Miranda went out and picked some onions from the garden that Wayne Rogers had offered us. Thanks Wayne!! It's very much appreciated. Nothing like fresh food.
At Diamond, my blackberries came in and the new owners called and told me about it. Made me mad because I didn't get any sweet blackberries last year. It was the first year I planted them. They are also going to keep the blueberry bush. The birds got all the blueberries last year. My next house will definitely have blackberries planted nearby. I'm not sure about blueberries. Miranda doesn't care for blueberries but I love them.
nc
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