Javalina talked a lot of shit, as usual, that if they won the game against Travis, that he would take his friends on the team to dinner. He wasn't sure where they would go, but he said he would pay. Maybe that was the motivation they needed, but they did end up winning that one game 40-20. It was hard to align them right then and there to get together for a dinner, so it didn't happen right away.
As far as him having the money, he doesn't work and his laziness does not prompt me to want to give him a standard allowance, but he always manages to have a little money on himself. Either his grandparents slip him $40 bucks here or $60 bucks there or a holiday comes up and he ends up with cash. Even then, his biggest stash is his "Disney" fund. This is money specifically meant to be spent in the great state of Florida, whenever we go back. The last time we went, he was between wanting anything Legos and/or just some good food. This boy has never been the materialistic monster that Boy is. Whereas Boy can find wants and needs anywhere he goes, Javalina does not care for "stuff".
Last time we went, Wife and him had jars of coins they cashed out from years of saving. Those big green coin machines started showing up where you could cash out for bucks, simply by dumping the coins in. They walked away with like $700-$800 in Walk Around Money, WAM. I then gave him a couple hundred bucks since he was carrying a wallet for the first time at the parks and his grandparents also gave him money. By the time we left for back home, he still had $600 and we kept it in the closet for the next time we went. That has turned into a long 3-4 years and we went through some lean times where eventually I took all that money when we were coming up short here and there. Now that we've had Girlie paying rent and other things, I have replenished his money and even added more, to where he had $1000 in there. So, it was easy for him to say he had the money to feed his boys. Wife spun out into lesson mode, she was worried he would just give the money away since he is such a weirdo when it comes to cash.
I picked him up after school yesterday and he approached the Excursion by himself and asked if I had the money, I only took $200, figuring he wouldn't spend more than that. I said yes, and then he asked like I am a stranger if it would be alright if we gave his friends a ride to Cici's Pizza. I said "yes, stop being weird and get them." Boy would just bring them and stuff them in the trunk space if he had to, this boy is so reserved about everything. Cici's Pizza is relatively cheap, it used to be $3.99 a person, now it is up to $6.99 or something like that for their buffet. Javalina said $50 covered the meal. He then said he broke another $50 for change to play some video games, not sure if he blew the whole $50 or what, but he does seem to have had a lot of fun for a couple hours.
I went to Lowe's and walked around slowly, then Wife said to go to HEB to get some cow cheek meat and a cow tongue, for breakfast. This is otherwise known as barbacoa and what starts out as the grossest sounding thing, ends up one of the tastiest. We gave a ride to 4 of the 6 boys that rode with us and I found it interesting. Two lived in apartment complexes and two lived in houses. I have a hard time processing the whole "you live in a big house" because to me everyone in this neighborhood lives in a big house. We don't hang out with other people at their houses, but people are living in some crowded conditions. One of the boys said he had 7 siblings as we dropped him off at an apartment complex, you know at best they live in a 3 bedroom, that has to be tough. Another kid had like 5-6 trucks parked in the driveway, which I made the joke to "go inside and kick someone in the nuts for not picking you up." I mean that many cars and nobody could be bothered to go pick up their baby??? He just laughed an uncomfortable laugh. Javalina got after me to not be making comments like that. I just told him "settle down Little (name of my younger brother)". They both share the same stick up their ass, no humor comes out of them. I just told the kids I don't mind dropping y'all off but I am a smart ass, don't take it personally.
Sunday, November 10, 2019
Saturday, November 9, 2019
11/9/19 A 1-9 Season Does Not Tell The Whole Story?
Just like that, the first football season for Javalina in high school is over. It seems like only yesterday we were looking at his schedule in 100+ degree weather talking about when it ends it'll be about time for the holidays and here we are. The record does not indicate anywhere near the growth our son has had. He has had to learn to deal with giving something 100% and still not coming close to victory. I know I am sounding a bit Pollyanna but their record could have easily been 5-5 instead of 1-9, but in football you don't win individually, you win as a team. If the team that played tonight played at the beginning of the season, I very much think a few of those games would have been turned into wins. In the real world though, we went into that good night quietly with one of the most exciting losses the team could have experienced. The weather was horrid, as it dropped into the 40's with a light rain and a steady wind. It looked much worse with the field lights making the light sleet/rain look like a snow storm as it glistened and shined to indicate that this is winter, put your summer games away.
I say you win as a team, but I guess an individual can have some personal wins in a team sport. Javalina found himself well liked by the coaches and the players. He was chosen captain for the last two games which is pretty cool. Another cool thing is that he started the season as a starter on both offense and defense, admitted he was not conditioned well enough to do both, but still earned back the defensive spot towards the end of the season. They switched to a 3-4 defense and he was the anchor, playing nose tackle, and loving it. He also says he has good rapport with most of the players, specially the Bedichek kids. It is funny that after almost a half year, kids still find ways to differentiate themselves. There are Bedichek and Covington kids, along with other middle schools. When do they become Crockettians, or whatever? They have spilled blood and sweated gallons together, I say you are brothers on the field at this point.
Javalina is focused on what he can do to get better. His coaches want him wrestling although I think with his body pretty much all bruised right now, he wants to just take it easy for awhile. He says he wants to focus on weight training and that is something I should encourage and then get on his bandwagon. He already pushes and challenges me way too much, I feel I have to stay stronger than him, although he will be passing me probably in the coming year, we are starting to see a bit of a new growth spurt and if he starts putting on more muscle and trains it, I will have to accept reality. I think it will be cool because I am not going away without a fight, he will have to push himself past benching 300 to best me.
I say you win as a team, but I guess an individual can have some personal wins in a team sport. Javalina found himself well liked by the coaches and the players. He was chosen captain for the last two games which is pretty cool. Another cool thing is that he started the season as a starter on both offense and defense, admitted he was not conditioned well enough to do both, but still earned back the defensive spot towards the end of the season. They switched to a 3-4 defense and he was the anchor, playing nose tackle, and loving it. He also says he has good rapport with most of the players, specially the Bedichek kids. It is funny that after almost a half year, kids still find ways to differentiate themselves. There are Bedichek and Covington kids, along with other middle schools. When do they become Crockettians, or whatever? They have spilled blood and sweated gallons together, I say you are brothers on the field at this point.
Javalina is focused on what he can do to get better. His coaches want him wrestling although I think with his body pretty much all bruised right now, he wants to just take it easy for awhile. He says he wants to focus on weight training and that is something I should encourage and then get on his bandwagon. He already pushes and challenges me way too much, I feel I have to stay stronger than him, although he will be passing me probably in the coming year, we are starting to see a bit of a new growth spurt and if he starts putting on more muscle and trains it, I will have to accept reality. I think it will be cool because I am not going away without a fight, he will have to push himself past benching 300 to best me.
Thursday, November 7, 2019
11/8/19 Dripping Springs Disappointed In An Unexpected Way?
Dripping Springs really disappointed, as I expected this quality team full of future college prospects to put a beating on our simple poor inner city school. What transpired was a bunch of clowns with trick plays and a team undisciplined in behavior or class. Our boys have lost by two points and they have lost by sixty. In none of those games or any in junior high did the team break into fighting or name calling. This team on 3 or 4 separate occasions lost its cool and an actual brawl broke out. There were a few scuffles early but as the game stayed close, they just lost their cool. After one of their TDs, the QB was trying to get to the sideline and find a receiver or run in but he just ran out of field and fell. Suddenly, a fight erupted and punches were thrown. I was screaming in disbelief with Boy in the stands that Javalina better not be fighting as I could not see him backing away. Both teams were called for unsportsmanlike conduct, but that is a bullshit call as they just cancel each other out and neither team is punished. I did like that our coaches pulled the main instigator out of the game or he was ejected, but number 74 sat there on the bench after the scuffle looking like a deplumed chicken, real brave while fighting but a bit stupid over here on the sideline with no one impressed at him.
There was another bit of punches thrown right in front of the crowd as it happened on the 45 yard line near the sideline. The defensive back covering our receiver thru a punch then of course our guy retaliated but the referees either didn't see it or were laughing at it because the defensive back was comically small, like a little 5 footer punching at someone near 6 feet. If our boys had a history of breaking out into fights I would easily say our "fucking ghetto ass kids can't control themselves!!", but the reality of it is that it was the overprivileged white boys of the suburbs behaving like "dicks". I call it as I see it. I wanted to live out there a few years ago, the hill country is beautiful, but I could not commit to the commute required to live out there, and I could see my boys turning into those beautiful specimens on display. Fucking idiots couldn't take a little competition from a team they thought they would walk all over. I am disgusted by the lack of discipline I saw from their coaching staff. Some of those "beautiful assholes" need to be grabbed by the facemask and shook like they did in the 70's and 80's before the "soccer" moms pussified the coaches. The game was as close as 12-20 can be. Our boys lost, but had the last 6-7 minutes and drove the ball all the way down to the 4-5 yard line but just ran out of time with two downs left. I am sure they could have scored if they had more time, but that is the game, it shows no mercy.
My disappointment is I expected a Lake Travis quality team (a team that goes to state year in and year out). I wanted to see an offense just tear apart our defense with a future college prospect at QB, instead we got some fucking hillbilly bullies, I guess. I want to say I am proud of our boys. The record does not indicate anything about your class and your willingness to stay in there and fight until the last second. I would expect more wins next year if the core of this team stays more or less intact. They started out with no quarterback and by the end of the season they had 2-3 options that could carry the team.
There was another bit of punches thrown right in front of the crowd as it happened on the 45 yard line near the sideline. The defensive back covering our receiver thru a punch then of course our guy retaliated but the referees either didn't see it or were laughing at it because the defensive back was comically small, like a little 5 footer punching at someone near 6 feet. If our boys had a history of breaking out into fights I would easily say our "fucking ghetto ass kids can't control themselves!!", but the reality of it is that it was the overprivileged white boys of the suburbs behaving like "dicks". I call it as I see it. I wanted to live out there a few years ago, the hill country is beautiful, but I could not commit to the commute required to live out there, and I could see my boys turning into those beautiful specimens on display. Fucking idiots couldn't take a little competition from a team they thought they would walk all over. I am disgusted by the lack of discipline I saw from their coaching staff. Some of those "beautiful assholes" need to be grabbed by the facemask and shook like they did in the 70's and 80's before the "soccer" moms pussified the coaches. The game was as close as 12-20 can be. Our boys lost, but had the last 6-7 minutes and drove the ball all the way down to the 4-5 yard line but just ran out of time with two downs left. I am sure they could have scored if they had more time, but that is the game, it shows no mercy.
My disappointment is I expected a Lake Travis quality team (a team that goes to state year in and year out). I wanted to see an offense just tear apart our defense with a future college prospect at QB, instead we got some fucking hillbilly bullies, I guess. I want to say I am proud of our boys. The record does not indicate anything about your class and your willingness to stay in there and fight until the last second. I would expect more wins next year if the core of this team stays more or less intact. They started out with no quarterback and by the end of the season they had 2-3 options that could carry the team.
11/7/19 I Want To Drive Ridiculous?
I am nearing 50 and Wife wants me to act accordingly. If it were up to her, it would be mini vans all around. I am drawing the line at SUV, but that is not really what I want to drive as a daily driver. In a parallel universe I would like to drive a sports car, specifically a Dodge Challenger with a Hellcat motor, making over 700HP. That sounds like a man's car. I have always been Ford loyal, but I really like the look of the Challenger, even with just the regular HEMI V-8, I think this car would be a lot of fun.
I also still hold my breath, not to mention suck my gut in when I think of driving a tiny two door, like the BMW Z4, or even the older Thunderbirds that came and went in the early 2000s. We actually went and tried a T-bird up north somewhere a while back, but man, just getting in was a mild workout. It is like sitting on the ground and strapping yourself to a V-8. I don't get why they need the big engine, but I guess T-birds were the shit back in the 60's. I have this vision that Javalina and I could share a two door car, but Wife comes in and ruins it by making the two door car in my fantasy a Smart Fortwo, which even though Javalina is desperate to start driving, he does not want one of those clown cars. I kind of like them, I always chuckle when I see one zoom by.
When I start approaching reality, I feel like I belong in a truck, I am a man, after all. Wife says no more F-250s, I know, who put her in charge, but besides the point, I could dig an F-150, if it was loaded, lifted, and leather. I saw one currently at Maxwell Ford going for $51,000, but my alter ego that isn't thinking like a teenager says there is an identical truck without the lift, leather, or extras for $22,000. Seems like that is a smarter buy, but dammit!!!
Wife has me pictured in a Kia Telluride, she has been in love with that vehicle since she first heard of them. I say she can have one, I drive American. If I must drive an SUV, it should be an Expedition, but the ones I like with all the gadgets and fanciness are upwards of $60,000. There was the new Ford Explorer which sounded promising with its offer of 400HP, but it reviewed poorly in the last Car and Driver magazine, and it didn't help that the Kia Telluride was in the same test and won the competition between about 5-6 mid sized SUVs.
I am probably waiting until sometime next year to get whatever new vehicle, but man, I am starting to itch for a new set of wheels.
I also still hold my breath, not to mention suck my gut in when I think of driving a tiny two door, like the BMW Z4, or even the older Thunderbirds that came and went in the early 2000s. We actually went and tried a T-bird up north somewhere a while back, but man, just getting in was a mild workout. It is like sitting on the ground and strapping yourself to a V-8. I don't get why they need the big engine, but I guess T-birds were the shit back in the 60's. I have this vision that Javalina and I could share a two door car, but Wife comes in and ruins it by making the two door car in my fantasy a Smart Fortwo, which even though Javalina is desperate to start driving, he does not want one of those clown cars. I kind of like them, I always chuckle when I see one zoom by.
When I start approaching reality, I feel like I belong in a truck, I am a man, after all. Wife says no more F-250s, I know, who put her in charge, but besides the point, I could dig an F-150, if it was loaded, lifted, and leather. I saw one currently at Maxwell Ford going for $51,000, but my alter ego that isn't thinking like a teenager says there is an identical truck without the lift, leather, or extras for $22,000. Seems like that is a smarter buy, but dammit!!!
Wife has me pictured in a Kia Telluride, she has been in love with that vehicle since she first heard of them. I say she can have one, I drive American. If I must drive an SUV, it should be an Expedition, but the ones I like with all the gadgets and fanciness are upwards of $60,000. There was the new Ford Explorer which sounded promising with its offer of 400HP, but it reviewed poorly in the last Car and Driver magazine, and it didn't help that the Kia Telluride was in the same test and won the competition between about 5-6 mid sized SUVs.
I am probably waiting until sometime next year to get whatever new vehicle, but man, I am starting to itch for a new set of wheels.
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
11/6/19 How Lazy Is Javalina?
My son does not stop talking about how great he is and how is the best lineman on his team and that he wants to turn pro or at least play in college. So what do I do as a parent? First of all, I listen to his stories and then I try to help him. He does not need help in pumping him up, he has that all under control. I was looking at 1 on 1 drills where offensive linemen go against defensive linemen and that gave me the idea of maybe sending my son to one of those camps this summer.
So then I go and pick up my boy from school after practice is over and we go eat and stuff. While we are eating I tell him I was looking at this youtube clip and it looked pretty cool with guys going against each other. He barely seemed interested. Then we got home and I told him I wanted to look at a couple of things. I mentioned the football camps in the spring and he shot back with "dam, football isn't even over with, and you're starting to put pressure on me for more football??" I said no but if we can be ready and ahead of the game, why not? What better way than to make himself noticeable to coaches and to learn from veteran players. I know he likes the idea of competition, but motivating him to get there is the tricky part.
The same thing is happening with wrestling. I want him to play because I notice an awkwardness when grabbing other kids on the field. Wrestling will have him becoming a master of wrangling fools which can only help him next year and beyond. His excuse is that the outfits, those weird onesies are a bit gay. I told him it was more "gay" of you rolling around the floor trying to prove to your friends who the strongest boy is, and this is a regular/daily thing for you. I don't even know if it helps that the defensive coach gave him the biggest compliment when he told him, according to him, in front of the others that my son is the best lineman on the JV squad.
His ego does not need to hear that. I want the little chubby shit working harder than everyone, if he thinks he's great, he might decide to take it easy. I want him doing wrestling to keep him conditioned through out the winter, then track and field, followed by some of these camps. It might get busier, but to be the best requires to go out of your comfort zone.
So then I go and pick up my boy from school after practice is over and we go eat and stuff. While we are eating I tell him I was looking at this youtube clip and it looked pretty cool with guys going against each other. He barely seemed interested. Then we got home and I told him I wanted to look at a couple of things. I mentioned the football camps in the spring and he shot back with "dam, football isn't even over with, and you're starting to put pressure on me for more football??" I said no but if we can be ready and ahead of the game, why not? What better way than to make himself noticeable to coaches and to learn from veteran players. I know he likes the idea of competition, but motivating him to get there is the tricky part.
The same thing is happening with wrestling. I want him to play because I notice an awkwardness when grabbing other kids on the field. Wrestling will have him becoming a master of wrangling fools which can only help him next year and beyond. His excuse is that the outfits, those weird onesies are a bit gay. I told him it was more "gay" of you rolling around the floor trying to prove to your friends who the strongest boy is, and this is a regular/daily thing for you. I don't even know if it helps that the defensive coach gave him the biggest compliment when he told him, according to him, in front of the others that my son is the best lineman on the JV squad.
His ego does not need to hear that. I want the little chubby shit working harder than everyone, if he thinks he's great, he might decide to take it easy. I want him doing wrestling to keep him conditioned through out the winter, then track and field, followed by some of these camps. It might get busier, but to be the best requires to go out of your comfort zone.
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
11/5/19 Daylight Savings Time?
Why are we still acting like moving the time back for the 10 farmers is necessary? At least this is the nice one, where it feels like we gained an hour. Really, the only thing I really like about this DST idea is that it indicates that we are now in cooler weather. It has been all sorts of great to not have to run the A/C for the last two weeks or so.
Yesterday, Javalina and I were eating at Bill Miller and he was looking outside and said something about it being dark already. I said "yeah, get ready for shorter days." It's bad enough that the days are shorter, moving it just makes it seem darker earlier. I still don't understand how this helps farmers. Do they strictly work by the clock? Can they only go out in the fields between the hours of 8:00am and 4:00pm? If I was a farmer working for myself, I would be out there regardless of what the clock said. If I could see, work would be getting done and you keep going until sun down, not when the clock strikes 3:00 or whatever.
The worst part is that once we get used to this idea of changed time, spring rolls around and we just go back to the other way. I wish we had the balls that those few places around the country have done and say no. Shit, Hawaii and Arizona have both thrown the proverbial finger at the Daylight Savings Time idea. They do not observe the change. There are also other US territories like Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands that also do not follow the DST. They haven't burst into flame, we should try it and see what happens. I know I have "bitched" about this before, so I will keep it short.
Yesterday, Javalina and I were eating at Bill Miller and he was looking outside and said something about it being dark already. I said "yeah, get ready for shorter days." It's bad enough that the days are shorter, moving it just makes it seem darker earlier. I still don't understand how this helps farmers. Do they strictly work by the clock? Can they only go out in the fields between the hours of 8:00am and 4:00pm? If I was a farmer working for myself, I would be out there regardless of what the clock said. If I could see, work would be getting done and you keep going until sun down, not when the clock strikes 3:00 or whatever.
The worst part is that once we get used to this idea of changed time, spring rolls around and we just go back to the other way. I wish we had the balls that those few places around the country have done and say no. Shit, Hawaii and Arizona have both thrown the proverbial finger at the Daylight Savings Time idea. They do not observe the change. There are also other US territories like Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands that also do not follow the DST. They haven't burst into flame, we should try it and see what happens. I know I have "bitched" about this before, so I will keep it short.
Monday, November 4, 2019
11/4/19 I Want Nice Wood Floors, Wife Wants Brown Cardboard?
I am not an expert of course on floors, carpeting, tile or wood, but I do know that if you want something nice, it usually has a price to match. We have been looking at flooring options for our house for the last few months in anticipation to start replacing the floors in our house. I want to wait until the new year and do it room by room as we get some money to buy the flooring cash. I would also like to save some money by doing the work ourselves, but Wife says that would be the end of me as I already hurt every time I do a small project on my knees.
The biggest problem is that Wife is horribly cheap, always has been. She has even suggested we could just pull up the nasty carpets and we paint the concrete, like we're bohemians or freaking hippies. I don't want that look, even if someone on HGTV made it look cool once. I have been saying I want wood floors, but to her wood floors are the same, whether they are from a tree or vinyl look-a-likes. I want as she says to eat into the rain forest and put down some beautiful rare looking wood that might cost a pretty penny, but will be ours for the rest of our lives. I have been "reasonable" and chosen woods, and by woods I am even giving in to engineered woods even if I prefer the idea of solid hardwoods, that are around $4.00/sq ft. I want to look at my floors and say they are wood floors, not "well, technically they are wood floors but really they are 80% resin and filler and 5% wood byproducts, but they look pretty good. F that, I want to scratch the surface and you find more wood underneath. The biggest problem of course, is the price.
When I say around $4.00 a square foot, that gives you a little breathing room to look at different woods and widths and colors. Oak is the wood most everybody is used to looking at and it is nice, but pecan and hickory and acacia have these explosive colors, from dark black to almost a light tan, with all sorts of pretty veining. Wife, on the other hand, gets excited about anything, even the vinyl boxes that go for $1.00 or less, yeah, you can get vinyl for even .69 cents a square foot, but I am not sure if you can call them wood floors at that point.
In my attempts to be even keeled, I have then suggested maybe we should just go with carpeting in some of the rooms, to keep costs down. I am not even sure if carpeting is that much cheaper, to be honest, but I know it is easier for Wife to accept carpeting at whatever price than wood. I am sure I will get her to come my way, eventually. I suggested she let me try and do one of the smaller rooms up in the front of the house by myself. If this works out, I can see her letting me keep going, and if I have to do it this way to install a quality material, so be it. She is already wavering as she has "jokingly" suggested to go to Mexico to buy the materials for cheaper. I know that that's how Daddy might have done it in the 70's and/or 80's, but bullshit that I am going to cross the border nowadays to save $20 on some suspicious wood and possibly meet up with some cartel crap, and yes, in my head Mexico is run amok with drugs and nobody has it under control. No thanks.
The biggest problem is that Wife is horribly cheap, always has been. She has even suggested we could just pull up the nasty carpets and we paint the concrete, like we're bohemians or freaking hippies. I don't want that look, even if someone on HGTV made it look cool once. I have been saying I want wood floors, but to her wood floors are the same, whether they are from a tree or vinyl look-a-likes. I want as she says to eat into the rain forest and put down some beautiful rare looking wood that might cost a pretty penny, but will be ours for the rest of our lives. I have been "reasonable" and chosen woods, and by woods I am even giving in to engineered woods even if I prefer the idea of solid hardwoods, that are around $4.00/sq ft. I want to look at my floors and say they are wood floors, not "well, technically they are wood floors but really they are 80% resin and filler and 5% wood byproducts, but they look pretty good. F that, I want to scratch the surface and you find more wood underneath. The biggest problem of course, is the price.
When I say around $4.00 a square foot, that gives you a little breathing room to look at different woods and widths and colors. Oak is the wood most everybody is used to looking at and it is nice, but pecan and hickory and acacia have these explosive colors, from dark black to almost a light tan, with all sorts of pretty veining. Wife, on the other hand, gets excited about anything, even the vinyl boxes that go for $1.00 or less, yeah, you can get vinyl for even .69 cents a square foot, but I am not sure if you can call them wood floors at that point.
In my attempts to be even keeled, I have then suggested maybe we should just go with carpeting in some of the rooms, to keep costs down. I am not even sure if carpeting is that much cheaper, to be honest, but I know it is easier for Wife to accept carpeting at whatever price than wood. I am sure I will get her to come my way, eventually. I suggested she let me try and do one of the smaller rooms up in the front of the house by myself. If this works out, I can see her letting me keep going, and if I have to do it this way to install a quality material, so be it. She is already wavering as she has "jokingly" suggested to go to Mexico to buy the materials for cheaper. I know that that's how Daddy might have done it in the 70's and/or 80's, but bullshit that I am going to cross the border nowadays to save $20 on some suspicious wood and possibly meet up with some cartel crap, and yes, in my head Mexico is run amok with drugs and nobody has it under control. No thanks.
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