Commonality among Indifference

Just for fun...

2008-08-17T21:52:00.010-05:00

2008-07-25T23:46:00.003-05:00

This video was from a time that seems so long ago. Although it was only a few short years ago, it was during a time when I was not a boss, but simply a leader, of sorts. We were one shop. A family that stuck together. The men you see here were not so much under my direction, but more working with me, to achieve a common goal. In many construction companies, I would have been their superintendent, and the project leader as well.

Things have since changed. Having full responsibility of the main production facility, and co-managing the others leaves me little time to ’play’ with the fellows. It’s too bad, as it is times like these when I gained the most respect from them.

Echoes, Silence, Patience And Grace

2008-07-18T19:31:00.009-05:00

Every year, around the same time, I’m given a gift. A chance to make a positive influence on a bunch of little kids, some who have very little positive in there lives at all. The 2008 Baseball Season is now over for us. For the 5th year in a row, I have been coaching my son’s team, and I have to say this year was the most challenging, yet the most fun. In fact, this year, I may have actually been a positive influence on some of the parents as well. I’ve earned some respect from some people who I never thought were capable, and this once “thankless job”, has become quite the opposite.

The ride though the ranks of our league has been long and, at times, hard. I’ve always said that once this stops feeling fun, I would quit forever. I know that nothing in life is perfect, and there is ups and downs with anything we do. This is no exception. That feeling of not having fun and walking away almost came about half way through this season. Things were down and I started to question myself. Thoughts like “maybe this isn’t for me”, and “I must suck at this” entered my mind. Knowing that I would never quit mid-season, for obvious reasons, I pressed on. Almost subconsciously, I just went about my schedule from work, to the fields, to home.

Then, in one swift moment, I was snapped out of my low. Like a splash of ice cold water on a hot day, I was revived and reminded of why I continue to do this. No pictures were taken of that moment, and I need none. The moment was burnt into my memory more vividly than any image could do. From that very moment, things improved and the season went out with a bang!

My son moves up to the Majors next year. If he continues to play, and nothing else changes until then, I will take the offer I was given to take over the team. I will have huge footsteps to fill, as the man leaving is one hell of a coach.

I added the image bellow last minute. Little “enter girl name here”. One of two girls on the teem this year. Holding her own with the tough boys for years now, but just a little sweaty inside. Crying to me about facing the faster pitchers, but taking on the slower ones like she’s out for blood!

This image is after she was hit by a pitched ball. Her family is going through some tough times these days. I’ve stayed close to the family and am currently helping as much as I can. Another situation where coaching goes far beyond the field of play.

A story to warm the heart.

2008-05-01T19:50:00.003-05:00

Every year at this time I’m generally going crazy, and this year is no exception. Our baseball league has a huge event planned for Saturday and my team is not quite ready. Work is once again in controlled crisis mode, witch I have to manage daily. Work on the house is falling behind with everything else going on. Yet, I have found a story that makes even me, stop and smell the roses, so to speak. A story that will warm the hearts of anyone who has one, but will hit most at home with the people like myself who deal with issues like competition, personality differences, and selfishness, daily. Bellow is the link:

Click me please!

A damaging loss

2008-03-19T20:31:00.003-05:00

In loving Memory...
May 2003 - March 2008...

I am saddened to say goodbye to a loving family member. River died this afternoon, after suffering from a miss-diagnosed case of Cushing's Syndrome, that developed into cancer. Although I suspect his medical condition started long ago, it took less then three months to turn our loving, energetic, butt magnet, into a lethargic, confused, and quickly dieing dog. This seemingly sudden loss has hit this family hard. We are not the type of people that take a dog in, only to tie it up to a short leash, connected to a dog house, at the end of the yard. He had free roam of the house and was part of our daily lives. This dog was my son’s little brother. They played and slept together, so loosing him is like loosing a sibling.

I cleaned out his food dish and plan to pack it away. His bed is still upstairs and I can’t get bring myself to look at it just yet. Maybe tomorrow.

Gun control is at home

2008-02-21T21:37:00.000-05:00

I realize this is old news, and an even older saying, but I feel I need to express it, quickly.

“Guns do not kill people. People kill people.”

“If guns were outlawed, only outlaws would have guns.”

The preceding quotes are the most accurate of my view on gun laws and gun control. Every year, at least once, some idiot decides to waltz into a public location and start shooting like he was in a Clint Eastwood western movie, ending the violent act by shooting himself. Gun control is not the answer to controlling these idiots. If there were no guns then they would find another weapon. If you recall, according to official reports, 4 commercial airplanes were brought down, using little more than knives, box cutters, skill, and training, killing nearly 3,000 people (number derived from Wikipedia).

You may or may not know that I am not in favor of any gun control above and beyond the what is current. I own many guns myself, but none are for self protection. I drill into my kid’s heads about gun safety and allow them to shoot safely in a controlled environment. My kids are well informed of the damage that a gun will cause if misused. Personally, I believe this very action will deter them from ever using a gun in such a manner. If one of my kids were to ‘snap’ when they get older, I believe I have installed in them well enough, the facts about when really happens to everyone else when people go ballistic. That’s gun control.

Technology is still growing…

2008-02-04T20:15:00.000-05:00

The technology of the computers and electronics in general never seem to stop growing. This article proves to be another ‘up and coming’ growth spurt, and is something I plan to watch in the coming years. Let’s hope that we can fix all of our other, real world problems, so we can be here long enough to enjoy it.

They don't make them like they used to...

2008-01-27T11:32:00.000-05:00

As almost everyone knows, I have been remodeling my home since we have moved into it months ago. Actually, remodeling is not the accurate; it more like reconstructing. I’ve purchased many items at many stores and have come to a conclusion: The quality of the products sold at Lowes Home Improvement stores sucks! Case and point:

1) I purchased 7 copper sweat in gate valves to make cold and hot water manifolds. When I was building these manifolds, these copper valves took much more heat to sweat in then expected. No thinking much of it, I preceded with the project and installed them. About 2 weeks after they were in place, above my dinning room ceiling, one of the valves developed a crack in it. Thankfully, I was awake and in the next room when the valve failed, allowing me to quickly secure the water system, no doughtily saving my brand new $600 floor. When I was replacing the valve with one purchased at my local hardware store, a second valve failed and started to leak.

2) I purchased a $500 shower stall from Lowes for the upstairs bathroom. After opening the item for installation, I noticed that one of the wall panels was cracked. I quickly called the store to complain and returning the item. Thankfully, the store clerks went out of their way to resolve the problem. Kudos to the employees, but proving to me that the real issue here is the buyers at Lowes and their choice of vendors.

3) During one of my many trips to our local Lowes store, I ran into a old friend. The first thing out of his mouth was a complaint about the store. He had purchased an item that was welded backwards from factory. Another dissatisfied customer.

If your planning a remodeling job of your own, think twice about buying your needs at Lowes. You just might end up remodeling twice.

Postage Paid is only a theory

2008-01-07T19:50:00.001-05:00

The other day I pulled up to the post office to get stamps and mail some bills. When I went inside, I seen someone I knew and began a short conversation. During this little disruption, I mistakenly mailed 4 bills without the postage I was there to buy, for the very same bills. I didn’t realize I had pulled this total retard move until I had gotten home.

I was a bit concerned about the bills getting “lost in the mail”, but waited it out in the hope that all would be returned to me before they were passed due. As it turned out, only one was sent back to me, in fact, it was returned the following day. The other three made it to their destination without a glitch.

Considering the rising cost of living, I’m considering sending 10% of my mail out without stamps and taking the chance. The odds seem good from here.

Happy 2008

2008-01-01T11:13:00.000-05:00

Happy new year everyone. Let's make this a good year. (3 quarters,man... 3 quarters)

Taking a break

2007-12-05T19:37:00.000-05:00

Things have been a bit crazy here as of late. But, finally, a project of mine has been completed. Finally, a sense of satisfaction comes my way. Having your schedule booked so full that you feel like your head is barely above water is not fun.

Anyhow, for those who know the situation, I have sold the other house and things are good here at home.
I posted a video of my work in the dining room, but, take all the pictures I want, but I never seem to capture the ones that I want after the fact.

Rev, I’m here now and will be until Christmas.

2007-11-01T19:03:00.000-05:00

A friend just emailed the following to me just today. Although I don’t usually like using other people’s material, I thought it was the best analogy of the “No Child Left Behind” act I have ever heard. I have no idea who the author is, but he or she is a genius. Here goes:

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ---The Football Version

1. All teams must make the state playoffs and all MUST win the championship.
If a team does not win the championship, they will be on probation until they are the champions, and coaches will be held accountable. If after two years they have not won the championship their footballs and equipment will be taken away UNTIL they do win the championship.

2. All kids will be expected to have the same football skills at the same time even if they do not have the same conditions or opportunities to practice on their own. NO exceptions will be made for lack of interest in football, a desire to perform athletically, or genetic abilities or disabilities of themselves or their parents.
ALL KIDS WILL PLAY FOOTBALL AT A PROFICIENT LEVEL!

3. Talented players will be asked to workout on their own, without instruction. This is beca use the coaches will be using all their instructional time with the athletes who aren't interested in football, have limited athletic ability, or whose parents don't like football.

4. Games will be played year round, but statistics will only be kept in the 4th, 8th, 6th and 10th games. It will create a New Age of Sports where every school is expected to have the same level of talent and all teams will reach the same minimum goals. If no child gets ahead, then no child gets left behind. If parents do not like this new law, they are encouraged to vote for vouchers and support private schools that can screen out the non-athletes and prevent their children from having to go to school with bad football players.

trying times

2007-10-30T20:24:00.000-05:00

Things have been extremely busy here. I’m in full construction mode, and it’s slow going because, for one, we have to live here so cleaning up every night is mandatory, and second, I’m doing this completely on my own, without the help that would have had if my schedule hadn’t changed due to major events in my life. When I walk upstairs, I can see clearly to the back bedroom through the skeleton or what were walls.

As it seems like this renovation is never-ending, yet another setback has occurred. A valve in the heating system that I have been tightening and watching closely, failed last night. Although the failure was not catastrophic, I did have to cut a hole in the floorboards around the supply pipe, letting the water drain down into the crawlspace, bellow the kids’ playroom.

Today, I left work early. From 11:45 to 19:00, I worked non-stop on our heating system. Although replacing the valve was the primary goal, many modifications needed to be made to the system renovation purposes, including, but surely not limited to the register that once was in the corner of the upstairs bathroom, that was until today, in the middle of the new hallway.

By 19:45, the system was refilled and fully operational. Although I have accomplished many items needed for the renovation, these items were not on my self-written “to-do” list for today, leaving me feel like I’m a day behind. But, all is well and the light at the end of the tunnel can be seen, even if it’s just a tiny flicker in the darkness.

A moment in time.

2007-09-27T20:07:00.000-05:00

As some know, I have moved into a different home. I carefully steer away from using the word new because this house has nothing new about it, in fact, it was built in the early 1900’s and has been renovated numerous times. To make a long story short, I have temporally transplanted my family from one home to another for finical reasons. Although our transplanted home has over twice as much living space, it needed, and still needs a lot of work.

This evening, after a period of “non-renovation”, if you will, I began taking on the largest project this home needs. We’re talking about taking walls out that have been there for god knows how long, to make this home not only better for us, but moreover, a better selling point in the hopeful near future.

I was hacking at a wall this evening and came across a bundled piece of paper, stuck within a former hole in a wall. I could tell it was an old piece of newspaper. From the backside of the wall, I carefully pulled away this piece of history that, at the time of its instillation, was just another piece of paper to its user. The paper had been used to help fill a 1” diameter hole, just before putting a coat of mud on the wall. I put it aside for a later inspection, and continued with my work.

Later, this little artifact was my only focus. I carefully unfolded the newspaper, hoping to reveal it’s age. Long behold, it was from a time long ago, a time when life was simpler, or so I am told, considering I was not born yet. The price of gas was $0.31/gallon; the average new home cost $21,500; you could buy a dozen eggs for $0.53; and the population was only 194,302,963. The year was 1965. The month was either January or February, as I can tell. That doesn’t seem so long ago, but yet it is 42 years, or if you live day by day, about 15600 days ago.

I almost want to go back to that time, a time where things were hard, yet simple: or so I’m told.

Damn things!

2007-09-16T20:11:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we took my son to what was intended to be a hot air balloon show. Unfortunately the weather kept the balloons from flying, but many aircraft were there. I took many pictures and video with my new camera, and was very much looking forward to looking at them when I got home.

When I got home, I pulled the memory card out of the camera and placed it into my new card reader. I noticed the light starting to blink, but thought nothing of it. When I tried to explore the drive, my computer froze up and I had to reboot. Open rebooting and looking at the drive, the entire memory card was empty. All the images and video from the show was gone.

I’ve spent hours today researching and attempting to recover the files with absolutely no luck. Recovery software only recovered images that had been previously removed from the drive. Everything that was on the memory card at the time was simply gone.

After a day of research and beating myself about the head, my own little CSI has come up with a theory. My card reader has a direct transfer button on it, with software to automatically transfer files to a default directory. I must have pressed this button while I was placing the card into the reader. I’ve attempted to use this button/software before and found it was one of Sandisk’s worst attempts “push button” technologies.

Anyway, I’ve finally accepted the fact that the data is gone and I’m moving on. The software has been removed from my computer.

I shouldn’t blog about this but I just can’t stop myself

2007-09-12T17:05:00.000-05:00

There’s this kid who works for me that just drives me nuts. This kid is full of issues, but considering his upbringing, it’s almost understandable, but not quite. I don’t mean to be rude, but he is honestly the dumbest person I have ever met. I thought I had heard it all from him, but his latest story takes the cake.

Apparently he’s been having some sleeping problems so his doctor prescribed some Ambien CR. Saturday night, he takes one pill. His girlfriend goes up to bed and he sits in the living room on the couch playing video games, waiting to fall asleep. At some point, the kid nods off. A bit later, according to him, he begins to sleepwalk. He somehow makes his way to where ever the Ambien is and takes the entire bottle of pills. The overdose has a hallucinogenic effect on him, much like he’s tripping on acid. This makes him appear to see snow, and lots of it. He somehow makes it out to his truck, pulls out on the street and parks in the middle of the road, blocking traffic. The cops are called. The k-9 unit shows up and asked him what the problem is. He tells them that he’s stuck in 3 feet of snow and can’t move the truck, even in 4-wheel drive.

His girlfriend was awakened by the commotion and comes out to see what is going on. She explains to the cop that he is on a “new medication”. The cops asked her if he works, and she said yes and so does she. This fact alone was apparently enough to convince the cop to let his go without a fine. He simply said, “Get him out of my face and to the hospital.”

The doctors wanted to check him into the psyche ward, but he checked himself out.

My focus

2007-09-09T21:16:00.000-05:00

With my free time I am out and about with my camera, looking for those images that, before now, were just logged into my memory. I almost feel desperate at this point, knowing that I now have a decent camera and I’ve left so many photo opportunities go by. Plus, I have little free time. I’ve grown to feel comfortable with that fact.

I am not a photographer, nor do I plan on becoming one. I am not an artist as I lack the vision needed to be one. Having said that, I am learning the basics of this camera and plan to re-find the moments and images that are in my head, only to share them with the rest of the world. The phrase “A picture says a thousand words’ is quite literal. Besides rebuilding my marriage after a devastating event, this is my new mission.

My images can be found here. Please check back often as my schedule may soon allow me to focus on this.

righteous!!!

2007-09-07T20:38:00.001-05:00

Most everyone knows that I coach my son’s baseball team, or more accurately, youth baseball in general, because I am truly there for every child on every team. Most everyone also knows that I played baseball as a child. Tomorrow morning, I will take to the other side. I managed to get a fill in spot on a team for the All-Nighter, the local Mens Softball end of season tournament. Other than the charity softball game I played in, “Coaches Vs. 94KX Radio Station, a few months ago, it been a very long time since I have played the field.

This is something that I have been looking forward to for years. I cannot play in the mens softball league because of my coaching my kid’s team. Plus, this event is not as completive as the regular season. Let’s put it this way, most people will catch a buzz before they catch a ball.

Here’s the thing, it’s damn near a 24-hour event. The tournament starts tomorrow at 7am and continues until 8pm tomorrow night. At 8:30, there is a home run derby that lasts until about midnight, which is when the tournament resumes until 4am Sunday. More beer will be drank this weekend than during the entire softball season.

I have a case of water, a case of Gatorade, and a case of beer in a cooler, ready for Chris and I to have at. If I don’t pull a hamstring or something, we both have a baseball meeting on Sunday at 6pm. That’ll look just great: The league President and Safety Officer, hung over and sore as hell. Sweet!

Blogged with Flock

Nothingness for some, everything for all.

2007-09-03T20:33:00.001-05:00

I spend a considerable about of time in places that have been long forgotten, or stagnant if you will. Places like cemeteries, old forgotten cabins, or even around our cabin road. I also spend a lot of time nature’s playground, or what some call “the woods”. So many times I have seen tiny pieces of history that go seemingly unnoticed by the rest of the world. Places and things that are considered forgotten, broken, or just plain nonexistent. When I walk up to an old broken tombstone, for example, I think of the history behind what is in front of me. This once was a focal piece for many people, or maybe just a few, or one.

I will no longer be selfish with these moments. My personal life aside, this is my new challenge (not to take anything away from extreme kickball, softball, skeet shooting, or volleyball).

Anyways, my flickr account is now linked to this blog, and hopefully will be updated regularly. We’ll see how well that works.

Just playing

2007-09-03T15:02:00.001-05:00

Just playing with some new software.

Blogged with Flock

Shit happens.

2007-08-26T19:31:00.000-05:00

It is well known that riding my mountain bike is one of my favorite pastimes. I’ve been riding more in the past few months then ever, mostly as a stress reliever, but taking off a few more pounds doesn’t hurt any either. I almost exclusively ride alone, but I do ride in the evening with the kids on shorter excursions.

My son and I went on a ride this evening, after which, he wanted to practice his ‘tricks’. An 8-year old has limited ‘tricks’, as you can imagine, but his wheelies are getting better. I have told my son about my BMX days as a child, and to be honest, I was damn good. This is why he’s always asking me to show him some tricks of my own. Against my better judgment, I attempted to impress myself by pulling off a ‘round-house’ (full 360 degree turnaround while keeping the momentum going forward). Although I was well versed in this move over 20 years ago, I knew better then to attempt a BMX freestyle trick on a mountain bike. The trick bent the shit out of the rear rim, deflecting it at lest 3 to 4 inches.

Looks like I’ll be taking the bike out of commission for some maintenance.

Just do it

2007-08-07T21:14:00.000-05:00

In everyone’s life, there is a life changing and defining moment. Sometimes this moment is a good one, and sometimes it’s bad. Somehow, this doesn’t matter. The point is that during this moment, your life somehow changes forever. Some people only have one of these moments during their entire life. Others, though, have many.

During the last few weeks, or, quite honestly, the last few years, I have been living within the fallout of these moments, the last of witch has changed my life forever. As I undergo this rebuild of myself, I look back. I am now removing the filter that I have lived behind for so many years; the filter has somehow justified the actions of others. The reality of the past comes alive and I can see clearly now.

I will finally become the person inside that, through my facade, I presented to the world. I will finally be truly happy with who I am. I will finally put myself in a better place, both mentally and physically. My life will no longer be lived the way it has been for so many years. I am strong and am growing stronger by the minute. I will survive. For my kids, for myself, for my job, for all the kids I deal with, I will be the man!

Bout time something good happened.

2007-07-14T22:03:00.001-05:00

My life is very stressful these days. Many things within my world seem to be falling apart all at once. Today though, there is a shinning moment for my little world. Our baseball season has come to and end. Coaching “my son’s team” has been a joy for years now, but this year was different. This year we were up in the minors. I wasn’t going to coach this year at all, but some parents (and kids) gently nudged me into it. I am not a professional coach. I played the game of baseball as a child, but teaching a group of kids how to do the same was a challenge. My coaching style is a bit unusual. I’m like another parent out there, just encouraging the kids to play hard and give 100%. I read coaching tips online and try to apply them in my own manner.

Well, this style of coaching has given 10 kids(yea, Ryan's back!!!) the chance to be stars. We played a game last night at 8PM. After winning, we played another at 8AM this morning, followed by another at 10AM. We took 3rd place in the regular season and 3rd place in the Tournament. A brand new team with only 3 kids who even knew how to play in this division was one hit away from taking 2nd in the tournament, leaving my ace crying after striking out to end the game. He’s hard on himself, but and a great leader. Many kind words were said to him after the game and later in the afternoon. He’ll be ok.

I’m tired to no end.

Tensile stress

2007-06-21T20:00:00.000-05:00

The past few weeks have been the toughest I have encountered in years. I feel more stressed than when I was pulling 14 hour watches during the first Gulf War. It’s all mostly bad timing. My house has been on the market for almost 2 years now, yet the grandest of offers had to come at my busiest time of year. My work schedule is out of control, I’m moving into an unfinished home, and it’s baseball season. I go from designing piping and supporting, to trying my hand at drywall (and finding out I suck at it), to coaching a team with the second worst parent in the world, to trying to slow down enough to sleep at night without a constant racing mind.

Coaching used to be my therapy, my time to relieve the stresses of life. Not so this year as I have been dealt a bad hand. The second worst parent in the world’s kid is on my team. Plus, my best fielder was sent 120 miles south, to his Father’s home, for the summer. This leaves the team with 9 players, and if you know baseball, this makes things tough, especially when the second worst parent in the world has absolutely zero courtesy for anyone else.

I hope next year is better. Having said that, I love these kids to death!!!!

Classic Moments

2007-06-05T21:17:00.000-05:00

Tonight it was us Vs. the Red Sox. We were tied 1-1 in extra innings. The bases were loaded with a full count when my son hit the game winning line drive down the third base line. Because of him, our record is now 2 and 2.

At ends

2007-05-29T21:17:00.000-05:00

I know I stated that I was done blogging until the fall, but this issue cannot go without writing. There’s a player on my team that comes from a family of issues. This is what I would love to say to the parent, yet I can’t.

“You drive around this city in a mini-van with a missing window. You once lived in a place that my best fried owned, so I know you live like a pig. It’s not my fault that your husband is in jail. The only child in your family who is not mentally challenged is your son on my team. In fact, he’s the only normal one in your entire family. THIS is the reason why he has a horrible attitude. It's not my fault! Can you please take some responsibility for your situation! I do not yell at him, I correct him, and I plan to do so. He may be mad at me, but I’m the only father figure he has. He’ll get over it.”

F***ing parents…
F***ing parents…
F***ing parents…
F***ing parents…
F***ing parents…
F***ing parents…

I’m just about ready to make this my last year. This is bullshit. I just can’t stand to be this close and personal to these poor kids anymore. I try to help them, yet the parents make excuses for their actions, excepting no responsibility what so ever. My nerves are shot!

Opening Day

2007-05-19T19:43:00.000-05:00

We were 10-2 over the Orioles

The fruit

2007-05-16T20:10:00.000-05:00

Apparently all my hard work with the kids thus far has pain off. We squashed the Red Sox last night, 7-0 in our first scrimmage of the year. Opening day is this Saturday. It’s a huge event where every team in every division plays. Plus, every team has pictures taken before their game. Although my picture time isn’t until 11:00am, with the game at noon, I’ll be at the fields all day long. I estimate a $1,500.00 day at our concession stand.

Some personal reasons will keep me from the computer, and blogging for a while, not that anyone reads my blog anyway. Hope to be up and running again in the fall, if Blogger is still here by then.

A quick view into my world, and this years’ team.

2007-04-26T20:52:00.000-05:00

I am very busy these days. Between work, baseball, home, family issues, other family issues, and some subtle side things, I have little time for anything else, bloging included. If I had the choice to drop every project but one, I would keep my kids on our baseball team. Here’s a little view into my world. The names of the kids have been replaced by a sort of random letters.

A --- Energetic and quick, yet you can loose him is a second. Family is very broken and with issues so deep a backhoe couldn’t find the end.

Christian --- A true all-star player in the making. Family is great and is very athletic. Focus is perfect.

N --- Good fielder but I’m having trouble with his arm. His mechanics are just wrong. It difficult to overcome but his dad, assistant coach, will work with him as well. Great family, as I can tell.

J --- A bundle of attitude and trouble. Known his mom since High School and is my team mom. Family is more than broken; it’s down right destroyed! No father to speak of. Mom’s great though.

R --- Same as above, yet more athletic and focused.

C --- Shy as hell and withdrawn, yet is very athletic. Family seems to have some sort of issue but I just haven’t nailed it down yet.

C --- Oh yes, little Collin. Shy at first but now happy and smiling. The body of a Tee-Ball player but focused. He’s going to be something some day.

M --- Parents suck ass. If it weren’t for this kid’s Aunt, neither him nor his brother would have any idea about what really matters.

T --- Now, this kid rocks! Good parents, dad’s an assistant coach, GREAT ARM!

M --- His parents really suck, mostly because I’m his Father.

If I got paid for this, it would be the greatest job in the world.

A Good Day.

2007-04-14T19:57:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about my son and I stocking Trout. Today was opening day and we finally got a chance to catch some of these, in my son’s own words, “slippery suckers”. Although the official start time was 8am, we did not arrive until just after 9, mostly due to the fact that we slept in. Once we pulled up to the cabin, we noticed a few vehicles parked on our property. Only being slightly concerned about it, we opened the cabin and went in. It wasn’t until exiting the cabin to get our gear that we realized the vehicles were driven by some old friends of the family I have not seen and years, whom have a lifetime of welcome to park there. After a brief conversation that was broken by my son’s anticipation to go fishing, we walked the 40 or so steps to the creek.

My spinner caught an 11-inch Brook Trout in less than 20 casts. My son was so exited, saying “I am so happy for you daddy.” Unfortunately, he was too far away from me when I caught the 13-inch rainbow to help. It was about then that he yelled for me. “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, HELP, my rod, my rod, my rod…”. Little Boo had casted his line out, and the rod too. We had taken 4 rods along for the trip but his little Sponge-Bob rod was his favorite, and it was now floating, very quickly, down stream. So I did what any good dad would do, I went in after it.

Shortly after, an unknown man, in his 70’s, walked up to us. On his third or fourth cast, he caught one, but did not reel it in, yelling “hey little man, I need help with this one”. The guy who did not know us from bob had called my son to reel in his fish. Then, this old man told my son that he had caught the fish and it was his fair and square. Boo help me add it to the creel and was happy to reel one in.

Overall we had a great time, yet I could tell my son was disappointed that he did not catch one by himself, on his rod. I have enclosed a few images. The last one is of my son actually cutting the fish himself, while I hold it for him. That made his day!

Easter Sunday

2007-04-08T11:59:00.000-05:00

It was about 9 year ago. I stood in the doorway, the living room to my left and what is now the computer room to my right. With my hands above me, holding on to the doorframe, my wife and I are talking. She has just returned home from a doctor’s appointment. With half a smile and a tear in one eye, she explains to me that she is pregnant. I can recall my reaction as one of joy. I hade always liked kids and couldn’t wait to love another. Once the news was broken to me, I remember giving her a huge hug and telling her how happy I was to hear of this welcomed change in our lives.

Today, this little boy sits in our living room, just over 8 years old, on Easter Morning, practicing his very first guitar. Many things have changed in our lives since that day. One thing that has not if my love for that little boy.

Fishing in reverse

2007-03-21T13:40:00.000-05:00

I’ve been hunting and fishing since I was about 12 or so, but something I have never done was help the fish commission stock the adult trout before the seasons starts. Well, now I can check that off my list of things to do. My son and I went out this morning, out west to where our cabin sits along Penns Creek. We met up with the local crowd of guys, all in their late 50’s or early 60’s. My son was the only child there.

Once we finally left for our first drop point, I was hoping that these old-timers would not consider my 8-year old to be a hindrance. Once we got there I was quickly surprised to find it was quite the opposite. We heard people say things like “let the little guy get this bucket” and “this day is just for him”. These people went out of there way to make sure my son got as close to the action as possible.

Each bucket we carried had approximately 15 to 20 fish in it. Once the bucket was filled with fish, it was a race to the creek to get them into the water, minimizing the stress on the fish. We learned some facts about fish that I didn’t even know. The event only lasted maybe 2 hours, but my son had a blast.

Rather than bore you with any more details, here are the pictures.

Baseball 2007

2007-03-20T21:20:00.000-05:00

Have you ever run a business out of your home? Me neither, yet we are doing so here, free of charge. Welcome to the wonderful world of volunteerism.

This is the last year for sure!

Days like this...

2007-02-23T22:06:00.000-05:00

What a long week. My work has once again exploded. Truthfully, it never wound down; I just slowed the shop down for a few days to keep the guys’ spirits up. My boss, the owner is in panic mode, dealing with the fallout of her own reality. Overtime is not mandatory and having the production schedule almost doubled in hours hurts. She is expecting me to put the hammer down on these guys. I just tactfully explain to them the situation and the cool ones comply. The ass clowns can dig their own hole.

Here at home we are gearing up to move. Our house is once again on the market and things look good this time. Knowing it could all fall apart at any given moment, I have planned for the worse. If you want to sell a car, give it a new paint job. Using that same philosophy, we’ve been up to all hours of the night this week painting, laying carpet, cleaning up, boxing up items, you name it!

My few hours of spare time has been spent planning the Pitching and Catching Clinic we are holding at the end of March inside a local sports facility. Over 50 kids have signed up so far and I need to have enough coaches there to handle these kids for 4 days. Volunteerism is not what it used to be. Plus I relatively quickly threw together an information related web site for the league. It’s live and in color but still needs some rough edges sanded down.

I kind of feel like I have been letting my friends and extended family down as of late, but I just can’t quite keep up. I love being there with the kids, in whatever sport it may be. It’s too bad the ‘job’ is so thankless, but that doesn't matter.

Normal life resumes for a little while.

2007-02-16T23:35:00.000-05:00

It’s finally over. The road was a long and rough one, full of challenges and hurtles. There were some says that I didn’t think he was going to make it. Constantly feeling defeated and loosing over and over again is hard on any person, regardless who you are yet, tonight he stands proud. Proud to finish what he started, proud to finally get mad and try his hardest, proud to finally find out what strength he has, proud to go up against a 3rd generation all-star without backing down.

Finally, Boo’s first year of wrestling is over. It’s a great relief to him, and even more so to my schedule. I just might get some stuff done!

My cell really takes shitty pictures!

Let the snow fly baby!!!!

2007-02-13T21:16:00.001-05:00

The official forecast from the weather channel web site is as fallows:

“THE SNOW WILL CONTINUE...AND GET HEAVIER OVERNIGHT. IT WILL LAST THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. THE HEAVIEST OF THE SNOW WILL BE LATE TONIGHT...AND WEDNESDAY MORNING. THERE IS STILL A CHANCE THAT THE SNOW COULD MIX WITH SLEET AT TIMES...WHICH COULD DECREASE THE SNOW TOTALS SOMEWHAT. BUT...BEFORE THE SNOW TAPERS OFF LATE WEDNESDAY...THE STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL WILL LIKELY BE IN THE 12 TO 20 INCH RANGE.”

I say let it fly baby! I hope we wake up to 100” of snow. All the more to play in! So commerce stops for a day. Even if I were waiting for a UPS RED delivery at work that could hold up a project for days, I still would call for snow. Let’s face it, sometimes you just have to say the hell with work, and life in general, and just have some fun!

Half way

2007-02-09T22:08:00.000-05:00

TGIF never meant so much. We finally shipped out what we generically call Exxon-03; the third of six nearly identical projects at a cost of $1.5 Million each. These projects are huge to us, yet are dwarfed by the ‘plant’ they get installed into. I can’t say much more than that but would be happy to email some links to anyone who’s in the loop.

The last few weeks have been hell, to say the least. Although I have a commitment to my work, I also have a commitment to my family, especially my kids. The struggle of dealing with both can be a real pain in the A** as times. Yesterday, I left work at 3:30 for the sole purpose of taking my son to his wrestling practice. For the first time ever, I returned to work just after. Normally I will not leave him until his practice is over, but I needed to finish out the night with our second shift. This morning, I was back in by 0430, going nearly without sleep because my dog had another seizure.

It all good… We only have another 11 units to get out the door: 3 in one week and the rest by the middle of March. Oh, and yea, we’ll just add another 8” to that reservoir. Monday is calling.

The Spoon

2007-01-30T19:37:00.000-05:00

Last week, we took some friends out to a new
restaurant and noticed that the waiter who
took our order carried a spoon in his shirt pocket. It
seemed a little strange. When another waiter brought
our water and utensils I noticed he also had a spoon
in his shirt pocket. Then I looked around and saw that
all the staff had spoons in their pockets.

When the waiter came back to serve our soup I asked,
"Why the spoon?"

"Well, he explained, "the restaurant's owners hired
Andersen Consulting to revamp all our processes. After
several months of analysis, they concluded that the
spoon was the most frequently dropped utensil. It
represents a drop frequency of approximately 3 spoons
pertable per hour. If our personnel are better
prepared, we can reduce the number of trips
back to the kitchen and save 15 man-hours per shift."

As luck would have it, I dropped my spoon and he was
able to replace it with his spare.

"I'll get another spoon next time I go to the kitchen,
instead of making an extra trip to get it right now."

I was impressed. I also noticed that there was a
string hanging out of the waiter's fly. Looking
around, I noticed that all the waiters had the same
string hanging from their flies. So before he walked
off, I asked the waiter "Excuse me, but can you tell
me why you have that string right there?"

"Oh, certainly!" Then he lowered his voice. "Not
everyone is so observant. That consulting firm I
mentioned also found out that we can save time in the
restroom. By tying this string to the tip of you know
what, we can pull it out without touching it and
eliminate the need to wash our hands, shortening the
time spent in the restroom by 76.39 percent."

I asked "After you get it out, how do you put it
back?"

"Well," he whispered, "I don't know about the others,
but I use the spoon."

OMG!!!

2007-01-22T22:24:00.000-05:00

It’s been a bit of a competition at work to find, and eat the hottest wings found. Long story made short is this: Today, Jeremy brought in his newest contestant. During his trip to Maryland’s beaches this weekend, he once again made a purchase at a place called Peppers. The vile sauce had an ‘eye-dropper’ in the lid, and on another bet, I put a drop on my meatloaf. OMG!!!!!!! The initial reaction was bad, but had no comparison to the heartburn I had the rest of the day.

I’m not looking forward to tomorrow, if you know what I mean.

I'm not perfect either

2007-01-11T21:06:00.000-05:00

Far too many are guilty of judging others to quickly or by their actions in only one setting. I am one of those people. In a post a while back I made a judgment call about one of my son’s wrestling coaches. I am happy to admit that I was wrong. It turns out that his guy is a good coach, in fact, I have nothing but great things to say about the entire coaching staff in general. These guys are great with the kids and knowledgeable to boot.

During our match on Sunday against Selinsgrove, our biggest rival of all, things were very disorganized. After the Varsity kids were done, it was out time on the mat. Matthew and I walked up to the team area. My intention was to drop him off there and walk up to the stands but when we got there, it was a scene of total chaos. I may not know much about wrestling, as I never played the sport, but I do know kids and how to control them. My coaching personality took over and I went into action. Finally, this coach, who I am so wrong about, showed up. Apparently it was only he and one other coach from our team that were able to make it that day. Him and I actually worked well together. I was impressed to no end and would gladly do it again.

It was a nice change to be called Matthew’s dad instead of coach. Yet working with the kids seems to be uni-sport. Although I am at every practice, I have not coached these kids on bit other than helping with an untied shoe to two, but the kids cling to me and trust me non the less. It’s too bad those damn parents can’t get off of there asses long enough to help their own. But, you know what? Part of me would rather have it this way. At least I know I made a difference in some kids lives without wanting something in return for it. I may be in and out without talking to most of these parents, but every damn kid on that team knows my name. That is what matters to me. When I find one of these kids lost in the mall one day, he can walk up to me with feeling comfortable, knowing I will make sure she will be returned to his or her parents safely so they can continue do whatever they do behind those doors.

Why?

2007-01-09T21:53:00.000-05:00

I was standing in a checkout line at Weis the other day, very impatiently I might add, and was watching a family in front of me. They had a baby girl in the cart, strapped into a portable baby seat, which I guessed to be no more than three months old. Loving babies as I do, I was admiring her perfection with a cute factor topping the scale when I noticed something. Her little ears were pierced. I was shocked! OMG! That little girl was so young!!!! I have nothing against piercing(s) in general and I don’t want to argue the pro-choice vs. the pro-life debate, but I do not believe any person should be pierced until he or she is old enough verbally agree to doing so.

Sometimes I sit back and wonder what gets into people’s heads.

2007-01-07T20:28:00.000-05:00

While we were at Boo’s match today this woman came up to me. I had prior experience with her and her son during last years baseball season and school year. She has proven to me on several occasions how many issues she has. As she finally got before me through the crowd of people she said, “I have a question” and proceeded to explain to me that her son does not have any headgear to wrestle in. I then said to her in a somewhat joking manner “Oh no! Forgot them at home, did you?” She then says “I didn’t know if Jordan was going to stick with wrestling so I didn’t want to buy any.” Ok, I have a problem with this. Wrestling started in November, this is now January. It’s been almost two months and she uses THAT for an excuse?!? What has this poor kid been using for his practices and matches up to this point?

This family has a long history of being, what choose to call, ‘a real piece of work’. Last year her son was in my son’s class at school. Jordan captured a bit of fame when he wrote “FUK YOU” on the chalkboard one day before school started. Keep in mind that it was 1st grade! Jordan was in baseball at the time, on the Yankees as I recall. His coach used to complain to me about him weekly. I got a chance to speak to her a few times about her son, the school and our kids’ teacher. She usually had an excuse for everything he did, and if for some reason she was without one, the default was “I asked him and he said he didn’t do it.” And to think that when I first met her I actually like her. That was, before I know who she was. This kind of action kind of reminds me of a certain family growing up.

Anyways, life goes on and people never seem to change. It seems that people are who they are as a person, forever; it’s only how well they hide it from everyone else that makes people think they have changed.

Autopilot

2007-01-03T22:06:00.000-05:00

Well, today was my birthday, and like most birthdays, it was spent doing the same damn things I do every other day. My workday was filled with frustration as I tried to juggle 37 different issues and problems, all while my direct boss tries to undermine me, subliminally hoping that his name somehow magically appears on the company sign. I had to cook my own birthday dinner for the kids and I, while they agitate each other to no end. I wanted to actually go out and have a birthday beer yet I can’t seem to muster enough energy to even remove myself from my P.J. pants. All in all, I’m behind schedule at work, behind schedule with executive baseball league crap, and actually having trouble justifying my time spent at home, keeping me from furthering progress at work. I can’t believe I’m even thinking about this. Me, the ultimate family guy, balancing a work/home schedule… Where the hell is my head?

Anyways, another year is down the drain. Another year closer to death and retirement; I wonder witch will come first? My grandfather believed that when you stopped working, you died, so that is what he did. But that is not me. I live my life for my kids. I have chosen the path of replenishing society with people whom are better than we are and I plan to fulfill. Some days are better than others I guess.

I have found some personal comfort in venting here. My distressing within this forum is most likely why my blog sucks. Maybe I should just open a word document, vent my heart out, and then delete it. I might actually still feel better and no one else has to endure the pain. Good plan, I’ll entertain it.

New Years Eve was a wash

2006-12-31T23:33:00.000-05:00

After debating all week over what to do for New Years Eve this year, the wife and I finally decided to take a trip down to Harrisburg. The festivities were said to be grand down at Strawberry Square. The plan was to hang out and see what happens, but the rain made for an early night. Fact was, we never even made it to the square. After our dinner at Red Lobster, we hooked up with carnealian and nittanybri for a drink or three. The beer was good and the conversation was even better. But, after the laughs and good times came to an untimely death, it was time to return home. An overnight stay was not planned and the weather was less than inviting.

As I sit here at home somewhat depressed about missing our event, I plan to take my frustrations out at midnight with some bottle rockets and ‘inchers’ left over from the 4th of July. What the hell, the kids aren’t here and the dog doesn’t care and the hell with the neighbors.

Don’t ask why… Drink bud dry…

2006-12-29T23:09:00.000-05:00

Please let me be the first to call it. Saddam is not dead. He will resurface in time. Mark my words.

Boo's trying his hardest...

2006-12-16T20:11:00.000-05:00

As some may already know, my son signed up for wrestling this year. Some say he is built for it, and weighing in at 90+ pounds at the age of seven, it would seem that Boo is. The trouble is, my son’s size has always kept him from being as fast as other kids his age. He’s the second to largest on the team. Taking this into consideration, he’s getting better. I see improvement during and after every practice. Plus, just like most first year kids in any sport, there is a learning curve to overcome. The other kids on the team all seem to love him and support him all the way. I believe this is mostly due his attitude. He’s always laughing and smiling, no matter what happens. He always has his head up, just glad to be there with his ‘friends’. Hell, during the first week of practice, a teammate took him down hard. Boo was laughing all the way, just having a blast!

Tonight was Boo’s very first match. I could tell he was just a little bit nervous, yea he wanted to get right in there and join the fun. I did not wrestle in high school and this was the first wrestling match I was to since I was in 10th grade. Sadly, I couldn’t even tell my son what to expect, I had no idea what today’s protocol was. Never the less, again my kid just fell into place, as he always seems to do. The coaching staff on his team are also very friendly and helpful, the best as far as I am concerned.

If you want to watch something totally cute and funny as hell, come to a match and watch the little ones go at it, kindergarteners weighing in at less than 40 pounds. If you look up cute in the dictionary, there is a picture of this beside it (For those of you from Alabama, a dictionary is a book).

Finally the time came. Knowing his weight would cause this, Boo ended up wrestling a 4th grader who was faster, stronger and smarter. I knew this a few days before but never told him. I didn’t want to scare him. The two boys shook hands and took to there positions. The referee blew the whistle. The other boy quickly shot at Boo’s legs.
Boo was flipped on his back, fighting to keep his shoulders off the mat. Then, in less than 30 seconds, Boo was pinned.The kid he was up against was tough. He was put in an almost unfair situation. Yet, he got up, shook the kid’s hand, and walked back to his team smiling! He had just wrestled his first match, and win or loose, THAT was really mattered, his first match! Upon exiting the mat Coach John, my favorite coach of the bunch, gave him some big high fives and some words of encouragement. Boo got his ass kicked, but he’s standing proud!

2006-12-13T20:07:00.000-05:00

The 2006 rifle season has come to an end. This year proved to be safer in regards to accidents then years past, good news to say the least. I overheard a conversation the other day about safety with guns and hunting in general. According to this person, and others as well, the safest thing to do is outlaw guns and hunting all together. Admittedly, on a basic level, I suppose that is true. The trouble is, most hunting accidents, maybe as high as 98% of them could have been avoided just by paying attention. The reason why people get hurt or killed is because they are stupid. In fact, most hunting accidents that involved a high-powered rifle or shotgun are self-inflicted. I have been shooting guns since I was 10 and hunting since I was 12. I don’t think much about gun safety; it comes second nature to me. My father practically beat it into me when he got me my first .22 caliper rifle. Although, I am guilty of not holding the rifle quite tight enough, there by letting the scope bite me in the head (I figured I better say that before someone else does).

Obviously not everyone is as careful. That leads me to my latest and greatest stupid person story. The following was copied out of the Daily Item yesterday. I edited the names only.

WASHINGTONVILLE — A Muncy man was still in the hospital Monday after shooting himself in the foot with a 12-gauge shotgun on Saturday.
According to Tim Conway, information education supervisor for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Mr. Stupid, 34, told officers he took the safety off his shotgun when he heard movement in the woods near the Montour Preserve at 2:43 p.m. He was in a seated position with his legs stretched out when he accidently discharged his gun, firing a 1 ounce metal ball through the top of his left foot.
Mr. Conway said Mr. Stupid placed the shotgun on his right leg with the muzzle pointing toward his left foot. Mr. Stupid told officers his glove finger got into the trigger guard, causing it to fire.
"You never take that safety off unless you're ready to shoot," Mr. Conway said. "That was a mistake that was made."
Mr. Conway said another mistake Mr. Stupid made was pointing the shotgun at his foot.
"One of the basic rules of gun safety is that you keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction. Don't point it at your foot, leg, or somebody else — the gun could go off," he said. "Unfortunately, he's probably going to remember that for the rest of his life. He at least lost a few toes, but I'm just guessing."
Mr. Stupid, 34, was listed in fair condition Monday at Geisinger Medical Center.
Mr. Conway said Mr. Stupid's was the first hunting accident of the year in the 13-county Northeast region.
"This has been a very safe year. There are a lot of hunters out there and anything can happen. We have been very fortunate this year," he said, adding the Northeast region generally sees between two and four hunting accidents each year.

My guess is this guy has never actually shot a deer, possibly not his gun either, assuming it was even his. This guy all but deserved to loose a few toes. Dumbass!

One shot, one kill and one for the freezer!

2006-12-08T14:06:00.000-05:00

You know it’s an early shot when all you see is fire in the scope after you shoot. But, early as it was, it was still a clean shot and puts some meat on the table.

It could have been a little bit bigger though…

This must be how blond jokes are made...

2006-12-04T20:50:00.000-05:00

The kids and I were shopping at K-Mart this evening. After picking out a bunch of items I tell the kids that we’re going to lay them away until the weekend when we can sneak them into the house while Mom’s busy. My daughter quickly spoke up saying “you can’t, Lay-Away is closed.” I said “what do you mean it’s closed?” She told me that there was a sign back in the Lay-Away Department that said it was only open on Sunday, Thursdays and Saturdays. Rather than arguing with her, I simply say we have to go look for sure. On the way back there, she told me the story in more detail about a sign on the counter giving the hours, and according to her, they only had hours on those three days.

Once we got there, my daughter immediately pointed out the sign on the counter and said, and I quote: “Ya see, it says Sunday, Thursday and Saturday!” The sign read as follows:

HOURS

Sunday Thru Saturday…

This town needs an Ænima

2006-11-28T20:01:00.000-05:00

If you tend to have a temper, I have the perfect test for you. Imagine yourself in the middle of a field just before 5AM, with no one within 1000 yards, being extremely pissed at another individual all while having a high powered rifle in your hands and having the upper hand by being on the ground and having him blinded by your light, stuck in his tree stand. What would you do? I spent over 2 months viewing this years challenges, over a week tending to the sight and making my scent present, had plainly marked the spot the night before and this stupid bastard took my spot a half hour before I got there. After arguing with him for a short time and realizing that common-courtesy has been long since gone, I simply walked away in the dark, very foggy field in search for a new spot.

Bastard… I should’ve shot’m!

Open Season...

2006-11-26T18:31:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow's the big day. I'll be in the field by no later than 5AM, sitting cosy in my chair waiting to ether kill a deer or get shot by some trigger happy asshole who can't take his time. Wish me luck.

Thanksgiving…

2006-11-23T00:04:00.000-05:00

We all are told that Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for what we have. Unfortunately as the days and years past, we are left with less and less to be thankful for, or so it seems. Looking around my life, I am without a doubt, thankful for many things. I have highlighted just a few of them bellow.

I am thankful for:

What freedom we have left…(not much)

My kids…(at least on most days)

A good job that pays well…(and drives me crazy)

My wife…(I guess)

The fact that I have access to a rifle range…(they really need to spend my $50 on the 200 yard range)

Public organized youth sports… (this drives me crazier, yea crazier, it’s my word)

Public schools… (that I must pay for even if my kids don’t attend)

My friend Dean… (who has trouble with his pants these days)

My friend Chuck… (who is not so patiently waiting for my to finish the tailgate to his trailer, and better damn well show up Sunday)

My friend Jeremy…(who is crazier than I was when I was 18, and even better at it)

My ability to work with kids (I wish I could do the same with my own)

My Mother-In-Law…(who cares for my son in my absence, and has more issues than the United States Government)

And last but not least…

My parents…( who I will never understand, EVER)

Have a great Turkey Day! May the tryptophan take effect during the game!

An updat to the last story...

2006-11-21T19:38:00.000-05:00

My son took his son down, hard! YEAA!!!

Proof that I was right about where change needs to begin…

2006-11-19T18:42:00.000-05:00

Sometimes people really get under my skin. Almost daily, someone I come in contact with or have to deal with puts me in a jaw twitching mindset. Having said that, rather than looking at the macro version, a story that is far too true will focus attention to one person.

After leaving this town in a hurry, I basically have seen the world, quite literally, while in the United States Navy. Unfortunately, after I was honorably discharged, I found my way back to the very same small city where I grew up. The side effects of being in such a small environment are painfully obvious. People who I have known since childhood can be found much more closer to my life than I would like. One particular person makes this story so real.

Without any real definition of how I know him as a child, let’s just say this guy is now raising his family in the same low-income housing project that he was raised in, close enough to Edison Elementary School that I walked there after school for a few years until my mother got off of work. The family has always been full of what I choose to plainly call ‘issues’. Looking back, as I had almost forgotten, this guy was famous for striking my out, and also was the guy who almost broke two of my ribs when one of his fastballs hit me. He had a hell of an arm as I recall, striking out most hitters in our league. I justify my existence as a coach by the triple I hit off of him in 5th grade, two days before we left for 5th grade camp.

Today, or more correct to the story, last year, this guy and I coached in the same baseball league. His son was in my son’s class last year as well. He entered his son into the minor division, two divisions shy of high school ball, even though his son was only seven. Yes, our league has well defined age brackets for players, yet he slipped through the cracks in the system. He allegedly had screamed at a player or two for making mistakes during games. This being put out, I looked into him a little. It had turned out that the best job this guy had ever had was an attendant at a local service station, or in today’s terms, ‘petroleum dispensing system’. During this year, he was, and I quote “off of work because of my back”. I blew it off for truth and put it to rest.

This year was a bit different, yet paralleled the last almost perfectly. He was still out of work, and I quote “because of my knee”, and again still a coach of a youth baseball team that he walked from his home, on the far side of Memorial Acres, to the minors field, almost a half mile away. Then coached his team, a physically demanding job at that level to say the least. For the second year in a row, his wife was the team mom. In our league, the team mom is responsible, among other things, to conduct and turn in any moneys collected from, the 50-50 tickets during each home game. This guy, since the first game, was under suspect for, well, let’s call it mishandling funds. After an intense investigation done entirely by volunteers, two of them police offers, no proof was found, nor was the money. He was politely kicked off the advisory board for at least one year. Anyone reading between the lines could have figured out that his lovely wife was the person who mishandled the money, the trouble was, he lied to protect her.

Baseball season is now over and he was removed from the board so I felt comfortable thinking that the only time I will ever have to deal with this family again will be when I find myself shopping at a local dollar store and his wife is the only one at the register. That was what I had planed, but fate took me in another direction. My son started a new sport about a month ago. We signed him up with the high school JV wrestling team. It turns out that not only is this guy’s kid on the same team; he is one of the coaches (or at least Assistant To The Assistant Coach). And to finish putting the icing on the cake, his wife is the team mom. I am not, in any way, helping to coach his team for two reasons. One is that I never wrestled in school so I have no idea what I am doing; And Two because I would like to actually sit back and watch my son in a sport, rather that being so involved that I rarely get a chance to see him. It feels kind of good to just watch. It feels even better to be one of only a hand-full of parents that actually stays to watch their own child rather than just dropping him off.

If there is anything good at all about this add situation it’s this: As I sit and watch this guy help my kid with his form, the guy turns his head to look at me about once every minute or so, and I just stand there staring at him with a smart ass look on my face thinking to myself “that’s right, I’m still here!”

HELP…

2006-11-17T20:46:00.001-05:00

I found an image the other day on a flicker account and I have since lost my mind and cannot recall where I seen it. It was an image of rusted diamond plated stairs. It was on a flicker account that had hundreds of images. I found it one night while surfing flicker accounts. The symmetry in the image was awesome, with rust lines running perfectly down the diamonds.

Does anyone know where I may find this image? I’d just like to send a link to it.

Tis the season once again.

2006-11-13T22:08:00.000-05:00

http://just-this-freaking-time-of-year.blogspot.com/

Stories to come, as time permits.

Making some noise

2006-11-12T22:44:00.000-05:00

I have an update for everyone concerning my sons School District/ Classroom issue. Specifically, the beloved lunch lady! Here goes…

This semester’s Parent-Teacher conferences were held last week. Our meeting with my son’s teacher was scheduled for 6 PM. Habitually, I find myself needing to be early for any meeting, this one was no different. As I set outside my sons classroom, I carefully tuned my ears to the conversation being held within, hoping it would somehow be relevant to my current battle with the District. To my surprise, I could hear Spanish dialect. I set and listened patently as a translator helped lead the conversation. Finally they were done and began walking out. There it was within the doorway of the classroom, I had found my little pot of gold. The very child that had been causing this problem, along with his parents, were standing right in front of me. And just behind them was the lovely lunch lady.

As we entered the classroom to speak with his teacher, I began a little mind game with her, hoping to dislodge some information from her. During our seemingly mundane conversation, she left the cat out of the bag.

This lunch lady is only getting paid for three days a week and only at custodial wages. I personally saw her conduct two and was apprised of two other Parent-Teacher conferences that she was asked to be present for. When I was there, it seemed as though she was being pulled from classroom to classroom to help. The school district is using a volunteer out of convenience to deal with an issue that is completely and solely there own responsibility.

Something must be changed here and I plan to start the wave. My disclaimer is this: ‘I am not in any way, looking for personal or family recognition…’ Yet, I promise to make the papers with this. I WILL make a noise, and plan to link any public writings concerning my battle to this blog.

Wish me luck. (I’m gona need it.)

Busy as a one-legged man at an arse-kicking contest

2006-11-09T21:20:00.000-05:00

Ok, I’ve been planning my new schedule and I think it just might work.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be reserved for issues related to work, kids, school, homework, family, dinner, youth wrestling and other youth sports. Myday will be exclusively used for any and all issues concerning myself. That’s right, I have added another day to the week. No longer will we have to struggle with this all too small, so-called week we have been given, another 24 hours have been added to make more space.

Wait… Hold on, I have a phone call…

What to you mean I can’t add another day to the week??!! That’s bull-crap and completely unfair!

Full frontal nudity

2006-11-05T23:15:00.000-05:00

Full frontal nudity… In a busy bar… With a very good band…

Long story made short is this. Dean mooned me after I made some sort of smart-ass remark. Shortly after, I setup a verbal and visual trap for him where I pulled his pants down to his knees from behind, underwear included.

While I was apologizing to a few women for the event, two of them said they supposedly ‘missed it’.

Funding, Fortune and Failure

2006-11-01T21:38:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago my son’s teacher had informed me that my son was causing problems at school. For a second grade student my son is very smart. Him and I work on times tables to keep his interest in math, knowing that when he gets board, all is lost with him. As smart as his is, he has always been on the immature side. I know he’s only seven years old but responsibility is not at all his strong suit. To insure all the kids’ parents read and review things like homework and reading assignments, everything must be signed on the bottom by a parent. Up to this point, I was getting a bit frustrated because I was writing his teacher notes about his work and home, but she would never reply. This happened a few times and when I asked him if his teacher had seen the note, he said yes, of course.

This act all came to a head when his teacher caught my wife one day when she was dripping him off for school. The next day, the teacher and I had a one on one together after school. It turns out that ALL of the notes I was sending were simply being stuffed into my son’s desk before the teacher had ever gotten a chance to see them. In addition, my son had also stuffed a number of notes into his desk written by his teacher for us to read. Oh. Let’s see what else… He bit his eraser off and spit it onto the floor, spitting again several times (guess he didn’t like the taste), he pushed a classmate, he hit the same classmate, he yanked another out of line for some book function, accidentally scratching him with his pencil, the list seems to go on. The long story made short is we now have a notebook that his teacher writes into everyday with things like homework assignments and issues at school, and we also write into it as well to get questions answered and the like. The notebook has been a huge help because he now knows that nothing can be hidden from us. Problem solved, right? Well…

Yesterday I took the day off of work to be the Grade-Parent for his class’s Halloween party. I must also add that in all 30 plus classrooms, I was the only male Grade-Parent present. Finally, I got a chance to see the atmosphere my kid is in during his day at school. OMG!!! Out of 17 kids, two are ESL students and one severely autistic. I don’t want throw any punches at ESL students, most everyone in this country has origins from somewhere across the globe, but get this; the so called special help with Spanish to English is given to them by, are you ready, (drum roll please) THE LUNCH LADY! A quote from my son’s Principal, explaining this odd situation; “Our District has only one specialist for this type of student and most of her time is spent at the High School where the students are more in need of help due to their age”. Don’t get me wrong here; this particular Cafeteria Facilitator is a wonderful lady! I love her and the kids love her even more, but to employ a lunch lady out of convenience?

One of these kids, we’ll call him Alberto because that’s his name, has a plethora of issues. He would also be the kid who my son was picking on (go figure). Either his parents do not speak and/or read a lick of English, or they just don’t give a shit about his education. He is so far behind on homework assignments and schoolwork that he was not allowed to participate in the school Halloween Parade. Him and the autistic girl had to spend this time at the office. Admittedly, the poor girl had no idea she had missed anything, yet Alberto was somewhat disappointed at first. This emotion did not last long, showing he has grown quite accustom to not being with the others.

My son’s teacher also employs her mother to help with the classroom. This is in addition to the paid Grandparent and the high school student volunteer working almost daily. Obviously this school does not have the capability to handle what has been given to them. Yet, if they do not follow the Federally Mandated letter of the law, they loose their funding. The same funding that does not allow the district enough money to properly school the students! Welcome to my personal view into this Governments failure!

All things being considered, I am actually glad to know that my son’s actions are mostly driven by his school atmosphere and not his home life. I try very hard to be a good parent to him and my daughter, attempting to turn them towards the path that I did not take, making them better then I was and am. I have little pride in what I was in school, yet devote my life to what my kids are. An issue with my daughter last year, and now my son is a total kick in the face. I have worked tremendously hard to get where I am, and happy or not with my personal life, I have overcome obstacles that I am trying my best to remove for my kids. I only wish the school was working in my favor.

God love the Lunch Lady…

venting

2006-10-31T22:23:00.000-05:00

We all get mad, we all get angry, but this really pisses me off!!!

Read this.

And this

And this

My own story to come.

Lost

2006-10-29T01:13:00.000-05:00

My wife and I went out this evening. We met up with our friend Dean and his boy about 1930 I guess for wings. After eating and picking on Zak, we split up, meeting again at a bar called the 101 to listen to this band that was supposed to be good. I’m not sure exactly when it was, but at some point, between the bands rendition of Billy Joel or Robert Palmer, it hit me. I SUCK! I feel like a waist of space, inhaling precious oxygen that was intended for a better person. I just suck, period.

It’s going to be a long winter…

We are who we are...

2006-10-23T20:30:00.000-05:00

If you search the Internet or watch TV you are sure to find someone talking about change. Politicians speak of change for the good. People write about the left and the right or down the isle, supposedly in between the two. Blogs abound are filled with writings about how we need to change our government to make things better. How we need to get this party or that party in control. How this person being in congress will change things for the better, improving things like crime control and prevention; how this or that person is best fit for Mayor of your city, or Governor of your State. Well, I hate to break everyone’s bubble here, but this is what I choose to believe. Everyone who listens, worse yet acts on these beliefs about how these politicians are going to make all these awesome changes are in a huge state of denial. Exactly how are we to expect the government, whether it be Local, State or otherwise to change things without making new laws, restricting our already smothering civil liberty and freedom?

The very term politics, when boiled down to its origin, implies one thing, people. This is where the real, so called, meat and potatoes lies. We cannot wait or even rely on the government to change our Community, our own City, our own Lives; we are ultimately responsible for the outcome of our own Lives, our own Families, our own Community, if not our own Nation, PERIOD! The changes that this Country is begging for needs to begin with the people! Then, and only then, will the people will drive the government to support its peoples public outcry. We need to stop living our lives thinking someone else will fill in the blanks. WE are the ones that need to make things better, to make a real change for the good!

During the summer, one can watch many parents drop off their kids at any of three public playgrounds within the City where I live. Adults, mostly City paid College kids, man two of these playgrounds during the summer, the other is left unattended and completely public throughout the year. For the two that are manned, and fenced off I might add, these kids are left to the responsibility of just a handful of teenagers, getting paid just over minimum wage. If anything would happen to these kids, and it has happened in the past, the City is, and has been sued for negligence. Nice! This is what I’m talking about people, taking responsibility for your dumb ass actions! If you see someone dropping their 6-year-old daughter, or their 7-year-old son, stop them. Scream in their face if you have to. It’s parenting 101!!!

I ask you, if not beg you to start asking for change within your community. Start making a difference as best you can. If you know, or better yet see someone mistreating a child, call the police. Don’t wait for someone else to do it; don’t assume someone else will find out, take charge and do it yourself. Personally, I’d walk my ass over there and take care of it myself, but that’s just me.

We, as a people, need to take charge and make things better, for our kids, for our future! WE need to do it, the politicians will follow suit! There truly is no other way.

Did you know???

2006-10-22T20:12:00.000-05:00

A bullet fired from a .22 Caliper Rifle, one of the smallest Caliper Rifles made in the U.S., at 100 yards is traveling approx. 2042 feet per second. 2042 fps is 1392.27273 miles per hour or 1.8 times faster then the speed of sound.

A 125 Grain bullet fired from a .30-30 Caliper rifle, at 100 yards is traveling approx. 2100 fps, or 1431.81818 miles per hour, or almost 1.9 times the speed of sound. The is the equivalent of 1210 ft-lb of energy.

A 165 Grain bullet fired from a .30-06 caliper rifle, at 100 yards is traveling approx. 2900 fps, or 1977.27273 miles per hour, or over 2.5 times the speed of sound and will hit with over 2400 ft-lb of energy.

I just thought your local neighborhood terrorist would like to know.

The longest damn post I have every put on the net...

2006-10-19T19:47:00.000-05:00

Life, if nothing else, is a roller coaster: One long track of ups and downs and pains and loves and smiles and tears. While I can honestly say that when I was maybe 15 or so, if I had a chance to guess where I would be in life today, it would be nothing like it is now, not even close. But, there has always been one thing I have noticed. If you look around hard enough, you can always find someone else’s life that is far worse than yours. It seems that now matter how bad things get for me, someone around me or close to be is worse off. Sometimes people are so messed up from their situation that it leaves them so warped, so disconnected, so just pain messed up that even they don’t know how bad their won life is. Case and point:

There’s this guy, let’s call him Mike. To even get close to fully understand his situation, we need rewind a few years of his life. He enlisted into the Navy just a few years after High School. He met his wife in California, a California-Mexican, average education, kind of mellow and down to earth. She would soon find God and become a deeply religious person. Although Mike was a bit wild, a partier at heart, he obviously felt something for her. They got married and had two children. The first, a girl we’ll call Daughter, ended up with the same sense of humor, attitude and a little bit of looks as her father. The second, let’s call him Son, ended up not even seeing his father until he was almost a year old. Duty had kept Mike away from his family during and after his son’s birth. Through the years, Daughter was always closer to her father than Son was. Living a long life of partying and fun loving freedom, while his wife cared for the kids, Daughter seen her father’s point of view, through her own eyes, while Son turned to his mother. Son looked at his father as a drunk, a person who he could never relate to.

Mike retires from the Navy, moves his family back to his own roots here on the east coast and gets a job doing what he was trained as in the military. By this time, Mike owns a Harley, belongs to a motorcycle club as Vice-President, often attends functions with at the club and stays overnight without calling home and just lives his life for himself, hardly every making it home in time to eat dinner with his family. It’s fairly obvious to the people around him that he just doesn’t want to be a home. His wife, on the other hand, still has no job, takes care of the kids alone, hands her husband beer on demand and does everything she can to make her family be happy and healthy, including her now sometimes violent husband. As time progresses, Mike has had more than one affair with mostly biker chicks. His wife assumes this fact enough to actually tell him during one conversation “I don’t care what you do Mike, just please don’t get anyone pregnant.”

As time passes on, Mike becomes close to another woman and starts sleeping over at her house, only coming home about once every 3 days of so. Plus, his newly found girlfriend also lives with her mom. His wife tries to talk to him but he avoids any conversation with her as best he can. This goes on for weeks until days of encouragement from friends and family sends Mike back home to basically tell his wife that he no longer loves her and he is leaving. About a week later, Mike gets a call at work from his Daughter who is at the airport. She tells him of her mother shipping her out to her Aunt’s house in Florida because she cannot control her. Daughter literally left within moments of ending the phone call. It was painfully obvious that Mike was hit hard by the phone call, going around the rest of the day saying “why would a Christian women do such a thing, send my daughter away from me without even telling me?” The very next day, Mike had put it behind him and said nothing about it again for weeks, although he did comment daily about his girlfriend and how much she drinks. She also is known for her instability. Roger’s son has not talked to his father since he stopped coming home daily. By now, the two have not even looked into each other’s eyes for weeks, if not months. When asked about it, Mike simply says, “he hates me but he’ll get over it someday hopefully”. Just to recap, Mike and his wife are still married; his wife send Daughter to her sisters in Florida; Son is still living with his mom attending high school; Mike and his wife still share banking accounts; his check is still directly deposited into the same account that it has been for 10 years; Mike still continue to help his wife where he can, for example, buying wood for the house, cutting it up and stacking it in the yard for the upcoming winter; yet he is living at his girlfriends house, with her mother, who by the way, apparently holds absolutely no love for Mike at all.

Several weeks ago, Daughter shows up at her dads work looking for him. She flew up with her cousin to help her mother that is going to have some type of surgery. Apparently Daughter never told her father what the surgery was for, but she did try her best to patch things up between Son an Mike. Son wanted nothing to do with it and said he hated his father and didn’t care if he ever seen him again in his life. Mike, although is somewhat bothered by this fact, tries no personal attempt to patch things up with Son and still sleeps well because the world still had bars.

This week, Mike got a phone call from his wife at work, like he does almost daily. After all, Mike does not believe in cell phones, or anything technology that was born after the 70’s, and his wife still has no other way of getting in contact with him. This phone call was a bit different. Although the premise for her call was to bug him about getting wood for the winter, she also dropped a bomb on him. She has Colon Cancer and that was the reason for her surgery. I asked him how what stage it was in and what condition she was in but he said he didn’t know. I have asked the same thing for three days now, and he still doesn’t know!!! I gave him a long speech about how he needs to make things right, for his family and everything that goes with it. I told him that if his wife dies, his teenage kid would be in his hands. I thought I opened his eyes so wide you could drive a truck through them, I thought…

Today, his main topic of conversation was about how his girlfriend likes to dress up for Halloween and how they are both going to the club for the party. I just gave up. Sometimes people are so far out there, so lost, so disconnected from reality, that they themselves have no idea how bad their own situation is.

Picket fence post bastard....

2006-10-18T22:21:00.000-05:00

This week, while working on an issue with a purchased $4,000 heat exchanger, I met a salesman with the company who also just came back from Iraq only 4 days prior to our meeting. If that fact doesn’t catch your interest, get this; he is a Lieutenant General, a 23-year veteran, now with the Army Reserve. Although our conversation was mostly work-at-hand related, we spoke…, big time.

Later, my boss said the following about him. “Yea he was a bit strange, I’m not sure how to take him”. I cannot publish what I though of saying to my boss….

Friday The 13TH... Live and in Color...

2006-10-13T19:20:00.000-05:00

Ah yes it’s Friday, the end ‘O’ the week, and Thank God! This week has been the worse I have endured for many years. It seems as though everything, I mean everything that could have gone wrong, went well past wrong. Everything I touched turned to crap, everything I said sounded stupid and everything I did went horribly insane. When I woke up this morning I didn’t even take notice to it being Friday the 13Th, it never even crossed my mind. That was, until about 9 AM when a coworker, a project manager and close friend came up to me and interrupted a conversation I was having with someone on the shop floor. He said “I will no longer be…” and I broke his conversation by saying “so disruptive?” He said “that’s right, effective immediately, I have to go”. Not fully understanding what he was getting at, I simply said, “ya, later”, assuming he meant he had to run to the other office for a meeting or something. About 10 minutes later, our President informed me that she “had to let Clark go”. “It was a tough decision”, she said. I had my game face on with her, but little did she know my heart fell to my feet. I couldn’t believe it. She just waltz right in, canned him and then left. I think it’s time to start looking a bit more seriously for a new job.

At least the week from hell is now over. TGIF BABY!!!

Good old G.W.............

2006-10-08T19:36:00.000-05:00

I have some reading material for you, if you have the time.

Snot, this one is for you.

Will YOUR head explode?

2006-10-04T20:53:00.000-05:00

Click here

An update on the Amish Slayer…

2006-10-03T20:07:00.000-05:00

New light has been shed on this asshole that shot 10 kids within a one-room Amish Schoolhouse. "Neighbors say they had no clue Charles Carl Roberts IV had demons lurking inside, neither did his family."

DEMONS, HU? Well, lets look at the latest and greatest on this guy.
· "The truck driver rang his wife minutes before the shootings, admitting to molesting young family members 20 years ago and dreamed of doing it again. The 32-year-old said there was something else that happened 20 years ago, which he would not reveal. He was also traumatized by the death of his baby daughter, who died 20 minutes after she was born nine years ago."
· "Despite his talk of molestation, though, and the discovery that he had sexual lubricant and flex-ties with him, police have no evidence that any of the victims were sexually abused, State Police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller said."
· "Authorities Tuesday discussed Roberts' tormented existence, a reality that included anguish over the loss of a child, as well as talk of child molestation."
· A quote, apparently in the shooter's note to his wife "We had so many good memories together as well as the tragedy with Elise. It changed my life forever I haven't been the same since it affected me in a way I never felt possible. I am filled with so much hate, hate toward myself hate towards God and unimaginable emptyness it seems like everytime we do something fun I think about how Elise wasn't here to share it with us and I go right back to anger."

· October 2, 2006 - Shooting Timeline

3:00 Arrives home from work
7:30 Gets children ready for school with wife
8:45 Walks children to bus stop
9:00 Wife leaves house for prayer group
9:14 Buys eye bolts, zip ties and hardware from store
10:00 Arrives at West Nickel Mines Amish School
10:30 Teacher calls authorities
10:50 Calls wife, stated "I am not coming home. The police are here"

Ok, so this guy molested a young family member, or members when he was 12 years old. He apparently was having dreams and thoughts about molesting children and felt the need to do it again. Personally, I cannot fathom what it feels like to have this so called "feeling" or "need", I never could understand how someone can stomach even the thought of hurting a child in this way, or in any way for that matter. He also lost a daughter that was born premature. Although this holds a bit more merit for being, for lack of a better word, disturbed, he still had three perfectly healthy children.

Evidently, in the same letter to his wife, he was quoted as saying "I don't know how you put up with me all those years. I am not worthy of you, you are the perfect wife you deserve so much better." To be brutally honest here, I couldn't agree more. In my humble opinion, this guy was a selfish and spineless bastard. Selfish for what he has done the schoolgirls, selfish for what has done to the family's effected, selfish for the long lasting effects left on the rest of the class, selfish for not asking for prefessional help, selfish for what this has done to the community and mostly selfish for what this will do to his own surviving children. Yet, most of all, he was spineless for taking his own life. A weakminded, egotistical and gutless pedophile want-to-be.

As for those among us that think things would have been differient if guns were illegal... I truly believe that people in this state of mind would find anything to commit their crimes. If not guns, then a knife, or a razorblade/box cutter. Hell, even a few screwdrivers used in the correct way could have done the same damage in nearly the same amout of time. I know this is now a coined phrase, and I hate to use it, but it fits perfectly. Guns do not kill people, people kill people. Removing guns from the equation will not eliminate opportunity, period!

I hate copycats

2006-10-02T21:02:00.000-05:00

At approximately 10:30 this morning a horrible crime was committed. Three innocent children died at the hands of a man who, for no apparent reason other than watching a news story, snapped.

Ok, let’s look at this from another point of view. A seemingly normal man, a milk truck driver, a father of three children of his own, a person quoted as ‘average’ and ‘just normal’, allegedly watched a news story about another school shooting, let a childhood prank or picking from a little girl twenty years ago, drive him into a unspeakable train of thought. According to the current reports, this guy got off of work at 3 a.m., borrowed a friends pick-up, went to the local lumber yard for 2x4’s and 4x4’s, then drove to his friendly neighborhood one room Amish, one-room school house. He then allegedly used to wood to barricade the doors, took the first three little girls he found and bound them up and lined all the girls against the chalkboard.

After receiving at least one phone call from his wife on his cell phone concerning his notes he had left at home, "along the lines of suicide notes" that were "rambling" and "didn't make much sense", someone made a call to the local 911 center from the same cell phone. The police were advised of the number and tried to call just moments before he began to shoot the girls execution style.

What the hell? Why did this guy go off, and more importantly, why did he forget his family, only to fulfill a 20 year old, preteen vengeance towards girls? Why did the guy drop his kids off safely at the school bus stop, then methodically, premeditatedly kill other kids?

There is something to be said about the mindset of the locals, the average Americans living within the Amish communality. In our everyday, busy, fast paced, competitive, shallow lives, the Amish are a people who are seem disposable, a people who just get in the way of normal, daily life. I, admittedly, cannot totally disagree. That being said, these were just kids. Kids that, although have been brainwashed by people within their culture, not unlike how our government brainwashes the average, television watching, retired person. Yet, these kids have yet to do any harm, make their own choices, or even get a chance feel love with another outside their own family.

I’m lost for words other than this; I would have taken any of those lives in trade for my own. Kids, just kids, forgetting anything else, just kids!!!!!!!

It’s too bad this guy took his own life. I’d love to take it for him.

I should rename this blog "The Stupid Stuff I Have Done".

2006-10-02T16:24:00.000-05:00

Not too bad

2006-09-30T14:54:00.000-05:00

It took 10 shots to shot the scope in.
It needs some fine tuning, but it's not too bad at 200 yards.

I need a desk job…

2006-09-28T21:52:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow morning, I am going to get minor surgery, removing debris from my eyes. This is something I have all but grown accustomed to. This would be my forth time, but who’s counting. This time is different, considering I have stuff in both eyes this time. Focusing on my monitor as I type is a challenge.

I am only one of 2 people in our shop who are certified to ASME Pressure Vessel codes, so when it is applicable, I must design, build and weld these, what I choose to call, water tanks. While I was cutting into a weld that may not have been acceptable, the grinding wheel exploded. Although my safety glasses were in check, I was not wearing my full-face shield and some pieces emended themselves into my eyes.

My 20-20+ vision is, yet again, under attack, through my own dumb fault.

Please wish me luck.

A new toy

2006-09-23T19:51:00.000-05:00

Fall is in the air, and with it comes the thought of rifle season, hunting the ever-elusive white tail deer. There are those that do not understand why I choose to hunt. They also may not understand the peace I find in it, along with the sudden excitement as well. Coming home without a kill is worth every minute of my day. Every single hour I spend in the field makes life just a little easier. When on the hill, we communicate via hand held radios, so although cell phones are taken along, they are turned off and only used to “check in”. No deadlines, no bitching, no bullshit, no kids (except for a teenager or two), no stupid questions, no stupid answers, no expectations, no worries, no rushing, no issues whatsoever. Plus, you really need to taste my venison bologna, it rocks.

To celebrate this freedom from hard work, long hours, kids fighting, grown-up’s arguing and everything that comes with daily life, I got myself a new toy, a Savage Model 111F .30-06. Sweet, I can’t wait to shoot it in.

Better luck next time

2006-09-19T18:31:00.000-05:00

You gota read this. All that pain for only 4 inces?

Doing some house cleaning

2006-09-17T20:34:00.000-05:00

I'm changing my blog around a bit. (not that anyone reads it anyway) The links will be back soon.

I’m feeling a bit down in the dumps. I have myself convinced that I am a total moron. Everything I say is stupid, everything I do is dumb and I deserve any pain I receive. Life just seems to get just a little worse day-by-day.

My dog had his first ever seizure this evening. Knowing dogs as I do, it was most likely epileptic. He was laying here beside me when his back legs started to shake. He set up and looked at his ass end, almost like he was saying “what the hell?”. Then his front legs started. Soon he was pedaling uncontrollably, like a 95-pound fish out of water. He had stopped breathing and started foaming at the mouth profusely. I called into the bedroom for my wife to help, as I reached to open his mouth, making sure he had not swallowed his tongue. Another mistake. Moments later the shaking stopped and he slowly became lucid again. Just freaking great. My son was scared out of his mind, poor little guy. He had to watch another dog die a few years ago.

So anyway, I am changing my blog to fit my life. Hopefully it will not become as sad as I am.

Just another reason why the human race is doomed.

2006-09-16T23:48:00.000-05:00

Guy has strange life growing up; lives with 3 generations in his house of oddities…

Guy (unfortunately through me in high school) meets girl as strange…

Guy gets girl pregnant, marries and has another child…

Guy works hard at his lower wage warehouse job…

Guy gets a chance to get a new job with better pay (again, my fault)…

Guy gets fired from job…

Guy gets divorced…

Guy’s ex decides to better herself by going to college, fixing her teeth, becoming a professional…

I get a call a year of two later from a credit agency. Apparently Guy’s ex put me down, as a reference for her student loan that went into default…

Guy remarries to someone with even more issues, even worse teeth and even more smutty (yes, there is a hell)…

So does Guy’s ex.

Guy can be found through out years going to his new wife’s kid’s sporting events, while his own is doing whatever…

Guy apparently makes piece with his ex and her now husband…

Guy can be found on almost any given Friday at one particular bar, well after midnight…

Guy’s newest slut (oops, I mean wife) can also be found there, displaying her lack of a body to anyone who will watch…

Guy all but encourages friends to play with his new wife, as she puts herself on display for the usual crowd…

(wait, it gets better)

Guy is found in same bar, with same crown, in same situation, now with his ex and his ex’s husband performing this same pathetic ritual…

Guy’s ex’s husband said to me, during the slut-fest, about his wife who is showing herself in a display much like guy’s current wife; “Go ahead, feel her up”…

(Now keep in mind that I have known this girl since high school)…

I said, “No thanks man"…

Guy’s ex’s husband said “come on man, look at these. You know you want to feel them”. Guy’s ex said nothing, as she looked straight into my eyes, as on command…

I said to myself the following: Here is Guy, his wife, his ex, his ex’s husband, all doing the same damn thing, in one little ‘whatever- fest’…

Hey, all these people are parents….
I need to move!!!

not too clever title goes here...

2006-09-15T18:43:00.000-05:00

Just say hi will ya?

Why my crew respects me.

2006-09-13T19:22:00.000-05:00

Why my crew respects me

When I first took on a supervisory position, I was told that I could not, and I quote “take part in the games”. I have always been known to have a little fun. Being a supervisor of a very rough, tough and young group of people can be trying at times. The last thing I want is to be looked at by them as some hard ass; constantly making them toe the line. Yet, I don’t want to be a pushover either. Trying to find a happy medium is a bit challenging, but it can be done.

We just shipped another HUGE project, leaving the shop all but empty. Although the work on the books seems like it has so end, turnover times like this can quickly send a crew into trouble. After all, when you ask them to work their ass off for weeks at a time, then they watch a job become, what we call ‘out-a-here’, everyone thinks it’s Miller Time. Little to they realize, as they should, that a plethora of work is awaiting, already behind schedule.

So, keeping this in mind, I sometimes try to find ways to keep in step with them, making sure I have not become this always bearer of bad news. How? Well, I sit back and think of the shit that used to get me into trouble when I was a kid; the stuff that our parents would have shit a brick of they knew we were doing. Then, send a subtle hint to someone, waiting for the evolution of an idea. Long behold, the latest and not so greatest fly killer…

Sometimes I can’t believe I let shit like this go on.

The next gun I am buying

2006-09-08T20:20:00.000-05:00

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6750458630308006678&q=shotgun&hl=en

Just another adjustment

2006-09-05T20:49:00.000-05:00

"Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country. All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day...is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation."
Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor.

Although I was brought up in the city, assuming this pathetic place I live still maintains such status, my father and I always had one thing in common, hunting "the pursuit and killing or capture of wild animals regarded as a sport". That was many years ago and the only hunting I get to enjoy these days is the first few days of deer season. I have four 12-guage shot guns, three pumps and one single shot. The only time these babies even get out of the cabinet anymore is for our annual pigeon shoot (skeet shoot) at our cabin. As I have said before, this is a big event for the residents of the ‘road’, but this year would be much different than ever before.

The field behind our cabin was flooded with over 4 inches of rainwater. The leftovers from the tropical storm had made it’s mark all around us. Early Sunday morning we had to change plans, and fast. The shoot was at 11AM and we had no place to go. With little else to do, we entered into plan “w”. (yea, trust me, we started with “a”). Shooting over Penns Creek, turned a small river at this point, in an area with limited real estate was the best option short of canceling the whole deal.

The following video is of round two, the only round I shot well in. Although I could have done much better, I still took 3rd place.

It no leap, it's a calculated 400 mph jump.

2006-08-28T20:20:00.000-05:00

Now that my duties within our little baseball league are all but at a standstill until next year, my job duties have exploded. I have had a total of 1 day off in three weeks, but I hope to enjoy a full 4 days off this holiday weekend if all goes well. Although my job drives me crazy at times, I get to meet some very influential people, from all across the spectrum. I was offered a job in the “desert”, and again from our customer more local. Companies like these can send you almost anywhere you would like to go. But, it’s hard to be a ‘super parent’ when you’re not around. Someone told me once that life is full of choices; finding a balance between hesitation and haste is the hard part. On a basic level it makes perfect sense. Wait too long and your window closes, choose to quickly and you make an irrevocable mistake.

Having said this, I leave you with these somewhat undefined quotes. These quotes are from people whom I ether work with or for. I only with I could give you the prelude to most of these.

$ “Well, you ARE an impressive woman…”

$ “…yes, I am an impressive woman, and this impressive woman will make him…”

$“I have leaking tires on both of our four wheelers, but different tires…”

$“I just can’t take it anymore, Jeff. I’m gona punch him right in the mouth.”

$“Calm down sport, he’ll kill you.” (guess I wasn’t very supportive on that one)

$ “I haven’t tested a tank since I almost blew up the last one, I haven’t been asked to…”

$“Apparently your instructions still haven’t sunk in, he’s still trying to…”

$“Far too many people are just too damn serious!” (that's mine)

$“It’s nice to work with someone that is not only willing to help, but also knowledgeable. Seriously, it’s hard to find. “

$“We have a plan here. It’s a good plan, it just isn’t going to work.”

I only wish I could write down all of them as they happen. I forget almost all of them as my mind is on other items.

Ahhh, the leap of faith……

Yea, my son wanted it!!! FORGET IT!

2006-08-21T20:57:00.000-05:00

This morning seemed like any other Monday morning, except that I had no weekend to speak of. I drove the same way as I do every other day, I even stopped at the same convenient store as every other day, but that’s where the usualness ends. As I walk up to the door, I see this kitten outside the building, walking along the outside wall. I think little of it and walk inside. As I make a b-line for the coffee, an all too familiar voice practically screams at me. She comes out from behind the counter, ranting to me about this cat that someone had dropped off at the store about an hour or two ago. She pleaded with me to take the poor thing with me to work and find it a home. I am not the quickest thinker at 6 AM but I had asked her why she didn’t take the thing. This, coupled with the fact that I am somewhat of a humanitarian, led to my giving in easily. If you want to take advantage of me, look me up before 7 AM as I must be easy prey.

Being the foreman, project manager and supply person at a medium sized fabrication and engineering company keeps my days a bit fast paced. It was a usual busy day today, but the cat was content as hell being there. With doors wide open all day, she left the building only a few times, constantly moving to wherever people were. She was surely a former house cat and well cared for as I could tell. She was only about 6 or 8 months old and loved being held or scratched. Throughout the day, besides becoming the day’s newest joke, I found her asleep on workers prints and paperwork tables. Every time I picker her up to move her to a safer location, she purred to no end. Although some loud noises sent her running for cover several times, she sprang back without hesitation, into the company of whomever she could find.

I tried my best to pawn her off of everyone I came across today, every worker, every office person, every truck driver, every delivery person, and yes, even my boss. I ended up bringing the poor thing home with me. Knowing what was going to happen, but needing to try nun the less, I attempted to introduce my 90+ pound to her. Well, that went bad, plus my wife wanted nothing to do with the thing, even after meeting her once she got home. I called every possible prospect I know of to get rid of the cat. Dean, Sadie would have loved her; Carnealian, you missed out! I even tried my friend chuck while I was measuring and estimating a job for him. I should have known better there.

Finally, my neighbor’s daughter was the sucker. In just over 18 hours, I turned a lonely young animal into a loving pet. I know she will be well taken care of. Sidney is very good with animals and has several cats already.

So life goes on.

This year's last function

2006-08-20T22:09:00.000-05:00

I tried...

2006-08-09T21:49:00.000-05:00

This evening Dorman and I took the kids for a walk up to the fields where I hunt, or at least the kids minus one. Staying at home playing video games with a friend proved to be more important for one. I expected to take a nice walk up in an area that is somewhat remote, teaching the kids about some wildlife. This is not what our trip turned out to be about, to say the least.

First, I usually drive up an old access road to the first field. I didn’t want to do this as it is a very overgrown road and it would have scratched the hell out of Dorman’s new chariot. Instead I chose to park up at my buddy’s property, next to his workshop. He does not live on the property, but rents out a small trailer in the front and operates a small wood mill in the back. Arriving at the property, we had to drive around a few poorly parked cars to get out back. Behind the trailer, we found Chuck’s tenant walking his dog, if you what to call it one, staring us down with the look of death as if saying, “who are you and why the hell are you driving in my yard?” As soon as I parked the truck beside Chuck’s workshop, I called him. In kinder works, he said, “whatever, forget him”.

I rarely gut up to the fields this early in the season so I was somewhat surprised at what we found. First of all, both 100 Plus acre fields were full with soybeans. I tried to find the best path through the lower field, trying to cause as little damage to the crop as possible. I know the owner of this land, but am unsure of who is farming the crop this year as he subs his land out to local farmers. Once we found our path up to the next field, we found the path a bit overgrown and the kids were (ok, my kid was) complaining about the briers scratching up some legs. Once we go up top, we found another field, a larger one, filled with soybean. It turned out that the only wildlife that could be found was a few groundhogs. If I had taken a rifle, the farmer of this field would have been one or two vermin less. It seems as though nothing I try as of late turns out good.

So our short trip proved a bit on the useless side. My two were at each other on the way down, proving that when you add just a minute amount of boredom, they are at each other like cats and dogs.

I have to do a bit of research to find a name of a type of apple that the dear love to eat. Kudos to Dorman’s kid on finding another one of the trees. I may have to change my spot this year.

Reflection:

2006-08-07T22:00:00.000-05:00

I have met so many people this year, people as in kids and people as in parents. Some would ask why choose to make the distinction between the two as they are totally and completely related. I have been told that a child is whom his or her parents make him. Although this has some merit, I choose not to believe in it. Yes, it is true that if a child does not receive loving care in his or her ‘critical’ stage in live, IE: very young, the poor kid could be damaged for life. But that’s not the case with most parents, or at least the couple of thousand that I have come across in my few humble years as an adult. Most everyone loves to cuddle and touch a baby; after all, they are so cute. But, what about when this baby grows up a little and starts to get his or her own mind? What happens when this baby turns into a child who you actually need to work with to teach them things? What happens when sitting on the chair, watching your baby swing in the living room isn’t enough? What happens when your child wants you to go out and through some ball around, play heard outside, camp out, have friends over, want their own things, ask for another and another snack before bed, want to pick our their own cloths, want everything they see on TV? What then, I ask!!!

Let’s say little John wants to play football, just as an example. You have tried your best to teach him how to catch the ball while running, yet he just doesn’t quite get the concept. So you choose to do what most parents do, sign him up for football camp. Hey, that’s a great thing. Not only has it been proven that kids learn better and faster when surrounded by other kids, learning the same thing, but you have employed a ‘professional’ to finish what you have started. Well, here’s a wake up call for you people, 7, 8, and 9 year olds are not coached my this so called professional, who gets paid to teach the game! At this level, this camp is run by volunteer parents who have decided to step up to the plate to help the kids. These coaches are not coaches, in an adult sense. They are mostly mentors. They are people who have taken upon them selves the daunting of working with the kids and making them players, team players. Teaching the kids to work as a team, teaching them to forget what is better for them and to remember what is better for the team, as a team, together. (ok, her goes my rant) These coaches are just parents that have stepped up to the plate to make a difference in a few kid’s lives. So you sign your kids up to camp and sit on your foldable chair and watch other people take care of them! Get off of your ass and help! It’s your fucking kid, not mine!!! Why do you choose to use this youth training ground as a way out being a parent for an hour of two? This is the most precious time for your kid, and you choose to sit back and chitchat with your girlfriends about the latest neighbor, or soap opera, or tool, or …….? Oh, then you people who choose to drop your 7 year old girl to her sports function, only to return 2 hours later, over and over again… fuck you! There is a special place in hell for your fat ass!

Ok, I leave you with the words of TOOL, explaining how I feel far better than I can.

Tool - Aenima Lyrics
Some say the end is near.
Some say we'll see armageddon soon.
I certainly hope we will.
I sure could use a vacation from this

Bullshit three ring circus sideshow of
Freaks

Here in this hopeless fucking hole we call LA
The only way to fix it is to flush it all away.
Any fucking time. Any fucking day.
Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay.

Fret for your figure and
Fret for your latte and
Fret for your lawsuit and
Fret for your hairpiece and
Fret for your prozac and
Fret for your pilot and
Fret for your contract and
Fret for your car.

It's a
Bullshit three ring circus sideshow of
Freaks

Here in this hopeless fucking hole we call LA
The only way to fix it is to flush it all away.
Any fucking time. Any fucking day.
Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay.

Some say a comet will fall from the sky.
Followed by meteor showers and tidal waves.
Followed by faultlines that cannot sit still.
Followed by millions of dumbfounded dipshits.

Some say the end is near.
Some say we'll see armageddon soon.
I certainly hope we will cuz
I sure could use a vacation from this

Stupid shit, silly shit, stupid shit...

One great big festering neon distraction,
I've a suggestion to keep you all occupied.

Learn to swim.
Learn to swim.
Learn to swim.

Mom is going to fix it all soon,
Mom is coming round to put it back
the way it oughtta be...

Learn to swim.

Fuck L Ron Hubbard and
Fuck all his clones.
Fuck all these gun-toting
Hip gangster wannabes.

Learn to swim.

Fuck retro anything.
Fuck your tattoos.
Fuck all you junkies and
Fuck your short memory.

Learn to swim.

Fuck smiley glad-hands
With hidden agendas.
Fuck these dysfunctional,
Insecure actresses.

Learn to swim.

Cuz I'm praying for rain
And I'm praying for tidal waves
I wanna see the ground give way.
I wanna watch it all go down.
Mom please flush it all away.
I wanna see it go right in and down.
I wanna watch it go right in.
Watch you flush it all away.

Time to bring it down again.
Don't just call me pessimist.
Try and read between the lines.

I can't imagine why you wouldn't
Welcome any change, my friend.

I wanna see it all come down.
suck it down.
flush it down.

... the old ball game.

2006-07-30T21:55:00.000-05:00

We just got home from our trip to see the Williamsport Crosscutters play at Historic Bowman Field . When it comes to baseball, or at least Little League, Williamsport is the king. As for the Cutters, they pretty much suck, but the ball game was a blast non-the less.

Jordan, Matt (M&M), my Matt and John, all had a blast, before and after the game. Our team grandmother (or so I call her) drove us kids, myself included. Another car with the adults trailed not far behind. I was asked to keep the kids in check for the ride. I did so with the usual games like I SPY and WHO HERE HAS EVER…. Once we arrived to the field, we realized that we were and bit too early and the rumor that they would have a bunch of stuff for kids to do outside was proved false. I ended up taking the kids on a small hike around the field, simply for entertainment. Then, after standing in line for what seemed like an hour in the blazing hot sun, the gates finally opened. It was at that point that I let down my guard and had a little bit of fun. “Is that a beer you’re drinking” said one kid? I simply replied “yes”. The kids looked as in disbelief that I would ever do such a thing. One parent said, “he’s old enough, he’s allowed”.

I think the best time was when we got all 5 of us, yelling in unison “We want a batter, not a chicken platter!!!” John, the oldest of the group came back from the bathroom, telling us how loud we were and that he could hear us from “way back there”. No one else seems to mind, as many people around us were all smiles. After all, if you can’t yell at a baseball game, where can you?

It’s getting late and I have a big day ahead of me tomorrow at work so I better end it here. Just enjoy the pics.

Oh great! Invariably, blogger’s having issues with uploading pictures again. Guess I’ll have to link them. Damn blogger anyway!!!

Next year it will be football.

2006-07-30T09:41:00.000-05:00

Does anyone remember Kent Bottenfield? If not, let me refresh your memory. He may not have been the best baseball player that ever took to the mound, but he certainly made his mark, not only in major league baseball, but her in our city as well. We just ended a weeklong professional baseball camp directed and sponsored by the one and only Bottenfield. Not only did my son get his glove signed, he got a chance to hit a ball pitched by the guy. It was awesome. All the kids loved it. Plus, I got a chance to actually sit back and watch, that was for the first day or two, until I was recruited to help.
Today, our ‘Team Grandmother’ and I are taking some of this year’s kids to see a Crosscutter’s game. Gota run!

Life; Full Circle In A Small Town

2006-07-25T22:13:00.000-05:00

I don’t recall many details of my grade school years. Just some vague moments that stands out, like getting lost while walking to this new babysitter’s home, just a few blocks away. I must have been in 2nd grade. This new babysitter lived in a low-income housing development known as Memorial Acres. This would be the place that I met a new friend, let’s call him Todd. Him and I would end up building a relationship together as friends. I heard many of stories as a kid about how messed up this family was, but as a kid, it goes over your head.

I can recall being in baseball with him in 5th grade. He was on another team and had made a mark as an outstanding pitcher. Every kid feared him when he was on the mound. I can recall hitting a double on one pitch that sent our team for a win. On a side note, this was also the person who hit me with the pitched ball that ruined me. After that, I wanted nothing to do with baseball for years. (hey, I was 10, give me a break)

We broke ties once Middle School started. My life went on into High School, trouble with the law, Engagement, dead girlfriend, Navy, Desert Storm, Thailand and many other countries, out of the service, drunk off my ass, kid out of wedlock, working, another girlfriend that hit me over the head with a beer bottle, engaged, married, kid, then baseball for my son. Well, Todd was a fellow coach, within another division this year. Before this, I have not seen him in years. At the beginning of the season, he was voted in as a board member. He is the one that is now under suspect for stealing money from the league. He allegedly withheld some amount of every game’s 50-50 drawling this year to hold a team party, like he was supposedly told to do by some unknown person, and then spent the money that he was incorrectly withholding to begin with. Guilty or not, his has been living within the very same housing development for years, out of work with “his bad knee”, although he walks over 4000 yards to the complex for his games and has been coaching a team all year.

On the other hand, I have a heel spur that hurts like hell some days, muscular back issues that, on some days, leads me to asking for help to get up and I, on occasion, can not even walk upright, have, in the past, worked three jobs to, post military, put myself through college, and I am presently working a full time job as a shop forman and designer of ten years with the same company. I also have a small business that I operate out of my home, all to supply my family with money. Yet, this ass clown is talking about the town about how his is a coach and a board member of our local Little League Program.

Life, full circle!!!!

Now what?

2006-07-21T22:09:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow and Sunday will be the last kid related function that our baseball league has this year. Although we will be holding a work party to, for lack of a better word, tear down for the year; the season will officially be over. A bunch of us coaches have decided to hold a first time ever Pitcher’s Clinic for the kids that are moving up to the Minor Division next year. This weekend will prove to be a busy one as we also have a birthday-pool party and a team-pool party to attend as well. Plus, I have eight full bags of equipment, plus four more coming tomorrow, to be turned into our equipment manager. Although Pitching is not my forte, I have organized the event and have at least five coaches; all who have pitched at least into high school, helping the kids make this tough transition.

Once things are completely done for the year, I fell somewhat without a purpose. Being involved as I am, within the community, especially for the kids, is my relaxation and therapy. Although my being there for the kids is wonderful for them, and mostly why I choose to put my life on hold for a few months every year, I also get a tremendous amount out of my experience, personally. If only everyone could experience what I have, over the last few years, most people would jump at the chance to volunteer within an organization like this. As good at math as I am, and one of the only things I’m good at, I estimate that I receive close to 123% more than I put into this. To me, that’s a great deal! I just hope I can stay sane within the next eight or so months that I am without a team of kids. I do have monthly board meetings and some fund raisers to attend to, but they do nothing for me. On the fields of smiles is where I belong. Snot, bring your daughter around sometime for a lesson. I have keys to pretty much everything, we can have some fun.

If you’re an asshole, then you’re on your own…

2006-07-17T22:04:00.000-05:00

We cannot believe the help we have received. Port-a-potty, Pizza and soda, helping hands, clothes, words of wisdom, it’s great. These people have lived their lives helping everyone they meet, every chance they get. Now that they need the help, they feel bad and don’t want to “bother” everyone. BULLSHIT!!!!! I said one day. You have been so nice for so many years; you deserve everything that these people bring to you. This is what being nice to another brings you, take it, it’s deserved!!!!

Here’s a hint for everyone. If you want something to survive a fire, put it within the pages of a phone book or dictionary.

Why do bad things happen to great people?

2006-07-11T22:23:00.000-05:00

Some very dear close friends of mine and former neighbors lost everything within there home of 40 years last night when it caught fire. When I arrived at the farm I found Dave, a man of 55 or so years, sitting across the dirt road from what once was his home. Although, and thankfully everyone escaped safely, all this man had was a cup of coins and a roll of partially burnt $2.00 bills that he had saved in his dresser. The home was totally gone.

Dave and Judy had 4 children, all whom have grandchildren who are formerly or presently involved within our league. Beth’s daughter Madison, whom I have coached for 2 years, was sleeping there along with her brother and sister. Beth was due to be induced into labor this morning with her 4th child. Obviously, this did not happen and although all the stress Beth has gone through, she still has not delivered.

It’s hard for me to look at a structure that I’ve been inside so many times, not be there anymore. I can’t even begin to fathom the feelings that they all have. Although Scott, a fellow coach and fellow high school graduate is taking it well, along with the rest of the family, it just has to be hard. But, that’s what this family is known for, taking life as it is, no matter what. I idolize these people and have learned so much from them.

Beth’s youngest boy said to me “Madison lost her baseball uniform. Look what happened to Pappy’s house.” He is 3 years old as was rushed out last night, along with the rest of the family.

I am presently working on getting a new uniform for Madison. Although she was not there when I was, her little brother told me that she was very upset that she lost it.

I cried a little today.

I'm waisted....

2006-07-08T23:38:00.000-05:00

I’ll say only this. From 7:00AM to 11:00PM. Enjoy the pics.

Almost done!!!

2006-07-06T21:37:00.000-05:00

Well, ‘tis the season for baseball All-Star games. All games within our division will be played on Saturday. Basically, we asked all coaches to divide all their kids into three skill levels. Then I put all the names into teams, almost aimlessly, except for respect to the level of skill. This made six teams. This was convenient since we have six teams, and six coaches this year. After the teams were constructed, to avoid any possibility of someone assuming ‘the commissioner’ got the good team purposely, we literally pulled all six names out of a hat. The first two got the A kids and so on. I got a B team.

Tonight we scheduled a scrimmage for the A and B division, and C division has theirs yesterday. This meant a whole new set of kids for me to coach. Once you are around the same kids over and over again, you get kind of numb to who is bigger or smaller. I was once again reminded that my son is built like a 7-year-old brick shithouse! He is so large compared to the other kids. He’s not the ‘largest’ per say, but the most muscular and meaty of them all. He’s as tall as some 10 year olds, almost as thick as the little fat kid (sorry), yet not a roll on him. Plus, for the first time since I’ve been doing this, he’s not on my team. I actually was hoping to sit and watch one of his games, for the first time ever. Can you believe that I cannot because I put him in a B bracket I coach his apposing team. Go figure!!!

And now for my small rant!!!! I should not have left the skill level decision totally up to the coaches. What the hell!!! Last night the C kids were much better then today’s B kids. I ended up helping kids with batting skills that should have been taught on day one!!! Again, kudos to my kid who hit every ball pitched to him.

And now for another small rant. This year I have received the following titles, through absolutely no requests from myself: Board Member; Safety Officer; Division Commissioner; Division Co-Commissioner; French Fry Cook; Concession Stand Standby; and Post Season Pitching Clinic Organizer. Oh, I hold one more title; the only one I really care about, Head Coach of a bunch of kids who really need someone to look up to. For another year on a row, my kids love me. THAT is what I want.

The Things I Just Don’t Understand…

2006-07-03T22:25:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had one of those moments when you sit back and think “Why the hell does that happen?” or “Why the hell did he do that?” I’ve found myself saying this a lot this year. So, in tribute to stupid people, I’ve created a list of things I just don’t get. Here goes.

· Why would someone try to steal fund raising money for a non-profit organization (such as a baseball league)? Is this not the same as taking food right out of his kid’s mouth? And to think that him and I used to play ball together as kids. Freaking looser! I hope memorial acres burns to the ground.

· Why would a person be more concerned about having a winning team than being there as a roll model for the kids? Screaming at the kids when they make a mistake only makes you look like an asshole.

· Why would a person even think about molesting a young girl or boy? This one really confuses me. How can someone look at one of these kids and see nothing but fun and love? Well, I’ll make an exception for that Jordan kid on the Yankees. He’s a total brat! I blame his mother, big time!!!

· Why would someone buy a dog and then pen the poor thing in the back yard, giving it little to no attention. My 90-pound pain in the ass sleeps in my bedroom. My son calls River his brother for god sakes.

· What possesses people to drive up to 15 miles out of their way to save three cense a gallon on gas? I know gas prices are high and all but didn’t you just waist a few more cense than you saved?

· The next time you are driving down a two-lane road, look around. If there’s no cars in front of you and a line of cars behind you THEN YOU ARE DRIVING TOO FREAKING SLOW!!!!! MOVE YOUR ISSUES OFF THE ROAD!!!

· If you have a grandson or granddaughter that you want to see, why do you let someone else that you do not feel uncomfortable around stand in your way. YOUR GRANDCHILD IS THE ONE THAT MISSES YOU AND THAT MAKES IT YOUR FAULT!!!!! PUT YOUR ISSUES ASSIDE FOR A DAY OR SO, WILL YA?

· Why do people want so desperately to get knowledge of other peoples business? If my life got so boring and lonely that I needed to tell everyone I know about what someone else does, please tell me so I can shoot myself because, at that point, I serve absolutely no purpose in this world.

I give up with this because I’m starting to get a little angry. Like the original HULK said, “Please don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”

OH SHIT!!!

2006-06-27T20:57:00.000-05:00

Things are interesting here, to say the least. Northumberland County Food Control central sits just behind my home and things are hopping up there. I stopped up there just about an hour ago to deliver the receipt to the boss for the our pool that was a total loss after their tree basically spit in half and fell on it, as well as my son’s swing set. One of the higher ups there is also an assistant coach within our baseball league. I spoke with him as soon as I walked into the door and he looked and sounded very stressed to say the least.

The national weather service came across the radio today stating that the West branch of the Susquehanna River will reach flood stage tomorrow and will keep rising. Our city is well protected by a series of floodwalls and dikes, and our home sits atop a hill, about as high as you can get inside city limits, so we are just fine. I do fear though, for the local areas that are not as well protected. Many of business along the river, especially the West branch, are in danger, and have been flooded many times before.

I have been listening to the Fire and Emergency channels on an old scanner that I have and it’s going nuts. Trees are being washed out, falling over roadways, all personnel have been called to an ‘on standby’ status about 10 minutes ago, the radar on the weather channel shows nothing but bad and it has been raining cats and dogs for well over 3 hours. My basement only gets water in it (small puddles) when it rains very hard, or when a tree falls on the pool and the entire pull empties. (oh yea, good times, NOT) I have now pulled all the items off of the floor, as the puddle is now a very small pond.

No baseball to be found these days...

The ride to work tomorrow should prove to be interesting.

Long and hard.

2006-06-26T21:47:00.000-05:00

Our baseball season is almost over. I’ve been hammering out the All-Star’s schedule for a week now. The rain will not let up, postponing many games. Our season’s schedule has been revised two times now, leaving parents bitching left and right, but what can you do. Tonight is 4th washed game of our season and the weather looks ‘all bad’ for tomorrow.

Although I have learned many great things from many people during my few years within this league, I must think long and hard about what my position within this league will be next year. A quote from a fellow commissioner, and a great man… “Ya know what I’m going to do next year? Nothing!!! And I’m going to sit and bitch about everything, just like everyone else does!”… This, coming from a man that has helped to run this league for many years.

I must sit back and think long and hard about my place, within this league, assuming my kids want to play next year. I have done way, way too much, gone out of my way all too many times, gotten shit over way too many issues.

Long and hard! Your input would be appreciated, big time.

So many ass clowns, so little time

2006-06-21T21:18:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I just don’t get people. The following story was copied for your reading pleasure from Here

Tuesday, June 20th, 2006
Coach asked to leave a game in Sunbury
SUNBURY – A coach from Sunbury has been charged with disorderly conduct after being asked to leave a little league game yesterday. Sunbury police say 29-year old Terry Young became angry after a decision was made and started yelling profanities in front of the kids in the dugout at Merle Phillips Baseball Field. Police say at one point, Young had to be restrained and was told not to return to the area. He was cited for disorderly conduct by District Judge Carl Rice. (Ali Stevens)

Now, here’s the real story. Weeks before the season even started, us board members, fellow coaches and commissioners voted this guy to be this year’s asshole. (There’s one every year) Evidently, this guy had moved up to this area recently. At one point, during a work party weekend, weeks before practices started, three of us had met up with this guy early in the morning to settle some things that had been said previously. This guy thinks he know more about baseball than Barry Bonds. His mouth goes like a ducks ass, speaking about himself. All the other assistant coaches on his kid’s team, as well as Mike (Head coach and good friend who kept me up to almost midnight last night talking about it all) are all sick of him running his mouth.
Well, then his kid strikes out, ending the inning. This guy decides to go chew his kid’s ass out for not following this hand signal that apparently him and his dad have going, TO SWING OR NOT, AT A BALL THAT HAS NOT EVEN BEEN PITCHED YET! So one thing led to another and this ass clown goes off on Mike, big time, in the dug out full of 10-year-old kids.
Just so everyone reading this blog knows, you cannot say the following words around kids. Ready??? Here goes the list, of the Terry-Young-ism’s.

#%#%#^% %^$#^#%^ T#$^#%^%# *(&^(*&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;^*^* (*^(*^*(*(*&^(*^ ()&)(*&()&)(& #!$$#!$!$!$!@$ U%&*%&%%&%* ^%&*%&&*%& *(&^*&^*^*^*^*^(*(*^ U^*&*&^*^*&^**^ ^%$^$^^$ ^%#$^%#^%#&*(&*%&%^$^#^$&%&%^%$^^&&*^(*&^%%$%^*^%^%$^^&*%&%^$^%$&%*&^#%#$&*^%$^#^$&%^^(*^*%&%&&&%%&$^$^&!!!!!

All said within 5 minutes, in the dug out, with all the kids on his own team, to his own kid’s head coach. Nice!

If only...

2006-06-14T21:02:00.000-05:00

One day in the future, George Bush has a heart attack and dies. He
immediately goes to hell, where the devil is waiting for him.

"I don't know what to do," says the devil. "You are on my list, but I have
no room for you. You definitely have to stay here, so I'll tell you what
I'm going to do. I've got some folks here who weren't quite as bad as you.
I'll let one of them go, but you have to take their place.

I'll even let YOU decide who leaves." Bush thought that sounded pretty
good, so the devil opened the first room.

In it was Edward Kennedy and a large pool of water. He kept diving in and
surfacing empty handed. Over and over and over. Such was his fate in hell.
"No, George said. "I don't think so. I'm not a good swimmer and I don't
think I could do that all day long."

The devil led him to the next room. In it was Richard Nixon with a sledge
hammer and a room full of rocks. All he did was swing that hammer, time
after time after time. "No, I've got this problem with my shoulder. I would
be in constant agony if all I could do was break rocks all day," commented
George.

The devil opened a third door. In it, Bush saw Bill Clinton, lying on the
floor with his arms staked over his head, and his legs staked in a spread
eagle pose. Bent over him was Monica Lewinsky, doing what she does best.
Bush took this in disbelief and finally said, "Yea, I can handle this." The
devil smiled and said "OK, Monica, you're free to go."