Ali had a big conference Saturday for the dietetic association she is heavily involved in.   She was responsible for all the refreshments which was considerable.  I told her Friday night I could help her take the stuff to the meeting since the image of her having to lug all of the stuff herself did not sit well with me.  We had to be there by 7:30 but it didn’t bother me.  Compared to a day we have to time a race, that is like sleeping in.

We split the items between the car and the truck.  I brought along my dolly to make things easier.  We had everything up in the conference area in 15-20 minutes.  I had to stick around for a little bit until the one guest speaker arrived.  Ali wanted to make sure he could get his power point presentation to run on the projector set up they had there.  While I was waiting I passed the time screwing on my Iphone and talking to several of the women that were in attendance.  Everyone seemed nice enough.  I was able to leave a little after 9.  Ali told me how much she appreciated my help.

As soon as I got home it was immediately into home projects.  I don’t even know if I could recant everything that I worked on/did during the day so I’ll just stick to the two biggest.  I decided to start trimming trees.  I decided to break it into multiple sessions, trimming trees is bust ass work.  For Saturday I worked on the 2 sets of trees in the front yard.   I decided to get aggressive with my trimming.  The first thing I did was pull out the chainsaw.  The one clump of trees had 4 mature cabbage palms and three, unwanted smaller palms that keep coming back even though I have pruned them back hard over the years.  Well I decided to get serious.

After my second pull on the chainsaw the start cord got stuck in the fully extended position.  Shit.  Luckily it was corrected with the careful prodding of a straight blade screw driver.  It only took a few seconds of actually using the chainsaw until it jammed.  I took the cover off and removed the caked mulch/wood chips that was jamming up the works.  As I was putting it back together I burned my fingers when I inadvertently grasped the muffler, nice.

So I go back to the dwarf palms and let them have it, sawing away at them with added anger after burning myself.  It only took a few minutes to have the trees cut down to ground level.  After that I came over with the ladder and proceeded to go around the entire cluster, lopping off everything I could reach.  I cut down an incredible amount of fronds for only 4 trees, a full 3 trips back to the ditch with the Tacoma. 

Pruning the other two trees meant using the pole saw since the one tree is a good 30 feet high at this point.  Using the pole saw is not much fun.  Within minutes my neck was a cramped up mess.  The combination of using the pole saw and loppers did a number on my tendinitis  as well.  My forearm was burning.  After about two hours I had everything trimmed and cleaned up.  I was glad I didn’t set a mental goal of trimming all of the trees myself.

The other big project was my attempt to fix the rear van door.  The outside handle broke, making the only way to open the door to crawl in from the inside.  I had bought some small automotive hose clamps, thinking I could rig something up.  So I climb over the bed in the back and pull the handle.  Instead of opening I heard the all too familiar “crack” followed by the sound of small plastic pieces falling into the door.  SON OF A BITCH.  Now the inside handle was broken as well…. How in the F am I supposed to fix it now? 

Well I immediately started looking for a plan of action.  I discovered that I could remove the cut out for the license plate from the inside which would get me access to the defective, shitty cables that had broken. Once I had access I  was able to pop the door. I examined the shitty, brittle cables and tried to come up with a number of rig jobs to fix the problem.  I tried using a combination of zip ties and hose clamps to come up with some way to open the door without having to spend cash to fix it.  Well after more than an hour of f’ing around and giving myself several cuts and gashes on my hands I gave up.  By the time I was done I had the rear latch totally out of the vehicle.  The various parts and fasteners were strewn across the bed in the van.  Without the latch there was no way to securely close the rear door.  If the rear door is not securely closed I risk having the dome light come on which will kill the battery after a few days as well as having a large access point for unwelcome frog visitors to crawl into the van where they will later surely die and stink the thing up.  So out came the packing tape.  I pushed on the door while I slapped tape across it to temporarily hold it closed.  We’ll see how long that holds up.  

I called the dealer today and explained what I needed.  He said they had them in stock and it was about 70 bucks.  He said they break all the time, hence them being kept in stock.  They don’t just sell the cables alone, they come with the rear latch and they are already attached.  So after work I plan to grab one and hope to successfully reassemble everything next weekend. 

We watched The Rocker, Saturday night.  It was a Rich recommendation.  The last movie I remember him turning me on to was Napoleon Dynamite which is one of my all-time favorites now.  The Rocker wasn’t in the same class but it still was quite funny.  There was some similarities in the movie to someone we both know that added to the humour of it all.  I’d give it a solid B.

The Eagles won an extremely boring game yesterday.  Things started out badly when they gave up a 90 yard TD on the Seahawks first offensive play.  Thankfully that amounted to the total Seattle offensive output for the entire game.  The rest of time the Eagles grounded out a convincing win.  Of course I’m happy they won, too bad it was as exciting as watching grass grow.  Maybe the Phillies have me spoiled.

Last night I made the mistake of posting my current mood on facebook as being “fed up with everything”  By the time the morning rolled around I had a half dozen commenting on my status.  So I decided to change my status to “farting sunshine and burping fluffy clouds”  I suppose it is better to keep facebook light and cheery.

  I just wanted to mention that I saw there was talk of yet another STIMULUS deal in the works.  You know the thing that they did before where they send us a check for a few hundred dollars with the stated intent of “stimulating” the economy.  Let me just say it is a f’ing stupid idea.  What makes it worse is they made this mistake once before, the stimulus checks did NOTHING except pile onto the debt mountain. A few hundred bucks isn’t going to make a difference in people’s lives.  Use that money to put up some electric fence around congress to keep lobbyists out.  Now that would be money well spent.

I had no idea Obama was doing this half hour infomercial.  I watched the first 6 or 7 minutes.  It’s good stuff if you have the time, although he is already preaching to the choir here.

The Phillies actually did it.  For the first time in a quarter century a Philadelphia sports team actually delivered in the clutch when it counted the most.  It was the most exciting 3 inning baseball game I ever saw.  For such a short game it had a ton of momentum swings back and forth.  The Phils scored and then the Rays answered right back with a homerun.  Pat Burrell, the grumpy old looking dick actually delivered when it counted with the the towering double that just missed being a homerun by a few feet. Kudos to him. 

Brad Lidge is a beast. It is amazing to me that he went the entire season without blowing a single save opportunity, including the playoffs.  He had nearly 50 such opportunities and he converted every single one.  That is just incredible.  When he had the pinch hitter at 0-2 for the final out I told Ali if it was me, I’d be rearing back and throwing a fastball as hard as I could, daring the guy to hit it.  Instead Lidge threw his nasty slider which the hitter waved at weakly.  Maybe that is why he is in the big leagues and I’m not. 

The celebration was wild and manic as you would expect it to be.  It really made me feel something.  When Tug McGraw, RIP, struck out Willie Wilson (I think) to end the series in 1980 I was 12 years old.  I remember it well.  When Charlie Manuel spoke after the game his words felt so genuine and heartfelt.  The moment actually made me a little moist.  It was just terrific.

Here are other pics I snapped shortly after the win as well as a couple pics of one of the areas that were pressure washed.

Some funny but important stuff.

Read the readers questions and my response.

So you are a die-hard Obama guy…..do you keep an open mind and put the truth on your BLOG or only those things that show him in a good light?

I’m telling you…..a full Dem congress, Senate and Pres is as scary as it gets and this guy will not honor one word as he’ll have the entire party to hide behind.

Fast forward a few years – either Obama or the Dem house will get summarily thrown under the bus as they will soon own the mess that is our economy….you think the Democrats have the smarts to get us on the right track….I doubt it…we’re going to have no effective checks and balances if your man gets in there….you know Dumb-n-Dumber?….we have Scary-n-Scarier…..you choose who fits where in the title roles.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/28/campbell.brown.obama/index.html

My thoughts:

Nah dude I read it all.  Neither you or I can predict the future.  All I know is I would rather live in the world Obama represents than McCain.  If Obama turns out to be a bullshit artist like so many before him, so be it.  He’ll be voted out in four years. 

 I agree the most challenging thing about expanding any government programs are the scum of the earth that are worthless and wander around this planet looking for something for nothing.  However that element has always been there and always will be.

 Hell there is tons of anti-McCain stuff that goes under my nose, I don’t bother to post much of it at all, especially when it is stupid stuff that represents the same intellectual level as saying Obama is a terrorist or emphasizing his middle name when referring to him.  All that bullshit has nothing to do with the issues that matter.

 I think it is a good thing to have a democratic congress and president because it means real change can actually occur.  The main reason that nothing essentially has happened in the past two years was because of the deadlock between Bush and congress. 

 I think McCain really f’d himself when he grandstanded by picking Palin.  It was like admitting he had to try a stunt to get elected instead of being able to win on issues. Women should be insulted that McCain thinks they are such shallow thinkers.   That woman is as embarrassing as Bush is, in my opinion..

 Unless the republicans have some sort of master plan to rig this election like 2000, it seems like it is a pretty much done deal.  Get ready to be ‘scared’.

 As always I appreciate the comments of thoughtful, intelligent people which I count you among. 

So I walk over to the cable machine to do some tricep work.  As I do I see a guy I sort of know and a Haitian dude discussing something pretty loudly.  The guy I know is about as big of a Florida cracker/redneck as you can imagine.  Supposedly he has bragged to others how he is having relations with two women in addition to his wife in the past.

So anyway as I tune in I realize the conversation is about the presidential race.  I have this pegged immediately.  Surely the redneck dude is all about McCain, the Haitian likes Obama.  Well as I listened further I hear the redneck putting down McCain, saying he is basically an older version of Bush, listing all of the reasons he sucks.  The Haitian is firing back why “macon” (rhymes with bacon) is better.  I just stood there doing my reps not believing what I was hearing.  It went back and forth beyond my completing my 3 sets.  I walked away dumbfounded.

So I decided last night would be the night I watch a complete Phillies game since there was a good chance they could wrap it all up.  In order to facilitate this I watched the game out on the big screen instead of lounging in our comfortable bed.  The game started great for the Phils with two quick runs in the first.  It didn’t take long until the weather took center stage.  The cold temperatures got colder, into the upper 30’s and the rain progressively strengthened.  It looked pretty damn miserable.  Well even with the shitty weather the Rays managed to tie it up in the top of the 6th, after which league officials promptly suspended the game.  It sort of annoyed me.

I would be willing to bet that the ONLY reason they stopped play was because the game was tied.  If one team remained in the lead either way they would have done everything they could to let the game complete.  But since it was a tie, they were able to call it a suspended game. Now they plan to try to play today with a weather forecast even worse than the last night.

From watching the Phillies through out the playoffs it hasn’t taken long for me to form some opinions about certain players.

-Pat Burrell is a big dick if you ask me.  He just has it written all over his face.  The guy looks 15 years older than his actual age, it’s strange.  Not to mention that he has done NOTHING in the series.  I moved south just as Burrell was coming up with the team.  I can see why he is generally disliked. He sort of reminds me of a 2008 Von Hayes.

– Jayson Werth is a throw back to the 70’s.  He seems very inconsistent.  He appears to get you a big hit once in awhile but you have to live with 2 or 3 bonehead plays in between.

– Cole Hamel is a cool dude.

– The Phillies really have been fortunate to win the games that they have in this series.  Their performance with runners in scoring position has been beyond abysmal.  They have choked so many times in that situation I have lost count.  Thank god they have hit a few homeruns with a guy standing on first. 

Well I can only hope they get the last 3 innings in tonight and the Phils manage to scratch out a run.  If they get a lead Brad Lidge is pretty much lights out.

All I needed was for Reggie Wayne and Adam Vinateri to score me 14 points last night for me to win my fantasy game. Instead between the two of them they pump out 5 measly points.  I need to shake things up.  Although I enjoy the Cowboys turmoil in real life, in my fantasy football world it is wreaking havoc with my success.

I received a packet of info regarding big changes they are making with our insurance plan in the upcoming years.  It was almost like human resources reads my blog, well kind of.  Basically they are implementing a plan where employees are rewarded financially by completing several steps that are intended to motivate employees to get healthy as well as open the door to preventative measures that could save huge costs down the road. 

Basically if you complete the steps you are rewarded by being put on a plan with a very low deductible and very low co-pays for office visits.  If you decide to do nothing about your health you are put on a basic plan with very high deductible and co-pays.  Now there are some holes in the system.  For example if you are a smoker or a fat ass with type 2 diabetes you are required to attend either a smoking cessation class or a weight control management class.  The problem is the fat ass smoker can simply attend the class and the requirement is filled.  They are not required to actually lose weight or stop smoking to obtain the best plan.  I guess the hope is that requiring these individuals to attend these courses will flip on a light bulb that may lead them down the road to a healthier lifestyle.  Well regardless I think it is a great direction to go.  Financially rewarding people for getting healthy is a smart move, very smart.

Poor old John, he doesn’t have a shot with Brokaw. PWNED!

So I decided to go vote late Friday afternoon.  The elections office is right next door.  I figured 4:30 on a rainy Friday afternoon would be as good of a time as any to go vote, it shouldn’t be busy.  Well my expectations were wrong, there was still a line 15-20 deep out the door.  Oh well, I decided to wait it out.

 Well wait I did.  The line CREEPED along.  While I was waiting I helped one lady collapse her stuck open umbrella and then I served as a voting advisor to an old couple that viewed my employment by the county tax collector to double as being an expert on the various constitutional amendments on the ballot.  After the disaster of the 2000 election where Florida was embarrassed by using the antiquated punch card system, Florida decided to finally modernize and installed slick new touch screen voting machines.  Well after only a couple years and millions of dollars, some geniuses decided that they no longer trusted these electronic machines so they decided to REVERT back to paper ballots.  Yes, it sounds ridiculous.

Now the theory behind this is without a paper ballot, there is no way to verify a vote.  The powers that be didn’t TRUST these computers.  When you think about it, it is totally ridiculous since the entire information infrastructure of our country and much of the world is all handled electronically.  The Florida legislature definitely has an ass-backwards viewpoint on this. 

Anyway, the new system is just too damn slow.  This is how it goes.  Your first stop after waiting in line for however long is a table where they scan your driver’s license to verify who you are and that you are registered to vote.  They only have two people performing this function, an inadequate amount in my opinion based on the long lines I saw out the door all week long.  After completing this verification then you stand in another line, waiting to enter the room where you actually vote.  When you get to the front of that line you are steered to another person behind a desk.  She looks up your ballot for your area and then you wait while she prints it out and then explains to you the complexities of filling in an oval completely.  Then you walk over to the little voting cubicle and start on the annoying process of filling in 20 or more ovals.  It takes much longer than just pressing your choice on a screen, especially when trying to fill it in with a fine tipped pen. So now after your coloring session you walk over to another person standing in front of a scanner.  She instructs you to insert your two pages of ballots into the unit.  It’s like a scanner the lotto uses. The scanner records your choices and deposits your paper ballot in a bin.  Finally the process is over.  It just takes too damn long.  I can only imagine the mess on election day.  In total it took me over 45 minutes to get my votes cast.

As far as my actual choices go, it went pretty much as you can expect, I voted straight democrat except in the race for county commissioner in our district.  I voted for the republican incumbent.  He has demonstrated repeatedly that he really cares about what he is doing and how he serves his constituents. Yep I am still a registered republican.

I think it is pretty damn funny that the biggest newspaper in Alaska has endorsed Obama.  That tells you something.

Ali has been very sick for the past few days.  I didn’t want to burden her with much labor over the weekend.  Luckily, the grass growth has slowed down enough that we could totally blow it off this weekend.  The October cleaning project is supposed to be “Clean perimeter of the house”  I’m not quite sure what that means but I decided it would mean I would do some pressure washing and maybe some tree trimming next weekend.  After pressure washing Tuki’s cage I drug the unit over to the side of the house with the water equipment.  Almost everything over there was COVERED in black mildew including the landscape timbers, the stand for the water barrel, the concrete pavers and pad the equipment sits on. 

I blasted everything with the pressure washer which made short work of the scuzz.  The black mildew forms from the combination of the excessive moisture of the last few months combined with the limited sunshine that area receives.  I was very pleased with the transformation when I was done.  The area looked brand new.  I need to take a few pictures of it.

After blasting this area I moved back to the storage shed which was covered in a greenish algae sort of junk.  Cleaning all four sides and the roof is a lengthy process.  By the time it was done I was pretty much soaked from head to toe.  The soaking was worth it, the shed looked tons better when I was done.

Saturday evening we went over to mom’s place.  She told me that her battery had died.  Ali and Nicki came with.  Ali worked on starting dinner while I went to get the replacement battery.  While I was at Wal-mart I also bought some additional rubber mats to cover the lines for the timing system as well as an elbow brace that I hope might alleviate some of the symptoms of the tendinitis in my right forearm. 

Installing the new battery was a piece of cake.  Afterward we had dinner followed by a session of Tabletopics. Tabletopics isn’t really a game.  It is simply a bunch of conversation starting questions on little cue card sort of things.  You simply pull a card and ask the question to the people in the room.  It starts some interesting lines of communication as well as giving you insight into the person answering the question.  It became very clear that I was my mom’s son based on her answers which were many times the exact same thing I would have said, especially topics that dealt with growing old.  It was a fun exercise.

Sunday morning we had to crawl out of bed early to time another race.  The weather forecast was not good, as we drove to the site it was through a constant mist.  We brought the party van for two reasons.  First it could serve as a shelter to operate the equipment out of and second, Nicki could hang out in it if need be.  While I was loading up the van Saturday night, ANOTHER one of the outside door handles broke.  Now two of the four exterior door handles on the party van are broken. 

The problem is identical for each door.  The cable assembly uses some shitty plastic retainer to hold things together.  Well evidently over time this plastic becomes very brittle and eventually breaks which allows the cable that it held in place to fall out.  I am trying to devise some sort of rig job to fix it.  Right now I am thinking about utilizing some hose clamps to serve as a makeshift fastener for the cable.

Anyway, we got to the race and were greeted by very wet conditions.  There was no way I could use the duct tape to hold the lines down so we had to resort to using 8 rubber floor mats thrown over the lines.  I was worried it would greatly affect the reading performance of the system but it all tested out just fine.  Timing the race went relatively well however we still had an issue with chips just being dead and not reading across the line.  About 5 percent of them did not register.  It’s annoying me to the point where I sent an email to the company to ask what the deal is.  A 5% failure rate each and every race is SHITTY.  There was a fair amount of human f ups that added to the drama of the day but we got through it.

Wow what a weekend for Philadelphia sports teams, the Phillies are on the cusp of winning the World Series, and both the Eagles and Flyers won.  The Phillies really seem destined to win.  They are getting just the right combination of big plays and lucky breaks. 

 I didn’t feel quite as good about the Eagles win.  It started out as an absolute snorefest.  Things got more exciting as the game went on.  However I felt like the Birds almost got handed the win at the end when the refs blew that call on the punt.  The Falcon punt returner clearly did not touch the ball yet the refs said he did which gave the Eagles the ball and essentially gave them the game as well.  It left me feeling like it was “cheap” win.

Go PHILLIES!

There is a commercial running on tv right now where a hot milfy looking “mom” is making a big chocolate cake with her little boy.  She is carrying the bowl that the chocolate icing was in.  She dips her finger in bowl and is about to lick it off when she suddenly stops and instead walks over and eats a bowl of some Kellog’s cereal.  The inference is that instead of licking the small bit of icing off her finger, eating an entire bowl of cereal is a better choice. 

Well if you analyze this scenario it doesn’t take a PHD to realize that there are far fewer calories in the small bit of icing on her finger than in the bowl of cereal.  Furthermore, if the woman was that interested in making a healthy eating choice, why is she making the big ass chocolate cake in the first place?

Maybe it was just all subliminal messaging.  Hot chicks make cakes but don’t eat them.  They eat Kellogs cereal instead.  So if you want to be a hot chick, do the same thing, I guess.