unabashed

Random thoughts of my 1st semester @ a "College"

2010-12-17T12:03:00.003-06:00

-I am well aware of people's tendency to dismiss community colleges as an institution that caters to the high school graduates. Some of these graduates have no clue of what to do with their post school lives. I held that low impression of these schools before I began my semester at Blue River Community College; I still hold on to it in some respects. Maybe it was loaning a pencil to someone in the first day of college algebra. Or maybe it was loaning a pencil to someone on the last day of algebra, during the final no less, that taints my opinion.
-The amount of adolescent obnoxiousness was astounding. Yet, a bit surprisingly, I believe I learned quite a lot.
I went into this semester without a single college credit hour under my belt and having graduated over ten years ago. I rarely felt like the old guy, but sometimes someone would say something like, "I was in kindergarten when you graduated high school."
-The classes I was most nervous about were the ones I had the best grades in.
-I am not an overachiever just because I want to get a perfect score on any given assignment.
-I am not an overachiever just because I do my homework either.
-Uggs are ugly. Elephant feet everywhere.
-I wish I could get away with wearing my pajama bottoms to school. Of course the one button fly may be an issue.
-Not calling a professor "teacher" is hard.
-Almost all of the guys in my classes annoyed the living day lights out of me. I don't want to get drunk and screw girls, get over it.
-Does anyone under the age of 25 own a rain coat?
-I do not understand why people insist on walking down a stair way 3 abreast when everyone else is in a single file line. I believe elementary schools should have covered that.
-I don't like writing papers, but apparently I am very good at it.
-$10 for a crappy deli salad? I've not eaten in the 'cafeteria' since day one.
-Is butt cleavage supposed to be attractive? It is not.
-If you have a giant muffin top you should probably not wear low rise jeans and mid rise shirts. I'm just sayin...
-Younger guys don't like to meet my eye while walking down the hallway. Maybe I look angry all the time...
-Walk on the right side of the hallways ya morons.
-For the love of pete, STOP talking when the professor is talking! How freaking hard is that?!
-I sit up front because I don't like distractions. Sometimes I forget that there are people sitting behind me.
-I do NOT like group projects: too many variables...potential LAZY variables.
-I finished with a A in every class; one class was a 98% and another was 100%. Is that normal for college? Just community colleges? I'm not that smart.
-There is a smoking section, it is not here, go away. I received my fair share of mean looks when I made people go away while I was trying to eat and/or study outside.
-The school is supposed to be my ministry. I will try to not be such an old man next semester.
-I love that there were Math and English tutors available all week long. They were fantastic.
-I wish I had a frig in my car...and a microwave.
-I overheard some "mean girls" once; they were very mean.
-I heard someone say they were skipping class and were perfectly happy with a D. I'm perfectly happy with that person not coming to class too.

I'm sure I could go on and on, but for now this is enough to be going on with.

2010-07-04T22:47:00.000-05:00

My Review of Mountain Hardwear Casa 6 Tent - '08 Closeout

2010-05-18T16:20:00.001-05:00

Originally submitted at REI

Think of the Mountain Hardwear Casa 6 as your home away from home. This spacious base camp tent offers supreme comfort for sleeping, resting or simply chilling out.

At $289 it's a great quality bargain.

By unabashedpraise from Central Midwest on 5/18/2010

Gift: No

Pros: It's not super heavy, Waterproof, Windproof, Comfortable, Fly Works Well, Sturdy

Cons: Pole setup is cumbersome

Best Uses: Car Camping, Comfort base camping

Describe Yourself: Casual/ Recreational

What Is Your Gear Style: Minimalist

I am an ultralight backpacker so this was hard to purchase since it weighs more than my base. But the family and quality was what I was concerned with...that and a budget.

The setup was a little weird compared to most tents I've used but after the first time it's been a breeze- if you use 2 people; one person can but it's a lot easier with 2.

One reason it was purchased was I thought the inside peak height was about 6': I was wrong. However, the tent is pretty tall and it help up very well under sustained winds and 30-40 mph gusts with only 3 guy points (out of 5). We have not used this in warm weather but it stayed decently warm in the windy cold conditions; the low was about 37F. However, it is pretty big so I wouldn't push it in COLD temps.

The vestibule (another requirement) is nice and big but Mt Hardwear missed a great opportunity to have a factory awning option; it currently pivots where the zippers meet.

I did not want to use a queen mattress, thinking it was overkill, for my wife and I but it fit great along with my child's pad and lots of storage left over. A full would fit better but until we have 2 or more kids we should be just fine. As far as "6" sleepers they would be req'd to use personal pads and sleeping bags. You aren't going to fit "6" car campers in here.

The window is pretty small and we had to get up close and personal to check on our napping kiddo. However, for privacy's sake I think it's a good thing.

The only quibble I have is the fact that the main pole section (which is frickin' huge) is one piece. I think they should have made this into 2 separate sections. When you put all the poles together on the ground they spread out so much that they are in danger of being stepped on by anyone in the 60 sq ft area they take up. I'm not kidding, they are huge. This shouldn't be a reason to not buy this tent unless you are setting this large footprint in a compacted area while a large number of people are walking around you and not helping setup.

I have not tested this in the rain but given Mt. Hardwear's history of tent testing I feel very confident: 1200" of rain and swirling wind in a 24 hr period. http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=331785255363

You can't have it all but this should be all we will ever need. Even if the family gets to be 4 or more I can just add a smaller tent for more space. Anything much bigger than this is, in my opinion, way too big.

(legalese)

Dead Red!

2009-08-31T13:57:00.002-05:00

I think this is an 'about time' type of legislation. They didn't specify how long is too long nor how we are supposed to determine what light we can cross on. That sure would help...

Of course the argument is that bicyclists (in general) run stop signs and red lights all the time. Some do; so do some motorists. I would be willing to bet that there are more motorists break the speed limit every time they drive than there are bicyclists running red lights and stop signs.

I always make a stop at Stop Signs and regularly have been exercising the Dead Red rule. Everyone has their own convictions, I'm just glad they passed the law.

Have these people even READ THE BIBLE?!

2009-08-21T19:55:00.002-05:00

It's an abomination and it's got to be one of the most ridiculous things I have ever read. Gay Lutheran Clergy. I don't see how people can call themselves as Sons of God and still allow their church leadership to do something this vile. God desires that no one perish, whether gay, drunk, liar, etc. We've all come short of the Glory of God. I know I would not want to be at the Judgment Seat with this one of my head. God have mercy on them. This if nothing else show the need for Christ obeying men and women to lea, not factions in the church that allow such sin to thrive. Was no one reading their Bible and keeping these people accountable?

Rom 1:20-32 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (21) Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (22) Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, (23) And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. (24) Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: (25) Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (26) For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: (27) And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. (28) And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; (29) Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, (30) Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, (31) Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: (32) Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

This grieves my soul.

The Old West

2009-08-06T15:59:00.002-05:00

Where would you be Old West without this?

New View

2009-07-30T13:19:00.002-05:00

Right now I've been looking at things from a different point of view; whether thought or action. I may be looking at something and see how it could, or should, change. Or maybe I am changing and I am simply seeing them differently.

Some changes and/or realizations:

New blog format (obvious).
Consolidating 2 Blogs to 1.
Spiritual Change: I'm re-reading (listening) to some C.S. Lewis authored books: The Screwtape Letters and Mere Christianity (want to physically read instead of listen for the 6th time).
Changed view of my job (with a slight change in schedule).
I am accepting the realization that I am indeed flat broke.
I'm not that into charity; the Greek version. I'm going to work on this one. I'm not sure what's going to happen, but I do know that I'm not a super caring type of person. Not that I want to be, but I know I should be more than I am.

Anyways, I didn't really have much to post. Just thought I'd throw you guys a bone.

The Eagle Rock Loop - Completed

2009-07-16T08:55:00.006-05:00

Eagle Rock Loop Trail, Ouachita National Forest Trail Highlights: This trail offers the longest loop trail in Arkansas. A combination of the Little Missouri, the Athens-Big Fork and part of the Viles Branch Horse Trail, this trail travels through the southwestern portion of the Ouachita National Forest. Trail difficulty ranges from easy to most difficult. The trail has nine river/stream crossings and travels over nine mountains. There are also numerous creek crossings. Length: 26.8 miles - 2 to 3 days travel time one way. History: This trail was developed along a 100 year-old postal route and old wagon roads in partnership with the Forest Service, the Student Conservation Association, Bayou Chapter of the Ozark Society and the Little Missouri Trails Council.

This is an excerpt from the USDA Forest Service website. What is doesn't mention is that this trail is 'probably the most difficult trail in Arkansas'. That is a quote from my map that was ruined by moisture.

I didn't forsee any issues with the trail or weather. Plan was for a 3 day, 2 night trip. Since the weather was so hot we actually did the trip as an overnight and was able to pound out the miles in 2 days. The recorded temps for the nearest town was 97° on Friday and 100° on Saturday with 77° as a low for Friday night.

First problem was I woke up at 0230-ish since my daughter was crying and I could not go back to sleep. Since Guy (trail partner) was supposed to be at my house to pick my up at 0340-ish I figured I'd would just stay up. Called Guy at 0340 to find him still in bed. Whoops! No biggie so I moved my stuff outside by the car so the dog whould not wake up the girls. He arrived a little after 4 and we hit the road by 0430.

2 hours later I remember that I had forgotten my hiking boots. &$@#*(&!!!

I called the Mrs, who had to wake up the Mad, met us almost half way (THANK YOU!), then back on the road 2 hrs behind 'schedule'.

The road to the trail was a winding gravel road that was about 15 miles loooong. When we finally arrived the area was nice but the Park Ranger stated that some [idiots] had been feeding the bears. Bears?! Oh yeah, bears. Be careful.

Parking Lot with Guy's Trusty Steed.

Cool rock wall that had water gushing out at the bottom.

First real water crossing. There were a LOT of crossings and I am glad the water was not very high for some of them. Many of the 'wet' crossings felt really good...if only we had taken the time to soak in a few of them.
I am not a fan of wet socks while hiking so we had to change often, but I didn't get a blister the while trip so it was worth it.This is the swimming hole mentioned in the May (?) 2009 issue of Backpacker Magazine. It looked VERY inviting... I will be coming back to this trail.

Santa? I thought you stayed in the North Pole? This is most definitely NOT the North Pole, however, there is a pole involved in the rear area of Santa. Weird place for a santa.
Whew! 11 Miles under the belt. I'm taking a breather next to a trail marker sign.

Camp: See all the poison ivy?! BTW: +90° = No fire = More sleep = Earlier start. This was an established camp complete with a half full container of acetone that I used to clean my hands of poison ivy-ness. This is the first trip exposed to this much poison ivy and I didn't get it; love it.
MILES later: Hot and thirsty break. I wish we had taken a pic of our lunch spot, it was awesome but this was nice too. I'm learning that I enjoy the trip more when I take a break and let it sink in. Otherwise it's just a trail in the middle of no where.

Apparently someone thought it too heavy.
Golf Ball sized spiders (with legs not stretched out) make some freaky trail buddies:
The 'mountain' trails looked like this for the most part and luckily(?) we had to stop often to enjoy the view and catch our breath. The knife like ridges were pretty steep in the back ground and it's hard to tell, but the trail is pretty steep here and even more steep in other areas. These weren't something to shake a stick at. I want to tackle them again when it's about 70°.
We ended up at the trail head about 30 hours from when we started. We made it an overnight trip and I can now appreciate the effort we were able to put in, but I'd rather space it over 2 nights to enjoy the area more.
After a steaming hot shower we limped into a local town called Mt Ida for some subway. Thankfully they were closed but the Shack Attack located in their historic downtown was open. Awesome sweet tea, great baked submarines, and low, low prices. I only wish we had been there for the $6 pizza buffet.

As we were hiking out I was getting pretty low in spirits and leg cramps were imminent. I prayed and God answered. I asked God to grow my faith and He did. God is merciful, even on small stuff, like leg cramps and hot delicious sandwiches covered in melted mozzarella.

Eagle Rock Loop

2009-07-09T14:42:00.001-05:00

Eagle Rock Loop

Movie Night

2009-05-22T14:42:00.002-05:00

Good: Star Trek Movie

That was such an awesome movie. All around goodness; even the wife liked it a lot and didn't get lost in the story. The writers kept it simple enough that someone who has never seen the series can still jump on for the ride. They did a fairly decent job of casting and the actors themselves were great. I did have to explain why certain things happened the way they did and there were only a couple of 'eye rollers'. There were quite a few laugh out loud moments (one of which was Ellen Degenerate for a makeup commercial at the beginning...oh gawd). OK, so some of the logic and science behind the movie is a bit ridiculous. Who cares? It was action packed and kept me on the edge of my seat. I highly recommend seeing this in the theater. With blockbusters coming out this year I hope that the long awaited REAL Star Trek movie isn't forgotten; I can't wait to see how they plan to lay the story line for the future movies. You'd have to see it to know what I'm talking about.

Oh yeah, for all you 'Star Wars not Star Trek' fans, this is well worth watching. In fact, you might be a bit jealous of what the Star Wars movies could have been were it not for George Lucas fiddling with crap he should not have been.

The Bad: The theater, Dickinson Belton 8, is the worst theater I have ever paid full price at. The last time I entered such a shabby and dim screened theater I paid a $1...because I was at the $1 Theater. DON'T GO.

Saturday at The Farm

2009-05-14T13:30:00.003-05:00

Drove down to Dad's Farm on Saturday to pick up a few things. We finished the hitch carrier Dad had been making for me and loaded it down on it's maiden voyage with a very heavy tiller, a bunch of fire wood, and a weed eater. It rode just fine though the back of the Jeep did squat a little. Who needs a truck!? I do want to put some lights on it since it is very close to the 3' limit. That thing is huge too! Too big maybe? Nah. It held just enough; I think between that and the roof carrier I can haul the kitchen sink AND the washer and dryer.

After working we ate some lunch and then had a good time catching fish; it's the first time fishing with Dad since last year's canoe trip that ended without much fishing going on. We actually got tired of catching them knowing we'd have to clean them all and it did take a while. I'm not as practiced as I used to be, but it's like riding a bike...actually it's not, but cleaning was easy.

Overall a very enjoyable time.

Unemployment Rates

2009-05-14T09:18:00.003-05:00

Unemployment Rates

This is very interesting. I live in KC, MO and compared the unemployment rates for Jackson and Cass counties in MO and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in KS; I may move to Johnson County.

Actually it was very interesting to include all the states and to see their unemployment trends through the years, i.e. Wars, Presidential Administrations, Natural Disasters, etc. I know some of you will really enjoy this. Some will not even read it.

Wow.

2009-05-08T17:26:00.001-05:00

2009-05-08T17:00:00.001-05:00

Sylamore Trail Excursion May 2009

2009-05-02T23:13:00.005-05:00

Let me preface this by saying that I have 2 motives for this post:
1. To show how miserable and wet (yet exciting and fun) our trip was.
2. To inform those who may venture this path in the future; beware!!!!

I will keep this post short because I am NOT uploading all these pics to blogger who, it seems, still clings to the ancient art of uploading as few pics as possible in a given time which are are not even guaranteed to be "clickable" for expansion to original size. Instead I will be using my flickr account to highlight the events of the weekend (lightly used at best). Please make the time to look at all the pics because some are pretty good (by mistake) and the comments will give more details to our fellows hikers.

I did enjoy the weekend and the road trip involved, though I feel shortchanged on hiking miles. I shall have to ride more to compensate. Thanks for the good times Guy.

Without further ado: Here ya go; click away! (Guy, these really are the cream of the crop out of 86, trust me.)

Backpacking the Sylamore Trail

2009-04-29T08:08:00.004-05:00

trip planned: Sylamore Backpacking Trail

Guy and I have planned a short trip to get the spring started and are looking forward to a few hours without the bustle of life and just enjoy the beauty of the Ozarks. By the time we are done we may just be ready to jet home to see our families; it's an ambivalent hobby.

Originally we planned to hike close to KC, but it seemed that longer trails are all about the same distance away whether in state or out. So we agreed to try the before now unheard of Sylamore Trail. We wanted to hike the north end of this trail but it has been closed due to the damage caused by winter ice storms; this section is 'newer' which may attribute to the damage. Every trail I have been on has some sort of damage whether it's downed trees or washed out trails, but to close the whole trail must be extensive damage indeed. We thought of just going anyways, but what the heck, we can follow the 'rules'. Many reviews say this is one of the most scenic trails in the Ozarks.

This is my first 'out and back' trail so we'll see how it goes; I'd rather go for loops or shuttles, but we wanted this to be as simple (and cheap) as possible.

Itinerary:
Friday:
- On the road by 1300 or as soon as we can
- Arrive and camp at Allison trailhead
Saturday:
-Early start
-Turn around at Gunner Pool; mile 9
-Camp between mile 8 and 7 depending on scenic and water resources. I am excited about this part because I've never really gotten to choose my site without backtracking on a one way trail; should be nice.
Sunday:
-Early start
-Back to car; total miles- 18.
-Back to civilization

I'm really going to miss my daughter, all she knows is daddy isn't home, the wife understands, but Madeline doesn't. That is one thing I've noticed in the last year: I can communicate with my wife and she is understanding of things, but how do you communicate that to a toddler? I may have to hoof it to the nearest ridge to get signal for a phone call...

Pa-dow!

2009-04-27T17:31:00.000-05:00

Psa 50:12

.
If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world [is] mine, and the fulness thereof.

McDonalds

2009-04-22T17:38:00.002-05:00

I ate McDonald's for the first time in years; a co-worker bought me a parfait (yogurt, fruit, and granola). It was yummy. Next time I'm in a crunch I can now go to McDeath's andgrab some food without spending hours later on the toilet. Sweet.

That'll be 5 parfaits to go please...

The new Raytown Hy-Vee

2009-04-08T22:19:00.002-05:00

I love the new Hy-Vee in Raytown. I have not seen the rest of the store, but this part of it is great!

"Like I've always said: When you plan ahead and things happen, then you're always prepared."

2009-03-31T21:32:00.003-05:00

2009-03-20T13:42:00.002-05:00

New addition the the Unabashed Family

2009-02-19T19:42:00.003-06:00

We purchased a 1998 Grand Cherokee Limited today. We like it.

I had been delving into Jeeps for awhile now and I was actually starting to get overwhelmed with options and plans and....I just couldn't take it anymore. I finally told the Lord that if he wants us to have one then great, otherwise I'm done shopping!

A week later I had the thought that "today" (yesterday) would be a good day to visit the dealership and today we have one more family member.

It needs a couple things, but overall it seems to be in very good shape. The dealer put over a grand in it hoping to give it to one of his kids, but that person didn't get it because they didn't follow the rules. That and God wanted us to have it!

So what does this mean? I don't have a truck anymore. SO DON'T ASK. But, I have a few friends that do...that reminds me, someone needs to pickup some stuff for church this weekend!

Transmission Swap.

2009-02-08T23:03:00.003-06:00

Oh boy. What a drag. Last week my transmission lost 3 of it's 5 gears and since it had been slipping out of OD for about 2 years I figured it was due for a change. Since a new one was out of the picture at about +$1500 (cheap) and a rebuilt one was to be had at about +$700 I had to go used. I found a heck of deal on Craigslist for a used tranny for $125 with "just over" 100k miles on it. Now that is a deal. This model, 4L60E is used by GM for just about everything, but I had to match up the bell housing and make sure the drive shaft length would stay the same so I had to be picky and only buy one that fit my model year and engine. That was a but hard because it seems that most 4cyl S-10's had manual trannys. Well the lord provided and I had it delivered to my door no less. What a deal.

My father came into town to help me change one since I have never had the honor....o lucky me... and we started when it was a high at about 70ºF on Saturday and started again on Sunday35º F.

Saturday was spent getting the dang thing out and picking up all the parts we needed for the swap. Argh. And not the pirate 'argh" either unless pirates said that because they swapped trannys in their pirate ships a lot. Ironic that we had Lufti's for dinner...

Sunday was spent putting the "new" one in...and re-getting all the supplies...again.

We had compared the 2 but wasn't sure about tearing into the new one until we were sure they matched. Dad said something about hoping it's a good one and I said that the Lord led me to this one, it was cheap, and He has prepared me a lovely tranny for my truck...

...And here she is with the new filter and gasket. What a beauty. You might not be able to tell but it was very, very clean inside; even my Dad was impressed. Well, God did it, I don't know that I should be surprised. There were a few very small particles in the bottom but that is expected on any tranny and especially one that is over 100k, which is less than my truck, go figure. The outside was a bit dirty, but I thought it was a good picture of what Christ does in us.

Ok, I did wipe the pan out first, but everything else is "as is".

"Crappy" jack from the 1930's rented from Borgmeyer's on Blue Ridge.
It worked well though, just not much to look at.

After many laboriuous hours we had everything back in and all the parts and pieces reattached. All that was left was filling it properly and the test drive. I am here to report that is was unevent ful and I am very pleased to report that there are no known issues. Amen, glory to God.

Notes of interest:

My starter is my bane. And pia.

We had to use a lot of extensions for the top 4 tranny bolts; it equaled about 4' in length.

My neck is aching after holding up my big head for the last 2 days.

My dad was a lifesaver, I could not have done this in a weekend and maybe not at all without him. Dad's rule.

Always buy more fluid than you SHOULD need.

Gloves really do help keep your fingers warm when tools are cold.

Drain the tranny when you take it out or your driveway will look like mine overnight.

Make sure your o-rings match perfectly.

Don't hesitate to pray...a lot when dealing with vehicles. God knows what a pain they are.

Johnny Cash helps too.

I'm out of here, I'm tired.

Johnny Cash

2009-01-22T09:43:00.004-06:00

My brother in Christ has made mention a few times how much he likes Johnny Cash. I started listening to his music this last week and find it very satisfying. I love my rock, and I like blues and even classical. However, I am nothing but a surface listener; I do not delve deeply into usic to study or learn about the why's and how's of music. I just like to enjoy it, and Johnny hits the spot. Maybe not for cycling, I think something a little "rock-ier" is better, but for pc time and in the car it works.
Johnny Cash: The Legend Boxed Set

Favorites so far:
Ballad of Ira Hayes
Cocaine Blues
25 minutes to Go
and many others.

Combat Air Museum

2009-01-19T15:09:00.006-06:00

Last Saturday the weather was nice so we decided to take a day trip to Topeka, KS to visit the Combat Air Field. There are nicer, bigger, and cooler Air Museums, but I didn't feel like driving over 3 hours to get there. We decided to take the back route instead of I-70 to avoid the tolls and to relax a bit more. The drive was nice and peaceful on the back country highways and we chilled while listening to Harry Potter audio books.

When we arrived it was about 50ºF and it took us about 1hr and 40 min to get there. What we didn't know was that the hangers are NOT heated. Luckily I grabbed my wife's coat on the way out the door, I had my knit cap in the car, and our daughter had a couple of blankets in the car in addition to her jacket. It felt like it was a meat locker in there!

The first part of the tour was guided and we got some great info. After that we just kinda skipped out on our own to explore.

WWI German Bomber- dangerous because of it's color, it was hard to see, hard to shoot down. The pilots dropped 5# bombs from the cockpit. Crazy.

F-14 Tomcat

My hottie posing next to the F-14. It was bigger than I thought and way cool.

For those who may recognize this very famous style of aircraft, I was dissapointed to find that it was a model. It was the only model plane there. (It's a B 109 Messerschmitt)

This guy was HUGE!!! I was very impressed at the size of this helicopter.Check out the difference in the size of tail rotors in comparison to the Huey.

I really enjoyed the Migs and looking at the intake and exhaust of the jets. One of the coolest planes was the F4 Phantom which actually had a Mig kill attributed to one of it's pilots while flying that actual jet.

This was a Mig 15, it was pretty interesting to see the differences in the orientation of the cockpits between the american and russian designed fighters.

This was a Vietnam era "spy plane". It was used to gather intel and to direct flights and rescue operations in hard to reach areas. We could go in; it was big and roomy. It smelled like an old hospital, but was very interesting. I wish I would have taken photos inside. Oh yeah, it was 50-60's era orange carpet!

Got more pics, but no one probably cares! Anyways, we had a good time and thought the drive plus the $6 a person was worth it, just bring a coat!!!

Northern Brewer's Cumbrian Double Brown Ale

2009-01-12T10:32:00.021-06:00

Cumbria is in NW England and is a part of the shire! Hmm this must be good!

I've been hounded by a fellow blogger about not blogging. Well, I didn't really have anything to blog about so I thought I'd run through the steps of brewing a beer extract kit for those who don't know how to do it. You can stop asking for posts now Jack.

Step 1. Obtain ingredients and tools.
I was fortunate and blessed to receive 2 beer kits from my mom and stepdad for Christmas. Yippee! I also use food grade utensils (no wood) and 5 gallons of good clean water. I usually use jugs from the store, but opted for tap. I like my tap water so I thought I'd try it for a change...and it's cheaper! All brewing ingredients were purchased at www.NorthernBrewer.com whom I highly recommend.

Kit: Cumbrian Double Brown Ale

Step 2. Activate Yeast
This kit comes with Wyeast's British Cask yeast. From my understanding the package contains a nutrient rich inner package that is sitting in a water yeast mixture. Pop the inner package and let it sit for at least 3 hours; it swells as it sits. I like to give it a shake every now and again; store it someplace warm, but not hot.

Wyeast 1026 PC British Cask Ale
A great yeast choice for any cask conditioned British Ale and one that is especially well suited for IPA’s and Australian ales. Produces a nice malt profile and finishes crisp & slightly tart. Low to moderate fruit ester producer that clears well without filtration.

Attenuation 74-77%
Alc. Tolerance 9%
Flocculation medium/hIgh
Temperature Range 63-72°F (17-22°C)

Step 3. Clean and Sanitize!

There is a difference. The first rule to good beer is sanitization. Just for good measure clean and sanitize everything, especially the utensils you will be using and your hands... over and over at every step.

Step 4. Let's make some wort!

I use about 1.5 gallons of water set to boil in a stainless steel kettle (some use aluminum). Once the water reaches about 150-160ºF I put the steeping grains in to steep for 15 minutes. This kit has a LOT of steeping grains.

At this point I like to take the Malt Extract and place it in a pan of hot water and layered on the bottom with paper towels. I then bring the water up to a nice high heat to lower the viscosity of the extract; you have to make sure the seal is popped and the cap is loose.

While waiting for the 15 minute mark it's a good time to have some inspiration while you are waiting.

After 15 minutes I remove the bag, let it drain, and then carefully squeeze the bag to get some of the excess moisture out. I then toss it in the trash and turn up the heat to get the kettle to boil. I think it's called a wort at this point (unfinished beer).

Once it comes to a boil, I turn off the heat and remove the kettle from the burner. This is when the fermentables are added in; the sugars the yeast are going to live off of: the 6#'s of Gold malt extract and 1# of corn sugar. I like to use a nice flat spatula to scrap the bottom of the kettle to make sure the sugars don't stick (and later burn) as I mix them in.

Now I return the kettle to the burner and bring it up to a boil.

Once it starts to boil you have to be very careful of a boilover, that can be VERY, VERY messy. When it is boiling add the bittering hops: 1 oz of Fuggle Pelletized Hops, Alpha 4.6% (60 min).

There is usually an extreme boil over danger here so be careful! I had to turn down the heat immediately after I added the hops. It was actually above the top of the kettle but it sank back down as soon as I was able to get the heat turned down. See the hop pellet in mid air?

This boils for 60 minutes. In some kits you may add some hops in the last 5-30 minutes for aroma, but not this recipe. Now is a good time to make sure your fermenter and the rest of your supplies are sanitized. I generally use this time to watch a movie on the laptop or read a good book while enjoying the inspiration.

As it nears the 40 minute mark I like to fill the sink about 2/3 full of COLD water for the ice bath. You need to cool the wort as fast as possible to about 70ºF, 20 minutes is pretty good. The faster you cool it, the clearer is will be as a finished product. Also, it has to cool down before the yeast is added or it could kill them. I like to brew in the winter because the water is waaaay colder coming out of the faucet. Then I add my frozen gallon jug to the sink to thaw. Once it thaws a bit I cut open the jug to let the ice out and ice pick about 10 minutes before the end of the boil time; I also keep other ice on hand to keep the water cool.

T-00:00:01 and Stop! Ok, now that the time limit is up I cut the burners and make sure my lid is sanitized. Lid on, lift, and insert into the cool bath. I like to swirl the wort to help cool the middle. I also like to CAREFULLY swirl the cool water around the ketlle. I usually use a couple of bags of cubed ice, but I forgot and well...here we are instead. Over all I think that it works rather well in the winter with out needing extra ice.

Once the temp reached a low point, or was close to it, I poured 3 gallons of cool water in the fermenter. I then set up my handy dandy strainer to keep all the grain and hops particles out of the fermenter and out of my beer bottles. Many people like to use a wort chiller to cool their beer and leave the particles, or cold break, but since I am too cheap to make or buy a cooler, I'll just have to make do.

Now that I've reached about as low as I can get in my current set up I am going to filter the wort through the strainer into the fermenter. Since the strainer is small and fills up fast I have to do it in 3 different pours. Pour, shake, empty, repeat.

Now is a good time to aerate the wort. I like to froth it with my spoon I've been using all night.

Next is pulling a sample so I can check the gravity of the beer. I use a sanitized siphon to place it into the beaker for my hydrometer testing later.

Now I need to pitch my yeast. I've already sanitized it and my scissors so all I have to do it carefully release the pressure and cut a large enough hole to empty the contents without dropping in the inner pouch. I cut the entire bag open so you could see what it looks like.

Pitch it in!

Now I snap my sanitized lid on top, fill the sanitized air lock (allows gas out but not in) and store it in a cool dark area between 63-72ºF.

Now I have to wait about 2 weeks before I stage it into my racking bucket to put into bottles. I'll update you when that happens. Overall it will take about 6 weeks for the product to be ready for consumption.

The gravity measured at 1.058, very close to the ending gravity.

Hope you enjoyed....though probably not as much as I will!

ps- I had many problems with blogger while doing this so I am not going to "polish" it. If there is a mistake, deal with it. I'm done doing blogs this picture heavy.

Sickness, Vacation, and Everything..

2008-12-01T09:38:00.005-06:00

It's been quite a while since my last post so I thought I would let all my faithful readers (yeah right) catch up on everything.

I took off last week to burn some vacation time but was sick for 80% of it. Actually I'd already been "sick" for about 2 weeks and it finally came to the point where I was sick enough that my wife made an appointment for me while I was still sleeping to go to the doctor (thank you!). So Wednesday I went to the doc's who stated that it's been over 3 years since my last visit and she sounded surpised/impressed/disappointed. 3 years?! Wow. I wonder how often most people go to the doctors. Anyways, she put me on steroids, antibiotics, and codiene flavored cough medicine. I then received my flu shot and got an x-ray on my knee which has been bothering me. Man, it felt like a yearly tune up of something. By the next day I felt much better and by Friday I almost felt normal and no longer stayed up till 2 or 3 am coughing. So I took my new found energy to clean out the Garage; of course 3 hours later I realized that I wasn't fully recovered yet and felt like I was going to pass out. So my week long vacation didn't feel like it started till Friday, but I had been bored since Tuesday.

While I was driving to work this morning I realized that I no longer had such a struggling attitude about my job, whether permanent or temporary only time will tell. I was actually looking forward to work. This made me wonder how, or why, this change came about. Usually my vacation time is spent out of town in places like Colorado, Arkansas, or even big city Chicago. Any place that I generally enjoy much more than my own hometown where it feels like there is nothing to do....ever. When I come home from those places I typically have a feeling of resentment, or at least a disappointment, for my house not being wherever I just left and I feel like I'm back to the same old thing. I shall call it Vacationitis.
This last week however, not only did I stay home, but I also was in poor health which made for a not so enjoyable time. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my time with my wife and daughter, but I didn't do anything....at all. The only thing I did was clean the garage on Friday and that about wiped me out.

So, I figured out that if you have a vacation that is enjoyable it's much harder to go back to work with a "refreshed" attitude. When you have a crappy, or at least disappointing, vacation the same old grind stone isn't that bad after all. Huh...I may even be nice to people today. Weird eh?

I have a week off in December, I wonder if I should go anywhere....

Canoeing the Buffalo River

2008-10-21T09:36:00.007-05:00

This last weekend I went on a canoeing trip on the Buffalo River with my father; this is the first time we've had the chance to spend time together in quite awhile. I really enjoyed the time we had and overall we had a lot of fun and I can't wait to do it next year...or at least something similar. The water was super clear and not too cold. Their were tons of fish and turtles; it took us awhile to figure out what the small mouth bass wanted to eat so we didn't catch very many (more on why later). Oh yeah, I saw an alligator snapping turtle in the water that was bigger than the large sewer grates. It was frickin' huge! It had to be at least 2 1/2 feet in diameter!

Friday: Highway 14 at the starting point.

Dad with the first catch; a bluegill. It was hard seeing all the fish and not getting them to bite. I did see some pretty large fish! We weren't used to fishing in such clear water so it took us awhile to find the right combination of tackle to use, but it was fun! The small mouth were great to eat too; there's nothing like freshly caught fried fish and potatoes while camping on the side of the river (second night).

Typical views from the bow of the canoe.

This picture didn't turn out the best, but it should get the idea across. The first night we camped on a gravel bar in a bend in the river. The bar was topped by lots of white soft sand that was comfortable to sit on. Across from the gravel bar was a large mountainous bluff that spread as far as we could see around the bend in both directions. It was awesome. We set up camp and then kicked back and watched nature as the sun went down. We then ate some grub and did some star gazing while sitting around the fire. It was very peaceful and it was one of my favorite parts. That was the one of the best camps I've ever stayed in.
Saturday: We were lazy that morning and took our time striking camp. This is the view I met as I woke up. The mornings were always very foggy and very peaceful. The tent was hard to stake in the sand and we had some heavy dew, but I slept great.
Later that morning we heard some wild pigs (razorbacks) squealing. That sound is creepy. And then a herd of pigs popped out of the woods while I was loading the canoe, Dad missed em but I snapped a picture. I will be seriously be considering a pig hunt next year.
The rest of the morning was relaxing as we started to get the hang of the canoe and the small mouth bass. Suddenly at around 11 am our bubble was pricked and we were slammed into reality. We were paddling down to the last man made stop until our trip was over when we spied a family camping on the bank. The "good ole boy" dad yelled at us, "It's 38 miles to the next stop!" Huh?! Now understand this trip was to be long, but not strenuous as we wanted to fish a lot; say 24-30 miles overall. Basically the guy was saying that our trip was to be about 16 miles longer than expected. We floated past thanking him for his help and advice on nearby rapids and kept going. We did some quick math and figured out that we would need to paddle at an avg speed of 3 miles per hour for the next gazillion miles and that we would probably not make the noonish time on Sunday we had originally planned on. In fact we may not make it to where the truck was at until maybe Monday morning to late afternoon! What the crap?! How did the lady at the canoe place get us so off track!? Well, we figured we better start paddling and stop fishing. At this point we'd traveled 10 miles total.

So we paddled, and paddled, and paddled... And then we came upon some nice fast water that, despite all our efforts, pushed us right into a tree and over we went. Luckily, despite my father's comment of "you think that's necessary?" I had tied all our bags to the canoe and we only lost Dad's fishing pole and hatchet, my trowel and sunglasses, a water bottle, and a pair of leather gloves (left on shore by accident).

Here Dad went back to the spot of destruction but the water was too fast to get good footing to look for the pole. And at that point a few things were floating off down the river. You can see the tree in the middle of the current.
Here we learned a few things: canvas sea bags are not waterproof, waterproof bags are not waterproof, fishing poles do not float in the Buffalo River, waterproof boots hold a lot of water, canoe's beat shins every time ( I have the scar to prove it), store your sleeping bags in waterproofs bags, etc. My splash resistant Olympus camera made it through!

We emptied everything out and Dad changed before we set off again. We weren't in terrible spirits, just a little frustrated about our lost items and the outcome of tree verses us. Oh yeah, synthetic material is the way to go for clothing. The clothes I wore dried quickly from my body heat. The cotton I was wearing never did dry out until we had a fire that night. Synthetics are the way to go, I'm sold.

Anyways, we set off to retrieve our float-ables down river and paddled until it was about 6pm with hardly any day light left. We were way too busy to take many pictures but we did see many bald eagles, they were awesome. We camped in a spot were the river went over some shallow gravel bars into a very deep pool that was bright green. I didn't take any pics because we were busy and while trying to dry everything out I noticed a beeping noise and my camera was freaking out because water finally infiltrated the inner components, argh. It really was a beautiful spot to camp and we made the best of it. Miles traveled after meeting Mr. Good Ole Boy: 14.9. Phew! We were beat. We did have fish that night and enjoyed the fruit of our labor. We managed to get a signal on his cellphone and left a message on my wife's phone letting her know that we may be much later than expected because I knew she would worry when I didn't call. This was definitely God working because the phone had been dunked in the river and was not working well and we were MILES from anywhere near civilization and in the bottom of a river bed. We didn't hang out much that night but went to bed early.

Sunday: We woke at 0630 and started getting ready. We figured if we paddled at 3 mph avg for 8 hours then we would get to the White River at about 5 pm, then we had about 6 more miles down the White to the truck. Oh boy. Then God really answered our prayers and showed us who was in charge. We saw some people later that morning who said it was only 8 miles to the White, not 24!! Then, someone else told us the same thing a few miles later! Oh man! We were soooo elated! That really turned our attitudes around!

At this point the river was slowing down with fast running fords in between long pools of still water and it was still tiring to paddle for long periods of time. And then we hit a fast moving area that introduced us to some boulders under the rapids that we couldn't see and dumped us again. This happens very fast and I'm not sure there was anything we could have done to prevent it. But we learned something again: float-ables float, my fishing reel broke, water bags work better when you trap lots of air in them, having a third paddle is very helpful (even though my father asked if we really needed it! I'm not gonna say I told you so...), etc.

We managed to get underway and find all our wayward items that tried to make it downriver without us. The rest of the day was long and tiring until we finally hit the White River. At this point I was a bit nervous because we had been in some deep water, but it was usually not flowing fast. The White was moving very quickly and it was very wide and very deep in places. Here we are in a tiny canoe on this river and if we capsized here we were in for one crazy and dangerous experience. Fortunately, we made it into the river without incident even though we passed about 15 feet from a tree that would've trashed us pretty quickly. The rest if the ride was great. We were cruising on the river at about 5 mph without touching a paddle. We did make a small effort and hit 8 mph pretty easily, but we then let the river take back over and all we had to do was keep the canoe straight. Until we got close to our destination, Shipp's Ferry. The GPS said it was on the right side of the river but as we neared the spot we realized that it looked like it was on the left. We paddled for all we were worth and managed to cross to the otehr side of the river and hit the boat ramp located there, it was pretty close. If we had missed it it would have been hard, if not nearly impossible to paddle upriver to get to the correct landing. It was hard enough keeping a 4 mph average on still water, let alone against a current. Thankfully we had finally made it at about 1530. We threw everything in the truck, loaded the canoe, and headed for the first diner we could find.

We really lucked out and found a palce in nearby Yellville, AR that really hit the spot, The Front Porch Restuarant. This place had a country buffet on Sunday's that is awesome, beating out any other place I've had, except maybe Stroud's. It is definitly better that Lambert's, by a looong shot. Of course I didn't get any pics but I did have: Smoked Chicken, Smoked Ribs, real mashed potatoes and gravy, fried squash and okra, fried fish, corn, awesome rolls, etc all topped by homemade blackberry cobbler and ice cream. Man, that was one of the highlights of the trip!

The rest of the ride home was uneventful and the wife picked me up from my dad's later that night. I was very happy to see my girls and to get home. I really want to go on another trip next year, but for now, I'm good.

Amended.

2008-10-15T08:49:00.003-05:00

I had a huge post that was essentially a waste of time. I will summarize:

At this point in my life a few things of note have happened. I've been blessed with salvation: a gift of grace given by God, accepted by faith in the Word of God and through the sacrificial action of Jesus Christ my savior. I've been blessed with a wonderful wife. I've been blessed with a beautiful daughter. I've been blessed with a home that keeps us dry and comfortable; I've been blessed with a relatively low mortgage rate. I've been blessed with the ability to pay my bills and provide for my family. I've been blessed with a God filled church who actually preaches the Bible. I have a lot to keep my busy and I have more hobbies than time.

I was seriously thinking of joining the Marine Corp Reserve for a couple of weeks. One day I looked at my 8 month old daughter playing and realized it would break my heart to not see her for 13 weeks, not to mention the time away if deployed. I still feel that need to serve my country and to honor those who served before me, to fulfill my duty. And of course, I still want to shoot a machine gun and throw grenades. The skills taught would be valuable for the rest of my life.

I still want to be a police officer but do not know what God has in store for me. I do not have any skills or aspirations that would lead me in other obvious directions. But what if God does not want me to be a police officer? Only time will tell and I am trying to have patience and seek His will for my life. I pray for wisdom and understanding, along with the strength to do what needs to be done. I don't see myself working here as a career, yet I don't see an exit door available...and I'm not getting any younger.

I'm leaving early this week to go on a canoe trip with my father. This will be the first time we've had a long period of father/son time since I was in high school. I'm really looking forward to it. Floating, fishing, and fun. I'll update with some pics when I get back.

The BHT

2008-09-23T08:58:00.010-05:00

A friend and I have been planning a backpacking trip for about 5 months and after changing the dates more times than I can count it finally happened. We had settled on the Butterfield Trail that is in the Devil's Den State Park and Ozark National Forest in Arkansas. The trail is a 15 mile loop that would accommodate our overnight needs while not needing to stretch into a 3-4 day trip; this loop is possible to hike in one day (hard, but possible). Our plan was to drive down on Friday, camp, then start packing early Saturday morning. Our goal was to (of course) complete the trail, but to also see what it was like to backpack with a much smaller group. We had never been in a group smaller than 5 and I know my wife wouldn't feel safe (yet) with me out by myself, so this would have to do.

I must say that I do not have extensive experience backpacking, but these trails were almost terrible in places. It seems that when they were "trail building" they generally stuck to using the water runoffs instead of actual trails. Now don't get me wrong, some of the trails were really nice. Meanwhile some of them were downright hard to walk on. The first 6 miles or so was very tough on the feet and legs because of the terrain. There was only a few major inclines/declines and those were definitely water shed trails...or should I say trials?

The trail (as we were told) was marked with blue blazes on trees, HOWEVER, there were a few times that we lost the trail completely and had to back track and/or look around for the next blaze. Sometimes this would happen while in amongst trees and other while wading through what I call rock gardens where trails are impossible to see. Another thing we noticed was that we knew we were on the trail when we saw a downed tree in front of us. Some of these trees were VERY tall and had fallen along the trail instead of near or across the trail. I am not sure why they are not removing these from the blocked trail. Even with all the ill marked, rough, and blocked trails I still had fun and would do it again. Did I mention horseflies yet?

Day 1:
Left KC at about 1215 hrs. Arrived at Devil's Den at 1705 hrs and barely made it in time to snag the last available camp site (phew). Of course it was the furthest away from the car too.
Visited a scenic outlook where Guy met a local.
Visited the Devil's Den dam, it was pretty neat.

Nothing much happened the rest of the day, but Mr T had Guy worried a bit I think, along with the deer that were across the dry creek from our tent during the night. I woke up later that night to deer snorting and grunting. That is very weird to hear while you are trying to sleep. I can understand why people may get freaked out if they don't have a clue what's going on outside.

Day 2:
Started later than planned at about 0930:
Watched expectantly for Guy to plunge into the only wet crossing, the one that separated our car from the trail head. He was carrying everything we didn't need back to the car so we could begin while I took pictures and topped off the water.
The valley we were leaving behind.
We were the first on the trail so I blazed our way through the spiderwebs...that's always fun. Soon we were out of the Devil's Den State Park and entering the Ozark National Forest which we would be in until we re-entered the park during the last few miles on Sunday.

This is a decent picture of what some of the flat rough sections of trail looked like. Although this does no justice to the rock garden areas. Not big rocks, just lots of them. I mean lots.

We saw a nice place to camp in the Quail Valley. It was like a small bluff and cave with a big open area where signs of recent camping was found; it is near a flowing creek.
It goes back to the left a bit and you can see where the large rock formation on the right meets the formation on the left. The black hole is a small cave. Overall, one of the highlights of the trip.

We lunched at a place called Rock Hole Camp (I think, the gps trail from an outside source was about 60% accurate).
Instead of lounging in the seats, we opted to stretch out on the rocks in the creek for a superb lunchtime view. The water was clear, cool, and music to my ears. That was one of the best lunches I've had in a LONG time.

After lunch we headed back to the trail and set off. After losing the trail a couple times and navigating over the rough terrain we arrived at mile 9.8 (er something) and followed the rough trail down to Junction Camp. We arrived at 1530 hrs with at least 2 hours of hiking light left that would have still given us plenty of time to set up camp. I figure we could have made it a 12 mile day easy. This area was in the flood level of 2 converging creeks and looks to have been used for many years and had about 7 non-official campsites. We choose one close to the creek that had a large fire ring and a nice flat spot without rocks for our tent. We then finished the afternoon collecting firewood, setting up camp, and refreshing ourselves in the creek; the water was nice and cold!
Oh yeah, during this time I killed over 15 horseflies. I have no idea where they came from, but thankfully they weren't too fast and didn't like the open creek areas.
Another couple of backpackers arrived to set up camp at the next site while we were setting up camp but they immediately set up their tents and went to sleep. I think they were a bit tired. They never lit a fire and ( i think) only woke up to get water and eat. Camping with no fire? That sucks. I had something, maybe a raccoon, eat a small hole in my food sack that we left hanging. That damn coon ate my bacon!!! Muther-!! ARGH!!! NOT MY BACON YOU SON OF A BI- Sorry about that...I'm still better he ate a quarter sized hole in my bag and ruined my bacon... Lesson learned, hang bags really high and away from possible stepping stones...or logs.

Day 3:
The next morning we hit the trail before 0830 back up the long rough hill to the BHT Trail, the other backpackers on our heels...only to get to the top and lose the trail. Man, those blazes suck. One of the guys found the trail and we all set off with us in the lead...only to lose the trail again. Sheesh. Where could it be? I don't know but I set off up the hill to find it, and I did. Can you see the marker? The rest of the guys are about 75' down the hill and we had to climb this "stair" up and over what would be a fairly large collection of waterfalls if the rain water was still shedding off the hills. This was by far the weirdest portion of the trail and the hardest to find. Do you see a trail in the pic? Yeah well we didn't see one in person either, we just climbed to the top.

The trail the opened into a nice wide trail with glimpses of nice vistas to the west. We knew we were on the right trail because there were some massive trees blocking parts of the trail and we had to bushwack around and/or through them. Most of the trees still had green leaves so Ike must have knocked some of them down. Later on we took a wrong turn somewhere (not sure because of the condition of the trail markers) and ended up on a multipurpose trail used mainly by atv's and mtb'ers. We managed to find an old trail that met back with the BHT and took the longest, steepest, and roughest climb down of our trip. Hmm.. I think that's why they closed off that section. It was pretty tiring..think BRT from Hemmed In Hollow going down.

The rest of the trail was uneventful and after a time the other guys took the lead while I took some pics of some swimming holes I'd like to hit next time.

We split with our companions at the trail head as we still had a mile back to our car at the walk in camp site. This bridge started us on the trail back:
After getting back to the car we used the rest area's shower and took off for home. We left before 1230 hrs.

So what was the outcome of our expectations?
Setting up and taking down camp takes longer with 2 people. Hiking with 2 people is faster. Cooking is faster with a smaller people to stove ratio. Dehydrated meals are faster than cooking "real" food. Less people equal less potty breaks, less snack breaks, less rest breaks, less time getting water, etc.
While I enjoy packing with all my mates, I also see a benefit to having a smaller group. I don't see myself going on smaller trips very often but, I do see improvements in time management that can be implemented in our large group. I'm seriously not a mile freak but we should be able to do more. Mileage per day limits the types and lengths of trails we can go on. If large groups avg 7/8 miles a day and a small group 11/12 miles a day then the trails available for both are not the same. So maybe large groups should be limited to certain trails while a more smaller, better prepared group, can tackle some of the harder ones.

I'm looking at the Eagle Rock Loop for a possible spring trip; I already have a topo map.

Nature and the beast within.

2008-09-09T09:51:00.009-05:00

According to my latest issue of Backpacker Magazine there is only one place in the lower 48 that is 20 miles from any road. It's in the Teton Wilderness deep in the heart of Wyoming's Yellowstone ecosystem. You have no idea how hard that struck me.

This fall I am taking a backpacking trip to the Butterfield Trail with a friend. This is about as solitary as I can get and still keep the wife happy. For some reason backpacking alone in a place called Devil's Den does not sound like a good idea to her. I know I usually go with a group, but my friend and I wanted to see what it's like to go solo...er...semisolo...is that a word?

I've always had a strong desire to be alone in nature, this seems to grow stronger as I grow older. I want to be surrounded by what makes this earth beautiful. I want to see things that are bigger than I can grasp. I want to sit and listen to nature as it should be, not as it has become. I want to test my limits in survival as fore fathers did. I want to test my strengths, my weaknesses. I want to find out what it is like to truly be alone. I want to use my feet to travel long distances. I want to be in a place that is so remote that I KNOW I am the only human within miles and miles. I want to see bison and hear wolves howl. I want to see bears and elk, moose and eagles. I want to see the earth as it was carved by God before it was changed by man for his own use. I want to see the beauty God has made. Whether it's a flower blooming in the snow, or a raging mountain storm, or even the deep hues of pink, purple, and orange in a desert sunset, I want to see it, I want to experience it.

Snake River, Grand Teton National Forest (not Teton Wilderness)

This desire probably stems from growing up in the sticks and my current plight of living in the city. It probably comes from a desire to see something bigger than the world that has been made around me. It probably comes from an underlying desire to shed peoples attitudes and lack of courtesy for a place I can understand. I do like the city and it's conveniences, as much as anyone like me can, yet I have a constant desire to shed the lights and sounds and to get back into what made this land desirable. The Frontier is what I want to see, the wild in such a way that it impresses a marked change in your soul. Yet, I never will...ever. Our frontier left us in the late 1800's and our human desire for more has left this land scarred. Maybe there isn't such a place. Maybe the romantic ideas of a land teeming with wildlife and beauty is nothing but dreams. While I "know" it was not easy back "in the day", I still have this desire. Of course, I want to travel the land on horseback too, but that's another post.

Part of the problem in this is sharing it with others. I do want to share an experience like that with my family and friends, only how can I really understand what it is like to be alone when I am with people? I love my wife and daughter dearly and don't see how long I could live without them for any period of time. I am also very conscious of a loneliness that borders on a slight depression when I am by myself too long. What an strange world this is.

So anyways, I am going on a backpacking trip this fall. I hope it will curb my 'nature' appetite for at least a month as I am going to canoe part of the Buffalo River with my Dad a few weeks after that. I can't WAIT until my daughter is old enough for her and my wife to join me on a trip.

Buffalo River Trail, March '08

So will this be a solitary trip? No. Is this a difficult trip? Not compared to others. What do I hope to find out there? I don't know, but I pray it's fun.

I still need to figure out what God wants me to do with this desire...

Let's see if I remember correctly...

2008-08-29T09:08:00.003-05:00

I'll try to get this in order...

Muggy heat, thick enough to "feel".
Ride.
Lightening.
Thunder.
Dark.
Smell of Rain.
Wind.
Rain.
Pouring rain.
Hail.
"Pouring" hail.
Under tree for "protection"
Hail hitting me everywhere while under tree, even through the vents of my bike helmet.
Cold.
Rain.
Hail.
More Rain.
More Wind.
Less Hail.
Ride.
Rain.
Sunglasses as "riding glasses" not cutting it, too dark.
Rain.
River in the roadways.
Ride through river.
Car splashing river on top of me.
Soaked.
Rain.
Shelter.
Take pictures.
No rain.
Meet Pensive.
Ride.
Wind.
Rain.
Wind.
Hill.
Dark.
Tree.
Bee.
Bee.
Bee.
Bee.
Bee.
Tried to warn Pensive.
Pulled out stingers.
Ride.
Face hurts.
Wind.
Rain.
Rain.
Dark.
Think about how I never want to ride with pensive again.
Ride.
Home.

Linked to the blog?

2008-08-20T16:13:00.000-05:00

I don't think you are...

Contemplative Lyrics

2008-08-13T11:36:00.004-05:00

Sweetly Broken

To the cross I look, to the cross I cling
Of it's suffering I do drink
Of it's work I do sing

For on it my Savior both bruised and crushed
Showed that God is love
And God is just

Chorus:
At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered

What a priceless gift, undeserved life
Have I been given
Through Christ crucified

You’ve called me out of death
You’ve called me into life
And I was under Your wrath
Now through the cross I’m reconciled

Chorus:

In awe of the cross I must confess
How wondrous Your redeeming love and
How great is Your faithfulness

These are lyrics from Jeremy Riddle's song Sweetly Broken. This song has been a favorite for awhile now and this morning I left the player on repeat when it came on. Every time I hear these lyrics, I just cant quite grasp the magnitude of what he is saying. I pray that my comprehension would grow, yet I am sure I will never know the full extent of my salvation until I am present with the Lord.

2008 Summer Olympics

2008-08-11T13:02:00.005-05:00

I was actually out of my seat and jumping up and down. This race is awesome.

NES Nostalgia

2008-08-07T10:37:00.003-05:00

Thanks to the Pilgrim and his latest post, I have been exploring the world of NES nostalgia on youtube. Man, this stuff is great. I probably would never play the games very long, but I do miss playing quite a few of them. I really enjoyed this video. I am sure there are emulators and such taht allow you to play these games online; I've played Double Dragon online before.

However, I think you lose the essence of what it was to pull out the cartridge, blow on the end of it, and pray your game console worked! It didn't?! Hmm...try hitting reset then power....No? How about taking it out, blowing on it again (no spitting) and then baaaarrrely push it in. In fact only push it in as far as it takes to push it down. Still not working? Hmm...I used to hit mine...course, I ended up selling it and all my games in a garage sale because I couldn't get it to work anymore... I do miss those games..

Maybe I should have tried this. Man, cleaning the copper connections...I never thougth of that...

Maybe I should have tried this instead of getting rid of it.

Interesting video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z12pSrZ-fU&feature=related

New Belgium's 1554 Enlightened Black Ale

2008-08-04T11:00:00.004-05:00

Saturday after a long morning and afternoon, I was in the mood for some good beer. This is what I was after, but found that the local place said he didn't have any (argh!) so I decided to look around a bit. Stacked behind some other brews I found this gem.

Oh man. I really like this beer. I may have to see if I can reproduce it. Surely someone has a recipe... I tried this beer earlier this year on a game night at the Coder. We enjoyed it very much (very much= drank all of it) throughout the night. Highly recommended and of course, if you should buy some, you should invite me over for a brew!

Nothing new here...

2008-07-31T15:29:00.001-05:00

Something new here:

Score!!!

2008-07-24T10:21:00.004-05:00

While some days are better than others, some days are definitely worse. Yesterday had a turn for the better when I was walking by a large pile of stock that is carelessly stored in the hallway outside my department's main office. Usually it has large wooden signs and pictures that are used for exhibits and such; much too large for practical purposes. However, yesterday I scored a 4' x 4' heavy duty, plastic poster of a galaxy (Andromeda?):
I hung it up in my large office to offset the boring white walls. Now I have another really interesting object to look at along with pictures of my family and of course the ole white C-Dale. Score one for the good guys...

The Return of the MTB

2008-07-22T10:06:00.009-05:00

For the last year, I have been riding my Trek 4300 on the road and not on the trails. I have put hundreds of miles on it commuting to downtown KC, yet the only off road it snacked on was the grassy slope shortcut at the Stadiums. I am now happy to report that I have replaced the slick tires with some sorely needed red walled Panaracer Fire XC Pro's and stripped the bike of all my commuting paraphenalia (and weight), leaving it in the sweet state of simplicity; a pic will be forth coming.
So, Sunday afternoon arrived and off I went with my osprey/camelbak hybrid into a 105° heat index and under the humid canopy of the trees at Landhal Park.

(Here is a view from the parking lot.)

The ride was a bit awkward at first as I was used to being on roads for so long, but my new tires are fantastic. I was sticking all the turns and rarely spun out on the slippery rock. I didn't press hard as much as I have in the past, but it was fun to just get out. All the skills and reflexes came back suprisingly fast and I didn't wreck once. I had to step off a couple times, but no injuries more severe than a couple of bruises. My only issue is this park is about 20-30 minutes away in Blue Springs so I am not sure how often I will be able to ride.

(Pic of the open single track back to the parking lot.)

(Dirtier than the roads too! I took this pic upside down and had to flip it.)

All in all, I love cycling and wish my Saturday morning rides could include some trails. Theres nothing like being on your bike in the middle of no where, surrounded by nature, and not having to worry about some jack hole trying to run over you in his vehicle.

I'm confused...

2008-07-15T08:58:00.002-05:00

This morning I seriously thought about using coffee to make my oatmeal.... I really don't know what to think about that...

As soon as I snapped out of it, I used water. Phew! That was close. I wonder what it would taste like...

What's in a name?

2008-07-14T10:02:00.005-05:00

"It will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine..."

I knew the American made (hand welded and sanded!) aluminum 1987 Cannondale was destined to be mine when I found out it has the same model name as my Yamaha motorcycle, an SR-500. How cool is that?! The bike is all original with the exception of the rims (Rigida: on pre 87's) and tires. Thank you Uncle Paul for the free bike!

I've been wanting a road bike to breach the mtb plateau I've been on and the Lord was gracious enough to give me a really cool bike after I realized I was becoming obsessed and just left it in His hands.
So, 2 bike shop trips later (Bike America is frustrating, Bike Stop's customer service is great!)
My 1st ride was a 20 miler (longest so far) with the my pards angry and pensive. I must admit, the ride is a bit awkward after using my mountain bike on and off road for over 3 years. But, after that first looong downhill I was hooked. Man, this thing flies! I think that spending so much time on my mtb beefed up my legs because I felt like I could've gone 30 miles or more; maybe sometime soon! We did have a few breaks, so it may have contributed. Overall- Love it.
My first commute: Hills are different, no lazing up with low gears. However, I managed to knock 8 minutes off of my morning commute!

It still needs some work: a really good bath, a wireless pc, re-wrap the handlebars, new hoods, and a new saddle. But all in all I am very pleased and can't wait to put more time in the saddle and miles behind me!

Bored.

2008-07-08T15:40:00.000-05:00

I came up with this in about 5 minutes, it should prove how bored I was.

Angry Coder the Silver

He thinks it's not flashy, but it doesn't lie.
He thinks it looks classy, but not on this guy.

He may think he can shave it, but it always grows back.
He may think he can dye it, but it will never stay black.

He wants to embrace it, but we always make fun.
He wants to just bear it, but not from his son.

He can't help but look creepy, when out with his wife.
He can't help but look silvery, for the rest of his life.

Bicycle Commute Update; YTD: 426.06 Miles

2008-07-02T10:56:00.000-05:00

Example of why I will no longer be reading the comments after a news article. What a bunch of morons.

2008-06-16T09:25:00.000-05:00

probably hit by some idiot that calls them donorcycles, driving along paying no attention all the while talking on a cell phone and shoving a doubleburger down his throat which i wish he would choke on. most riders are very attentive just due to the fact theres drivers like u that got your license at wal mart on half price day.

Posted by: HD rider 6/15/2008 10:48 AM 31001.13 Report as Violation	Avg 5.00, 2 votes

if i was not paying attention, i would have hit and killed him. Wish i did. btw... i do not own a cell phone, and i do not eat out. I cook all my own food. (Kinda have to now because of dietary concerns caused by the accident that was a DIRECT result of me NOT wanting to kill a motorcycle rider.) That will not happen again, i promise you.

Posted by: 5 6/15/2008 10:57 AM 31001.14 Report as Violation	Avg 1.00, 3 votes

posted by 5, just tell me where you will be driving today so i can find you instead of hiding behind your post. ill give you your chance to take me out if your tough enough. they should take your dl away for life amnd lock your da up

Posted by: hd rider 6/15/2008 10:58 AM 31001.15 Report as Violation	No rating

Sure we can meet HD!!! Regardless of who has the right of way, the mtrcyc is still going to lose. But i will be sure to put "he had the right of way" on your tombstone!!! LMAO!!!!!

Posted by: 6/15/2008 11:02 AM 31001.16 Report as Violation	No rating

if you were paying attention and giving everyone room around you, you would not be in a ditch. just another driver that has to pass to get to the stoplight a little sooner. your one sick puppy.

Posted by: hd rider 6/15/2008 11:02 AM 31001.17 Report as Violation	No rating

My gosh, 5. All I can say is I hope somewhere in the gazillion dollars you spent on medical care that you got the name of a therapist. Accidents happen whether they are your fault or by the fault of others. No he should not have been doing a wheelie, no he should not have been speeding and you are right there are some irresponsible riders but lets get real. Most of the bike/car accidents happen because of exactly what someone else said. Cellphones. I believe cellphones should be banned or rigged to where they cannot work in a running auto mobile. Pull over if the call is so important or let the voice mail get it. No ones call more important than a life. I had a stupid woman turning left, we both were and there were two lanes. I was in the outside lane and as soon as she made the turn she was in my lane. I got up on side of her and sure enough there was a cellphone stuck to her ear. Could have caused a collision without a care in the world. I am sorry for your pain and agony 5, but please get some help. Road rage never helps anyone.

Posted by: 2 bike wrecks later 6/15/2008 11:06 AM 31001.18 Report as Violation	Avg 5.00, 1 vote

your a chicken #### little weenie 5, ill pull your dumbass out of your suv and shove a burger down your throat. to bad you didnt die the world would be a better place. lots better.your a puss. ill be out on 95th between antioch and I35 on a black fatboy with my red white and blue bandana now come on burgerboy

Posted by: hd rider 6/15/2008 11:08 AM 31001.19 Report as Violation	Avg 5.00, 1 vote

actually, he was riding a wheelie on the highway AFTER DARK with his headlight straight up in the air where no one could see him. Witnesses stated he came across three lanes of traffic trying to maintain his ridiculous speed to get ahead of traffic when i moved my vehicle to keep from clipping his eighty mile an hour wheelie as he came from behind me and nearly tagged my side mirror. HE was the speeder. HE was unsafe. HE was not repecting others safety. HE was the one endangering all of us.

Posted by: 5 6/15/2008 11:08 AM 31001.20 Report as Violation BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH.

22 Stone = 308 lbs

2008-06-13T10:10:00.000-05:00

Would be attacker thwarted by an English Mastiff.

Expandable Batons and Cycling

2008-06-11T10:56:00.001-05:00

After a friend of mine was assaulted while riding his bicycle (for no apparent reason) some other friends of mine have been looking into defense options. I wanted to find out if carrying an expandable baton was legal in Kansas City; to the internet I went!

Looks like I have to do this the old fashioned way. Quick! To the telephone!

It only took about 10 minutes and 5 different people and departments on the phone in order to find out if it is legal to carry an expandable baton in Kansas City. Is that good or bad? NO one seemed to know except...

According to the "1st Assistant City Prosecutor Lowell Gard", of the city Of Kansas City, MO, it is NOT illegal to carry an expandable baton on your person with the requirement that it is not concealed. Actually he said it is not that it is LEGAL, it is just not illegal. Lawyers...sheesh...
When asked if it would be considered concealed if I had it on my belt and covered with a jacket, he said probably. When asked if I could put it on my shoulder strap of my pack, he said it should be fine.

Sounds like a plan to me..

Yum.

2008-06-11T08:31:00.000-05:00

I must admit, though sugary, this is great! Large chewy oats and a fantastic flavor...mmmm It's my meal after my morning rides and I look forward to it whenever I eat it. I like the Sam's Club variety pack (40 ct), though I wish they had the fruit variety.

Other favorites: Maple and Brown Sugar, Peaches and Cream, Regular w/ Honey.

Banana Bread

Serving Size 1 Packet (41g)

Serving Per Container see table

Calories 150

Calories from Fat 20

% Daily Value

Total Fat 2 g

Saturated 0.5g

Polyunsaturated 0.5g

Monounsaturated 1g

Trans Fat 0g

Cholesterol 0mg

Sodium 290mg

12%

Total Carbohydrate 31g

10%

Dietary Fiber 3g

11%

Soluble Fiber 1g

Sugars 12g

Protein 4g

% Daily Value

Vitamin A

20%

Vitamin C

Calcium

10%

Iron

20%

Thiamin

25%

Riboflavin

20%

Niacin

20%

Vitamin B6

20%

Folate

25%

Phosphorus

10%

Magnesium

~Reflexivity~

2008-06-10T15:11:00.000-05:00

An Angry friend of mine has had to move his office to another locale. This has made me "reflect" about my own position. You know, for the first time ever, I can really appreciate having my own office, even though it is about 10 miles from the nearest bathroom.

Here is a view from part of my office windows:

If I didn't have my own office, I wouldn't have a nice drying rack or place to store my bicycle privately and conveniently:

Or a place to jam with my 2.1 sound system (big whoop I know!) while listening to Filter or a number of cool soundtracks while drinking coffee and propping my feet up... I am truly blessed (lucky) and shouldn't take it for granted. In fact, I should probably enjoy it while I can before someone figures out how cool my office is!

windy-

2008-06-06T10:32:00.000-05:00

It was so windy on the ride home last night I lost about 3 mph avg and it took me about 15-20 minutes longer. Sheesh, that sucked.

Oh yeah, and we lost power today from 1am till 9am.

2008-06-04T16:00:00.000-05:00

Cyclists Beware!

2008-05-30T09:41:00.000-05:00

Everyone's out to get you!

In this day and age we should not only be prepared to defend ourselves from the layperson, we should also be ready to defend our rights to the authorities. I have been browsing though commuting websites lately and noticed that it is recommended by a LOT of riders to keep a copy of the state statutes regarding bicycles and their rights to the road on their bike (or person). I believe it! I mean how many times has someone driven by you about 1' away yelling at you to get off of the road? I am not a short tempered kinda person, but one of these days there might be a foot in their door and maybe a fist in their mouth; I'd throw my bike at them, but I like my bike...I digress...
One day you may find yourself in a situation where the police, who may be ignorant of the law, will try to write you an at fault ticket for something. Maybe your were on a road in the middle of the lane during "rush hour" to safely go around an obstacle and someone calls the police or maybe they themselves found you irritating and "stupid". Now if you have your handy dandy little copy of the state statutes on your person and can prove your right to that lane then maybe you won't get a ticket, or at least one that will hold up in court. I mean, heaven forbid you make a left hand turn!

The "downside" is that you have to OBEY the law! Running a red light? Don't do it! Stop Sign? Nope! If you expect them to follow the law, then you should start by setting the example. Speed limits are hard to follow though....there's something about breaking the speed limit while on your bicycle...

Anyways, here is some good reading for MO and KS riders:

MO Bike Law

MO Driver's Guide: Sharing the Road, pg 60-62

KS Bicycle Statutes

Interesting Commuter Website

Movies better than books?

2008-05-23T17:00:00.000-05:00

Controversy about movies based on books and the lack of commitment to the originality of the story and the almost severe way they ignore what made the books unique and special has brought to mind something else...

Are there any movies that are better than the book it was derived from?

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaa!

2008-05-22T11:09:00.001-05:00

*breath*
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!

Now I do hope Pensive decides to do something like this with his car!!

Review of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

2008-05-22T08:42:00.000-05:00

Last night the wife and I went to see a movie for the first time since we had Madeline. I was fine and the wife was distracted with wondering how Madeline was. It was the first time she has been away from her for more than 20 minutes or so. Overall I think the night went well.

Now on to the movie.

I know no one wants to read some over analyzed movie review from an amateur, so I'll keep it short. The movie was very good. Was it the best I've ever seen? No, but it brings into "reality" what the characters and story line was really about and more believable "kid" battles (real life: peter is 21 years old and edmund is 16). Oh sure they changed some things, but did you expect it to rigidly stick to the book? No movie ever does... What I liked was the character casting, battles, and sword play which were surprisingly convincing and the cgi was good, especially the court yard battle scene when the minotaur was- oops! Don't wanna give it away! And the characters were spot on! The spiritual aspect was there, yet you had to work out for yourself some of it.

In a day and age were epic movies are really getting good, some might not think this is a big deal. Compared to some movies it is not as dark, yet darker than others. I would say this is not a children's movie as the books are children's books; the movie is rife with violence (with out the goriness), anger, high body count, and the sometimes whimsical way in which it portrays killing. If you let your kids watch LOTR and Harry Potter, this movie probably will not be an issue with you and yours; especially if your kids watch 300. You know who you are...

Overall, I really liked it and wanna see it in the theaters again. It was pretty freakin sweet; a childhood story brought to life in a way that I can appreciate it as an adult.

Sorry Officer!!

2008-05-21T15:12:00.000-05:00

The 75 MPH Bicycle That's Powered by a Jet Engine

2008-05-20T09:36:00.000-05:00

Holy Moly. Now I can pass them!

Pensively Pondering Wind Chill

2008-05-14T12:30:00.000-05:00

My esteemed colleague was Pondering his Pensiveness regarding his Percussionist's self in relation to temperature and going downhill. Knowing the Pensiveness of his Ponderings, I knew the Percussionist was talking about the "wind chill factor". Here is a chart to Ponder while Pensively riding your Percussionist bike. Use the formula at the bottom for temperatures above 40°.

Commiting to the Commute

2008-05-14T09:01:00.000-05:00

At about 0555 hrs this morning I layed awake wondering as to what I was going to do. Sure I've been riding my bike for 4 years and love it. Yet, what WAS I doing getting up at the butt crack of dawn to ride to work? I could've gotten 1 1/2 hrs of more sleep! My wife woke and asked if I was going to ride. Funny, that's what I was asking myself. Have my hours of prep time been for naught? Was I going to just roll over and go back to sleep? I did roll over, but seconds later I found myself standing up muttering to myself, "What the hell am I doing?". Riding to work could be disastrous compared to the leisure times I have enjoyed before. I would have to ride to work (in the time frame allowed) and then shower, dress, and report to duty @ 0800 hrs. There should be plenty of time...right?

Good News, Bad News:

Good News: on time. Bad News: it took me way to long.
Good News: My backpack was already packed. Bad News: It was way to heavy.
Good News: I only had to walk once, up 31st Street for about200 feet. Bad News: I had to walk.
Good News: I don't have to ride home tonight. Bad News: I can't ride home tonight.
Good News: No Cramps! Bad News: My body was too tired to worry about cramping.
Good News: I am well hydrated. Bad News: The bathroom is about 4 minutes away, by foot.
Good News: I remembered to pack my toothbrush holder. Bad News: I learned that I only packed my toothbrush holder...

On and on....

Ride specs:
RTM: 0:54:14
DST: 11.94 miles (doh! so close!)
AVS: 13.2 mph
MAX: 28.5 mph

Can't wait till tomorrow morning...I'm hooked!

KC Bike .info

MARC Maps

Camp KC Article

Work via 31st Street
Find more Commutes in Kansas City, Missouri

"The overall grade for Missouri's walking and bicycling environment for 2007 was a D..."

2008-05-13T15:27:00.000-05:00

I could have told them that.... Of course, it would have been rated F but were saved due to that 20' section of biking lane in that one remote area of town....somewhere...

$$$

2008-05-13T09:20:00.000-05:00

Holy Crap.

Music group I'm digging..

2008-05-12T11:49:00.000-05:00

I found a 4gb Video iPod about 75 days ago. Our work policy is after 60 days it's mine. And it is! Suh-weet! I found about 30 hours of music on it including the group 30 Seconds to Mars. Here is a video of their song "The Kill". I've never heard them before and don't know much about them yet but they will be a blast to ride to!

PS: In order to convert/listen to the iPod on my pc's I had to download a pretty sweet free ware program called Media Monkey.

Now that I'm back, I don't have time to post...

2008-05-09T16:04:00.000-05:00

Build an Ark.

2008-04-29T11:19:00.000-05:00

Need I say more?!

Older post, but pretty interesting...

2008-04-25T15:31:00.000-05:00

I found this post on a motorcycle forum I am a member of. It was posted in Aug '07, but I thought it was pretty funny.

http://sr500forum.proboards38.com/index.cgi?board=OffTopic&action=display&thread=475

Radio that rocks.

2008-04-23T14:05:00.000-05:00

John Cleese and his psychotherapist.

2008-04-23T11:15:00.001-05:00

How much does a psychotherapist charge per hour? I don't know, but for the last 15 years John Cleese has paid room and board for a live-in psychotherapist. Now that the relationship is being terminated the psychotherapist has asked (via a claim from lawyers) to keep the comedian's homes in New York and London as well as half his income going back to 1992 and annual maintenance of almost $2 million.

John Cleese has recently been was said to be upset that the claim depicts him living an opulent lifestyle flying by private jet and employing his own chefs. He believes his lifestyle is comfortable but not opulent and he has very rarely flown by private jet.

I guess that what John Cleese gets for marrying a psychotherapist. I reckon saying "room and board" is a little vague but it should count for something in his proceedings!

Billary compared to Balboa?! C'mon!

2008-04-23T11:13:00.001-05:00

Now here is an MTV Deathmatch I would love to see.

Bike Route to Church

2008-04-22T16:02:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to see if how this looks. Pensive...ready for to ride to church?
Church
Find more Commutes in Kansas City, Missouri

Holy Cow, what a heifer!

2008-04-18T16:00:00.001-05:00

Check out this thing. Now that is what I call an accomplishment! Suck on that Oprah!

Action Figures at their best...

2008-04-04T09:19:00.000-05:00

Game you gotta play...

2008-03-27T11:38:00.002-05:00

If you like (or have ever liked) South Park and Mortal Kombat, then you HAVE to try this game!

http://www.comedycentral.com/sitewide/game_player/index.jhtml?game=103968

A Bit Of Fry and Laurie - Barman

2008-03-27T01:40:00.001-05:00

This is pretty clever, funny every time I see it.

Wallpaper

2008-03-25T10:19:00.000-05:00

I found this wallpaper and have really enjoyed it. I am not sure how much enjoyment wallpaper should give you, but so far I think I'm still good.

Gotta love the British..

2008-03-24T09:12:00.001-05:00

2008-03-21T20:56:00.001-05:00

see more crazy cat pics

Let's go for a curry!

2008-03-20T09:56:00.000-05:00

I think this says enough...

2008-03-12T09:20:00.000-05:00

Weight Loss

2008-02-26T16:07:00.000-06:00

I just received an email from a physical fitness website that had the subject of "3 Weight Loss Tips For Men". You can imagine my surprise when it was not:

1. No more Double Cheese Burgers
2. No more Pizza.
3. No more beer.

Instead it was some other mumbo jumbo about the proper exercise and diet. I'm just glad it didn't tell me to eat like a rabbit... Like it would matter...

Tax Season

2008-02-20T10:17:00.000-06:00

I recently sent my wife to Liberty Tax to "get out taxes done". What a joke. They wanted to charge us over $200! I said no way! Instead someone who works there (and is a friend of my wife) told us to go to Littleton Accounting & Tax Service (816) 358-2130, 9504 E 63rd St, #201, Raytown, MO 64133. They charged us $75 and I was done in about 15 minutes.

BTW- mention my name and we get a $5 check in the mail... Suhweet!

Gotta Represent!

2008-02-14T16:21:00.000-06:00

Don't forget to vote here!

Corrected Link:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/our-team/on-air/dave-ramsey-plasty-awards.html

Wanna rob my house?! Take this!!

2008-02-13T12:18:00.000-06:00

All I have to say is, "Holy skivies Batman!" I found this site and have enjoyed looking at all the different rounds that are available to the public. I especially enjoyed the 12 Gauge section; Flechette Rounds. These are rounds are pretty awesome, powerful, and deadly. Very impressive! There's nothing like 25-30 metal darts flying at your head from a shotgun at about 1200 fps. That'll ruin your weekend...

Life

2008-02-10T15:43:00.000-06:00

Between my daughter being born and the death of my friend's father, I can't help but consider the simple complexities of life and death. I love my friend and his family and I empathize with their grief. Yet I am estatically joyed by the life of my daughter. I find the savor of life overly sweet between the 2 examples. I know that my friend would not only understand, but would probably agree. Life is completely amazing and we should celebrate and be thankful for every moment. I thank God for the gift of life and am honored that we can participate in this place and time we call life on earth.

Madeline Abigail Murphy

2008-02-06T17:12:00.000-06:00

As I am at Benetti's Coffee shop and not at home with my little baby, I will keep this short. Madeline was born at 925 pm on Feb 4, 2008 weighing 8 lbs, 5 oz and 19 3/4" long. She is the greatest little gift the Lord has ever given me, besides my salvation of course! I hope to be blogging again real soon, but in the meanwhile, enjoy the pics.

My 1st Internet Video

2008-01-29T11:50:00.001-06:00

Our local Fox 4 news station did a segment on Segways.

http://www.myfoxkc.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=9CE38DC4ED695B7E59A48E415EC17BFB?contentId=5608978&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1

I didn't get much face time, but Some of the moving shots were filmed by me. The only issue it was supposed to go on all major Fox stations nationwide. Guess the editing sucked too much.

2008-01-29T10:23:00.000-06:00

Story from Sept 29, 2006 when a suspect shot and killed a Sheriff's Deputy, a K-9 dog and his partner (partner lived).

You can read these CNN Story Highlights, but as I see it, "case closed".

• Suspect killed only 75 yards from where he was last seen, police said

• Florida sheriff: "We shot numerous times" (I heard he was shot over 60 times.)

• Suspect had handgun believed taken from slain deputy

• Police asked suspect to show his hands, saw gun, shot him

In case you need more info here is the link:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/09/29/deputies.shot/index.html

Currently not taking requests.

2008-01-29T08:51:00.001-06:00

I will be posting on what I deem interesting. This will not be a dear diary type postings. I know some people feel the need to drone on and on about stuff that no one cares about, except their diary.

My Dearest Diary,
No one likes me, no one loves me, except for you my dearest, sweetest, Diary. You don't talk back to me! You don't make fun of me! If only you were not a bunch of algorithms and you had actual feelings! Woe is me... my life is terrible...

Gawd, how I wish I could log in as someone else and leave "Mr. Blogger" messages stating how bad their typing is and how the "Diary" hates them and-

wait a sec...I think I am thinking way too hard about this... I gotta go. I think I'm embarrassing myself!

I am Man, hear me belch.

2008-01-25T19:57:00.001-06:00

Why does society cast the human male as the stereo typical "rude" person? Society states (by "society" I mean women)that "men" are the ones who always burp, fart, and snore? "Men" are slothful, slovenly, gluttonous, constantly saying stupid things without thinking first (when we do we don't care), and other "issues" brought to the table by women.

Do I deny this? Nope. I love being a guy. Women try not to let us men know that they do the same things. Which is fine with me. I would hate to be out-gassed by a female. Yikes. I'd have to hitch the family up and move to Arizona or something.

Some people don't have what it takes...

2008-01-25T10:33:00.000-06:00

When you watch this video, I believe everyone will agree that some people should not be given firearms. Nothing more needs to be said... Well...except maybe, "HOLY CRAP! What an idiot!" while ruefully shaking your head.

random moments of sanity

2008-01-24T10:31:00.000-06:00

A product called "Liquid Fire" should not be used by sleep deprived people at 1230 in the am, especially when it is in the single digits outside and you must ventilate your entire house. Also note that "Drano" and "Liquid Fire" are not a safe mix, even though hours lapsed in between usage. Also note that a really cool looking toxic smoke will emanate from a drain upon mix of said chemicals.

Coffee is better when it does not burn your tongue.

I have the privilege to work for a company that's not quite belly up. Surprisingly, many employees do not want the company to make money. Context, context, context! : If making money inconveniences some people (whether customers or employees) and complaints are made, or will be made, people will inevitably balk at making the right decisions. This is driving me nuts, pushing my brain in the "unstable" direction. Logic people, LOGIC!!!

I wonder how much sleep you could get at every red light on the way to work?

People are cheap; I, on the other hand, am a smart shopper.

Peer Pressure

2008-01-22T10:14:00.000-06:00

"Peer pressure's a bitch man!"

I wonder how many times I heard that growing up. I usually heard it right before I did something I probably should not have. Actually, I think that is safe to say that I was doing something wrong. Whether it was sneaking, drinking, or smoking, I was usually doing something that others "pushed" on me. Looking at it now, I realize that for most people peer pressure is an excuse to do something they either wanted to do or thought they wanted to do but didn't want to take the responsibility for it. Such was, and is, the case with me. It was the excuse to do the things I didn't need to be doing. It is the excuse to do the things I want to do.

Take this blog for example; I wanted to blog, but used the excuse "everyone else is doing it" so I might as well do it too. In all actuality I've been too lazy to do anything about it and figured no one would want to read the few scraps of sentences my brain can form into paragraphs. I am sure they will bore everyone tearless, if they haven't already. Meanwhile, welcome to my blog. It's open season for random thoughts and I'm the Unabashed Blogger. Don't look for me to hold back, I've got nothing to be ashamed of, and wouldn't understand the need anyways.