Say What?

I came home from work late last Sunday night and noticed the backyard light was on. A doe and her fawn had tripped the motion sensor light and were nibbling on some Euonymus shrubs that line the side of our yard. I watched them for ten minutes before going upstairs to show them to Tammy. They're beautiful animals and I felt privileged to be able to watch them as they cautiously made their way around our yard. It's not in my makeup to hunt them or any other animal. I'm conflicted though because I'm no vegetarian either. I don't have issues with hunting or the processing of animals for food when it's done the right way; it just won't be me doing it. There was a recent story in the news about singer Troy Gentry and his bogus claim to have killed a dangerous bear while on a hunting expedition. It turns out it was a total fabrication and what actually happened should cause any of his fans to use their CDs of his for skeet practice. See for yourself . Like any...

My truck is nearing ten years old. Between new tires, ball joints, front axels, and a fuel regulator, I've had to sink more money into it in the last few weeks than I'd care to think about. I gave it a coat of wax last weekend for whatever protection that may provide from the salt of a pending winter season. I also spent some time cleaning the engine. Before and after . With Rachel at college, it's not likely I'll be driving something newer anytime soon. But that's okay. It fits me like a worn pair of jeans and I don't worry about small scratches and stuff. I just want it to run well. Speaking of Rachel: she was elected to Student Senate for Student Affairs Committee, U of M Twin Cities. She'll be UMR's representative. Our little go-getter. Mom is off to the doctor once again this morning, still in search of a solution for a weak and inefficient heartbeat that has her tired much of the time. She'll have an occasional good day but they're t...

Toby is back to his old self and we're all grateful for that. He's snuggled into my lap as I type this. We made it out to Ritter Farm Park with our pups this week and they were thrilled (at least they seemed to be) to see the llamas again. They were off in the distance when we came by their field but we were able to call them over. Before long, the llamas had their noses through the fence trying to get a better look at the little guys who were being so vocal toward them but sticking close by us for protection. The high water table I was talking about in a recent post that I thought was causing our sump-pumps to run was actually a leak in our underground sprinkler. I was out raking leaves last weekend and noticed a wet area near the surface not far from where the mainline to the sprinkler runs. I shut the system down and sure enough, our pumps quit running not long after. It was a  sizable leak and I'm glad I stumbled onto it when I did. I spent too long repairing i...

My typical routine on my way into work for the all-night shift is to stop at McDonald's in Farmington for a large, light Lemonade. It's always $1.07 and I usually have the exact change in hand for the person at the window. I placed my order last Wednesday night and the total came to $1.70. Huh? I asked the cashier and she said that all their prices were raised since they're having their Monopoly promotion. Again: huh? I paid the extra amount and proceeded to the next window to get my drink. I looked at the advertising on the cup as I drove away and was somewhat miffed to read that 1 in 4 players wins; the other side of that coin being that 3 in 4 players lose out. I'd say that .63c is a considerable amount extra to pay for a $1.07 drink to play their silly game. Oh, and the real kicker...the peel-off game piece on my cup wasn't even there. My guess is the person who handed me my drink had a nice collection going. Somebody please let me know when the promotion is o...

Charlie turned two last Wednesday. Tammy got him some new stuffed animals to go with the dozen others the pups already drag out regularly. I've never had a more playful pup and he knows I'm a soft touch for indulging him. His big thing lately is to taunt us with his toys as if to challenge us to try and get them from him. Or being a mop . Toby and Allie are content for the most part to watch rather than partake in his antics although they both engage him regularly, too. We're careful to spread the love around to them all. It's been 9 days since the rain stopped after dumping anywhere from 5-7 inches (or more) in a day. What's odd is that our sump-pumps are still being triggered occasionally which must be a symptom of an unusually high water table. You read that right: we have two pumps to be extra safe. We put the additional one in several years ago when we finished our basement. They've never run this long after the rain quit and I'm curious to see how lo...

The elections are coming, the elections are coming! And once again I find myself on the opposite end of the political spectrum from where I previously found shelter and comfort. I was a modern-day-right-wing-latte-sipping-SUV-driving-Christian-crusader, and I was right. I seldom if ever questioned the words of Limbaugh or Hannity and I fully bought into the left-wing media bias theory. Tax breaks for wealthy investors and growth of big-business was all that mattered because as Rush was often fond of saying, "no cab driver ever offered anybody a job".  I'm sure I too would be up in arms at the thought of a mosque anywhere near "ground zero" had I not changed. It's been four years since I put aside my blinders. I have the previous (Bush) administration and FAA management to thank for bringing me out of the darkness. I'm still very much pro-life but I'm no longer held hostage over that lone issue—I now understand that it's not always so simple a...

I began my blog with the idea that years from now I'd be able to look back on my life and relive experiences through photos and written details that maybe dropped from my internal hard-drive over the years. I want to be able to understand the road my life has traveled by observing how my thoughts have evolved over time. There's actually meaning and importance to me in those small details I muse about. I haven't done much contemplative writing for a while. It seems my main focus has been on stuff we've been doing as a family—activities and such. My blog gets a fair number of people perusing it now and I wonder if maybe I'm being less candid because of that. I don't want it to be that way. If I ever do begin writing from a what-will-people-think perspective, I'll have to stop. I've written nothing about the oil spill in the Gulf or the proposed Mosque near the site of the terror attacks on the Twin Towers in NYC. I've talked little if any about hea...