Another Halloween has passed us by and with that we enter the Holiday season which means we'll be looking at the new year before too long. This Halloween in particular sucked. I almost wish it could move around and be like the last Saturday or Friday of the month. First, it was on a Tuesday which makes it hard to do anything if you have kids. I know the cool kids are still walking in circles all whored out on 6th Street right now, but we are old and have responsibilities. Another negative this year was that it drizzled which slowly turned to rain. The young kids made it around the neighborhood in time, if they got going by 6:00pm, but some trying to walk around at 8:00pm were getting soaked.
Our old friends came by, as usual, Girlie's mom and that whole group, but it gets harder and harder to be friendly when we only see them every big holiday or whatever. It is almost like how do you stomp out a dying friendship already? Either you're in and start showing up, texting, calling, being more involved with us, or fuck along. I have never liked cosmetic friends, if we're just going to see you on the holidays, then why? Y'all live 3-4 miles away.
It was weird that my folks were here in the morning, it being just a random Tuesday, I stopped and got them some donuts, even though they are diabetic, they love starting their day with coffee and something sweet. I sat with them for about an hour before heading off to sleep. It would be nice when my mom retires if they hung around like that, it seems we only see them around events. Wife then showed up around 1:30pm and I felt like she hovered over me as I slept. I then got up at 4:00pm, she went and picked up Chubs and when she got back I was showered and we went to Target to get some candies to give away. We ate a personal pan pizza there as a quickie lunch, and sure enough by the time we got home, around 5:30, we had our first trick or treaters.
We usually have grilled in the past and had mixed drinks and stuff, but it all felt rushed and weird as we were mostly just the four of us. Instead of making a big deal, we heated up some chicken wings from a bag, some frozen corndogs, and other frozen foods. With all the candies we were poking at, neither of us was really hungry. Wife and Javelina sat and watched episodes of the Simpsons Halloween editions while I ran upstairs and took my nap before heading in to work. I woke around 9:40, hated getting out of bed for about ten minutes, the weather was so perfect for staying in, then I got my butt to work by 10:00-10:1030.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
10/31/17 Last Game, O. Henry Vs Bedichek Part II?
I don't understand why, but Bedichek played O. Henry at the start of the season and again as the close out game. I was not expecting things to go well, with the team losing a lot of players while O. Henry looked unaffected by the first six weeks report card. Bedichek has been playing with 11 players on the field and maybe 4-5 guys standing on the sidelines. I really believe our boys were much improved and although their record might indicate only three wins three losses and one tie. The losses were all by less than 2-3 points. I could see Chubs self confidence grow all season, he walks bigger and more confidently. This may just be stepping into his teen years, but I can tell a difference that wasn't there a year ago.
The game started with O. Henry receiving the ball and they moved confidently through a couple first downs. They then managed to fumble the ball and this led to the first Bedichek touchdown. 2pt conversion was missed. There was another score in the 2nd quarter and they did convert the 2pt conversion to go up 14-6 in the half. As an interesting aside, they called for volunteers to be on the chain gang (10 yard markers for first down and stuff) and Boy and I went out there. I was nervous and a little pissed at first because I went to watch the game, but it was fun being on the field so close to the action. Javelina, as coach calls Chubs (coach is from Carrizo Springs and knows our son went to Crystal City "Javelinas)for a few weeks last year, hence the nickname) had an awesome tackle between the linemen and I couldn't help but yell when I saw them get up and saw #95. I kept yelling "go Mijo, fill that gap, Hit somebody, Go Javelina" until the referee told me the main referee told him to tell me to shut it, we aren't supposed to be cheering or coaching from the chain gang.
The game goes by so much faster working it like we were. It was the first game my folks came up to see Javelina play and they were not disappointed. My dad was a little worried in the first quarter he didn't play too much, but as the game went on, he ended up playing most of the game offense and defense. By the start of the 4th quarter, Bedichek scored another TD to go up 22-6. The other team scored again, but missed their 2pt conversion, so with about three minutes left, it didn't seem possible they would score twice, so game looked ours and then our guys ran it all the way back on the kickoff, O. Hare gave up or something, they threw up an interception, our guys ran it back most of the way, then on the next play ran it in again. At least our QB took a knee on the 2pt conversions and they weren't trying to run up the score, it just happened in the final minute. I believe the final score was 34-12. Javelina was happy and we went to celebrate at Cheddar's.
The game started with O. Henry receiving the ball and they moved confidently through a couple first downs. They then managed to fumble the ball and this led to the first Bedichek touchdown. 2pt conversion was missed. There was another score in the 2nd quarter and they did convert the 2pt conversion to go up 14-6 in the half. As an interesting aside, they called for volunteers to be on the chain gang (10 yard markers for first down and stuff) and Boy and I went out there. I was nervous and a little pissed at first because I went to watch the game, but it was fun being on the field so close to the action. Javelina, as coach calls Chubs (coach is from Carrizo Springs and knows our son went to Crystal City "Javelinas)for a few weeks last year, hence the nickname) had an awesome tackle between the linemen and I couldn't help but yell when I saw them get up and saw #95. I kept yelling "go Mijo, fill that gap, Hit somebody, Go Javelina" until the referee told me the main referee told him to tell me to shut it, we aren't supposed to be cheering or coaching from the chain gang.
The game goes by so much faster working it like we were. It was the first game my folks came up to see Javelina play and they were not disappointed. My dad was a little worried in the first quarter he didn't play too much, but as the game went on, he ended up playing most of the game offense and defense. By the start of the 4th quarter, Bedichek scored another TD to go up 22-6. The other team scored again, but missed their 2pt conversion, so with about three minutes left, it didn't seem possible they would score twice, so game looked ours and then our guys ran it all the way back on the kickoff, O. Hare gave up or something, they threw up an interception, our guys ran it back most of the way, then on the next play ran it in again. At least our QB took a knee on the 2pt conversions and they weren't trying to run up the score, it just happened in the final minute. I believe the final score was 34-12. Javelina was happy and we went to celebrate at Cheddar's.
Sunday, October 29, 2017
10/30/17 BBQ Some Cow?
The last few weeks have been rough on us. We had been running back and forth with Wife staying or coming back home. Even as we tried to decide, we have been so financially short we hadn't bought some good steak in a while. It being payday on Friday, I started telling Wife I am going to grill on Friday, I am really in the mood for some beef, I mean some succulent fat steaks.
The grill Wife bought for my birthday has turned out to be pretty good, it has a lot more room to put meat on it and whatever else. It being a tube though, the fire is closer than I would like underneath, but so far that has not been an issue. It is really easy to get it clean and going. The ash stays in a pocket that pulls out the length of the grill, so it doesn't matter where the charcoal is started, the ash will collect in this metal tunnel and then it is just a quick and easy pull out, dump in the trash can and slide it back in. New charcoal is then set up as compact as possible and follow this with lighter fluid and a match or two. I like to wait about fifteen minutes for the charcoal to all be burning. This is about as long as it takes to come inside and prepare the meat and stuff.
Stuff today was baked potatoes. We bought this giant bag of oversized potatoes and then had a hard time choosing smaller potatoes in the bag. One of them was as big as a softball, which I told the wife, no thank you. We usually just wash and wrap in foil, but this time she wanted to smother them in olive oil and pour salt on the outside. Not sure of that had an effect on them, but they were so soft and smooth to eat. The meat was some super thick slabs of sirloin, and some super thick slabs of pork loin, and then a couple Ehkrich Sausages.
I was surprised that I started the grill at 6:00pm and we were done eating by 8:15pm or so. The steaks were great, I am not sure we needed the other meats, but they didn't hurt anything. I wanted to eat the steak on a fork to just taste meat, the pork and sausage, we had in tortillas, taco style. I am guessing Wife washed the dishes as I went into my meat coma, I got up after looking at a couple of youtube videos and everything was washed and cleaned.
Wife went upstairs to shower, Boy took the trashcan out to the street, Chubs took trash out to it, and then Boy said I am not "heavy enough to push down the trash to close the door, you need to go with your special abilities." I just smiled and said "you need 400 pounds of pressure on the trash?" He said I could get Chubs to try, I said no "that's 200 pounds but he's too short to push trash and not touch dirty can. I took the container for the leftovers from a cake they took for Wife's going away/ glad you're staying party and crushed it down along with everything else to get the top closed. The night ended nice and quiet like. Wife is probably asleep, I am writing this on the kitchen table at about 1:15am to 1:50am. I still have Chub's polo shirts to iron, but I might just leave those for Wife since she is off tomorrow and should have time. She stayed to watch Chub's last football game tomorrow night.
The grill Wife bought for my birthday has turned out to be pretty good, it has a lot more room to put meat on it and whatever else. It being a tube though, the fire is closer than I would like underneath, but so far that has not been an issue. It is really easy to get it clean and going. The ash stays in a pocket that pulls out the length of the grill, so it doesn't matter where the charcoal is started, the ash will collect in this metal tunnel and then it is just a quick and easy pull out, dump in the trash can and slide it back in. New charcoal is then set up as compact as possible and follow this with lighter fluid and a match or two. I like to wait about fifteen minutes for the charcoal to all be burning. This is about as long as it takes to come inside and prepare the meat and stuff.
Stuff today was baked potatoes. We bought this giant bag of oversized potatoes and then had a hard time choosing smaller potatoes in the bag. One of them was as big as a softball, which I told the wife, no thank you. We usually just wash and wrap in foil, but this time she wanted to smother them in olive oil and pour salt on the outside. Not sure of that had an effect on them, but they were so soft and smooth to eat. The meat was some super thick slabs of sirloin, and some super thick slabs of pork loin, and then a couple Ehkrich Sausages.
I was surprised that I started the grill at 6:00pm and we were done eating by 8:15pm or so. The steaks were great, I am not sure we needed the other meats, but they didn't hurt anything. I wanted to eat the steak on a fork to just taste meat, the pork and sausage, we had in tortillas, taco style. I am guessing Wife washed the dishes as I went into my meat coma, I got up after looking at a couple of youtube videos and everything was washed and cleaned.
Wife went upstairs to shower, Boy took the trashcan out to the street, Chubs took trash out to it, and then Boy said I am not "heavy enough to push down the trash to close the door, you need to go with your special abilities." I just smiled and said "you need 400 pounds of pressure on the trash?" He said I could get Chubs to try, I said no "that's 200 pounds but he's too short to push trash and not touch dirty can. I took the container for the leftovers from a cake they took for Wife's going away/ glad you're staying party and crushed it down along with everything else to get the top closed. The night ended nice and quiet like. Wife is probably asleep, I am writing this on the kitchen table at about 1:15am to 1:50am. I still have Chub's polo shirts to iron, but I might just leave those for Wife since she is off tomorrow and should have time. She stayed to watch Chub's last football game tomorrow night.
Saturday, October 28, 2017
10/29/17 Too Cold For Fiesta, Just Right For In-Law Visit?
We were supposed to go back to Fiesta Texas today but the weather was a little too chilly for most. Instead, Wife and her family decided to just make it a get together with food and possibly a movie would be involved. I was fighting the idea of going because I didn't want to go to the movies and watch a stupid movie that would be ok for the little ones. Wife finally convinced me to join with the promise that I could stay and nap at my in-laws if the movie materialized.
We got there and it almost felt like Thanksgiving with a table full of finger foods and assorted snacks. There were popcorn balls, nachos, spinach dip, fried tacos, dips, biscuit sandwiches with chicken salad in them, sausages, wings, pizza, and sodas, to name a few things.
We weren't in any particular hurry, Chubs had had a sleepover and his friends were still here until around 3:00pm. We got up around noon, made pancakes, sausages, and bacon/egg tacos, and some juice to go with it. Girlie got home just in time for lunch, she joined us and filled us in on looking for apartments and stuff. We must have sat for an hour talking with her because it was 4:00pm when we went upstairs to get ready to go to San Antonio, and of course, I wanted a nap more than anything. I laid down just for 15 minutes, I told Wife. That turned into an hour, with Wife yelling "get up" and "come on" every five minutes. I just did not feel like getting going. She said just put on clothes, get in the car and I'll drive. You can sleep over there, if you want too. I did sleep on the road, all the way. We stopped for pizzas at Domino's and I didn't even feel them gone for 10 minutes, according to Wife.
My batteries were charged just enough for arrival. I managed to stay awake the whole time I was there. We ate, everything was delicious, then I well commandeered my in-laws bathroom, but then I told the kids to beat it and changed the TV from stupid cartoons no one was watching to football. Of course, as soon as I did that the kids were wondering why I didn't want to watch cartoons, not that they were sitting either. Feeling a little Dick-ish, I told them because I wasn't a kid and I wasn't slow. The little one kept asking for cartoons but I punished him for forcing a prayer at every meal. I was then asking them questions about their religious studies and throwing ideas at them about religion to mess with their little heads. One of them said God made everything, I said how about the dinosaurs? You know, the bible says the world is 4000 years old, but the dinosaurs were here billions of years ago. They didn't have an answer, then I gradually got into a conversation with my brother in law that lasted for an hour or more. He favors a belief, but has questions. He likes to think of God as an actual alien that has the technology to create humans and fill planets with them. This lead us on an interesting talk, but I would not agree with him when he said all people are inherently good. I think people are good because we are satiated currently. We have laws and rules we follow. If, for example, we did not have food, and we had to take it from a neighbor, would we be so nice? How do people treat each other in Africa where rape seems to be common place?
As for my nephews, both their parents are educated, I sat there and heard the three younger kids talking like God was this magical being and felt myself getting dumber. I have always talked to my kids at my level, I never want them thinking there is magic through prayer. Nobody told me to butt in, but I couldn't help myself. I want them thanking the chef if they are going to thank God, add in a thank you Tia for cooking, thanks Grandma for buying the food, etc. God ain't cooking or feeding anyone as far as I can see.
We got there and it almost felt like Thanksgiving with a table full of finger foods and assorted snacks. There were popcorn balls, nachos, spinach dip, fried tacos, dips, biscuit sandwiches with chicken salad in them, sausages, wings, pizza, and sodas, to name a few things.
We weren't in any particular hurry, Chubs had had a sleepover and his friends were still here until around 3:00pm. We got up around noon, made pancakes, sausages, and bacon/egg tacos, and some juice to go with it. Girlie got home just in time for lunch, she joined us and filled us in on looking for apartments and stuff. We must have sat for an hour talking with her because it was 4:00pm when we went upstairs to get ready to go to San Antonio, and of course, I wanted a nap more than anything. I laid down just for 15 minutes, I told Wife. That turned into an hour, with Wife yelling "get up" and "come on" every five minutes. I just did not feel like getting going. She said just put on clothes, get in the car and I'll drive. You can sleep over there, if you want too. I did sleep on the road, all the way. We stopped for pizzas at Domino's and I didn't even feel them gone for 10 minutes, according to Wife.
My batteries were charged just enough for arrival. I managed to stay awake the whole time I was there. We ate, everything was delicious, then I well commandeered my in-laws bathroom, but then I told the kids to beat it and changed the TV from stupid cartoons no one was watching to football. Of course, as soon as I did that the kids were wondering why I didn't want to watch cartoons, not that they were sitting either. Feeling a little Dick-ish, I told them because I wasn't a kid and I wasn't slow. The little one kept asking for cartoons but I punished him for forcing a prayer at every meal. I was then asking them questions about their religious studies and throwing ideas at them about religion to mess with their little heads. One of them said God made everything, I said how about the dinosaurs? You know, the bible says the world is 4000 years old, but the dinosaurs were here billions of years ago. They didn't have an answer, then I gradually got into a conversation with my brother in law that lasted for an hour or more. He favors a belief, but has questions. He likes to think of God as an actual alien that has the technology to create humans and fill planets with them. This lead us on an interesting talk, but I would not agree with him when he said all people are inherently good. I think people are good because we are satiated currently. We have laws and rules we follow. If, for example, we did not have food, and we had to take it from a neighbor, would we be so nice? How do people treat each other in Africa where rape seems to be common place?
As for my nephews, both their parents are educated, I sat there and heard the three younger kids talking like God was this magical being and felt myself getting dumber. I have always talked to my kids at my level, I never want them thinking there is magic through prayer. Nobody told me to butt in, but I couldn't help myself. I want them thanking the chef if they are going to thank God, add in a thank you Tia for cooking, thanks Grandma for buying the food, etc. God ain't cooking or feeding anyone as far as I can see.
Friday, October 27, 2017
10/28/17 Towing An Injured Car?
Two days ago Girlie asked if I would help her tow her car to the dealership after it started smoking. I said I couldn't until Friday because I am working and need to sleep during the week. She said Friday worked for her too since it was the end of the week and she would get out of work by 1:00pm. Before committing, I told her she needed to get a trailer because I was not going to tow a car across town with a chain, it is too dangerous and would probably lead to my back bumper getting dinged up or worse. She said she had already called U-Haul and had asked about renting a car trailer which impressed me a bit that she had already done that much.
I got up, showered, remembered I was almost empty on gas, went and filled up and then she got home and we left. I of course ran the scenario in my head and figured if we leave the house by 1:00pm, we should be done and back by 4:00pm. It's just a quick run up north and back. Just in case, I did tell Boy to be ready to pick up Chubs if I was detained for any reason. The trailer took half an hour, putting us behind my schedule in my head, but the guy there explained almost everything in good detail. We left to her Mom's house to get the car, so we could be on our way.
There was no one at home, so it was just going to be us loading the car, thankfully it was running, so we didn't have to push it on the ramp. Everything was going fairly smoothly until she got the car up on the trailer, the wheel wells on the trailer were high, blocking both doors from opening. My thought is that the trailer was meant for a pick-up truck or something taller. I guess you either have to decide if you're going to do a Dukes Of Hazzard exit through the window or crawl your way through the trunk. She tried the trunk, but couldn't figure out how to fold the seats down. I finally said come out through the window, I'll hold you and you can wiggle out. She squeezed out enough to land on my shoulder and I pulled her out. This didn't seem right, but nobody explained otherwise. I said I guess we're driving with your window open, good thing it isn't raining. The drive took a long time, thanks to Austin traffic, but it was non eventful. When we got up there, she was hesitating getting in through the window, I looked at her and simply said "you know my fat ass is bigger than that window, this is all you." She climbed up on the wheel well and stuck one leg in and I was holding her as she lifted the other leg up when one of the 4-5 guys standing around from the garage said "hey, what are y'all doing?" He came over and pulled some pins and the wheel well suddenly folded down and away from the car, making opening the door easy. We all had a good laugh explaining that's how we did it at home, through the window. Those guys just shook their heads.
The rest was standard stuff, it took another fifteen minutes to get the rental ready, we went half a block away to drop off the trailer, came back and she got her rental and we returned home.
I got up, showered, remembered I was almost empty on gas, went and filled up and then she got home and we left. I of course ran the scenario in my head and figured if we leave the house by 1:00pm, we should be done and back by 4:00pm. It's just a quick run up north and back. Just in case, I did tell Boy to be ready to pick up Chubs if I was detained for any reason. The trailer took half an hour, putting us behind my schedule in my head, but the guy there explained almost everything in good detail. We left to her Mom's house to get the car, so we could be on our way.
There was no one at home, so it was just going to be us loading the car, thankfully it was running, so we didn't have to push it on the ramp. Everything was going fairly smoothly until she got the car up on the trailer, the wheel wells on the trailer were high, blocking both doors from opening. My thought is that the trailer was meant for a pick-up truck or something taller. I guess you either have to decide if you're going to do a Dukes Of Hazzard exit through the window or crawl your way through the trunk. She tried the trunk, but couldn't figure out how to fold the seats down. I finally said come out through the window, I'll hold you and you can wiggle out. She squeezed out enough to land on my shoulder and I pulled her out. This didn't seem right, but nobody explained otherwise. I said I guess we're driving with your window open, good thing it isn't raining. The drive took a long time, thanks to Austin traffic, but it was non eventful. When we got up there, she was hesitating getting in through the window, I looked at her and simply said "you know my fat ass is bigger than that window, this is all you." She climbed up on the wheel well and stuck one leg in and I was holding her as she lifted the other leg up when one of the 4-5 guys standing around from the garage said "hey, what are y'all doing?" He came over and pulled some pins and the wheel well suddenly folded down and away from the car, making opening the door easy. We all had a good laugh explaining that's how we did it at home, through the window. Those guys just shook their heads.
The rest was standard stuff, it took another fifteen minutes to get the rental ready, we went half a block away to drop off the trailer, came back and she got her rental and we returned home.
10/27/17 Should Humans Be Taking More Credit?
There is a small trend I see online, FB and such, where anything good that happens people like to say praise God, He is great. It kind of pisses me off when in a medical situation there is a doctor and staff of probably twenty people who diagnosed, cared for, made the medicine, cleaned the room of any latent germs, did the operation and made sure everything went smoothly. The bill certainly says Dr. Badass, but the simple people on FB will say Ahh, Thanks To God. So, the doctor was just a decoration? My Mom and others like to say well God works through the doctor, guides him. Really? This person who has done nothing but spend 20 hours a day studying the body, viewing and reviewing whatever surgery he performs over and over, probably not a religious person either, most people of science are not, yet God works through him. Why not pick the denser kid who totally believes in God and other fairies to be the doctor instead, if the person is being guided by a higher power?
It is the same thing with the athlete who does nothing but train catching footballs with one hand in all sorts of different situations. Then he catches a touchdown pass and he wants to credit God. Why? You're the one working your ass off. You really think the guy in the sky who lets 29,000 kids die each day is worried about whether the green team or the blue team wins? He can't feed people by the thousands, but he is there so you can catch a ball and collect millions of dollars? Wow, you are as special as you think you are.
I was having a discussion with a friend and his opinion is that religion and the idea of a higher power just needs to go away. I don't totally agree, it is a good salve for the masses. The one good thing religion does is give hope. The criminal locked up who finds Jesus, I say good. Maybe he can spend some time trying to be a better person because of Jesus, then great. I don't think smart people should be wasting their time praying, use Sunday as a day to be with family and loved ones. If there is a God, he is a higher power, he knows who is good and who is a fake. Sitting in a pew on Sunday does nothing but help your own guilt and or ego. There is no way a real Jesus would want a bunch of people praying and looking at the "white" Jesus. He shouldn't have blue eyes, he should look like people in the middle east look, sorry but he was a small brown man, if he ever existed.
It is the same thing with the athlete who does nothing but train catching footballs with one hand in all sorts of different situations. Then he catches a touchdown pass and he wants to credit God. Why? You're the one working your ass off. You really think the guy in the sky who lets 29,000 kids die each day is worried about whether the green team or the blue team wins? He can't feed people by the thousands, but he is there so you can catch a ball and collect millions of dollars? Wow, you are as special as you think you are.
I was having a discussion with a friend and his opinion is that religion and the idea of a higher power just needs to go away. I don't totally agree, it is a good salve for the masses. The one good thing religion does is give hope. The criminal locked up who finds Jesus, I say good. Maybe he can spend some time trying to be a better person because of Jesus, then great. I don't think smart people should be wasting their time praying, use Sunday as a day to be with family and loved ones. If there is a God, he is a higher power, he knows who is good and who is a fake. Sitting in a pew on Sunday does nothing but help your own guilt and or ego. There is no way a real Jesus would want a bunch of people praying and looking at the "white" Jesus. He shouldn't have blue eyes, he should look like people in the middle east look, sorry but he was a small brown man, if he ever existed.
Thursday, October 26, 2017
10/26/17 This Is Why I Pay Big For Auto Stuff?
A couple weeks ago when my alternator went out, everyone knew what it was and everyone who has ever turned a screwdriver said "oh, I could replace it for you." I don't like to fool around when it comes to my vehicles, usually I will just take it to the dealership. Do I pay more? Yes, definitely, but I also get peace of mind. Considering my Excursion is almost a classic, I am not going to let any putz stick his hands in her engine bay. I could take for example my brother in law a few years ago was having continuing problems but still insisting my friend is a good mechanic. Sure, but if he can't fix a problem on one or two tries, back up with the compliments and swearing he can fix anything. Thinking about it, it was my sister's Mustang, they kept taking it in. At a certain point, I was just chuckling thinking take it to Ford and stop wasting everyone's time.
The dealership will suggest all sorts of crazy stuff sometimes, this last time when they fixed the alternator, they had a list $1600 long of things that could use replacing, starting with the 100,000 mile spark plugs. But if you advertise them as 100,000 mile plugs and last I changed them at around 90,000, shouldn't I get to at least 170-180,000 miles. We hadn't driven it much, it only has 150,000 miles. I'll keep it in mind, maybe do it next summer, it isn't misfiring or sputtering weirdly.
The reason I even brought this up was Girlie was all happy when her "Best Friend" was topping off her oil two days ago. Fast forward to the next day she is calling me wondering about white smoke coming from her engine. I told her it was probably just residual oil that he spilled on the engine, she had a snapchat video and the guy was trying to pour from a 5 quart container with no funnel. The guy was saying maybe the engine was low on coolant, which made no sense. Smoke comes from burning, either it was burning some oil or she hit a bird or cat and it got in the engine bay. She was too far away for me to help, as I was waiting for Chubs to finish his football practice. At the end of the day, I asked if she ran the car once somebody looked at it, she said they took it to her Mom's house. I am just glad that she's been trying to rely less on my help and I had nothing to do with this.
The point though, is that something as trivial as pouring oil into your engine can lead to problems which is why I don't mind paying for the peace of mind that comes from the dealership. They might abuse their power a bit and charge twice what they should, but my time is expensive too, I can't be spending multiple visits there waiting for them to get it right.
The dealership will suggest all sorts of crazy stuff sometimes, this last time when they fixed the alternator, they had a list $1600 long of things that could use replacing, starting with the 100,000 mile spark plugs. But if you advertise them as 100,000 mile plugs and last I changed them at around 90,000, shouldn't I get to at least 170-180,000 miles. We hadn't driven it much, it only has 150,000 miles. I'll keep it in mind, maybe do it next summer, it isn't misfiring or sputtering weirdly.
The reason I even brought this up was Girlie was all happy when her "Best Friend" was topping off her oil two days ago. Fast forward to the next day she is calling me wondering about white smoke coming from her engine. I told her it was probably just residual oil that he spilled on the engine, she had a snapchat video and the guy was trying to pour from a 5 quart container with no funnel. The guy was saying maybe the engine was low on coolant, which made no sense. Smoke comes from burning, either it was burning some oil or she hit a bird or cat and it got in the engine bay. She was too far away for me to help, as I was waiting for Chubs to finish his football practice. At the end of the day, I asked if she ran the car once somebody looked at it, she said they took it to her Mom's house. I am just glad that she's been trying to rely less on my help and I had nothing to do with this.
The point though, is that something as trivial as pouring oil into your engine can lead to problems which is why I don't mind paying for the peace of mind that comes from the dealership. They might abuse their power a bit and charge twice what they should, but my time is expensive too, I can't be spending multiple visits there waiting for them to get it right.
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
10/25/17 Is Wife Staying?
Like I said yesterday, Wife has had a really hard time saying yes to the new job offer. My best position has been to support her either way. When we started this, we said it would be a 3-4 year journey and she would come back with enough experience to tackle the same job, hopefully, in a bigger school district, for hopefully more money. This TEA job was something that she applied almost a year ago, she had almost forgotten about it, then it was revised and instead of making it very attractive with a pay range into the $120s, it was corrected to a max of low $70s. She managed to talk them up to $2500 more than what she gets paid, but we didn't realize they are taking so much money away up front, for her savings. She is being forced to participate in three different retirement systems, one of which she won't ever qualify for, social security. The 401K thing is going to take 9.5% and the other is taking 6.5% and finally the third takes another 1%. So she managed to get a $2500 raise but in the meantime, she will lose 17% of her salary for her later years.
It is certainly not her fault, and I had no way of knowing, but I did get a significant pay reduction a few months ago. We just cannot afford to lose any more money. There are other financial obstacles she doesn't want me getting into on here, but it involves getting our credit cards under control, so that is another significant bite into our budget.
Her Superintendent came to her today and in a final bid to prevent her from leaving offered her more money. It is a good chunk of change, if he can get the school board to sign off on it, it would get her back to where she was before she absorbed the cost of hers and the boys medical insurance. Add to that, my check has increased by ~$350 by removing the boys and just keeping myself, so these are the kind of positive movements financially we need to start building some sort of savings. The alternator battery bullshit two weeks ago did not help anyone, that debacle cost us $900 when we don't have hardly any extra.
The silent thing I still worry about her and taking the new job is how much traveling, the job just says 40%. She talked to one of the ladies that will be her coworker and she said they had been in Amarillo all week, coming back on Tuesday next week and headed somewhere else. I'm sorry, but when the job sounded like it was going to pay $110,000, sure take her wherever. But for the same money or less, and she still won't be home, nah, I don't see the point. This is holiday season, she's fixing to get a week off for Thanksgiving, then two weeks for Christmas which she was just going to kiss goodbye. Personally, I'll take the raise and seeing her on the weekends.
It is certainly not her fault, and I had no way of knowing, but I did get a significant pay reduction a few months ago. We just cannot afford to lose any more money. There are other financial obstacles she doesn't want me getting into on here, but it involves getting our credit cards under control, so that is another significant bite into our budget.
Her Superintendent came to her today and in a final bid to prevent her from leaving offered her more money. It is a good chunk of change, if he can get the school board to sign off on it, it would get her back to where she was before she absorbed the cost of hers and the boys medical insurance. Add to that, my check has increased by ~$350 by removing the boys and just keeping myself, so these are the kind of positive movements financially we need to start building some sort of savings. The alternator battery bullshit two weeks ago did not help anyone, that debacle cost us $900 when we don't have hardly any extra.
The silent thing I still worry about her and taking the new job is how much traveling, the job just says 40%. She talked to one of the ladies that will be her coworker and she said they had been in Amarillo all week, coming back on Tuesday next week and headed somewhere else. I'm sorry, but when the job sounded like it was going to pay $110,000, sure take her wherever. But for the same money or less, and she still won't be home, nah, I don't see the point. This is holiday season, she's fixing to get a week off for Thanksgiving, then two weeks for Christmas which she was just going to kiss goodbye. Personally, I'll take the raise and seeing her on the weekends.
Monday, October 23, 2017
10/24/17 Paredes Pumas Vs. Bedichek Bobcats?
Well, the boys stole one last week in exciting fashion, this week they gave the game away in the same fashion. Instead of showing up late as I have been, I was there an hour early, so what did I do? I was able to find a shady spot and took a nap before the school bus even showed up. This is the last week I will be bumping around lost without my better half in town to guide me and push me. I will be bitching and moaning that maybe she should have stayed down there, but I need my Vicky to make the days more interesting.
Anyways, the game started at maybe 6:15pm, and the stadium is designed to give maximum shade, so by kickoff, only the endzones are in the sun. I love the cool air, sitting out there, watching those kids give their best effort. They may be a little clumsy and slow, but at least my Chubs comes off the field pissed off and disgusted when they lose, so I know he is trying his best, and that is all I ask. On a side note, he was back on the starting line, but now he is playing left tackle which he doesn't like because he is lining up against defensive ends who are smaller, quicker and not interested in colliding big boy style, they want to get after the ball. Chubs just wants to smash shoulder pads and win the 1 on 1 battle which doesn't happen on the outside.
The game started out great for the Bobcats, they stopped their first drive, got the ball and on a third down ran it in from about 30 yards out. They missed the 2-pt conversion. They stopped them on the next drive and managed to score a second time putting them up 12-0 before the half, but again missed the 2-pt conversion. Paredes eventually scored before the half also missing their 2-pt conversion, so at the half the score was 12-6. Bedichek came out and scored again dominantly running, I don't think they managed 1 complete pass, but who cares, they went up 18-6, but for a third time missed the 2-pt conversion (you know this is going to bite them in the ass). Paredes managed to score a second time in the third quarter and did complete the 2-pt conversion, so they were down 18-14. Somehow, Paredes came out acting like a passing team, passing on most plays and those little receivers were catching everything. With two minutes left, Paredes scored a third touchdown, taking them up 20-18.
Bedichek had a chance, they ran the ball back to the 40 yard line, a couple of sweeps around either side and they were down to the 9 yard line with 30 seconds left. It was first and goal and enough time to run 2 or 3 plays with their timeouts still to use. The worse thing that can happen, happened. The runner lost the ball at about the two yard line and that was that. You never know how a game will turn out. Last week, they were outplayed yet won. This week, they seemed to be outplaying Paredes most of the game, but they never gave up and took the game from our boys. Oh well, they shall fight another week for the last time.
I do want to say the coaches have done a lot of good work, Chubs is a lot more confidant, the guys call him Javelina, a little nickname he got because he went to school with Wife down in our hometown for a couple weeks and the coach is from our rival city, Carrizo Springs. He has become this kid that isn't afraid of a little smackdown, telling us they were going head to head in the dressing rooms lineman versus lineman for King Bull status. The only negative is he wants to push on me every chance he gets. We can be at Target and he starts "come on Dad, push me." or I'm going to push you Dad, stop me." Ughhh, I may weigh twice than his little fat butt, but that don't stop him, he comes at me low, like he's been taught.
Anyways, the game started at maybe 6:15pm, and the stadium is designed to give maximum shade, so by kickoff, only the endzones are in the sun. I love the cool air, sitting out there, watching those kids give their best effort. They may be a little clumsy and slow, but at least my Chubs comes off the field pissed off and disgusted when they lose, so I know he is trying his best, and that is all I ask. On a side note, he was back on the starting line, but now he is playing left tackle which he doesn't like because he is lining up against defensive ends who are smaller, quicker and not interested in colliding big boy style, they want to get after the ball. Chubs just wants to smash shoulder pads and win the 1 on 1 battle which doesn't happen on the outside.
The game started out great for the Bobcats, they stopped their first drive, got the ball and on a third down ran it in from about 30 yards out. They missed the 2-pt conversion. They stopped them on the next drive and managed to score a second time putting them up 12-0 before the half, but again missed the 2-pt conversion. Paredes eventually scored before the half also missing their 2-pt conversion, so at the half the score was 12-6. Bedichek came out and scored again dominantly running, I don't think they managed 1 complete pass, but who cares, they went up 18-6, but for a third time missed the 2-pt conversion (you know this is going to bite them in the ass). Paredes managed to score a second time in the third quarter and did complete the 2-pt conversion, so they were down 18-14. Somehow, Paredes came out acting like a passing team, passing on most plays and those little receivers were catching everything. With two minutes left, Paredes scored a third touchdown, taking them up 20-18.
Bedichek had a chance, they ran the ball back to the 40 yard line, a couple of sweeps around either side and they were down to the 9 yard line with 30 seconds left. It was first and goal and enough time to run 2 or 3 plays with their timeouts still to use. The worse thing that can happen, happened. The runner lost the ball at about the two yard line and that was that. You never know how a game will turn out. Last week, they were outplayed yet won. This week, they seemed to be outplaying Paredes most of the game, but they never gave up and took the game from our boys. Oh well, they shall fight another week for the last time.
I do want to say the coaches have done a lot of good work, Chubs is a lot more confidant, the guys call him Javelina, a little nickname he got because he went to school with Wife down in our hometown for a couple weeks and the coach is from our rival city, Carrizo Springs. He has become this kid that isn't afraid of a little smackdown, telling us they were going head to head in the dressing rooms lineman versus lineman for King Bull status. The only negative is he wants to push on me every chance he gets. We can be at Target and he starts "come on Dad, push me." or I'm going to push you Dad, stop me." Ughhh, I may weigh twice than his little fat butt, but that don't stop him, he comes at me low, like he's been taught.
Sunday, October 22, 2017
10/23/17 Pushing Wife The Final Steps Into The Endzone?
Wife was suddenly having a mini panic attack over the last week. I think it has more to do with living a core group of people she liked rather than starting a new career path. She had meant to stay in La Pryor at least three years, but this opportunity came up and it was too good to pass down.
Even as recently as last night, I was still telling her, I am fine with whatever decision you make. During the week, I am so busy with work, I am not going to see you more as I am gone at 5:30-6:00pm and work until almost 7:00am. We only get to hang out on the weekend and thus, it would be fine if you turned down the job offer and stayed doing what you are currently employed to do. There are a couple of hurdles she is worried about, which after discussing are not as bad as they seem.
The money is basically the same, although she managed to talk them up into a small raise, it wasn't as much as she had wanted. For some reason or another, they are taking for a version of teacher retirement, for social security, and even for a 401K account. These are all great, but that does leave the check smaller than it could be. Right now, they are only taking for teacher retirement, so it may be a lot, but it is only one transaction. She knows that the equivalent will be taking 9.5% of her salary and saving it, and while they are at it, will also match it, so in a few years, that will start looking very nice, we just have to get used to it, pronto.
We had also just moved the boys off of my insurance and into hers as it seemed to be much cheaper through her end for the boys. Luckily, TEA has the same plan for their employees, so that is still win-win, although the boys and her have to wait like 60 or 90 days before qualifying for the insurance. Keeping our fingers crossed, two more games and Chubs is done with football, so far still in one piece.
The other big concern for her is her days off. As a part of a school district, they enjoy a lot of time off. A week in Thanksgiving, Two weeks for Christmas, week for Spring Break, three weeks in summer, long weekend for Easter, plus ten days for personal/sick. With TEA, she will no longer have all those weeks off to hang out. I like having her around off as I work through most holidays and stuff. I consider it normal as I have never had big breaks of time off since I was in college. I think she will just get used to it. After a year, she will have more clout and maybe be able to align a day off with Thanksgiving or something like that.
My biggest concern is that her new job does call for 40% travel, so that could turn into her being gone two days every week. That would be fine most of the time, but not around the holidays. At this point, we just need to start the new job and start seeing what's up.
Even as recently as last night, I was still telling her, I am fine with whatever decision you make. During the week, I am so busy with work, I am not going to see you more as I am gone at 5:30-6:00pm and work until almost 7:00am. We only get to hang out on the weekend and thus, it would be fine if you turned down the job offer and stayed doing what you are currently employed to do. There are a couple of hurdles she is worried about, which after discussing are not as bad as they seem.
The money is basically the same, although she managed to talk them up into a small raise, it wasn't as much as she had wanted. For some reason or another, they are taking for a version of teacher retirement, for social security, and even for a 401K account. These are all great, but that does leave the check smaller than it could be. Right now, they are only taking for teacher retirement, so it may be a lot, but it is only one transaction. She knows that the equivalent will be taking 9.5% of her salary and saving it, and while they are at it, will also match it, so in a few years, that will start looking very nice, we just have to get used to it, pronto.
We had also just moved the boys off of my insurance and into hers as it seemed to be much cheaper through her end for the boys. Luckily, TEA has the same plan for their employees, so that is still win-win, although the boys and her have to wait like 60 or 90 days before qualifying for the insurance. Keeping our fingers crossed, two more games and Chubs is done with football, so far still in one piece.
The other big concern for her is her days off. As a part of a school district, they enjoy a lot of time off. A week in Thanksgiving, Two weeks for Christmas, week for Spring Break, three weeks in summer, long weekend for Easter, plus ten days for personal/sick. With TEA, she will no longer have all those weeks off to hang out. I like having her around off as I work through most holidays and stuff. I consider it normal as I have never had big breaks of time off since I was in college. I think she will just get used to it. After a year, she will have more clout and maybe be able to align a day off with Thanksgiving or something like that.
My biggest concern is that her new job does call for 40% travel, so that could turn into her being gone two days every week. That would be fine most of the time, but not around the holidays. At this point, we just need to start the new job and start seeing what's up.
10/22/17 Is Lucifer Good Or Bad?
I admit, I have been watching Lucifer the past two seasons and entering its third I am starting to agree with his theory that he is just misunderstood and he really is a good guy. Logically, we cannot have it both ways, per what we use Satan for. Is he the failed angel who attempted to overthrow Daddy and when he failed was cast down to Hell or is he the scary monster demon who takes care of Hell punishing anybody who breaks the laws as determined by the bible, such as eating pork and seashell animals. This is only using logic, not exactly from reading anything more than common sense and what we know.
Lucifer has been told in the show that he is to take care of hell and he has been doing it. In the show, he has had a breakdown of sorts and escaped hell to hang out in Los Angeles, hiding in plain sight as an owner of a popular nightclub. He admits he has been punishing those that desrve it and that all so far sounds believable, if we're the believable sort. There is even an episode where he goes back to hell looking for a doctor and his hell is not exactly brim and firestone but he has his soul experiencing a scene where he has hurt someone and tries to escape and a horde of people come to attack him. It starts over and over and over, great, but if Lucifer is responsible, then he is doing precisely as God has ordered, making him a good son that does as he is told. If he was a monster, why would he be so quick to punish those that lived life like he would approve, such as breaking the law, harming others, being selfish? In order for the punisher to punish, he needs to be above the prisoner, otherwise, Hell has no proper structure.
I think if there did exist a Hell and it was managed by an ex-angel, it would have to be a very good one. A very good angel would see to it that anybody deserving of living in hell, also deserved to be punished properly. Then we could believe in the nine circles of Hell and stuff like that, where the worse human you are, the worse the punishment bestowed to you. What is in it for a devil who was cast down by God to do what God commands? Wouldn't he want to throw the proverbial finger and maybe even do the opposite? "All you did on Earth was party and get high?" "right on, let's get drunk, tell me some stories of you "roofy"-ing girls distracted on their cell phones, it's gotta be easy nowadays..." would be the response of a bored demon who did what he wanted.
I like this caveat also that Wife gave me this morning. On Supernatural, she says a Satan character also comes out and he is talking about man having free will, and if we do have free will, then we cannot blame the devil on the shitty choices we make. We need to accept that there are plenty of "Shit" humans on earth. I think if these cretins really believed in a hell existing, they would behave better than they do.
Lucifer has been told in the show that he is to take care of hell and he has been doing it. In the show, he has had a breakdown of sorts and escaped hell to hang out in Los Angeles, hiding in plain sight as an owner of a popular nightclub. He admits he has been punishing those that desrve it and that all so far sounds believable, if we're the believable sort. There is even an episode where he goes back to hell looking for a doctor and his hell is not exactly brim and firestone but he has his soul experiencing a scene where he has hurt someone and tries to escape and a horde of people come to attack him. It starts over and over and over, great, but if Lucifer is responsible, then he is doing precisely as God has ordered, making him a good son that does as he is told. If he was a monster, why would he be so quick to punish those that lived life like he would approve, such as breaking the law, harming others, being selfish? In order for the punisher to punish, he needs to be above the prisoner, otherwise, Hell has no proper structure.
I think if there did exist a Hell and it was managed by an ex-angel, it would have to be a very good one. A very good angel would see to it that anybody deserving of living in hell, also deserved to be punished properly. Then we could believe in the nine circles of Hell and stuff like that, where the worse human you are, the worse the punishment bestowed to you. What is in it for a devil who was cast down by God to do what God commands? Wouldn't he want to throw the proverbial finger and maybe even do the opposite? "All you did on Earth was party and get high?" "right on, let's get drunk, tell me some stories of you "roofy"-ing girls distracted on their cell phones, it's gotta be easy nowadays..." would be the response of a bored demon who did what he wanted.
I like this caveat also that Wife gave me this morning. On Supernatural, she says a Satan character also comes out and he is talking about man having free will, and if we do have free will, then we cannot blame the devil on the shitty choices we make. We need to accept that there are plenty of "Shit" humans on earth. I think if these cretins really believed in a hell existing, they would behave better than they do.
Saturday, October 21, 2017
10/21/17 Chub's Band Recital?
Although he can be an ornery little fella who forgets he is twelve, Chubs is also becoming quite impressive at the scale of 1:1 amongst his peers. He has managed to stay in the Einstein Jr. program, needing an 85 and above average on his grades, he is on the A team with the 7th grade Bobcats, and is also in the Symphonic band, playing Bari Sax, and loving it. Tonight was the bands turn to "show-off" and they had a recital where the three current bands played two selections. It was nice, we saw a couple of familiar faces, friend's of his who are also in band, and even some of the football players are splitting time, expressing their softer sides to the romantic arts.
Wife was quick to point out that he should have been on the woodwind ensemble, which looked to be the elite group, but because of his classes, he was not able to squeeze into the right band class.This is why he is with the symphonic band which looked to be the bigger of the bands. It was fun to see him dressed up all fancy in slacks and button down shirt which was the correct dress for the occasion, but I was a little pissed to see some of them in black polo shirts, and even one in just a black t-shirt. I can understand from a cost point that not all families have the means to go and purchase a "suit" for an hour program, but how about the one kid who decided to wear the button down white shirt when everyone else, including all the girls are in black?
Boy was trying to be funny and not show up to support the baby bro, but a couple of pissed off texts from Dad and Boy mysteriously showed up. He missed the performance but at least was there to take some pictures as a family afterwards.
Afterwards is when I noticed Chubs is on the verge of getting hugely popular with his face on the wall several times. Every game they have played is memorialized with a good 6-10 pics and the score on the bottom of the pics on the wall in the hallway that splits the gym and band hall. As I had just said, their current record is 2 wins, 2 losses and 1 tie. They have 2 games left to play and I would be happy if they just tied or split the games.
Chubs was quick to point out that nobody cares about the football players and I said don't kid yourself, this school has like 1200 kids and only about 100 are playing football between 7th and 8th grade. Of those, you also manage to get on the A/B Honor Roll which again got him on the wall posing in football gear with a football under his arm as an Honors Athlete. He has not become girl crazy and is actually aware that girls are actually kinda nutty right now, so maybe this new generation has more patience than I thought possible. I don't think it'll be long before some of those prettier girls notice our little hunk of a man-child. All that running around for football has him looking leaner and cleaner, he is losing some of the baby fat and starting to look manlier, as he doesn't hesitate to show me his armpits and how hairy he is getting. He also swears he needs to start shaving, that beaner 'stache is out of control, in his head. :)
Wife was quick to point out that he should have been on the woodwind ensemble, which looked to be the elite group, but because of his classes, he was not able to squeeze into the right band class.This is why he is with the symphonic band which looked to be the bigger of the bands. It was fun to see him dressed up all fancy in slacks and button down shirt which was the correct dress for the occasion, but I was a little pissed to see some of them in black polo shirts, and even one in just a black t-shirt. I can understand from a cost point that not all families have the means to go and purchase a "suit" for an hour program, but how about the one kid who decided to wear the button down white shirt when everyone else, including all the girls are in black?
Boy was trying to be funny and not show up to support the baby bro, but a couple of pissed off texts from Dad and Boy mysteriously showed up. He missed the performance but at least was there to take some pictures as a family afterwards.
Afterwards is when I noticed Chubs is on the verge of getting hugely popular with his face on the wall several times. Every game they have played is memorialized with a good 6-10 pics and the score on the bottom of the pics on the wall in the hallway that splits the gym and band hall. As I had just said, their current record is 2 wins, 2 losses and 1 tie. They have 2 games left to play and I would be happy if they just tied or split the games.
Chubs was quick to point out that nobody cares about the football players and I said don't kid yourself, this school has like 1200 kids and only about 100 are playing football between 7th and 8th grade. Of those, you also manage to get on the A/B Honor Roll which again got him on the wall posing in football gear with a football under his arm as an Honors Athlete. He has not become girl crazy and is actually aware that girls are actually kinda nutty right now, so maybe this new generation has more patience than I thought possible. I don't think it'll be long before some of those prettier girls notice our little hunk of a man-child. All that running around for football has him looking leaner and cleaner, he is losing some of the baby fat and starting to look manlier, as he doesn't hesitate to show me his armpits and how hairy he is getting. He also swears he needs to start shaving, that beaner 'stache is out of control, in his head. :)
Friday, October 20, 2017
10/20/17 Wife Couldn't Have Timed Coming Back Better?
As I was saying, my little silver back gorilla is starting to lash out like a teenager likes to do. Acting like he knows shit, just because he has finally mastered the art of wiping his ass. Several things are entirely his fault, yet I don't think he wants to accept them that way.
For example, his headache this past week, which caused him to go home and miss practice and thus lose his position on the offensive line is most probably because he decided against my strong opinion to stay up Sunday night last week until at least 5:00am. Monday was a holiday, and so he did not have to go to bed at 10:00pm as is more or less his bedtime nowadays. He starts arguing if he can stay up a little longer every time and since I am at work, I don't really want to waste my energy arguing, I just tell him he better be asleep when I get home for lunch. I have heard him multiple times do the ooh and jump into bed before I walk upstairs, a ninja he is not, you can hear big boy moving around. Back to the problem, since he stayed up until 5:00am, he slept like I sleep until around 3:00 pm, then of course Monday night he finds that he can't sleep, goes to school tired and headache creeps in. I didn't believe he would loose his position or I would've told him to man up. He has to live with his consequences.
Another example he is going to be a pain in the ass without Mama constantly kicking his ass. We went to the mall two weekends ago to get him an outfit as required for the concert tonight (Thursday). I decided I wanted him to have a nice black pair of shoes, at size 13, I may end up using them. We also got him a black shirt and even a black tie. When it came to the pants, he put his foot down, for starters, he hates shopping, and he said he already had some pants at home. I remembered buying him some pants, but I wasn't sure on the colors. He swore he had the black ones he needed. Fast forward to Tuesday when he tells us on game day, yeah, I need those pants after all, my bad. Of course, this makes Wednesday afternoon much more hectic than it had to be, but we found him some pants and even a new black belt. Is there anything more annoying than a 12 year old saying I know to everything as you're lecturing him, grrrr, I could choke him sometimes.
Mama don't play games, once she is back, he will be going to bed at 9:30pm because she used to do that with Boy and Boy was much better at handling the mornings. Having her around will eliminate a lot of these shenanigans where we take his word. He's an idiot right now, he can't keep track of his socks, and I expect him to know what is in his closet? My better half will have those boys back on a schedule and soon.
For example, his headache this past week, which caused him to go home and miss practice and thus lose his position on the offensive line is most probably because he decided against my strong opinion to stay up Sunday night last week until at least 5:00am. Monday was a holiday, and so he did not have to go to bed at 10:00pm as is more or less his bedtime nowadays. He starts arguing if he can stay up a little longer every time and since I am at work, I don't really want to waste my energy arguing, I just tell him he better be asleep when I get home for lunch. I have heard him multiple times do the ooh and jump into bed before I walk upstairs, a ninja he is not, you can hear big boy moving around. Back to the problem, since he stayed up until 5:00am, he slept like I sleep until around 3:00 pm, then of course Monday night he finds that he can't sleep, goes to school tired and headache creeps in. I didn't believe he would loose his position or I would've told him to man up. He has to live with his consequences.
Another example he is going to be a pain in the ass without Mama constantly kicking his ass. We went to the mall two weekends ago to get him an outfit as required for the concert tonight (Thursday). I decided I wanted him to have a nice black pair of shoes, at size 13, I may end up using them. We also got him a black shirt and even a black tie. When it came to the pants, he put his foot down, for starters, he hates shopping, and he said he already had some pants at home. I remembered buying him some pants, but I wasn't sure on the colors. He swore he had the black ones he needed. Fast forward to Tuesday when he tells us on game day, yeah, I need those pants after all, my bad. Of course, this makes Wednesday afternoon much more hectic than it had to be, but we found him some pants and even a new black belt. Is there anything more annoying than a 12 year old saying I know to everything as you're lecturing him, grrrr, I could choke him sometimes.
Mama don't play games, once she is back, he will be going to bed at 9:30pm because she used to do that with Boy and Boy was much better at handling the mornings. Having her around will eliminate a lot of these shenanigans where we take his word. He's an idiot right now, he can't keep track of his socks, and I expect him to know what is in his closet? My better half will have those boys back on a schedule and soon.
Thursday, October 19, 2017
10/19/17 Raising Apex Hunters?
I should know that I am more than a hammer. A good technician knows that not all repairs are done with the same tool and most importantly, rarely is a hammer the right tool. That being said, I have proudly been raising meat eating, future alphas, take no names, take no prisoner, unforgiving apex hunters. I don't care that they occasionally take a stab at me as I make the rounds and feed them their diets of assorted meats, computers, and thoughts. Where Boy is like a hawk or an eagle, quiet and methodical, he will silently take from the land that which is given to inattention and recklessness, he will always be a sight to behold seemingly staying away from a direct fight but close enough to keep you on edge. Chubs, I believe is more traditional, like a silver back gorilla, his gaze will surely freeze you and his massiveness will most certainly melt you into oblivion. His territory will be unquestioned and his conquests will know his fury. Shoot, even Wife has progressed farther than I thought, as she is taking on the attitude of a great white shark, ever searching for wrongs to use as entry points and devour to keep her ocean clean of the weak.
My problem is there is no such thing as a killer butterfly. I have been trying to help people get ahead in life the only way I know. I push for you to go to your strengths and use them to make a living. Boy is about a year away from becoming an engineer, he is studying circuits and design, and even though I have been in the field for twenty years, he is doing something totally different, I don't understand half the things he is talking about, but as long as he does, it's all good. It seems when pushed, some people are more interested in the way they are pushed than the reason they are pushed. I have one way I look at life regardless of who I am looking for, make yourself useful. Being critical of today when and where you have all the basic needs taken care of is thoughtless when you could find yourself in a tomorrow where you are ill prepared to provide for you. I am either way more tolerant, patient, stupid, or an actual tool, but I give people space to stretch their wings when I believe in them, we've gone through this before. Hell, I may be waiting for the metamorphosis to see the beauty of the adult butterfly in all its glory when in fact I have just been nurturing a slug. Oops.
I am feeling the winds of change and maybe that is a good thing. I am always going to be in the driver's seat keeping my path true to the north star. Your path may surely be more fun the minute you stop following my light, but don't be surprised if you end up where you were in the past, copying and resorting to living like your kind. I kept showing you the door to a better place, you insist that it is a trap, well, stay locked up as this train moves down the way, good luck. Remember, not all that give advice, give it for the good of the receiver, some give advice that benefits only them.
My problem is there is no such thing as a killer butterfly. I have been trying to help people get ahead in life the only way I know. I push for you to go to your strengths and use them to make a living. Boy is about a year away from becoming an engineer, he is studying circuits and design, and even though I have been in the field for twenty years, he is doing something totally different, I don't understand half the things he is talking about, but as long as he does, it's all good. It seems when pushed, some people are more interested in the way they are pushed than the reason they are pushed. I have one way I look at life regardless of who I am looking for, make yourself useful. Being critical of today when and where you have all the basic needs taken care of is thoughtless when you could find yourself in a tomorrow where you are ill prepared to provide for you. I am either way more tolerant, patient, stupid, or an actual tool, but I give people space to stretch their wings when I believe in them, we've gone through this before. Hell, I may be waiting for the metamorphosis to see the beauty of the adult butterfly in all its glory when in fact I have just been nurturing a slug. Oops.
I am feeling the winds of change and maybe that is a good thing. I am always going to be in the driver's seat keeping my path true to the north star. Your path may surely be more fun the minute you stop following my light, but don't be surprised if you end up where you were in the past, copying and resorting to living like your kind. I kept showing you the door to a better place, you insist that it is a trap, well, stay locked up as this train moves down the way, good luck. Remember, not all that give advice, give it for the good of the receiver, some give advice that benefits only them.
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
10/18/17 Bedichek Vs. Murchison?
This was the strangest game of the year for me. First of all, Wife finally joined me again since the opener, so it was nice having a partner to enjoy the highs and lows while cheering for our husky boy. Another strange part was that Chubs had a headache on Wednesday, so I let him come home after school, the headache started the day before after practice and he kept telling me all night and even in the morning that he didn't feel right. Apparently, the coaches weren't as sympathetic as I was as he lost his position as starting guard. He is now the rotating sixth man for the offensive line which would be great, but after the first six weeks grades, the team is down to 16 players. What the shit that you have that few players and my kid who has been doing solid work at line is suddenly spending most of the game on the sideline with the other 4 tiny guys too small to play every down. I was tempted to grab him and just go home, but that would not be very sportsmanlike. I decided to stew in my own anger, and just accept the consequences for him missing practice.
Another strange caveat, was that the other team was a good hour late. Just to remind us we are in Austin, the other team was stuck in traffic and instead of starting at 6:00pm, the game did not start until almost 7:00pm. Murchison came strong, they obviously didn't have the same flunkitis disease decimate their team. They had a good 30-40 kids on the team. It was nice that they also had like 19 cheerleaders who were actually doing cheers all game long. You would think it doesn't matter, but those cheerleaders add a lot of flavor to a game, and just as an extension of that, over in the Burger Annex, the smaller stadium adjacent to Burger stadium, one of the schools even had their band in the stands and wow, I had to peak over there, it sounded like a college game with the band going all out.
As far as the game, it didn't look good, Murchison recovered a fumble in the first series and took it straight for a touchdown. They then kicked the extra point, which is impressive to me. They were up 13-0 in the 2nd quarter before Bedichek got going and scored a touchdown and two point conversion. I told Wife if they can score another touchdown, they'll actually be in the lead, cue quick touchdown for Murchison. The second half went super fast and before we knew it, Bedichek managed another touchdown, but there were only 3:50 on the clock, with the other team up 19-16. I was like, well as long as it's not a blow out, it's ok. Murchison was in complete control, Bedichek used their three time outs almost textbook type to stop them and get the ball back with 2:00 minutes only to let the QB run for 26 yards on third and 25. That seemed to break everyone's spirit. All they had to do was run the clock out, but they kept running sweeps to the outside. Had they shown class and taken a knee with 30 seconds left, they would have won, but no. On the last run, one of our boys stripped the ball, it bounced right into his hands and he managed to run like 50-60 yards and scored with 3 seconds left. Most of us in the crowd were standing saying good game blah blah blah, and before we knew it Bedichek stole the game 22-19. Chubs played eventually in a few series both on offense and defense, but I liked it when he had a starting role. He was mad about not playing more, told me he stood next to the coach creeping and saying "can I go in?" every few seconds. I noticed he stood by the coach, but I didn't know he was being a pain in the ass. Maybe next time he'll walk off a headache, like a man! (I guess that's what he was supposed to do).
Consequently, they are now standing at .500 with 2 wins and 2 losses and a tie. They have all been close games which is good because blow outs suck.
Another strange caveat, was that the other team was a good hour late. Just to remind us we are in Austin, the other team was stuck in traffic and instead of starting at 6:00pm, the game did not start until almost 7:00pm. Murchison came strong, they obviously didn't have the same flunkitis disease decimate their team. They had a good 30-40 kids on the team. It was nice that they also had like 19 cheerleaders who were actually doing cheers all game long. You would think it doesn't matter, but those cheerleaders add a lot of flavor to a game, and just as an extension of that, over in the Burger Annex, the smaller stadium adjacent to Burger stadium, one of the schools even had their band in the stands and wow, I had to peak over there, it sounded like a college game with the band going all out.
As far as the game, it didn't look good, Murchison recovered a fumble in the first series and took it straight for a touchdown. They then kicked the extra point, which is impressive to me. They were up 13-0 in the 2nd quarter before Bedichek got going and scored a touchdown and two point conversion. I told Wife if they can score another touchdown, they'll actually be in the lead, cue quick touchdown for Murchison. The second half went super fast and before we knew it, Bedichek managed another touchdown, but there were only 3:50 on the clock, with the other team up 19-16. I was like, well as long as it's not a blow out, it's ok. Murchison was in complete control, Bedichek used their three time outs almost textbook type to stop them and get the ball back with 2:00 minutes only to let the QB run for 26 yards on third and 25. That seemed to break everyone's spirit. All they had to do was run the clock out, but they kept running sweeps to the outside. Had they shown class and taken a knee with 30 seconds left, they would have won, but no. On the last run, one of our boys stripped the ball, it bounced right into his hands and he managed to run like 50-60 yards and scored with 3 seconds left. Most of us in the crowd were standing saying good game blah blah blah, and before we knew it Bedichek stole the game 22-19. Chubs played eventually in a few series both on offense and defense, but I liked it when he had a starting role. He was mad about not playing more, told me he stood next to the coach creeping and saying "can I go in?" every few seconds. I noticed he stood by the coach, but I didn't know he was being a pain in the ass. Maybe next time he'll walk off a headache, like a man! (I guess that's what he was supposed to do).
Consequently, they are now standing at .500 with 2 wins and 2 losses and a tie. They have all been close games which is good because blow outs suck.
10/17/17 Help Me Noble One, You're My Only Dope?
What inclines some people to jump on the wrong band wagon and support a group that might actually hurt you? I know people are multifaceted and just because they are brown or black, that might not be their biggest breakdown and maybe it is myopic on my part, but dammit. It is weird for me, for example way back even in the George W Bush days we had more uppity people working here with gay conservative friends they always said. These people apparently had means and even contributed money to the conservative cause. The only way I can understand that is you love your money more than the possibility of being treated like an equal person with equal rights? Conservatives are not going to come around and embrace the gay community, it just won't happen, those people think differently, and that is alright, I guess. Why support a group that hates you though, as a whole?
I've seen the same things with a few black people peppered into the crowd for color (a little tongue in cheek) in those Trump rallies. Maybe people buy his macho bullshit, but I have smelt cheap knockoff leader since he started. He had 5 draft deferments (deferments are excuses for rich people to get out of service), yet he gets to be a tough guy on military? He has one supreme court nominee, which was stolen from Obama, but whatever. Other than that, his wall is yet to be started, his Trumpcare promises all sorts of crap, yet it really looks like if they pull the trigger it will cost more and cover less people, yet poor people still will support him. I find this hilarious, if it weren't so dangerous for those that are going to find themselves without insurance. Disease is not partisan, it goes after everybody eventually. We should want a society protected, if we're going to call ourselves a great country. Otherwise, be content saying we're an OK country when so many others have figured out how to cover everyone.
I don't know that Trump is truly racist to the point of supporting the Nazis and all that crap from a few weeks ago and people will be quick to say they have a right because of the first Amendment, but I don't think hate groups gather in public places to "peaceably assemble". They are going to talk shit and try to instigate a fight, that is what a hate group does. Along comes this Ben Shapiro dude, who readily admits he was targeted by the white supremists groups yet still seems to side again and again with conservatives, why? He is a jew so, yes, everyone has a right to peacefully assemble, you don't have to be the tip of the spear protecting their rights, when they would preferably start with getting rid of you. He is now in a tennis match of words with Jimmy Kimmel. Kimmel came out very anti guns after the crap in Vegas. Shapiro broke down the game tape and poked back because Kimmel said it was the pro gun peoples fault. Why step into this? Vegas is Kimmel's hometown, he took it personally, not that his pain is greater than anyone elses, but it is his show to pour out his feelings if he wants to. Nope! Here comes one of the gun defenders, but why? You a big hunter? You like hearing the ping of empty cans when you shoot them off a fence line? What do you gain by winning this argument, an Uzi for your collection?
I want to like this guy, he is obviously smart, I just don't get why he is on the wrong team. Oh well, he's on the winning team, right now.
I've seen the same things with a few black people peppered into the crowd for color (a little tongue in cheek) in those Trump rallies. Maybe people buy his macho bullshit, but I have smelt cheap knockoff leader since he started. He had 5 draft deferments (deferments are excuses for rich people to get out of service), yet he gets to be a tough guy on military? He has one supreme court nominee, which was stolen from Obama, but whatever. Other than that, his wall is yet to be started, his Trumpcare promises all sorts of crap, yet it really looks like if they pull the trigger it will cost more and cover less people, yet poor people still will support him. I find this hilarious, if it weren't so dangerous for those that are going to find themselves without insurance. Disease is not partisan, it goes after everybody eventually. We should want a society protected, if we're going to call ourselves a great country. Otherwise, be content saying we're an OK country when so many others have figured out how to cover everyone.
I don't know that Trump is truly racist to the point of supporting the Nazis and all that crap from a few weeks ago and people will be quick to say they have a right because of the first Amendment, but I don't think hate groups gather in public places to "peaceably assemble". They are going to talk shit and try to instigate a fight, that is what a hate group does. Along comes this Ben Shapiro dude, who readily admits he was targeted by the white supremists groups yet still seems to side again and again with conservatives, why? He is a jew so, yes, everyone has a right to peacefully assemble, you don't have to be the tip of the spear protecting their rights, when they would preferably start with getting rid of you. He is now in a tennis match of words with Jimmy Kimmel. Kimmel came out very anti guns after the crap in Vegas. Shapiro broke down the game tape and poked back because Kimmel said it was the pro gun peoples fault. Why step into this? Vegas is Kimmel's hometown, he took it personally, not that his pain is greater than anyone elses, but it is his show to pour out his feelings if he wants to. Nope! Here comes one of the gun defenders, but why? You a big hunter? You like hearing the ping of empty cans when you shoot them off a fence line? What do you gain by winning this argument, an Uzi for your collection?
I want to like this guy, he is obviously smart, I just don't get why he is on the wrong team. Oh well, he's on the winning team, right now.
Sunday, October 15, 2017
10/16/17 Fiesta Texas 2017 Edition?
These companies are getting smarter, I guess. Much like the cell phones we pay for the life of the contract, and don't try to tell me they really cost $1000 to produce. So too has Fiesta Texas figured out we are stupid enough to pay for their season passes on a monthly basis. What a sham of a scam.
Wife brought it up a couple days ago which I quickly said no! She keeps talking about cutting our spending habits then suggesting this or that for the low low price of $29.99, or whatever. She phrased it as "do you want season passes?" No, I like the idea of Fiesta Texas but I don't like the bullshit, such as they only have crappy food and it is getting on the ridiculous side of expensive. Well, back to the tickets, I have a comment on that. She asked me Tuesday or Wednesday, I said no. Then while driving up Thursday we got into a long conversation and she brought it up again, which I again said I don't want them, thanks. She kept on talking for another twenty minutes and then a third round "so, are you going to want the Fiesta Texas tickets?" At what point do I determine she either wants the tickets or she is mildly brain damaged? I then turned it on her "do you want the tickets because I already said no like 3 times and here we are still discussing them. Here she goes all woman and starts spinning "no, I thought it would be nice if you would want them so we could go out there with your family? If we buy them now, we get them through next year." I said I don't care, my family hasn't called that they are going, I have no other motivation to go.
Long story short, we are on the hook for payments of $27 or something like that for a year or something. It wasn't very clear and I wasn't paying attention. We honestly didn't even make it all the way around the park. I stupidly decided to wear jeans and I was burning up, it was over 90 degrees. My dad barely likes to walk and he bitched and moaned with every step. I still don't know why he doesn't carry some nicotine gum, even if he isn't going to quit smoking at this point, there are some situations where he could at least pop a gum and feel a little more relaxed. When we got out of one of the concert thingies, he was scrambling to get away from everybody, clearly he wanted a smoke break, but they don't allow smoking so he didn't bring any cigarettes with him. Because he doesn't have his smokes, he gets bitchy, I say my Mom should have a box of cigarettes in her purse at all times, just to keep the baby calmed down.
My sister showed up eventually, but they had friends with them, and did not hang out with us. The whole thing was a little weird because once I was convinced to go, I wanted to experience the Halloween edition, but nothing real Halloweenie was happening until the sun went down, I guess. Unfortunately, I was ready to leave by 6:30pm, dying of heat, and feeling bloated from eating too much pizza. Truth is, we need to get out and do lame stuff like this more often. It seems we spend all our time focused around school and work, we almost forget those are just things to an end. We're supposed to be enjoying ourselves as much as we put in time to working. I guess since we got them now we have to make our way down and enjoy the park more often.
Wife brought it up a couple days ago which I quickly said no! She keeps talking about cutting our spending habits then suggesting this or that for the low low price of $29.99, or whatever. She phrased it as "do you want season passes?" No, I like the idea of Fiesta Texas but I don't like the bullshit, such as they only have crappy food and it is getting on the ridiculous side of expensive. Well, back to the tickets, I have a comment on that. She asked me Tuesday or Wednesday, I said no. Then while driving up Thursday we got into a long conversation and she brought it up again, which I again said I don't want them, thanks. She kept on talking for another twenty minutes and then a third round "so, are you going to want the Fiesta Texas tickets?" At what point do I determine she either wants the tickets or she is mildly brain damaged? I then turned it on her "do you want the tickets because I already said no like 3 times and here we are still discussing them. Here she goes all woman and starts spinning "no, I thought it would be nice if you would want them so we could go out there with your family? If we buy them now, we get them through next year." I said I don't care, my family hasn't called that they are going, I have no other motivation to go.
Long story short, we are on the hook for payments of $27 or something like that for a year or something. It wasn't very clear and I wasn't paying attention. We honestly didn't even make it all the way around the park. I stupidly decided to wear jeans and I was burning up, it was over 90 degrees. My dad barely likes to walk and he bitched and moaned with every step. I still don't know why he doesn't carry some nicotine gum, even if he isn't going to quit smoking at this point, there are some situations where he could at least pop a gum and feel a little more relaxed. When we got out of one of the concert thingies, he was scrambling to get away from everybody, clearly he wanted a smoke break, but they don't allow smoking so he didn't bring any cigarettes with him. Because he doesn't have his smokes, he gets bitchy, I say my Mom should have a box of cigarettes in her purse at all times, just to keep the baby calmed down.
My sister showed up eventually, but they had friends with them, and did not hang out with us. The whole thing was a little weird because once I was convinced to go, I wanted to experience the Halloween edition, but nothing real Halloweenie was happening until the sun went down, I guess. Unfortunately, I was ready to leave by 6:30pm, dying of heat, and feeling bloated from eating too much pizza. Truth is, we need to get out and do lame stuff like this more often. It seems we spend all our time focused around school and work, we almost forget those are just things to an end. We're supposed to be enjoying ourselves as much as we put in time to working. I guess since we got them now we have to make our way down and enjoy the park more often.
Saturday, October 14, 2017
10/15/17 American Made? (Movie- 2017)
American Made is a movie "loosely" based on the true story of Barry Seal, an ex-TWA pilot who is enlisted by the CIA to help them build and destroy puppet governments down in South America. The consequences of all these shenanigans led to what we know today as the Iran Contra Affair. Barry, played expertly by Tom Cruise can't help but be liked even as we see him be a low life who makes selfish decisions that benefit only himself.
In the beginning we see him piloting commercial planes and he already looks bored, jostling the plane while it is in "auto pilot mode" to knock people and luggage out of their spots, to entertain himself. It isn't long before he is doing a little side business trafficking Cuban cigars from Canada or something that he gets the attention of the CIA. Enter Monty "Shafer", who first gives Bary an offer he can't refuse and after getting himself caught, he really gets him involved in a situation we the viewer can see will lead nowhere but prison or death. Initially, he is taking risky flights over countries we are not legally allowed to fly over for reconnaissance images. The CIA is very impressed and happy with the data they are getting but soon Barry gets caught and while locked up, Shafer shows up, denying he works for the CIA or that he is even there. Instead, he offers Barry an opportunity to get out of jail in South America if he will do a little more work for the CIA. Not wanting his wife to find out, or for her to get arrested and questioned, Barry agrees to whatever deal I given to him.
His new deal has him buying up thousands of acres in Arkansas. He starts life anew in Mena Arkansas, and before long is propping up the local economy to the point of the city goes from one broke bank to multiple banks, all sorts of shell companies with all sorts of shell storefronts. The movie mostly shows Barry as a likable "good ole boy" who is doing what his country tells him to do. He is given a small plane along with the airport, and land around it. Pretty soon he is up to his eyeballs in money. He is dropping it off at the banks in suitcases, hiding it at home, in the airport, and finally like Pablo Escobar in his own movie on Netflix, Barry is trying to hide the money by burying it in the ground. The movie doesn't tell us how much money he has at the top of his adventures, but he is operating with at least four small planes making daily runs to Colombia and Nicaragua. He is told he will get $2000 for transporting a kilo, which is about 2 pounds and his first plane load has 300 pounds, so we calculated about $600,000 per flight.
It is a wild fun ride until the end. As anyone who has read, crossing Pablo Escobar was never a smart thing to do and because our government uses people and chews them out when done, they double cross him, possibly Ollie North did it, but images Barry takes as proof that Escobar and associates are involved in drug laundering are shown on public television, so Escobar puts a hit on Barry and his last few days has him constantly looking over his shoulder knowing he is a marked man. He kisses his family good-bye, sending them back to Louisiana so they will be out of harms way.
Other than the end and his demise, the movie has a humorous approach even though everything Barry was doing was so full of danger and trouble. He gets shot at and has to land on one engine, he ends up in south American jail, at one point near the end, he is arrested simultaneously by FBI, DEA, state police, and maybe ATF, hell, all the big boys. He jokes with them for a bit while the attorney general is in a meeting with the governor that he will walk away, if anyone wants a Cadillac for their troubles. Sure enough, next scene, he is walking out of the courthouse, Tom Cruise flashing that smile that made him famous.
In the beginning we see him piloting commercial planes and he already looks bored, jostling the plane while it is in "auto pilot mode" to knock people and luggage out of their spots, to entertain himself. It isn't long before he is doing a little side business trafficking Cuban cigars from Canada or something that he gets the attention of the CIA. Enter Monty "Shafer", who first gives Bary an offer he can't refuse and after getting himself caught, he really gets him involved in a situation we the viewer can see will lead nowhere but prison or death. Initially, he is taking risky flights over countries we are not legally allowed to fly over for reconnaissance images. The CIA is very impressed and happy with the data they are getting but soon Barry gets caught and while locked up, Shafer shows up, denying he works for the CIA or that he is even there. Instead, he offers Barry an opportunity to get out of jail in South America if he will do a little more work for the CIA. Not wanting his wife to find out, or for her to get arrested and questioned, Barry agrees to whatever deal I given to him.
His new deal has him buying up thousands of acres in Arkansas. He starts life anew in Mena Arkansas, and before long is propping up the local economy to the point of the city goes from one broke bank to multiple banks, all sorts of shell companies with all sorts of shell storefronts. The movie mostly shows Barry as a likable "good ole boy" who is doing what his country tells him to do. He is given a small plane along with the airport, and land around it. Pretty soon he is up to his eyeballs in money. He is dropping it off at the banks in suitcases, hiding it at home, in the airport, and finally like Pablo Escobar in his own movie on Netflix, Barry is trying to hide the money by burying it in the ground. The movie doesn't tell us how much money he has at the top of his adventures, but he is operating with at least four small planes making daily runs to Colombia and Nicaragua. He is told he will get $2000 for transporting a kilo, which is about 2 pounds and his first plane load has 300 pounds, so we calculated about $600,000 per flight.
It is a wild fun ride until the end. As anyone who has read, crossing Pablo Escobar was never a smart thing to do and because our government uses people and chews them out when done, they double cross him, possibly Ollie North did it, but images Barry takes as proof that Escobar and associates are involved in drug laundering are shown on public television, so Escobar puts a hit on Barry and his last few days has him constantly looking over his shoulder knowing he is a marked man. He kisses his family good-bye, sending them back to Louisiana so they will be out of harms way.
Other than the end and his demise, the movie has a humorous approach even though everything Barry was doing was so full of danger and trouble. He gets shot at and has to land on one engine, he ends up in south American jail, at one point near the end, he is arrested simultaneously by FBI, DEA, state police, and maybe ATF, hell, all the big boys. He jokes with them for a bit while the attorney general is in a meeting with the governor that he will walk away, if anyone wants a Cadillac for their troubles. Sure enough, next scene, he is walking out of the courthouse, Tom Cruise flashing that smile that made him famous.
Friday, October 13, 2017
10/14/17 Alternative Music, The 90's?
Aw man, I had forgotten about all the good music of the 90's. It was really good and even an added bonus, those guys (and gals), were still playing their own instruments. I fumbled into it a couple days ago, after I got my Excursion back and they were done messing with my battery and alternator. All my presets were gone, and probably did me a favor. I was stuck listening to the Bridge, and looking for the few good rap songs I like. I want to like the newer rap stuff, like Childish Gambino, and Lil Dicky, guys not obsessed with their cocks,their guns, or their money (come on who drives a 'rari to the HEB to buy a gallon of milk, fucking idiots!). While you are at it, put your freaking money in the bank and stop counting it, the bank at least pays you a little interest.
Anyways, I was looking for stations to put on my presets and I ended up on Lithium, I think. It just took me back to that time in my life, riding around in my Ford Ranger, life feeling brand new, living in Austin, poor not from owning too much house, but from being a student. In my first jobs I could blast a stereo and I did all day long. Driving the forklift in the warehouse listening to 101X and later even in the LCRA lab, I remember buying a special stereo that would get reception there, it was hard, for some reason.
The guys making that music were real, it felt like any group of idiots with a guitar and a drum set could set out and succeed. They weren't allowed to make music because they looked a certain way, today, everything seems visually driven. Also, this was not the complicated music of the 80's. Say what you want about heavy metal music, most of those guitarists were classically trained and you can hear it in their riffs, they left me feeling like no way could I get that good, but then the 90's went more basic with the grunge sound. I loved an interview with John Popper, lead singer of Blues Traveler, with Carolla. It was something to the effect of I wasn't a popular guy in high school, I stayed locked up with my harmonica and came out a maestro of the instrument. My point is that anyone could have luck and 15 minutes of fame then. Nowadays, you got Taylor Swift or Nikki Minaj. There is very little variety in the sound coming from the radio. Wife cannot stand anything remotely related to rap, even as I am trying to explain that the newest guys are different.
The music from the 90's though almost feels like the stuff from the 60's. Guys (and gals) having fun and making music in the process. What is more fun than a song about Peaches, or Wynona's Big Brown Beaver?
Anyways, I was looking for stations to put on my presets and I ended up on Lithium, I think. It just took me back to that time in my life, riding around in my Ford Ranger, life feeling brand new, living in Austin, poor not from owning too much house, but from being a student. In my first jobs I could blast a stereo and I did all day long. Driving the forklift in the warehouse listening to 101X and later even in the LCRA lab, I remember buying a special stereo that would get reception there, it was hard, for some reason.
The guys making that music were real, it felt like any group of idiots with a guitar and a drum set could set out and succeed. They weren't allowed to make music because they looked a certain way, today, everything seems visually driven. Also, this was not the complicated music of the 80's. Say what you want about heavy metal music, most of those guitarists were classically trained and you can hear it in their riffs, they left me feeling like no way could I get that good, but then the 90's went more basic with the grunge sound. I loved an interview with John Popper, lead singer of Blues Traveler, with Carolla. It was something to the effect of I wasn't a popular guy in high school, I stayed locked up with my harmonica and came out a maestro of the instrument. My point is that anyone could have luck and 15 minutes of fame then. Nowadays, you got Taylor Swift or Nikki Minaj. There is very little variety in the sound coming from the radio. Wife cannot stand anything remotely related to rap, even as I am trying to explain that the newest guys are different.
The music from the 90's though almost feels like the stuff from the 60's. Guys (and gals) having fun and making music in the process. What is more fun than a song about Peaches, or Wynona's Big Brown Beaver?
10/13/17 Possible New Pastime?
A few of the people I work with have been doing a challenge put out by Yeti, the expensive cooler company. The challenge is to try the fifty best BBQ places in Texas. They all are carrying little books and upon eating at a restaurant, they get a tag. Yeti is then coughing up prizes like shirts and mugs and if you manage to eat at all the fifty recommended places, you can qualify to get a free cooler. Other than the hardside cooler, there is also a soft side pouch cooler that came out about a year ago. This thing retails for over $300. One of my coworkers is 28 restaurants in. She already qualified for about five different prizes which they stopped at a Yeti store and picked up some of them, others are being mailed to their house.
I don't know that I want to get all serious, planning my weekend around places I might eat at. For example, the first time we noticed they were doing it, they had a picture on FB and had been in line at a really famous place out in West Texas for like two hours. I would be pissed to stand in line for that long and then to come to the front of the line to be disappointed that they ran out. On the other hand, it's Texas, there have to be other choices if not the BBQ you set out to conquer, surely there will be something else to satiate that appetite. I do like the idea of having a reason to drive in a new direction on an adventure of sorts. Wife asked for the names of a few places she has really enjoyed, so yesterday I took a couple of pics of the name and address of three restaurants to try this weekend. One is just down the street on Manchaca Street. She said they even serve breakfast which is something I have been wanting to find, a great breakfast place we can enjoy some eggs, coffee, homemade tortillas, and she said they will bring out the brisket for breakfast, if you ask.
The other two are further away, they can't all be in our neighborhood, but there is a place she highly recommended on North Lamar, Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew. If we aren't distracted with anything else, this is what we're doing Saturday night. Looks like we got the movies on Friday, I've really been wanting to see that new Tom Cruise movie where he is a pilot trafficking shit for the CIA, Chubs is wanting to go, just to get another grinder burger like he got two weeks ago. Wife is already in town (writing this Thursday night, Friday morning). And yes, thank you for asking, we already knocked them boots during my lunch break, thank you T shot. Maybe I was a little rapey, but like in all good porn, she came around and liked it.
But the possible pastime is trying BBQ places not dealing with my shenanigans. I'm just one of her chores, like sweeping or making dinner, she gets me out of the way to enjoy the weekend. :)
I don't know that I want to get all serious, planning my weekend around places I might eat at. For example, the first time we noticed they were doing it, they had a picture on FB and had been in line at a really famous place out in West Texas for like two hours. I would be pissed to stand in line for that long and then to come to the front of the line to be disappointed that they ran out. On the other hand, it's Texas, there have to be other choices if not the BBQ you set out to conquer, surely there will be something else to satiate that appetite. I do like the idea of having a reason to drive in a new direction on an adventure of sorts. Wife asked for the names of a few places she has really enjoyed, so yesterday I took a couple of pics of the name and address of three restaurants to try this weekend. One is just down the street on Manchaca Street. She said they even serve breakfast which is something I have been wanting to find, a great breakfast place we can enjoy some eggs, coffee, homemade tortillas, and she said they will bring out the brisket for breakfast, if you ask.
The other two are further away, they can't all be in our neighborhood, but there is a place she highly recommended on North Lamar, Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew. If we aren't distracted with anything else, this is what we're doing Saturday night. Looks like we got the movies on Friday, I've really been wanting to see that new Tom Cruise movie where he is a pilot trafficking shit for the CIA, Chubs is wanting to go, just to get another grinder burger like he got two weeks ago. Wife is already in town (writing this Thursday night, Friday morning). And yes, thank you for asking, we already knocked them boots during my lunch break, thank you T shot. Maybe I was a little rapey, but like in all good porn, she came around and liked it.
But the possible pastime is trying BBQ places not dealing with my shenanigans. I'm just one of her chores, like sweeping or making dinner, she gets me out of the way to enjoy the weekend. :)
Thursday, October 12, 2017
10/12/17 Different?
I guess it is a good solution in humans that the man is pretty much always ready to copulate while the woman rarely is. I am pretty much declaring myself back to normal, as far as my testosterone levels, so that might be part of it, but I can't help it. This morning I am driving to drop off Chubs at school and see a gal, maybe mid twenties, walking a dog in the neighborhood adjacent to the school. I am not so gross that I start grabbing myself or catcalling, but I do think why can't we just lock eyes, quick smile, quick bang, and drop you off where you were to continue with your dog pooping or whatever reason you were out walking. The truth is she probably hasn't even showered and taken her morning shit herself, if women even poop as often as men, I don't know. She probably glanced up, saw my fat ass in my old Excursion and just tightened up thinking creepy guy keep moving, act like you see nothing...
I would never bother a person that I didn't know like that, I am too scared of getting in any kind of trouble, but that doesn't stop the constant fantasizing in my head. I guess that is my point. Why are men always stuck thinking about the next sexual conquest. I know, I'm married, I don't have anyone else to conquer. Yeah, maybe in real life, but in my head, I am a super man with super libido! Makes me miss the idea of the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, in the football game, it was the Aggies and Horns playing and the winners got treated to a house of whores, I mean that respectfully, of course. I know Wife is spread a little thin running back and forth because of her job, but man do I hate being told no or I don't feel like it tonight. It's like dammit, you're only here a couple nights a week, glad that is changing in less than a month. But if there was a chicken ranch nearby, I would hope they would take Visa or MasterCard.
I have never met a girl that thinks like a dude in that she is always occupied with dirty thoughts. Most every guy I have known over the years, on the other hand, has had a love of porn, and dirty mags. In fact, I worry more about guys who are not fascinated by images of a naked college coed. What must go through their head that the most beautiful image ever created on full display does not invite him to feast his eyes. I understand being gay and this isn't your thing, but how about the simple minded who get indoctrined by their religious beliefs that this is wrong somehow? No programming in the world could convince me if I saw a juicy piece of steak on a grill sizzling and smoking that it was not delicious, yet that is what happens to simpletons, they get convinced that what their animal instincts want to enjoy is wrong or shameful somehow.
I loved the story when Bin Laden was finally caught in that compound, and maybe it was made up, but that there were porn videos everywhere. That is just so awesome, an idiot fighting against our awful American ways, yet in his last stand where he died, I can imagine a soldier accidentally kicking a copy of Debbie Does Dallas accidentally against his dead body. Leaders are always the same, "Do as I say, not as I do."
I would never bother a person that I didn't know like that, I am too scared of getting in any kind of trouble, but that doesn't stop the constant fantasizing in my head. I guess that is my point. Why are men always stuck thinking about the next sexual conquest. I know, I'm married, I don't have anyone else to conquer. Yeah, maybe in real life, but in my head, I am a super man with super libido! Makes me miss the idea of the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, in the football game, it was the Aggies and Horns playing and the winners got treated to a house of whores, I mean that respectfully, of course. I know Wife is spread a little thin running back and forth because of her job, but man do I hate being told no or I don't feel like it tonight. It's like dammit, you're only here a couple nights a week, glad that is changing in less than a month. But if there was a chicken ranch nearby, I would hope they would take Visa or MasterCard.
I have never met a girl that thinks like a dude in that she is always occupied with dirty thoughts. Most every guy I have known over the years, on the other hand, has had a love of porn, and dirty mags. In fact, I worry more about guys who are not fascinated by images of a naked college coed. What must go through their head that the most beautiful image ever created on full display does not invite him to feast his eyes. I understand being gay and this isn't your thing, but how about the simple minded who get indoctrined by their religious beliefs that this is wrong somehow? No programming in the world could convince me if I saw a juicy piece of steak on a grill sizzling and smoking that it was not delicious, yet that is what happens to simpletons, they get convinced that what their animal instincts want to enjoy is wrong or shameful somehow.
I loved the story when Bin Laden was finally caught in that compound, and maybe it was made up, but that there were porn videos everywhere. That is just so awesome, an idiot fighting against our awful American ways, yet in his last stand where he died, I can imagine a soldier accidentally kicking a copy of Debbie Does Dallas accidentally against his dead body. Leaders are always the same, "Do as I say, not as I do."
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
10/11/17 Can A Dream Lead You?
I've been wanting to write a book or maybe a set of short stories, but I guess I am afraid of failing. Of course, there is no bigger guarantee of failure than to not try. That being said, I have started 4-5 stories that Wife says could lead somewhere. Normally, you don't want your spouse being your biggest cheerleader as they are too close and could just be blowing smoke up my pooper, but Wife reads a lot of crappy novels, so she knows nerdy storytelling on paper. The strangest one I put to paper was directly from a dream, it was so real and lucid, I woke up like at 5:00am and wrote everything down I could think of. I had another one this weekend, and although I didn't write it down, it keeps coming back to me in scenes.
The first thing I remember is we had to break into some sort of castle. I remember like a John Goodman transforming into a rolling vehicle of some sort and taking us to the wall and basically throwing me and a secondary person. Maybe this other person was just the camera as I was seeing myself from an out of body experience. It seemed like the days of old, in England somewhere, but not really. I had somehow got in and disguised myself enough to make a ruckus with the queen's handmaidens. My mission was to infiltrate the royal court by helping this woman, with bright pink hair to be absorbed into a group of maidens that served the queen. They all seemed to have bright colorful hair of one shade or another, and the scenery was overall very bright. My lady in waiting was taken in and the next scene shows her bowing to a King and being explained that she is not a serf, she does not have to bow down, but she must avoid eye contact with all royalty. I was then taken abruptly to a large den which transformed into a hall where all sorts of men were being prepared to fight an oncoming army of some sort.
I saw a friar get tricked into joining the fighting men, and he just mumbled as he put on a metal helmet "This is where I belong, we all cometh as Dogs of Hell!!" He became a leader of sorts chanting all these inspiring and scary phrases which all the men ate up. The men started becoming one solid fighting machine, yet they were all individual men. Instead of metal armor though, they were dressed like 1950s gangsters, but with cartoonish features, such as they all had pointy shoulders. I was scared for myself, I did not belong, but I was caught up in the chanting and drumming getting louder and louder. They would hit a drum and they all snapped as one, leading with a shoulder walking sideways, then a loud drum and they would flip to lead with the other shoulder. I started hearing the rattling of chains and by now some of the men were even glowing with red eyes, I figured these were not all humans, but they were going to fight as one, the drums getting louder and louder and then the door started opening and light hit me in the face, I was sure I was going to die and one last lunge out the castle wall and I woke up because I had to pee.
I tried keeping my eyes closed and rushed to pee and get back in bed, but the drums and the dogs of hell left me behind. I have never been more curious where a dream was heading. Maybe this was in Spain, I mean England is not the only place where castles were built, and this was more of a fancy fortress than a castle. It had a courtyard the size of a football field, which is why I was able to sneak in, and the colors were so bright and beautiful. Even the men upon changing to whatever they were changing to, were in colorful tailored suits, not just shiny metal armor.
The first thing I remember is we had to break into some sort of castle. I remember like a John Goodman transforming into a rolling vehicle of some sort and taking us to the wall and basically throwing me and a secondary person. Maybe this other person was just the camera as I was seeing myself from an out of body experience. It seemed like the days of old, in England somewhere, but not really. I had somehow got in and disguised myself enough to make a ruckus with the queen's handmaidens. My mission was to infiltrate the royal court by helping this woman, with bright pink hair to be absorbed into a group of maidens that served the queen. They all seemed to have bright colorful hair of one shade or another, and the scenery was overall very bright. My lady in waiting was taken in and the next scene shows her bowing to a King and being explained that she is not a serf, she does not have to bow down, but she must avoid eye contact with all royalty. I was then taken abruptly to a large den which transformed into a hall where all sorts of men were being prepared to fight an oncoming army of some sort.
I saw a friar get tricked into joining the fighting men, and he just mumbled as he put on a metal helmet "This is where I belong, we all cometh as Dogs of Hell!!" He became a leader of sorts chanting all these inspiring and scary phrases which all the men ate up. The men started becoming one solid fighting machine, yet they were all individual men. Instead of metal armor though, they were dressed like 1950s gangsters, but with cartoonish features, such as they all had pointy shoulders. I was scared for myself, I did not belong, but I was caught up in the chanting and drumming getting louder and louder. They would hit a drum and they all snapped as one, leading with a shoulder walking sideways, then a loud drum and they would flip to lead with the other shoulder. I started hearing the rattling of chains and by now some of the men were even glowing with red eyes, I figured these were not all humans, but they were going to fight as one, the drums getting louder and louder and then the door started opening and light hit me in the face, I was sure I was going to die and one last lunge out the castle wall and I woke up because I had to pee.
I tried keeping my eyes closed and rushed to pee and get back in bed, but the drums and the dogs of hell left me behind. I have never been more curious where a dream was heading. Maybe this was in Spain, I mean England is not the only place where castles were built, and this was more of a fancy fortress than a castle. It had a courtyard the size of a football field, which is why I was able to sneak in, and the colors were so bright and beautiful. Even the men upon changing to whatever they were changing to, were in colorful tailored suits, not just shiny metal armor.
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
10/10/17 Seriously, How Are People Buying Vehicles?
I got kind of a scare this weekend, as I wrote earlier, my Excursion left us stranded twice in one day. I hated the thought of getting rid of it, but between confidence in a vehicle and vehicle loyalty, fuck that. I'm not getting stranded for a name brand. Turns out it was the alternator that went bad, but the battery was at least three years old, I figured it was about time to change it. While I was putzing around feeling like a freaking loser because I had no vehicle to claim, Wife and I went to walk around the car lot at Ford. I saw some cars that on the internet sounded almost good, but in reality, were a tad ehh.
I really liked a 2014 Ford Taurus, with 59,000 miles. I didn't like the mileage on it and then when I opened it, it smelled like someone had been in it for 60,000 miles. There was no new car to it, which was a shame. The price seemed too good to be true. Right now, we also have to be weary of cars that got flooded in the coastal areas, so it is not a great time to be buying used cars. I still like the idea of a good deal, so I have been trying my luck with used cars. The 2010 brown F250 I bought in 2012 was a great deal, I loved that truck, unfortunately, Boy! His Jeep was kind of a dud, but I expected it to be, sometimes I like him to learn a lesson by my wallet taking a hit. We did trade it in for the 2014 Edge he has been driving since last year and although he is a wet douche in that he will only say "ehh, it's more roomy than the Jeep, he didn't like the rough ride of the Jeep, A-hole. I don't feel he has thanked me enough for getting him into a much better vehicle, but what are you gonna do?
Just thinking of the vehicles I want, big trucks, the new ones head all the way into MSRP's of $76,000. What are they smoking? I still managed to drive one off the lot for $53,000 or so last time. That truck was loaded and beautiful, but it was gas, not diesel, which helped lower the price. I was scared the best I was going to be able to do if I had to buy something is drive off the lot with a Ford Focus. They might be fine cars, but they sit so low to the ground, I am going to bust my knees getting in and out of something that small. I do like Wife's Kia Soul, but my head hits on the door frame each time I get in, fat don't fold! Same thing with Boy's Edge, plus I have the embarrassing joy that the driver's seatbelt must have shrunk in the wash because it is snug, contemplating getting a seatbelt extender if I ever take it for my vehicle.
I was ecstatic when Ford called that it was just the alternator, although the dry rape of $540 was not pleasant, they at least threw in a two year warranty. I know everyone said it's the alternator, even my Mom who I doubt has ever looked in the engine bay, but I am not going to develop a habit of replacing parts and getting stranded on the side of the highway. Now I have someone to yell at if it happens again within the next few days. Twice in one day was really irritating, and I could only blame myself.
I really liked a 2014 Ford Taurus, with 59,000 miles. I didn't like the mileage on it and then when I opened it, it smelled like someone had been in it for 60,000 miles. There was no new car to it, which was a shame. The price seemed too good to be true. Right now, we also have to be weary of cars that got flooded in the coastal areas, so it is not a great time to be buying used cars. I still like the idea of a good deal, so I have been trying my luck with used cars. The 2010 brown F250 I bought in 2012 was a great deal, I loved that truck, unfortunately, Boy! His Jeep was kind of a dud, but I expected it to be, sometimes I like him to learn a lesson by my wallet taking a hit. We did trade it in for the 2014 Edge he has been driving since last year and although he is a wet douche in that he will only say "ehh, it's more roomy than the Jeep, he didn't like the rough ride of the Jeep, A-hole. I don't feel he has thanked me enough for getting him into a much better vehicle, but what are you gonna do?
Just thinking of the vehicles I want, big trucks, the new ones head all the way into MSRP's of $76,000. What are they smoking? I still managed to drive one off the lot for $53,000 or so last time. That truck was loaded and beautiful, but it was gas, not diesel, which helped lower the price. I was scared the best I was going to be able to do if I had to buy something is drive off the lot with a Ford Focus. They might be fine cars, but they sit so low to the ground, I am going to bust my knees getting in and out of something that small. I do like Wife's Kia Soul, but my head hits on the door frame each time I get in, fat don't fold! Same thing with Boy's Edge, plus I have the embarrassing joy that the driver's seatbelt must have shrunk in the wash because it is snug, contemplating getting a seatbelt extender if I ever take it for my vehicle.
I was ecstatic when Ford called that it was just the alternator, although the dry rape of $540 was not pleasant, they at least threw in a two year warranty. I know everyone said it's the alternator, even my Mom who I doubt has ever looked in the engine bay, but I am not going to develop a habit of replacing parts and getting stranded on the side of the highway. Now I have someone to yell at if it happens again within the next few days. Twice in one day was really irritating, and I could only blame myself.
Sunday, October 8, 2017
10/9/17 Come On Excursion, Two Strikes?
Oh man, I have loved my Excursion for a long time. I bought it in February 2004 right before going to Mardi Gras that year. I fell in love with them the minute they came out and knew I had to own one. I got a little panicky when the negative press started on them and that eventually they would be discontinued so I rushed and got one even though the Expedition I traded in was only like two years old. They continued selling for another year, into 2005, but eventually did stop. Ford is sneaky, a couple years later they introduced an Expedition EL (Extra long) and by now is an inch or so longer than the Excursion, so they just camouflaged it by naming it something friendlier and not bragging it was so big.
It has taken us each time to Florida, about seven times now, and never given me any problems, mechanically. All I have ever done is change the oil and installed new tires about every four years. yesterday, it stranded us, not once, but twice. We took Chubs to school in the morning and since Wife was in town and I was off Friday night, we went and had breakfast. Wife was talking especially fast about the incompetence around her at work so I just drove and drove. We ended up at the Y, kind of headed to the lake, but not fully. I saw the Jim's and thought "we have never eaten there." Wife agreed and we did. It was good, maybe great. Surprisingly, it did not run through me, I told Wife do you want to take a drive towards Dripping Springs, maybe see some houses. I don't think either one of us wants to move, but I do love seeing a new model home, specially fancy ones.
As soon as I turned towards Dripping Springs, and went past the first light, my ABS sensor turned on. I had not done any wild maneuver or even hit the brakes hard. I told Wife I am pulling into this apartment complex, it was acting like it was going to die, sputtering and putt putting like in the cartoons where the car is fixing to die. I parked in a parking spot and hit the gas a couple times, and got nothing. I thought is I turned it off and back on the sensor would reset, but it did not turn back on. I called Ford who suggested it might be the battery. It made sense, I had seen an Auto Zone by the Jim's and foolishly thought we could walk to it, get a battery and walk back. On Wife's Google she said it was half a mile away, Shit! We started walking before realizing nope, no way. Even if we got there, was I going to walk back with a 50 pound battery? Hell no! We had called Boy and when I called him back, he was still spinning looking for tools. I yelled at him "Just get on the road, we are standing out here on the side of the road like two assholes!!!
He showed up as fast as he could, we bought the battery, I installed it, and it seemed fine. We went to the football game, I didn't want to commit to driving it at night just yet, but figured we had been fine running some errands after we put the new battery in. Chubs wanted the big vehicle because he was told to bring the bari sax home after the football game. That thing is bigger than a toddler, I am not sure it would fit in Wife's car. After we ate at Cheddar's, I was already falling asleep, I handed Wife the keys and said "get us home." When she took off, she said "the ABS light came on." I thought, "dammit here we go again." Yup, it did the exact same thing, only this time there was no apartment parking lot. We were stranded on the side of MoPac, which sucks balls.
Without discussing it, Wife pulled out the phone and she has a tow truck number on her phone thanks to that lemon of a bug which we constantly had to get towed. I barely got the chance to yell at Chubs one time before the tow truck showed up, they were very quick. I yelled at the miniature fool because he is sitting in the back and I can feel him getting bored and he opens the door. Instantly he gets "what the fuck are you going to accomplish other than getting run over, step in ants, or let some weird bug in here?" Umm, I don't know I'm getting hot. "Just fucking chill, they'll be here in a bit, I am sorry."
As of Saturday morning, the Excursion is sitting at Maxwell Ford. I hope it is just the alternator, or it may be time to put the old girl up. I have had it thirteen years, longest time I've owned a vehicle, but I guess everything is finite.
It has taken us each time to Florida, about seven times now, and never given me any problems, mechanically. All I have ever done is change the oil and installed new tires about every four years. yesterday, it stranded us, not once, but twice. We took Chubs to school in the morning and since Wife was in town and I was off Friday night, we went and had breakfast. Wife was talking especially fast about the incompetence around her at work so I just drove and drove. We ended up at the Y, kind of headed to the lake, but not fully. I saw the Jim's and thought "we have never eaten there." Wife agreed and we did. It was good, maybe great. Surprisingly, it did not run through me, I told Wife do you want to take a drive towards Dripping Springs, maybe see some houses. I don't think either one of us wants to move, but I do love seeing a new model home, specially fancy ones.
As soon as I turned towards Dripping Springs, and went past the first light, my ABS sensor turned on. I had not done any wild maneuver or even hit the brakes hard. I told Wife I am pulling into this apartment complex, it was acting like it was going to die, sputtering and putt putting like in the cartoons where the car is fixing to die. I parked in a parking spot and hit the gas a couple times, and got nothing. I thought is I turned it off and back on the sensor would reset, but it did not turn back on. I called Ford who suggested it might be the battery. It made sense, I had seen an Auto Zone by the Jim's and foolishly thought we could walk to it, get a battery and walk back. On Wife's Google she said it was half a mile away, Shit! We started walking before realizing nope, no way. Even if we got there, was I going to walk back with a 50 pound battery? Hell no! We had called Boy and when I called him back, he was still spinning looking for tools. I yelled at him "Just get on the road, we are standing out here on the side of the road like two assholes!!!
He showed up as fast as he could, we bought the battery, I installed it, and it seemed fine. We went to the football game, I didn't want to commit to driving it at night just yet, but figured we had been fine running some errands after we put the new battery in. Chubs wanted the big vehicle because he was told to bring the bari sax home after the football game. That thing is bigger than a toddler, I am not sure it would fit in Wife's car. After we ate at Cheddar's, I was already falling asleep, I handed Wife the keys and said "get us home." When she took off, she said "the ABS light came on." I thought, "dammit here we go again." Yup, it did the exact same thing, only this time there was no apartment parking lot. We were stranded on the side of MoPac, which sucks balls.
Without discussing it, Wife pulled out the phone and she has a tow truck number on her phone thanks to that lemon of a bug which we constantly had to get towed. I barely got the chance to yell at Chubs one time before the tow truck showed up, they were very quick. I yelled at the miniature fool because he is sitting in the back and I can feel him getting bored and he opens the door. Instantly he gets "what the fuck are you going to accomplish other than getting run over, step in ants, or let some weird bug in here?" Umm, I don't know I'm getting hot. "Just fucking chill, they'll be here in a bit, I am sorry."
As of Saturday morning, the Excursion is sitting at Maxwell Ford. I hope it is just the alternator, or it may be time to put the old girl up. I have had it thirteen years, longest time I've owned a vehicle, but I guess everything is finite.
10/8/17 Real Friday Night Lights?
Friday night I got the opportunity to go watch Chubs participate with the Crockett High School Band. Bedichek Middle School feeds both into Akins HS and Crockett HS, so I guess to keep it fair they have nights with both bands. I absolutely loved the experience. It totally took me back to my high school days, it was nice to forget the day to day BS and just take in the experience.
I have one gripe, and it is a big one, and that is most parents nowadays suck balls. Both schools are giant 5A schools and Burger Stadium was mostly empty. Both schools have student enrollments in the+1400 kids, they should easily pack the stadium to support their kids. But back to the game.
We got there an hour early, Chubs was supposed to be there by 6:30pm to get his instrument and get with the other kids. It was tough, he had football practice until 5:30pm, we picked him up, ran home so he could take a shower and change, then we headed to the stadium. Once he went with the band, Wife and I were free to roam. We could have been like most other Dick parents and left, but we got our tickets and went and looked around deciding whether to sit close to the band, or closer to the middle of the football field to see the game better. We decided to sit on top of the dance team, which was seated next to the band. We could see Chubs in case he needed encouragement, but also not so close that we were butting in.
Band kids are great, seated together, the band was over 100 kids strong. There was a mix of middle school kids from Bedichek and some other school as they were all wearing green or a brown shirt, while the high schoolers were in their uniforms. The band directors and drum majors encouraged the drum line to start playing something and they did right before the game started, so the kids were all dancing and moving around. They had a "Pop Goes The Weasel" drum song, and it took one or two cycles before all the students were "popping up" at the right time which is of course fun. Chubs was smiling all game long having a great time.
The dance girls take themselves very seriously, even trying to walk in unison down to the field, which takes effort, they looked pretty, as a group. There must have been 30-40 of them and they looked cool lined up for the football teams to run out onto the field with. They even had miniature dancers with them, they had a camp or something and they had little IDK, 5-8 year olds they had trained and they even went on the field with them.
The football teams looked like the real thing. They moved faster and crisper than the 7th graders I've been enjoying. Even the few passes they attempted were mostly caught. You cannot get a better bang for your buck than the $7 they were charging for all this. I didn't understand the cheerleaders for Crockett HS. They were dressed like they were going hunting, which I almost get since the mascot is a guy dressed like Davy Crockett, complete with coonskin hat, but there were only 6-7 cheerleaders and they were all husky gals or they looked husky in those awful camo shirts. I'm sorry, but the cheerleaders are usually the hottest chicks in school and usually fit from all the cheering and stuff, none seemed to be suffering from eating disorders, I will say that.
I am comparing to what I remember from high school games when we were in high school. Our school was 3A, and maybe had 400 students total, but the smaller stadiums would be filled. Our band was bigger than either of the bands from these mega schools, Travis only had about 30 kids in their band. We might have had 12-15 cheerleaders and they were mostly the pretty girls whose parents went broke buying them so many cheering outfits, none of this camo shirt BS.
Maybe it's just how it is in the big city, parent's are busy with their own stuff, but dammit, your kids are only at this stage for a little while, make a freaking effort to see how much effort they are putting into their life at school. Wife mentioned "how come the band is so small for Travis, it has over 1000 kids?" I simply said "look at the stadium, asshole parents don't show up to support their kids, you think they're pushing them to participate?" It needs to be said more often, thank you teachers, coaches, band directors and even all the volunteers that make an event like a football game possible. There are so many working parts that come together and work just right, it really is an impressive thing. I loved it!
I have one gripe, and it is a big one, and that is most parents nowadays suck balls. Both schools are giant 5A schools and Burger Stadium was mostly empty. Both schools have student enrollments in the
Friday, October 6, 2017
10/7/17 Am I Sexist or Realist?
Let's start this off as an experiment. Suppose we have a male and a female in their early 20's living as tenants in the same household. For the purpose of the experiment, let's suppose their respective families died in a head on collision with each other, or they just cannot go back to live with them. Maybe they just don't want them back, because they are pains in the asses. If they say that what they are paying me is what they can afford and I've looked through their finances and agreed, should they be treated equally?
I say no. I say the male can do whatever he wants. He can screw whoever whenever he wants, he knows that if he does manage to get one of his conquests pregnant, it will be up to him to do the right thing and get married or in a worst case scenario, at least be responsible for paying some child support. It sucks that that is the society we live in, but nobody is courting anymore in the traditional sense and getting married after dating a few years. Maybe it still happens, but it seems like a weird proposition.
The female may want the same freedoms as the male, but I maintain that things are not the same. With the female part, the homeowner must choose to be a dick in the here and now or have to decide to be a dick in the near future. My reasoning is that IF the girl starts being routinely active and ends up pregnant with an Idiot, said Idiot has the same choice as my male above. He can do the right thing and marry her, taking her off the hands of the landlord or if cowardice prevails, the Landlord will have to accept the girl and the child as a package while the Idiot makes vague promises to help pay for stuff. Knowing she cannot afford more in rent, there is no possible way of asking for more in rent without adding more stress to the girl's immediate future. The landlord can choose to kick her out, making himself a bit of an asshole, but also he has no responsibility for a new child he didn't create.
My folks bring up the whole the male is disrespecting your house by bringing in random females. They don't bother me, we don't have impressionable daughters, Chubs is almost 13, he has the internet, he knows people hump, I hope he does, or he is a dope. Girlie has not had a boyfriend in a year but has started making waves that it is not fair she can't have company over. I say "yeah, it's not fair, but nobody is humping you in my house." You want to be a big girl, move out, pay real rent and bills, then you can do whatever with whoever.
I certainly am not keeping anyone hostage, feel free to go get your privacy and independence any time you think you're ready. I have very few rules, I think I am very lenient, but Idiot boys is not something I accept. Fortunately, it is my house, so I get to be the boss.
I say no. I say the male can do whatever he wants. He can screw whoever whenever he wants, he knows that if he does manage to get one of his conquests pregnant, it will be up to him to do the right thing and get married or in a worst case scenario, at least be responsible for paying some child support. It sucks that that is the society we live in, but nobody is courting anymore in the traditional sense and getting married after dating a few years. Maybe it still happens, but it seems like a weird proposition.
The female may want the same freedoms as the male, but I maintain that things are not the same. With the female part, the homeowner must choose to be a dick in the here and now or have to decide to be a dick in the near future. My reasoning is that IF the girl starts being routinely active and ends up pregnant with an Idiot, said Idiot has the same choice as my male above. He can do the right thing and marry her, taking her off the hands of the landlord or if cowardice prevails, the Landlord will have to accept the girl and the child as a package while the Idiot makes vague promises to help pay for stuff. Knowing she cannot afford more in rent, there is no possible way of asking for more in rent without adding more stress to the girl's immediate future. The landlord can choose to kick her out, making himself a bit of an asshole, but also he has no responsibility for a new child he didn't create.
My folks bring up the whole the male is disrespecting your house by bringing in random females. They don't bother me, we don't have impressionable daughters, Chubs is almost 13, he has the internet, he knows people hump, I hope he does, or he is a dope. Girlie has not had a boyfriend in a year but has started making waves that it is not fair she can't have company over. I say "yeah, it's not fair, but nobody is humping you in my house." You want to be a big girl, move out, pay real rent and bills, then you can do whatever with whoever.
I certainly am not keeping anyone hostage, feel free to go get your privacy and independence any time you think you're ready. I have very few rules, I think I am very lenient, but Idiot boys is not something I accept. Fortunately, it is my house, so I get to be the boss.
Thursday, October 5, 2017
10/6/17 Another Shoot Out?
I don't understand why Congress and President Doofus are still not bringing up some sort of gun control after yet another mass killing. Seriously, who needs that kind of firepower for hunting? I thought it was a fucking sport? Sport means the animal has a chance. You should have one bullet and all the luck you can muster. If you're just gonna open up like your shooting Somali pirates from a Navy vessel, are you really hunting or clearing forest with a gun?
People were still making their way to the area hospitals in Vegas and the important white men in Washington were already declaring this is not the time to talk about gun control. What? we need another +500 people shot to show you that is the only good thing semi automatic guns are good for? That and the cowardly gang banger who is going to spray a house without slowing down, what else are multi shooting rifles good for?
I am not saying guns need to be banned, that idiot on the 32nd floor would not have been able to aim at anyone on the ground with a box full of pistols, the range just doesn't work. If the guns he was using were single shot, his body count would have possibly been a tenth of what it was. Instead, he could just stand there and hold down a trigger emptying clip after clip of 20-30 rounds at innocent people minding their own business.
Our great President just reversed a law preventing mentally ill people from buying guns. After the Sandy Hook tragedy, Obama pushed for a bill that said if someone is incapable of maintaining their own financial affairs then they aren't of sound mind to purchase and be the responsible steward of a lethal machine. Trump disagreed, and says the mentally ill have as much right to protect themselves as anyone else. The NRA of course supported this move. Why? As Americans, we own over 347million firearms, it's not like they are going away.
I was anti gun myself, but over the last few years Boy got into guns, so I bought him a nice .22, followed by my father in law "gifting" him a shotgun and a 30-30 rifle, which is technically a good deer rifle. I am always apprehensive around these guns, but so far, Boy has shown extreme responsibility with them. He cleans them after each use and we keep the ammo locked up separately from the firearms. Of course, we aren't the type of idiot you worry about. Those types typically are angry at a world they don't quite understand. Power, in the form of weapons makes them feel safer until they explode and feel the best thing to do is use their power on the outside world. If these assholes would just start with testing their guns against their own heads first, the world could be a better place.
People were still making their way to the area hospitals in Vegas and the important white men in Washington were already declaring this is not the time to talk about gun control. What? we need another +500 people shot to show you that is the only good thing semi automatic guns are good for? That and the cowardly gang banger who is going to spray a house without slowing down, what else are multi shooting rifles good for?
I am not saying guns need to be banned, that idiot on the 32nd floor would not have been able to aim at anyone on the ground with a box full of pistols, the range just doesn't work. If the guns he was using were single shot, his body count would have possibly been a tenth of what it was. Instead, he could just stand there and hold down a trigger emptying clip after clip of 20-30 rounds at innocent people minding their own business.
Our great President just reversed a law preventing mentally ill people from buying guns. After the Sandy Hook tragedy, Obama pushed for a bill that said if someone is incapable of maintaining their own financial affairs then they aren't of sound mind to purchase and be the responsible steward of a lethal machine. Trump disagreed, and says the mentally ill have as much right to protect themselves as anyone else. The NRA of course supported this move. Why? As Americans, we own over 347million firearms, it's not like they are going away.
I was anti gun myself, but over the last few years Boy got into guns, so I bought him a nice .22, followed by my father in law "gifting" him a shotgun and a 30-30 rifle, which is technically a good deer rifle. I am always apprehensive around these guns, but so far, Boy has shown extreme responsibility with them. He cleans them after each use and we keep the ammo locked up separately from the firearms. Of course, we aren't the type of idiot you worry about. Those types typically are angry at a world they don't quite understand. Power, in the form of weapons makes them feel safer until they explode and feel the best thing to do is use their power on the outside world. If these assholes would just start with testing their guns against their own heads first, the world could be a better place.
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
10/5/17 Bum Basics 101?
They keep coming up because frankly, there are too many of them living in my community. I don't mean Austin, I mean South Austin, Southpark Meadows, to be exact. Today, after I picked up Chubs and we were heading back south trying to figure out where to eat the fastest, I noticed the bum assigned to work the light at Slaughter Lane and 1st was actually on his back, almost hidden from view except for his sign, of course asking for money in one clever way or another. I have seen these guys work in teams and work from a wheelchair and from a bucket sitting down, this was the first time I noticed one on his back legs crossed and sign extending up, hoping someone would throw loose change at a lump.
These guys bother me because something tells me it's not that they are bums, it's that they are working together somehow. I almost think they are a team of guys who work in unison. They work the corners in shifts, they have a look, all in different ranges of disheveled and they then split their earnings. The bum on his back did not last even a light cycle. Another "Master Bum" got off a truck that happened to be close by, he helped him up on his feet, gave him some instructions and the understudy bum started walking his route like he is supposed to. I know this because after we ate, we turned back on 1st and he was working it like he should, walking away from the corner showing his sign and picking up loose change along the way.
We saw another interesting person while we ate. My mom worries about the influence Dirty Dog has on Chubs cycling through different girls, ha! We walked into Jack In The Box and I noticed a pair of short shorts by the bathroom and a barely there shirt, thinking Yeah! I know where I am sitting until I looked the rest of the way up and it was a guy, fully bearded. It was confusing as fuck. Chubs did not notice and ordered then told me he was going to go wash his hands. He did not make it to the bathroom, and quickly came back to my side. "Uhh, what the fuck, Dad?!" I laughed cooly, just said "Que paso, Mijo? You scared?" He said "I don't know what..." I smiled and told him "just be cool, he's not hurting anyone." The guy was spouting off God Bless this and that and Jesus this and that. Different strokes for different folks, I guess, but I like that my mom worries about tiny things like what might be going on in a bedroom behind a closed door affecting Chubs, who never even sees this happening, meanwhile, we have bums and other more interesting people in our neighborhood to learn and deal with. Mr. Rodgers never had it so rich with the natives in his little neighborhood.
These guys bother me because something tells me it's not that they are bums, it's that they are working together somehow. I almost think they are a team of guys who work in unison. They work the corners in shifts, they have a look, all in different ranges of disheveled and they then split their earnings. The bum on his back did not last even a light cycle. Another "Master Bum" got off a truck that happened to be close by, he helped him up on his feet, gave him some instructions and the understudy bum started walking his route like he is supposed to. I know this because after we ate, we turned back on 1st and he was working it like he should, walking away from the corner showing his sign and picking up loose change along the way.
We saw another interesting person while we ate. My mom worries about the influence Dirty Dog has on Chubs cycling through different girls, ha! We walked into Jack In The Box and I noticed a pair of short shorts by the bathroom and a barely there shirt, thinking Yeah! I know where I am sitting until I looked the rest of the way up and it was a guy, fully bearded. It was confusing as fuck. Chubs did not notice and ordered then told me he was going to go wash his hands. He did not make it to the bathroom, and quickly came back to my side. "Uhh, what the fuck, Dad?!" I laughed cooly, just said "Que paso, Mijo? You scared?" He said "I don't know what..." I smiled and told him "just be cool, he's not hurting anyone." The guy was spouting off God Bless this and that and Jesus this and that. Different strokes for different folks, I guess, but I like that my mom worries about tiny things like what might be going on in a bedroom behind a closed door affecting Chubs, who never even sees this happening, meanwhile, we have bums and other more interesting people in our neighborhood to learn and deal with. Mr. Rodgers never had it so rich with the natives in his little neighborhood.
10/4/17 Being Competitive- Is It A Dying Strategy?
There was a time when our company had over 35 people. There was a lot of redundancy and with that a lot of redundant work. I remember fighting for more than my share of the work, any excuse to get some overtime. As the years went by, we stopped being a small part of a large system and became our own living organism. We had to get smarter and more efficient or drown from our own inability to acclimate to our new environment. We started trimming people and with that, work. I could still periodically count on some overflow work to get my OT, but even that eventually died down.
We are down to about 18 employees, the biggest group being administration, which they like to say that labor is the biggest cost, but at least we each of us touch product and turn it into money. The same cannot be said about so many cubicle dwellers. I say administratively, that is our biggest cost. I can't say there are many people to compete with, we have become kind of a group that needs to work together to continue existing. The dynamic is different, I kind of get it, although I'm not sure if that is the best way.
Wife at least is still competing strongly, and making headway. She has joined a group with a scary reputation. She naturally has always had leader and a bit of a "biotch" streak in her, but not in a bad way. She explains how she does some of her things and how she has to explain to teachers like they are "children" and I think "yup, bitch in training." I think this little bit of spark will make her flourish at her next stop. TEA is like the "boogeyman" for schools. They show up, go over all your files and paperwork and find your deficiencies and decide whether you can continue or if they need to step in. She says her new supervisor is intense and a true Type A, along with some of the others who have survived her cuts. I tell her that is awesome, you will finally have sharks to train with, to make you that killer that I have always wanted you to be. I think she should be a few steps ahead of where she is, but she has always been too nice and quick to bow to her superiors. If she can get just a touch of venom in her bite, I think she will carve out a nice niche for herself. I want to see her get past me in salary and compensation. She has it in her to lead, she just needs that little bit more to grab that chance.
We are down to about 18 employees, the biggest group being administration, which they like to say that labor is the biggest cost, but at least we each of us touch product and turn it into money. The same cannot be said about so many cubicle dwellers. I say administratively, that is our biggest cost. I can't say there are many people to compete with, we have become kind of a group that needs to work together to continue existing. The dynamic is different, I kind of get it, although I'm not sure if that is the best way.
Wife at least is still competing strongly, and making headway. She has joined a group with a scary reputation. She naturally has always had leader and a bit of a "biotch" streak in her, but not in a bad way. She explains how she does some of her things and how she has to explain to teachers like they are "children" and I think "yup, bitch in training." I think this little bit of spark will make her flourish at her next stop. TEA is like the "boogeyman" for schools. They show up, go over all your files and paperwork and find your deficiencies and decide whether you can continue or if they need to step in. She says her new supervisor is intense and a true Type A, along with some of the others who have survived her cuts. I tell her that is awesome, you will finally have sharks to train with, to make you that killer that I have always wanted you to be. I think she should be a few steps ahead of where she is, but she has always been too nice and quick to bow to her superiors. If she can get just a touch of venom in her bite, I think she will carve out a nice niche for herself. I want to see her get past me in salary and compensation. She has it in her to lead, she just needs that little bit more to grab that chance.
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
10/3/17 Monday Night Football?
I so want to love these games, but I see shit that just isn't cool. First of all, we are halfway through the season and the Bedichek Wildcats have been the guests at every game, not that it matters a lot, but since they have played their games at Burger Annex, there is no seating on the guest side, so the home town, Bailey this week, gets a stadium full of parents cheering while our Wildcats are on the other side with just two jugs of orange Gatorade clapping for them. It looks shitty and lopsided. I am sure the parents are there in equal distributions, although Justin's dad was not at this game, or he lost his voice from yelling Justin in the rain so much, last week. Either way, that seems unfair.
Tonight, Bailey showed up with a whole band, about 70 kids strong. There was a problem in that seating was not reserved for them, so they didn't sit in the bleachers and pump up the crowd, but they were there with so many shiny golden instruments. They looked like the real deal. Throw in the 20 or so cheerleaders and Bailey looked almost like a pro team. Meanwhile, Chubs is working a black and a white sock because he accidentally wore that the first game and they won, so he was hoping for more magic. He was insisting on playing in his regular tennis shoes as well and even "forgot" to take his cleats with him this morning. I don't need that kind of crap, my family already calls me cheap, he needs to at least look like we are supplying him with the right attire. He has forearm pads he refuses to wear as well as a cup. I wanted to add the rib and neck protector to his pads, but he is already a weirdo who doesn't want extra padding, maybe next year.
The game itself was close, if not for an errant hike that went over the quarterbacks arms and landed in the endzone where a defensive guy jumped on it, they might have even won. Bailey was the first team I see to have a kicker for the extra point and he did it. It looked cool, to complete them as a real team. Bedichek meanwhile relies on the 2-point conversion and after they scored their first touchdown, the QB threw a beautiful pass that the receiver was probably surprised he caught. He could've fallen forward into the endzone but stood there until he was tackled. Either of these mistakes could have changed the outcome of the game, but oh well, they are a work in progress. I still love the intensity Chubs gets off the field with. He refused to talk to me until we were out of the stadium, then started cussing his linemen over all the idiot things they consistently do. He was mad that the defender lining up on him kept trying to trip him and do some weird maneuver of trying to stick his leg between his crotch, not sure whether to tackle him or to try and hit him in the nuts. I told him that sucked and that kids will resort to cheating when they are bested by technique. I told him I was proud that he continues to play a clean game, no holding calls or movement before hiking the ball.
I just wish I could take a bigger crowd with me to watch him, the season will be over in a couple of weeks and there we will be. The weather has become so nice the last few weeks,where it feels nice when the sun sets, no scorching heat lingering into the evening. We celebrated at Culver's afterward and even had some ice cream, so it was all good for Chubs.
Tonight, Bailey showed up with a whole band, about 70 kids strong. There was a problem in that seating was not reserved for them, so they didn't sit in the bleachers and pump up the crowd, but they were there with so many shiny golden instruments. They looked like the real deal. Throw in the 20 or so cheerleaders and Bailey looked almost like a pro team. Meanwhile, Chubs is working a black and a white sock because he accidentally wore that the first game and they won, so he was hoping for more magic. He was insisting on playing in his regular tennis shoes as well and even "forgot" to take his cleats with him this morning. I don't need that kind of crap, my family already calls me cheap, he needs to at least look like we are supplying him with the right attire. He has forearm pads he refuses to wear as well as a cup. I wanted to add the rib and neck protector to his pads, but he is already a weirdo who doesn't want extra padding, maybe next year.
The game itself was close, if not for an errant hike that went over the quarterbacks arms and landed in the endzone where a defensive guy jumped on it, they might have even won. Bailey was the first team I see to have a kicker for the extra point and he did it. It looked cool, to complete them as a real team. Bedichek meanwhile relies on the 2-point conversion and after they scored their first touchdown, the QB threw a beautiful pass that the receiver was probably surprised he caught. He could've fallen forward into the endzone but stood there until he was tackled. Either of these mistakes could have changed the outcome of the game, but oh well, they are a work in progress. I still love the intensity Chubs gets off the field with. He refused to talk to me until we were out of the stadium, then started cussing his linemen over all the idiot things they consistently do. He was mad that the defender lining up on him kept trying to trip him and do some weird maneuver of trying to stick his leg between his crotch, not sure whether to tackle him or to try and hit him in the nuts. I told him that sucked and that kids will resort to cheating when they are bested by technique. I told him I was proud that he continues to play a clean game, no holding calls or movement before hiking the ball.
I just wish I could take a bigger crowd with me to watch him, the season will be over in a couple of weeks and there we will be. The weather has become so nice the last few weeks,where it feels nice when the sun sets, no scorching heat lingering into the evening. We celebrated at Culver's afterward and even had some ice cream, so it was all good for Chubs.
Monday, October 2, 2017
10/2/17 Kingsman: The Golden Circle? (2017) (Movie)
I was honestly not expecting much and because it had already been a long day, Boy mentioning that it was a three hour movie right as we stepped outside the house at 9:15pm for a 9:50pm showing had me thinking I am sleeping, for sure. The previews did not help, Alamo always shows weird shitty low budget examples of what is going to play, and this was more of the same. There was an Indian version of 007 but it was a midget, so he was just 00. It seemed to last forever I honestly started snoring a bit. I wasn't even sure if Wife had ordered my pizza, but it came eventually.
The movie was non-stop from beginning to end. It could have been seen as ultra violent but they turned it almost campy ridiculous in the villain front with Julianne Moore playing the bad guy, Poppy. She was some sort of nut job hiding in a small village of her own. She set it up like she was living in the 50's complete with a burger joint and even a salon where the bad guys would get a makeover. I say ridiculous and campy because in the first scene when they introduce us to her she is interviewing a new recruit bad guy and she tells him she is never to be questioned and she then follows this with a command to sacrifice his best friend who just helped him join the group. She makes hamburger out of him and very upbeat and happy, she makes him a burger out of the fresh meat which comes out of a "grinder" looking like ground beef. The new bad guy takes a bite from the human burger which looks like a beautiful cheeseburger.
This is going on while the spy group "Kingsman" has just been infiltrated by failed recruit Charlie. He has a robotic arm and gets in a fight with Eggsy. His arm breaks off and after all the fighting it manages to break into the files of the Kingsman in the car computer. With this information, the bad guys send missiles to kill all the Kingsmen and their offices. Eggsy survives because he is on a date and so does his handler. They go follow the doomsday protocol and end up in the US at a whiskey factory. There, they meet up with their US counterparts, Tequila, Whiskey, Champagne and other silly characters.
Poppy has contaminated all her drugs with a virus. She is willing to share the vaccine, if the US will end its war on drugs and just treat her like a legitimate business woman. The president, being as nuts as she is, thinks letting the virus play out is actually a good idea, as this will single handedly, end the war on drugs, if all the druggies are contaminated and dying. It is up to the good guys to save the world. Of course, they all have their back stories and some agree with the president's angle that the only good druggie is a dead druggie. There are great fight scenes every couple minutes and even when they are not fighting, the guys manage to keep it light and funny. I thought the addition of a kidnapped Elton John was a funny touch. He "man's up when he figures people are there to save him and helps out fighting like he would. The only way this works is by creating a "campy" vibe to the whole thing.
The movie was non-stop from beginning to end. It could have been seen as ultra violent but they turned it almost campy ridiculous in the villain front with Julianne Moore playing the bad guy, Poppy. She was some sort of nut job hiding in a small village of her own. She set it up like she was living in the 50's complete with a burger joint and even a salon where the bad guys would get a makeover. I say ridiculous and campy because in the first scene when they introduce us to her she is interviewing a new recruit bad guy and she tells him she is never to be questioned and she then follows this with a command to sacrifice his best friend who just helped him join the group. She makes hamburger out of him and very upbeat and happy, she makes him a burger out of the fresh meat which comes out of a "grinder" looking like ground beef. The new bad guy takes a bite from the human burger which looks like a beautiful cheeseburger.
This is going on while the spy group "Kingsman" has just been infiltrated by failed recruit Charlie. He has a robotic arm and gets in a fight with Eggsy. His arm breaks off and after all the fighting it manages to break into the files of the Kingsman in the car computer. With this information, the bad guys send missiles to kill all the Kingsmen and their offices. Eggsy survives because he is on a date and so does his handler. They go follow the doomsday protocol and end up in the US at a whiskey factory. There, they meet up with their US counterparts, Tequila, Whiskey, Champagne and other silly characters.
Poppy has contaminated all her drugs with a virus. She is willing to share the vaccine, if the US will end its war on drugs and just treat her like a legitimate business woman. The president, being as nuts as she is, thinks letting the virus play out is actually a good idea, as this will single handedly, end the war on drugs, if all the druggies are contaminated and dying. It is up to the good guys to save the world. Of course, they all have their back stories and some agree with the president's angle that the only good druggie is a dead druggie. There are great fight scenes every couple minutes and even when they are not fighting, the guys manage to keep it light and funny. I thought the addition of a kidnapped Elton John was a funny touch. He "man's up when he figures people are there to save him and helps out fighting like he would. The only way this works is by creating a "campy" vibe to the whole thing.
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