Until Next Year

Christmas always comes and goes too damn fast. To me the season isn't over until the New Year but with having to work today, tomorrow, and Wednesday it doesn't feel the same.

Next year I think I will take off the week after Christmas. Christmas falls on a Friday next year so I think I will take off the Monday-Thursday the following week. That will make it much better.

But it was a good Christmas. I didn't really want anything since money is the only thing that would really do me any good and for the most part I only got money. So I am happy.

My parents, like most anymore, are divorced. Which makes for fun times and lots of attitude around the holidays.

We spend Thanksgiving with my dad's side at my grandparents house. Then we spend Christmas Eve with wifey's grandmother. Christmas day (and dinner/lunch) at my Mom's and her Mom and step Dad come to our house Christmas night.

Then the attitude's begin. My dad gives me shit and my grandparents on his side give me shit because we don't see them ON CHRISTMAS!! We went over on Saturday to see both of them and they were fine but a little complaining is always on the menu.

But all that is over now and that is good. I will be at my grandparents (dad's side) for New Years day dinner so they can just get over themselves.


Perhaps the best dinner of the week though was at my house on Friday night. For the past 4 (I think) years we have had a dinner around Christmas with some friends. We make a Turkey with all the good stuff....mashed potatoes, stuffing, a couple veggies. And everyone just has a good time.

This year was no exception.

A couple of the guys that come are friends that now live in Baltimore and Philly. I have known these two guys since I was in kindergarten and don't get to see them too much. So getting to see them at Christmas is cool. Another friend that sometimes comes lives in Florida now and didn't make it home this year.

But it was fun and I am looking forward to next year when we get to do everything all over again.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. If you are traveling please be safe and take your time...it is better to get there late than not at all.

Wow....2 posts in one day

Hell I barely post 2 times a week let alone 2 times in one day but here you go....consider it a Christmas present.

I saw this story and thought I would share it. You can find the article here but I am going to put the whole thing below for you to read.

Life of Reilly

There are some games where cheering for the other side feels better than winning.

by Rick Reilly

Gainesville State players douse head coach Mark Williams in celebration.

They played the oddest game in high school football history last month down in Grapevine, Texas.

It was Grapevine Faith vs. Gainesville State School and everything about it was upside down. For instance, when Gainesville came out to take the field, the Faith fans made a 40-yard spirit line for them to run through.

Did you hear that? The other team's fans?

They even made a banner for players to crash through at the end. It said, "Go Tornadoes!" Which is also weird, because Faith is the Lions.

It was rivers running uphill and cats petting dogs. More than 200 Faith fans sat on the Gainesville side and kept cheering the Gainesville players on—by name.

"I never in my life thought I'd hear people cheering for us to hit their kids," recalls Gainesville's QB and middle linebacker, Isaiah. "I wouldn't expect another parent to tell somebody to hit their kids. But they wanted us to!"

And even though Faith walloped them 33-14, the Gainesville kids were so happy that after the game they gave head coach Mark Williams a sideline squirt-bottle shower like he'd just won state. Gotta be the first Gatorade bath in history for an 0-9 coach.

But then you saw the 12 uniformed officers escorting the 14 Gainesville players off the field and two and two started to make four. They lined the players up in groups of five—handcuffs ready in their back pockets—and marched them to the team bus. That's because Gainesville is a maximum-security correctional facility 75 miles north of Dallas. Every game it plays is on the road.

This all started when Faith's head coach, Kris Hogan, wanted to do something kind for the Gainesville team. Faith had never played Gainesville, but he already knew the score. After all, Faith was 7-2 going into the game, Gainesville 0-8 with 2 TDs all year. Faith has 70 kids, 11 coaches, the latest equipment and involved parents. Gainesville has a lot of kids with convictions for drugs, assault and robbery—many of whose families had disowned them—wearing seven-year-old shoulder pads and ancient helmets.

So Hogan had this idea. What if half of our fans—for one night only—cheered for the other team? He sent out an email asking the Faithful to do just that. "Here's the message I want you to send:" Hogan wrote. "You are just as valuable as any other person on planet Earth."

Some people were naturally confused. One Faith player walked into Hogan's office and asked, "Coach, why are we doing this?"

And Hogan said, "Imagine if you didn't have a home life. Imagine if everybody had pretty much given up on you. Now imagine what it would mean for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you."

Next thing you know, the Gainesville Tornadoes were turning around on their bench to see something they never had before. Hundreds of fans. And actual cheerleaders!

"I thought maybe they were confused," said Alex, a Gainesville lineman (only first names are released by the prison). "They started yelling 'DEE-fense!' when their team had the ball. I said, 'What? Why they cheerin' for us?'"

It was a strange experience for boys who most people cross the street to avoid. "We can tell people are a little afraid of us when we come to the games," says Gerald, a lineman who will wind up doing more than three years. "You can see it in their eyes. They're lookin' at us like we're criminals. But these people, they were yellin' for us! By our names!"

Maybe it figures that Gainesville played better than it had all season, scoring the game's last two touchdowns. Of course, this might be because Hogan put his third-string nose guard at safety and his third-string cornerback at defensive end. Still.

After the game, both teams gathered in the middle of the field to pray and that's when Isaiah surprised everybody by asking to lead. "We had no idea what the kid was going to say," remembers Coach Hogan. But Isaiah said this: "Lord, I don't know how this happened, so I don't know how to say thank You, but I never would've known there was so many people in the world that cared about us."

And it was a good thing everybody's heads were bowed because they might've seen Hogan wiping away tears.

As the Tornadoes walked back to their bus under guard, they each were handed a bag for the ride home—a burger, some fries, a soda, some candy, a Bible and an encouraging letter from a Faith player.

The Gainesville coach saw Hogan, grabbed him hard by the shoulders and said, "You'll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You'll never, ever know."

And as the bus pulled away, all the Gainesville players crammed to one side and pressed their hands to the window, staring at these people they'd never met before, watching their waves and smiles disappearing into the night.

Anyway, with the economy six feet under and Christmas running on about three and a half reindeer, it's nice to know that one of the best presents you can give is still absolutely free.

Hope.

I thought that was a good story to share around Christmas. Hope you enjoyed it.

Death by Food

Have all of you seen the new Burger King commercials? The Whopper virgin ones?

If you haven't seen it go here and watch the video.

They went to Thailand, Greenland, and Romania to find people that had never had a burger to find people to do a taste test between a Big Mac and a Whopper.

Now I have a couple problems with this...

1. These people have never eaten anything like this. No offense to Burger King or McDonalds but these items are not exactly healthy. All the crap that they put into the meat and stuff is probably going to make some of these people very sick. And that isn't right.

2. What difference does it make what these people think? Are they going to buy the sandwiches? Are they going to influence me? Hell no. So why put them through it. Do a taste test with people that might actually buy your product.

But these people did agree to eat it so it is also on them. But considering some of these people had NO IDEA what they were eating do you think they would have eaten it if they knew how it was produced?

I am not so sure.

But either way it doesn't matter. If I had to pick one I would say the double Whopper.

Why?

Because if I am going to try and clog my arteries I might as do it right....with more meat and less bread.

Different....

I love Christmas time but this year it seems different. I think actually working has something to do with that.

See the past two Decembers haven't really been filled with work.

2 years ago I was doing the final jobs for my dad's construction company before they sold the development we were working in. Which only kept me busy for like 10 hours a week for a couple weeks.

At the same time my dad and I were starting a new construction company and were in negotiations for a piece of land. We also started my house at that time.

But none of those things kept me very busy. I think most of the month that year I was working about 10-15 hours a week.

Last year after the HOUSING COLLAPSE I was basically not working at all. I would go to the developments that our company had started and were working in on most mornings but since there was really NOTHING to do since NOTHING was selling. So I would go home after about 1-2 hours a day.

Now this was really nice since I got to be home and enjoy the decorations and my family's company but it sucked not getting paid.

Prior to that I worked for 4 years for my dad's company and would usually work from 7-3 each day so at least I was home by 330.

Now I am working from 745-415 but with travel time I am really gone from the house from 7-5. And that sucks.

But for some reason I think it is affecting my Christmas joy. There isn't as much time to just stop and relax when I don't have something going on.

I really do miss the time off but you know what I don't miss.....not getting paid.

UN-FREAKING-REAL

The wife sent me another interesting article this morning.

This one has to do with what a couple named their child a few years ago.

Heath and Deborah Campbell, of Easton, PA, named their 3 year old son Adolf Hitler Campbell.

Yes....SERIOUSLY....but wait it gets better.....

This is making the news BECAUSE a grocery store REFUSED TO PUT HIS NAME ON A CAKE for his birthday.

Apparently this isn't the first time something like that happened. They had previously asked for a cake maker to put a SWASTIKA on a cake.

Now I know that symbol wasn't originally a sign of hatred. But it is now.

But wait.....the story gets better....

The couple has two other children. Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell will be 1 in April. AND JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell will be 2 in a few months.

Those poor children...could you imagine having those names? I would change mine the first chance I got!

Now for the kicker....

The father Heath Campbell says this about the name...."no one else in the world would have that name." He sounded surprised by all the controversy the dispute had generated.

WOW!!!!


Now think about these things for a second....

Do you think this kid has ANY CHANCE at public office??

Could you imagine your kid saying he was going to Adolf Hitler's house to play video games?

Someone will be saying this one day....my boss's name is Adolf Hitler!!

Staying Cool at the Beach

This article was sent to me by the wife today and I just had to share it with you.

Apparently there are people with SO MUCH MONEY in Dubai that they are going to refrigerate the beach.

Yes thats right....they are going to (and I quote):

"suck the heat out of the sand to keep it cool enough to lie on"

And what do potential environmentalists think about this....probably nothing,

“Dubai is like a bubble world where the things that are worrying the rest of the world, like climate change, are simply ignored so that people can continue their destructive lifestyles.”

Sounds like my kind of place!!

Tough Crowd

I have always been interested in the weather and am generally interested to know what it is going to be like in my area each day. I can usually look at the weather maps on TV and give a decent forecast based on what I see.

But there is no way in hell I would be a weatherman. Those guys get abused by everyone.

Think about it....most people get on their case as soon as it rains or snows a little bit more than it is supposed to. Or god forbid they forecast the day as sunny and a few clouds show up to block the sun for part of the day.

The other day I was listening to Colin Cowherd on ESPN radio and he went off on a tangent about how weathermen have the easiest jobs because they get paid to be right half the time.

Really? Half the time is the best they do?

And he said something to the effect of "if I made that many mistakes I would be fired." Really? Fired for making a mistake once in a while. I would be willing to be that he makes a mistake DAILY on the air by pronouncing something wrong.....but yet he is still working there. Hmmm.

I would be willing to be that 90% of the time.....the weatherman are dead on.

You can go months without hearing anything about them and then all of a sudden they say snow but instead it rains and people freak out. Or maybe they give a 50% chance of rain and it rains all day....oh no what am I going to do now. I didn't think it was going to rain. Well why the hell not....you knew the possibility existed.

The only times they make mistakes are the only times you hear about them.

It is probably one of the most thankless jobs in the world. No one gives you ANY CREDIT when you are right....they only blame you when you are wrong.

So I would like to say thank you to my local weathermen for telling me what the weather is going to be like most days. I appreciate knowing that it is going to rain today so that I can bring an umbrella with me to work.

Inspirational....

I am a big college basketball fan. And it just so happens that I am a Villanova fan and they were playing last night in the Jimmy V Classic in New York. Before the game they played Jim Valvano's ESPY's speech from 1993 in it's entirety.

I have seen it many times before but each and every time it moves me.




At halftime of the game last night between Villanova and Texas Dick Vitale spoke on ESPN and at Madison Square Garden about the V Foundation. I wanted to find that video for you because it was great but I can't find it anywhere online right now. If I find it in the future I will post it on here.


Jim Valvano was awarded the Arthur Ashe for Courage Award on March 4, 1993. He died on April 28, 1993.

Since its inception the V Foundation has raised over 80 MILLION dollars with EVERY CENT going to cancer research.


Check out these links for more information:

ESPN-Jimmy V week....videos and other stuff
V Foundation website
More information on Jim Valvano

Back to Work....

Back on the road this week. I am a little north of Pittsburgh, PA until Thursday morning.

But anyways....


How was everyones Thanksgiving and weekend?

Mine was pretty good, thanks for asking.

Although at dinner on Turkey day there were about 6 or 7 too many people. We had a table of 20 people plus 3 babies in the house. That is a few too many people.

I was at one end of the table and couldn't hear what was going on halfway down the table.

But the food was wonderful and there was plenty of it. Even with 20 people there were leftovers to take home.

Friday I decorated my house with Christmas lights and went and got the tree. And believe it or not the dogs still haven't knocked it over!!

Although they did eat part of an ornament.

And now I am in Pittsburgh, or more accurately about 20 mins or so north of Pittsburgh, for business.

I am not a fan of this travel stuff so no offense to anyone from this area but I would rather be at home.

But after this I don't have to travel again for work until at least the middle of January and maybe longer.

In February I am putting in for a transfer to a position that doesn't travel at all. That way I can spend all my time in the Harrisburg region of PA instead of all over the state.

And that would make me happy!

Get Me OUT of HERE!

I have 3.5 hours left in my day.

It is dragging on and on and on

and

ON!

I just want to be able to leave so I can get ready for Turkey Day tomorrow. And that is why today is dragging so freaking much.

Not only that I have noticed the blogging world is a little light today. Apparently a lot of you out there are off today and traveling.

If I had to travel I would probably be off today as well.

DAMN....I wish I would have been traveling!!

So Many Ideas.....

So little motivation.

I have lots of ideas for posts but don't really feel like writing any of them right now. But I will....eventually.


Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. As far as a single day of the year goes, Turkey Day tops them all in my book.

First of all I love Turkey and everything else that goes with it.



Second, my cousins and family from Indiana used to (and sometimes still) come in for the weekend.

Third, I love watching football with family and falling asleep during the games.

And Fourth, now that I own my own house I decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving and get the Christmas Tree that day too.

Why so soon?

Because Christmas is my absolute favorite season and time of the year.

While Thanksgiving is my favorite holiDAY, Christmas is my favorite holiday SEASON.

I love everything about it and always have. There were a couple of years in there when I was an older teenager or for the first couple years after my daughter was born that I didn't really enjoy it as much.

But now that Kiddo is 7 it is soooo much fun to watch her open presents on Christmas morning.

And watching her get excited anytime a Christmas special comes on TV is great too. I enjoy watching the specials as well but she loves all of them and will watch any of them.

And that makes the season incredible to me.

I love the Christmas decorations people put up....as long as they go up AFTER Thanksgiving.

I love Christmas music and movies.

My netflix account will be filled with Christmas movies for the next few weeks even though I probably won't watch many of them.

Christmas season for me lasts from Thanksgiving through New Years Day. And this year it will continue through the first weekend in January since New Years is on a Thursday and I am off on Friday the 2nd.

But first is Thanksgiving and a plate that looks something like this:



My favorite day of the entire year.

Yup....Pretty Much

I have nothing for you today...read this instead. Oh and I got this from Verb.


~THE BASICS~

Name- greg

Birthplace- harrisburg, pa

Current Location- near harrisburg, pa

Eye Color- blue/green

Hair Color- brown

Glasses or contacts- none - 20/20 vision

Piercing or tattoos- none...used to have ears pierced

Single or taken- taken

Right Handed or Left Handed- Right Handed

Any pets- 2 dogs, 2 cats


~FAVORITES~

Favorite color- blue

Favorite flower- whatever kind the wife likes

Favorite college basketball team- Villanova

Favorite holiday- Thanksgiving

Your favorite pizza toppings- pepperoni

Favorite alcoholic drink of choice- don't drink often enough to have one

Your favorite lunch meat- bologna

Favorite non-sexual thing to do with a girl/guy- there is anything else?

Favorite place to eat a romantic dinner- don't really have one

Favorite season- Fall

Your favorite food- pizza

Favorite Ice cream flavor- cookie dough

Favorite subject(s) in school- math & history

Favorite candy- snickers

Favorite breakfast cereal- frosted flakes/fruity pebbles/honey nut cheerios/oh's

Favorite person in your life- wifey and kiddo

Your favorite park- Disney World, Epcot to be more specific

Favorite place to be- home

Your favorite sport to watch on TV- football

Favorite TV show (Still running or ended)- how i met your mother, the big bang theory

Your Favorite number- 27

Your favorite letter(s) of the alphabet- M

Favorite names for a son- gavin

What about favorite names for a daughter- arianna



~WHICH DO YOU PREFER~

Chocolate or Vanilla- chocolate

Alcoholic or non- Non

Long relationships or one night stand- Long

Scary movies or comedies- comedies

Short or long hair- long

Croutons or bacon bits- croutons

Beach or lake- beach

Single or Group Dates- group

McDonalds or Burger King- Wendy's but mcdonald's if I have to choose 1

Pepsi or Coke- coke

Starbucks or elsewhere- NO COFFEE

Dogs or cats- dogs



~DO YOU'S~

Do you smoke- Never

Do you sing- always

Do you want to get married- already am

Do you believe in yourself- always

Do you get along with your parents- yes

Do you go to church- Nope

Do you want children- already have and I want more

Do you drink- very rarely...almost never

Do you like to travel by plane- sure

Do you still watch cartoons on Saturday morning- nope

Do you have a teddy bear- Nope

Do you like thunderstorms- Yup

Do you play an instrument- nope, want to though (guitar/drums)



~HAVE YOU EVER~

Have you ever fired a gun- nope and I never plan to

Have you ever loved someone- yup

Have you ever been caught doing something you weren't supposed to- yup

Have you ever cried for no reason- nope, I feel like there is always a reason

Have you ever cut your own hair- nope

Have you ever skipped school- yup, all the time in college and once or twice in high school

Have you ever bungee jumped- Nope, seems a little like suicide to me

Have you ever punched someone- yup

Have you ever been arrested- nope

Have you ever broken into someone's house- nope

Have you ever participated in a crime without getting caught- petty stuff as a kid



~SOMETHING A LITTLE MORE MATURE~

List your top fear - losing family

What bill do you hate paying the most- the wife pays em

What did you want to be when you were growing up- my own boss

What errand/chore do you despise- cleaning the garage

What do you get every time you go into a Wal-Mart- i avoid walmart at ALL COSTS

What are your views on marriage- a beautiful thing that many people take for granted and others give up on to easily

If you could get away with it, who would you kill- no one...I wouldn't be able to forgive myself

What famous person (dead 0r alive) would you like to have dinner with- jeremy roenick, donovan mcnabb, mike huckabee

How do you want to die- in my sleep before I get so old that I don't know who anyone is

At this point in life, Would you rather start a new career or relationship- career

Number of drugs you have taken- few and nothing illegal

Your most missed memory- the house I grew up in or trips to the beach with family

What are your first thoughts upon waking up- ugh, do I have to

What goal would you like to achieve this year- start a new career in real estate

Who would you like to see right now- no one that isn't around

Are you still friends with your ex's- nope

What books are you reading (if any)- books by nicholas sparks, just finished A Perfect Day by Richard Paul Evans, Everyman by Philip Roth

What are your regrets- my business, not yours



~SOME RANDOM QUESTIONS~

What do you want when you are sick- nothing

What radio station is your car radio tuned to right now- 105.7 the x (listen here)

Strangest place you have ever brushed your teeth- huh?

What country would you most like to visit- USA, I have only seen a few places

How many pillows do you sleep with- 2

Let Me Clarify

I have realized over the past couple days that my definition for regret is probably different from others.

Some people may think of regret and think that it means something you would change if you could. Or something that you wish you had done or would do differently.

To me regret is partially that.

Like I said in the post, I have many regrets but I WOULDN'T change anything that happened in my life because I like where my life is.

And there are some serious things that happened in my life and in my relationships.

But while I would love to have NEVER done some things I would never change them because I wouldn't want to risk losing what I have now.

And some people consider regret to only be big things. Like I regret killing that guy or I regret robbing that bank.

Which is good. You should regret those things.

But to me regret is everything you....well....regret.

There have been things in the past few years that I have regretted buying. Mainly cause I would LOVE to have that money now. I regret getting into credit card debt on MULTIPLE occasions.

But I still wouldn't change most of it. Sure if I would go back and not buy something and have that 100 bucks or so I would but only if it wasn't going to affect my life now.

I just wanted to clear that up.

I understand that everyone looks at words or ideas and sees different things.

I did not mean that everyone has something in their life they would change or take back. Because I don't have that.

And trust me....I have done or not done things that have DRASTICALLY changed my life.

But I like where my life is and wouldn't change a minute of it.....but I still have regrets.

Some that I think about everyday.

Regret

There are many people out there that claim they have no regrets in their lives.

To those people I say this....

I don't believe you.

Now maybe you don't regret the big things in your life but EVERYONE has a regret or two. Even if it is as simple as a grade you got in high school cause you didn't do what you were supposed to.

How can you not have 1 regret?

Sure you can accept what happened and not think about it. But that doesn't mean you don't regret it.

There are many things in my life that I would say I regret.

From things that have happened in relationships to things I did growing up. There are lots of things that I regret doing or regret not doing.

But the real question is would I change anything if I could?

Probably not. Because, like Verb, I believe that you are a sum of your experiences. The things you have done or not done in life have shaped and molded you into who you are today.

So changing one thing in your past could in theory change everything that happened after that.

So I would not change anything because I am happy with my life and would not like to risk it by changing something in the past.

But that doesn't mean I don't have any regrets!

Historical

Last night.......

was....

HISTORIC!!


But that was last night.

Now, as a NATION, we have to come together and support our new President.

Even if you voted for McCain you should support the President. I have defended Bush on numerous occasions even though I didn't vote for him either time.

It isn't about who the President is or who you wanted the President to be.

It is about the United States of America.

And to the the world...the President IS the United States of America.

And as a country we must support the President.

GO VOTE TODAY!

I hope you all did your research ON ALL THE CANDIDATES. Not just the Presidential ones.

Today is the day to vote! And if you did your research and know who you are voting for...go vote.

If not than you shouldn't go. If you don't know who is running or what they stand for or anything about them.....DON'T VOTE!

I would rather have all the people that don't know what they are talking about just stay home and let the people that took the time to learn something elect our public officials.

I was with my family last night and found out that neither of my sisters or my sister's husband are intending to vote today.

That's a shame. Especially since my one sister really knows what she is talking about. The other one doesn't want to be bothered by going and voicing her opinion.

I just don't understand.....

Get Informed

Don't forget that on Tuesday you are not only voting for the President but for many other candidates in many other races.

You should know who they are and what they stand for.

The people you elect for your local and state government have just as much if not more influence over your daily life and you should be electing people you want in office.

Here is a website that will give you some basics on candidates as well as what your ballot will look like.

www.smartvoter.org

Go to the site and look at the information there. And then search the Internet for the candidates home pages and read more about them.

Get informed so that you can make the right choices.

The Sack Lunches

I got this in an email the other morning and thought I would share with everyone:

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I will get a short nap,' I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. 'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me.

Chicago - to Great Lakes Base. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed to Iraq.

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached Chicago , and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time.

As I reached for my wallet, I overheard soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. 'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to Chicago

I looked ar ound at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a soldier in Iraq ; it's almost like you are doing it for him.'

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you like best - beef or chicken?'

'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. 'This is your thanks.'

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, an said, 'I want to shake your hand.'

Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed in Chicago I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.'

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals.

It seemed so little...



A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life wrote a blank check Made payable to 'The United States of America ' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.' That is Honor, and there are way too many people in This country who no longer understand it.




edit: Apparently there may be some confusion as this DID not happen to me and I did NOT do this. It was part of an email that was sent to me and I liked the story. And also I apologize for the font/color issue that made the post unreadable....I think I fixed it now.

A Good Weekend

I haven't done a weekend update post in a while and I don't intend to start doing them again. But for today I will do one.

I was out of town Thursday into Friday and didn't get home until middle of the afternoon on Friday.

I did some minor yard work Friday afternoon before heading to the soccer field for kiddo's makeup game from earlier in the season.


Saturday was supposed to be the last game of the season but the soaking rain that went through PA meant NO soccer.

But it did mean WET PUPPIES! And unfortunately......MUDDY PUPPIES!

They realized that it is easier to dig in mud than it is dry dirt. GREAT!


But then the real meaning to this past Saturday started......


Penn State @ Ohio State!!

If the Lions could win this game than they are on track for their first undefeated season since 1994 and possibly their first National Championship since 1986.

I was PUMPED!

Some friends came by to keep me calm and whatnot which actually did work. I wasn't too hyper and managed to not get too tense during the game.

But it didn't matter at the end!

PSU 13 OSU 6

AWESOME!!


And after that the weekend got busy again.

I woke up Sunday morning to......a mess in the dog crate.....and a mess on the dogs.

One of them had gotten ill in the crate overnight and there was stuff all over the crate and all
over the dogs.


So after all that cleaning and whatnot we went to a hockey game last night in Hershey, PA.

That was a good game to be at (we won 8-3) but the more interesting thing happened around the 2nd intermission.

Wifey and Kiddo went to the bathroom and when they got back there was a story to be told.

A little pre story.....kiddo wanted to bring her Nintendo DS to the game in case she got bored....I said no.

Apparently she didn't like that answer. She had stuffed her DS into her pants before we left the house and managed to sit in the car, walk to the arena, eat her dinner, sit for 2 periods (almost 2 hours), and get to the bathroom without having problems.

And she still didn't have any problems. Apparently the bathroom was so crowded that Wifey went into the stall with her just to get out of everyone's way. And then it was discovered.

I was so impressed that I allowed her to have the DS after the came back.

I would like to think that I would have been smart enough to do the same thing when I was 7!


And now I am here at work to begin yet another week....Yippee!!! (sarcasm intended)

all about ME

A - Age: 27

B - Band listening to right now: Today it was Aerosmith, yesterday Staind, Last week it was Lincoln Park, Breaking Benjamin, and Stage.

C - Career future: Hopefully I will be a Real Estate agent next year.

D - Dad’s name: if you really want to know...email me.

E - Easiest person to talk to: wifey

F - Favorite type of shoe: sandals

G – Grapes or Grapefruit: Grapes

H – Hometown: suburbs of Harrisburg, PA

I – Instrumental talent: I wish. I would love to play the drums or guitar but don't have the patience to learn.

J – Juice of choice: Apple rasberry or orange juice

K – Koala Bear or Panda Bear: HERSHEY BEARS!! ahl hockey team

L - Longest car ride ever: probably South Bend, Indiana. It was like 10-11 hours or something to see my cousins soccer game.

M – Middle name: it starts with an A....wanna know?....email me

N - Number of jobs you’ve had: 12

O- OCD traits: alphabetized cds and dvds

P - Phobia[s]: snakes, spiders, heights (falling)

Q - Quote:

Scotty
It's very rare that you can jump right into what you are passionate about. More often than not you take steps to get there. Take some steps, just remember that sometimes you have to take a step to the left or right to move in the direction thats right for you.

R - Reason to smile: family, friends, football, hockey, sports in general, movies, music

S - Song you sang last: I sing all the time....I am terrible at it (so they say) but I sing anyway. Probably this morning...Dream On by Aerosmith

T - Time you wake up: M-F ~~~ 6:00 am.....Sat/Sun ~~~ no later than 8:00 am.

U - Unknown fact about me: my favorite color is blue

V - Vegetable you hate: most of em.... I only eat corn, broccoli, and potatoes (questionable veggie)

W - Worst habit: Lazyness and eating late at night. I love to snack and do so at night even though i shouldn't. I am rarely motivated to do work when i am home...or at work for that matter.

X - X-rays you’ve had: foot, ankle, hand, back

Y - Yummiest food my belly likes: pizza

Z - Zodiac sign: taurus

Positive Test

She took the test this morning...

And it was POSITIVE!!

And then she took a 2nd test....

And it was positive too!!


And yes we were trying!!

Company Killer

If you don't like your company and you want it to begin to struggle or worse fail, just get me a job there.

Seriously, any company I work for seems to fall on hard times at some point in the near future.

Let's recap my work history and you will understand why.

First example:

My third job (first two were paper boy and something else small) was at a sporting goods store called Shenk & Tittle. I started in October and everything was fine....except that the mall we were located was damn near useless. The only people that came into the mall were old people so that they could walk around and get their exercise.

By May of the following year that store was closed.

I started and within 7 months the store was empty and I was looking for a new job.
Second example:

The next real full time job I had was at Rite Aid. If you haven't heard of it Rite Aid is a national drug store chain. Before I started the stock had been pretty high, like 50 or something. And while part of that was because of the executives cooking the books they were still getting away with it when I started.

Within a few weeks of starting at my store the companies stock price fell down to like 1 dollar or something like that.

Third example:

Another sporting goods store called Kelly's which specialized in shoes and sports clothing. I worked there from November to February one year. A nice store in a good mall that seemed to be doing okay.

With a couple months of me leaving the store was closed and everyone was out of a job.

Fourth example:

After that I went to work for my fathers construction company. I actually worked there for 4 years and while I technically didn't do any real harm to his company, it isn't around anymore. We were building around 25 houses a year, which is a lot for a small company like his, and everything was good. Except that his partner wanted out.

After 4 years of working there my dad and his partner sold the land they still owned and ended their company.

Fifth example:

After that my dad and I became partners in a new construction company. I thought it was the beginning of my future. I had seen how much money he had made and was fine with doing that for a living. We managed to build a few houses and even got a couple sold. And then.....

The housing market completely fell apart. Within 8 months of us starting the business the market was pretty much dead and didn't seem to be coming back. We managed to sell a couple more houses but I have since left and moved on.

Sixth example:

I am currently at this place of employment so it isn't all bad for them. But it isn't all peaches either. I work for the biggest employer in my local area and they usually hire numerous people each year.

Not anymore. Within 6 months of me starting here......there is a hiring freeze for the foreseeable future.


See what I am saying. That is 6 different occasions of me showing up and the business going downhill.

I guess I better put this on my resume so that future employers know what they are in for!

Lucky Dog

I must say that I am a lucky man.

Why you ask.

I will tell you obviously.

I watch football every weekend. And I don't mean that I only watch my favorite teams and don't really care about anything else.

That is what most people would do.

Or a lot of people watch only college on Saturday OR pro on Sunday.

But that isn't me either.

I watch about 25 hours of football EVERY weekend. Some weeks it is even more than that.

I watch games from Thursday through Monday and will watch games if they are on Tuesday and Wednesday as well.

This past weekend I watched about 24 hours worth of football.

And I LOVE IT!!! I watch every game I can no matter what teams are playing.

But why am I lucky?

Because my beautiful wife tolerates it and me all weekend.

She doesn't HATE football but she doesn't enjoy watching it much.

And by the end of the second weekend of the season she is tired of it and doesn't care if another football game comes on the tv ever.

But she doesn't complain or bitch or holler at me for watching it.

She doesn't give me a list of stuff to do each weekend so that I can't watch what I want.

She doesn't take over the tv or bitch until I change the channel.

And I appreciate it greatly.

I don't golf, I don't hunt, I don't fish, I don't go to bars and get drunk with friends. I watch sports.....mainly football.

And she handles it wonderfully.

Not only that but she is beautiful and tolerates all of my other short comings (and believe me I have many).

She is pretty much perfect in my eyes.

Thank you honey,

I love you

Tired

Is anyone else tired of the election crap?

I love the topic and think that it is very important but come on.

I watched part of the debate last night and I didn't hear anything new.

And that is the problem.

The candidates are saying the same thing in each debate. Or they are just repeating things that they say in tv commercials. Obama started a comment yesterday about McCain's insurance plan the EXACT same way as the commercial does. WORD FOR WORD!

What's the point?

I am all for debates on the topic and would love to debate just about anyone on the topic but these candidates have pretty much said what they intend to say.

They aren't coming up with anything new and probably won't before the election.


I also watched CNNs recap of the debate.

And they pretty much feel that if the election were tomorrow Obama would destroy McCain.

And there isn't much in this world that makes me happier than that.

I really am afraid of what this country will become under McCain/Palin.

Am I 100% confident with Obama/Biden?

No but why would I be. There are surely things about their policies and opinions that I don't like.

But I definitely like them better than the McCain camp.

Looking for Perfection

4 years ago the only thing I ever heard leading up to the election was that they didn't like either candidate so they were going to vote for Bush since he was safer than Kerry.

Basically people were choosing the lesser of two evils they said.

I hate that!

And now I am hearing it again this year.

Why?

Are people really expecting to find a candidate that has the same opinions and stances as them?

Because that person isn't out there!

Everyone lives their life the way they want to. Which means that everyone has different life experiences that shape who they are.

So unless you were attached to someone your views are probably going to be different than then person next to you right now.

I personally like BOTH of these candidates more than the Bush/Kerry election from 4 years ago.

Do McCain or Obama agree with everything I think?

Hell No!

Does that mean I can't like one of them to be in office?

I don't think so.

I understand if you would rather of seen a different candidate in the running. I wanted to see Mike Huckabee. I think he would have been perfect for the position would be great for the country but unfortunately he didn't have enough money.

So my #1 choice isn't involved. Big Deal!

So I look at the 2 that are left and I listen to them talk and I research them both and I find one that I can and will support.

What is so hard about that?

Why do people have to continuously say things like I don't like either candidate so I will take him because he is safer. Or I will take the lesser of two evils.

What? Why?

Vote for the candidate that YOU feel will be the BEST President of this great country!

This Bugged Me

Let's talk about something other than politics on here for a minute or two.

Last week I witnessed an act on my bus that I find to be ignorant and unacceptable.

On my bus just about everyday there is a young man who is more challenged than the rest of us.

He rides the bus just about every morning and everyone knows who he is.

And he sits in the SAME seat everyday.

The seat he sits in and the one across from him have signs above them that say they are reserved for older people or people with handicaps if they are requested.

Well he was waiting with other regular bus riders at the stop in the afternoon one day last week.

And he was in the back of line.

But all the people that were getting on KNEW exactly who he is and where he usually sits.

Now if it was me I would NOT have taken his seat because I know he likes to sit there and seems much more comfortable there....in fact when I get on in the morning and he isn't in that seat he moves to it AS SOON AS THE PERSON MOVES!

So I know he is comfortable there and likes to sit there.

But did this other idiot think about that when he got on the bus?

Nope!

A daily rider of that bus sat down in that seat before he got on. And the other seat reserved was taken by someone not disabled and not old.

Did they get up and move?

Nope!

Now I understand that the seats are only reserved if they are requested by the riders....

BUT

if you know that HE is going to sit THERE....

DON'T SIT THERE!

Sorry....but I find that to be common courtesy.

Something that is sadly disappearing in this country!

The End of the World?

yes this is a long post....but you really should read it....please


I didn't watch the entire debate Friday night, just the last 30 minutes or so.

In that 30 minutes they mainly talked about foreign policy and how they would proceed with other countries like Iran, Russia, and North Korea.

Which to me is the most important part of a President's policy.

Why?

Because the President only has full control of one thing.....the military.

Think about it.....

Everything else like tax cuts, insurance, education, and policy making has to be at the very least approved by the Congress.

And most of the time Congress handles everything that is associated with any of those things.

Which is why people say that politicians lie all the time. Because they don't follow through on campaign promises.

Well they can't follow through because they DON'T have final say.

Every one gets a vote and things are amended and eliminated and added to bills and policies in order to get important things passed.

But the military.....well only ONE person controls them......

The President.

So when you look at everything else the candidates are talking about realize that none of it is going to happen the way they say it will.

Obama promises tax cuts and says he will get health insurance for every American......he intends to do those things but more than likely he won't be able to. Maybe he achieves them to a certain degree but not the way he is telling you now.

But look at what they are saying about our troops and how they will handle talks with other countries.

That is the one area where they are telling the truth and they will do what they want.


Here is a slight breakdown of what I got out of their foreign policy debate:

McCain is not going to relax his strong opinions and plans of force. He WILL keep our troops in Iraq for as long as it takes. He is willing to ignore some other areas of concern to finish the job in Iraq. Because he says that Iraq is key to the situation.

And honestly I kind of agree with him. If we pull out of Iraq it is likely that Iran or some other country that we don't agree with (pretty much all of them there) will come in and take over and turn into a huge power.

The area I don't agree with McCain on is his stance with talks and negotiations. He refuses to sit with a country like North Korea or Iran until that country does something for us like disband their nuclear programs.

Why? I don't understand.

This to me sounds like something from the Cold War. We aren't going to negotiate with you unless you do something for us.

But they don't want to negotiate or talk with us.....so why would they do something for us.

I agree with Obama that you have to some sort of preparation and initial talks with these countries but you don't need to make a hard stance and say we won't work with you until you work with us first.

But it is a tough call on which candidate presents more of a danger in my eyes....

Obama will (more than likely) pull out of Iraq as soon as possible. Not right away but there will be a schedule. But he will talk more with other countries.

McCain will NOT pull out of Iraq until the job is done. But he won't talk to other countries.


Typically, and in the past, McCain's stance could work. Because we were, and still kind of are, the strongest nation in the world. And we could pretty much bully people around.

But that was when we had everyone on our side....like France, Spain, and any other country there with any power.

But now that we have ignored the diplomatic route these countries aren't backing us.

They have no problem supporting us if we have REASON to be aggressive but we typically can't show a good reason lately.

If McCain gets elected this will continue to be a problem.



I said this to my mom the other day after arguing with her about why McCain is going to ruin this country (yes I have made up my mind on who to vote for)....

It is said that the world is possibly going to come to the end on December 21, 2012 and I said that if McCain is elected.....

.....I may start to believe it!

Another One

The following is an excerpt from a post by Carl Newman of Warrior Poet. To read his entire post click here.

"John McCain is a fine man. And a good manager. Sometimes I feel like he’s running to be America’s grandfather, and I’m embarrassed to think about his policy reversals. But like I said, he’s a good manager. He’s fundamentally running a campaign of reaction, he displays no clear vision of the future. Of course, the future is terrifying, and so people are drawn to him because they think he can handle whatever comes his way, even if he presents no real understanding of what’s coming.

George Bush, by the way, is also a manager. He’s a profoundly bad one, but fundamentally, his leadership style is one of reacting to the environment (just incorrectly).

Barack Obama is not a manager. He is clearly capable of management, his primary candidacy demonstrated that. But he is not a reactionary. He is a leader. He presents a vision of the future (commonly mocked by Republican pundits), and his campaign is one of looking forward to create change (commonly parodied by everyone: Hopechange cocktail, anyone?).

A manager keeps you stable when things are changing. A leader accepts that things are changing and moves you towards stability. It’s a fundamental difference in the assumptions that each candidate has on the role of a president."

I really couldn't agree with his post more.

Obama will make a great President because of his leadership skills.

You don't have to have a ton of experience to be great at something. All you have to have is the backing of supportive people and the confidence to do it.

If he is elected he will bring this country together like never before!

Please check out Carl's post. This is just a bit but it says what I think so I wanted to include it.

Fear Reading

I have been reading a lot lately. Some fiction and some non-fiction.

But I just picked up a book that I bought the summer of 2000.

It's a very interesting book that you should all pick up and at least skim through.

The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things, by Barry Glassner.

It is pretty much about the facts behind the media's scare tactics.

For instance when you hear about how many people have this or how many times this happens, aren't you curious where they get their numbers?

Glassner basically looks into all of that and tells you about it.

He looks at different things that scare us and than makes reasonable explanations.

Here is an example:

"In 1996, Bob Garfield, a magazine writer, reviewed articles about serious diseases published over the course of a year in the Washington Post, The New York Times, and USA Today. He learned that, in addition to 59 million Americans with heart disease, 53 million with migraines, 25 million with osteoporosis, 16 million with obesity, and 3 million with cancer, many Americans suffer from more obscure ailments such as temporomandibular joint disorders (10 million) and brain injuries (2 million). Adding up the estimates, Garfield determined that 543 million Americans are seriously sick - a shocking number in a nation of 266 million inhabitants. Either as a society we are doomed, or someone is seriously double-dipping, he suggested."


Ridiculous. I bet you never even really thought about the figures you read in newspapers and hear on the news.

All you think about is how bad it sounds.

But you don't consider anything behind it.

Another example:

"Studies of the general population - both men and women - find that large numbers of people who believe they have symptoms of cancer delay going to a doctor, often for several months. When asked why, they report they are terrified about the pain and financial ruin cancer can cause as well as poor prospects for a cure. The irony of course is that early treatment can prevent precisely those horrors they most fear."

People are so sure of their information that they ignore common sense.

Instead of just getting up and going to the doctor they delay because there is no way anything can get better so why go.

Isn't that ridiculous?


I just picked up the book this morning and started reading it again and I read both of those parts today.

The rest of the book should be just as good.

It's something that this country needs to realize....there isn't as much to be afraid of as people think!

Whew

I have noticed that fewer and fewer people are checking out my nice little blog here and am curious as to why.

Is it the political posts?

Is it the lack of posts?

Do people just not like me?

Okay it isn't the last one because I think it is obvious that everyone likes me so it must be one of the first two.

To challenge the first one I won't say anything. I may still post about politics but it isn't a burning desire to do right now so you can come back if that is keeping you away.

The second one is a little harder. I started a new blog/website with Verb called Jumping Offsides. It is all about sports which I love. It also includes a podcast (episode 1 is up, check it out) which takes a lot of time. And if you have noticed I have already posted MANY posts over there.

But I am going to try to post a few times a week here too. Last week I was out of town from Tuesday through Friday so I wasn't available to post much and when I was the new sports site took priority.

I am going to try to stay on a schedule over here but I am not going to divulge my thoughts until I try it for a while because I don't want to let anyone down.

Other than that everything is good here.

The puppies are getting bigger and getting better at listening and whatnot.

I haven't really done much else other than watch football and read for a while now so I hope you are all doing well and while I may not post, I do still read!

In fact my google reader is over 300 and I am slowly catching up.

Come Check It Out

If you are interested in sports at all than you should really come check out my new blog.

Verb and I have started our own blog and will be posting daily about things going on in the sports world.

And soon we will be conducting podcasts and putting them up on the page.

So please come by and check us out.

www.jumpingoffsides.com

self promotion

How do all of you feel about self promotion?

By this I mean how do you feel about proudly sharing your achievements with EVERYONE in the office?

My co-worker recently passed a test to get some letters put after his name.

I am sure it wasn't easy and I am sure he worked and studied really hard to do it.

But when he came in this morning (his first in the office this since he received his passing score) he went around to EVERYONE and told each person that he passed his test.

Now personally I would never do this.

I might go and tell one or two people and then I would let the normal conversation and gossip carry it to everyone else.

But actually I don't think I would tell anyone unless someone asked me about it.

I am not saying I am right or anything but that is what I would do. But I also know that I am a very private person and don't want to have a conversation with anyone about my personal life or accomplishments.

But it does bother me when someone comes around and flaunts their achievements.

And then he sends out an email to more parts of the office telling everyone that he passed. And asking if anyone wanted to go CELEBRATE HIS ACCOMPLISHMENT next week.

Now maybe it is just me but I don't want to have to throw myself a party. But I can see why he would do this.

Now like I said I am not saying that I am right on this. Maybe most of you would do the same thing.

But it does bother me.

Just a Figurehead!

I tried to be as unbiased as possible in the post and (believe it or not) have not decided who I am going to vote for yet. Although I am leaning one way. After writing the post I am even more confident in my (potential) choice than before. I truly feel that this is true:


In my personal opinion the office of President of the USA is little more than a figurehead position.

Meaning they don't make decisions based on their own history, experience, or thoughts. But they take advice from a panel of advisers and then make a decision. Basically they get all the credit for great decisions and all the blame if something goes wrong.

I personally feel that the key to the office is the people they put around themselves. And then it comes down to how well they take advice and how stuck in their ways they are.

All of the candidates promise multiple things like tax cuts, health care, or education.

But what everyone has to remember is that they can't do any of those things without Congress.

Everything they are proposing has to be agreed upon by so many people that it will never happen.

What will end up happening is that no matter what is promised it will be watered down and will barely make an impact when it is finally accepted and made official.


On top of that, all Presidents have a bunch of advisers for everything they need to know. There are speech writers/advisers, combat advisers, scheduling advisers, and everything else.

So the real key to a successful President is one that is open-minded (as much as politician's can be) and one that chooses the right people around them.

And I am not referring to the VP position because that is even more useless than the President position and is really only there in case something happens to the President.

The best Presidents take the information that they are given from their advisers and take the interest of the American people and decide on the best course of action.

This is the reason why I don't blame Bush for the war in Iraq. I am pretty sure that everyone in his circle wanted to go into Iraq and get Saddam out of there. So he took every one's opinion and decided that they all couldn't be wrong. But they were!

And I think any President would have done the same thing unless they refuse to fight in which case they shouldn't be in office.

Even most of the American people wanted Bush to respond with military action. And yes maybe a lot of us didn't think Iraq was the right way to go but we didn't have access to the reports and information that was being given to Bush and his staff.

But Bush isn't a very open-minded President in my opinion. I think he has a plan in his head and he is following it completely. He is not straying from it and won't.

I think the first George Bush and Bill Clinton were much more open-minded and weren't set in their ways or ideas.


But this year I think we have a candidate that is perfect for doing what he needs to do. And that is Obama.

I think he will always listen to his advisers BECAUSE of his lack of experience. Where as McCain is very stubborn and stuck in his way. Just look at how he is handling the Iraq war issue! He will not waver in his theory and decision.

And a person like that can NOT run this country right now.


But it really all depends on who is appointed to adviser positions.

Does the new President put in people along party lines or do they branch out and create a diverse staff.

I think a diverse staff that crosses party lines is KEY to the Presidency.

And I have more faith in Obama to appoint the advisers necessary than McCain.


I read somewhere that people are confused by the "Change and Hope" campaign by Obama. They don't understand what that means.

I think it means exactly what I am saying.

Instead of the same thing from the same people like the last 8 years we are going to get a different perspective on things from here on.

He is going to be more open to listening to other opinions and take everything into account prior to making a decision.

And that is what we need right now. Someone that we can trust!

The first political post

Okay, I have read numerous political posts in the past couple of weeks with regards to the candidates for this year.

I am going to tell you right now that I intend to and will be posting my thoughts and views on what is going on.

I am not going to tell you who to vote for. And I am not going to exaggerate or make stuff up about someone to sway your opinion.

All I want to do is argue some things that are coming out and argue people's reasoning in their arguments.

Everyone needs to take a step back and look at the candidates and their interests before making a decision.

This will not turn into a political blog or anything close to it.

The only reason I am saying all of this is because most of the other political posts I have read have begun with someone saying that this is only a one time thing or something like it.

And I don't agree with it. This is the one most influential and important elections ever. Think about it......a black man for President and now a woman for Vice President!!!

I never thought I would see it in my lifetime and I am very excited about it.



The reason I bring this up today is that there have been serious debates in my office lately about the candidates.

And today's really bothered me.

A guy I work with said he likes Palin and that he thinks McCain is going to win in the elections. And that Obama is going to get crushed in any debate they have.

Okay, so I asked him, "did you watch any of the debates prior to the primaries?"

His response....."no, but Obama is only good reading from a teleprompter, he can't come up with things off the top of his head."

Oh really. Interesting opinion considering YOU DIDN'T WATCH THE DEBATES!

I did watch them. I actually recorded one cause I wasn't going to be able to watch it live.

I am not going to say that Obama is better than McCain at debates cause the two haven't faced off against each other yet.

But I remember listening to McCain and watching him back himself into a corner time and time again because he speaks to freely about his ideas and interests. Is that bad? No, I like that he is willing to put himself out there. But by putting yourself out there you are setting yourself up for IMMEDIATE ridicule if your opponent is competent.

The best politicians do one thing better than anything else.....they say a lot while saying NOTHING!!

And Obama is much better at that than McCain. McCain is a lot of times saying something meaningful. He is telling you what his intentions are and how he would do it.

The problem with that is that people instantly form opinions based on what you said and if someone doesn't understand what you meant than you may lose a supporter.

But Obama says very little but he talks all the time. And that is a huge advantage in debates in my opinion. He offers his ideas and interests without getting too deep into the planning of them.

Now like I said before I think McCain should be respected and admired for stating his intentions whenever he is asked.

But if you think McCain is going to destroy Obama in a debate than you obviously haven't watched them debate.



If anyone wishes to comment or debate, please do!!

here you go

I said I would post pictures of the puppies so here you go.

These are the few that have been removed from the camera already.

This one is of Ash sleeping in our living room

This is Simi laying on the floor by the front door

This is the two of them in the breeder's living room when we picked them up

here is Simi looking out from under the chair at the breeder's house

They are very cute and are learning everything very quickly.

Still A Busy Week

I am still in the midst of a very busy week here in PA.

Last night I had my first fantasy football draft that took about 3 hours to complete. Verb and I have a team together because it costs $100 to join and I don't have that kind of money to spend on games.

But the draft went surprisingly well as we were picking last of 13 teams but ended up with a VERY GOOD team!

The league champion gets $500 so I expect to make some money just in time for Christmas.

Now back to my busy week.

I have soccer practice tonight for kiddo's team.

Tomorrow the family is coming down for dinner to celebrate my sisters birthday and labor day.

And then Sunday a bunch of friends are coming to do our fantasy draft. This one is amongst close friends and only costs about $15 dollars this year. The wife, verb, young buck, lazy old white guy, skittles (formerly monkey), oompa loompa, jari kurri, and myself are in that league so it should be a good time.

And to top all of that off I still have the puppies to watch after and clean up after. They have been pretty good so far this week. No more than a couple messes a day which is a VERY good thing!

Pictures are coming........at some point!

Oh and once again let me remind you where I will be tomorrow during the afternoon and then again after dinner:
Doing what you ask.........watching college football of course!!!!

Quite a Week (so far)

It has been a busy past couple of days at my house.

Saturday we drove out and picked up our puppies!

So the past few days have been filled with trips outside and playing inside.

Having puppies is a lot like having a baby. It is constant supervision and doing everything you can to make them happy and keep them occupied.

I would even say that having 2 puppies is harder than having a baby because they will destroy things if given the chance. (and remember I do speak from experience)

But the good thing about puppies versus babies is that within a couple months the puppies can (in theory) be left alone for a little while. And OBVIOUSLY a baby can not be left alone for years.

There will be pictures soon but right now they are still on the camera.

I have also begun being the assistant coach for my daughters soccer team which is only 2 nights a week, plus games on Saturdays, but it is something else to take my free time.

And I have started taking classes to be a real estate agent. If anyone living in the Central Pa area is looking to buy or sell in the coming months or years, let me know!

The wife has started classes again at a community college near us. This will be her third semester back in school. She is doing good but the puppies are affecting her study time.

And the kiddo started 2nd grade today. She is kind of excited and kind of not excited. Really she seems pretty impartial to the whole thing.

And to top it all off I have 2 fantasy football drafts this week/weekend to prepare for. I have been working on this stuff for the past few weeks but now they are here and I intend to devote a couple more hours to it. Although some (most) of that time will go to setting up one that is being held at my house.

So it has been and continues to be a very very busy week.

Oh and college football starts this weekend!! My favorite time of the year = football season!

WE ARE PENN STATE!!!!!

How I feel about work.....

A little thing called...

Ambition.

It is something that I really wish I had more of.

I haven't really figured out a way to get more of it or if you just slowly develop it as you get older but I need more.

The past couple days I was out of the office doing work in the field and the business I was at had numerous 20somethings doing a lot of work.

And it wasn't just a lot of work but there seemed to be a lot of responsibility on the shoulders.

I have read numerous blogs of people that also seem to have good jobs with a lot of responsibility. And then I look at my own job and I feel like I could do more.

But I don't want to.

When I started this job I was ready to work all day every day with no problem. But then I started and I didn't have anything to do for a few months because I was new.

So now I am used to not doing anything and I can't get motivated to do anything.

The other unfortunate part of my job is that promotions and pay raises are more based on tenure than performance.

Which is good and bad. On one side you are all but guaranteed to get a raise and get promoted but on the other side you don't feel like you have to work for it so you don't.

So like I said, I need some way to get ambition.

I know some of you out there are ambitious and have good jobs and show lots of potential, so I ask you....

have you always been like that?

Were you one of the smart people in high school that always wanted to do better?

When did you become an ambitious person??

Cause I need to become one..........sooner than later.

The Vaca Post

Okay so I said I would give you a brief vacation review so here it is:

Last week I went to the beach.

There you go, how is that for brief??


Okay Okay I will give you more.

We went and spent the week in North Wildwood, New Jersey. It was a good time but not perfect.

Although I am beginning to realize that NO vacation is ever perfect and expecting them to be perfect is basically being unreasonable.

We went down early last Saturday and were able to get in right away cause some of my family had been staying there the week before.

For many years in my childhood we spent our vacations in Cape May and I hadn't been back in many years. But this past week we went down 2 different times, once for dinner and some site seeing and then for some shopping. Both times were great and it was probably my favorite part of the trip.

The group that went down was me (obviously), the wife, kiddo, verb, young buck, my sister, oompa loompa and his wife and 2 kids. His one daughter is 3 days younger than mine so that works very well.

We played some poker, I actually lost $20 the first night, and we played a lot of Rummikub, which is an awesome game if you ever get the chance to play.

We only spent 3 days at the beach but that is more than enough for me. The problem with being in Jersey is that there are always so many people.

My favorite vacation spot is a neighborhood on the Outer Banks of North Carolina called Pine Island. It is located between Duck in Corolla in the northern part of the Outer Banks. And if you ever get the chance to go, DO NOT pass it up. The problem with Pine Island is the cost. Some places sleep 28 people and cost around $15,000 a WEEK!!

The last time we went we had 5 groups split a $3500 a week place so that wasn't too bad but some of the places are ridiculous. Seriously it is the BEST time you will ever have. It is the most relaxing place to go to the beach.

But we were in Jersey last week and it was nice but not perfect.

And for the first time that I can remember, I was ready to come home from a vacation. I usually never want to leave but this week was different. I am not sure if I was tired of being there or just that I have so much to do back home here that I wanted to come back and get started.

Either way I had a good time, I am glad I got to go, and I am glad to be home.