Another weekend hits the books. Some ups and downs. On Saturday we had housework galore to get through as well as grass to mow. We got it all done and cleaned up to go to the Florida State League All Star Game. It was pouring down rain the entire way there. They cancelled the homerun derby and wound up starting the game 45 minutes late. We had great seats. As we sat there, we got to do a lot of people watching. First thing that caught our eye were the 2 families within 5 feet of us. The kids in both of these families were at the baseball game, PLAYING THEIR GAMEBOYS. The entire time…. I am a video game junkie, I have played them all my life but this crossed the line even for me. How pathetic is it that a kid is at a baseball game playing a video game? Ridiculous. These same kids were both obese and were happily fed junk food and soda by their parents. The entire park was filled with obese children. I read in the paper that 1 in 3 children born in the year 2000 will develop diabetes due to the horrendous eating habits and lack of exercise that plagues youth (and adults) today. That is flabbergasting, 1 in 3. I blame ignorant parents. Oh well enough of that. The other standout moment was the gentleman that brought a bell with. The type of bell they ring at a boxing match. Everytime someone from the minor league Dodgers team did something he would be banging the bell. It was really funny to watch. We bowed out after the 5th inning. Baseball is a lot more fun to play than to watch.
Yesterday I spent a lot of time on the puter getting some stuff done I have been meaning to. I ripped off stills and video from our Fort Myers vball tournament. You can see them here.
The weekend was warm and humid, both days we had some hellacious thunderstorms. We lost power for about an hour and a half on Saturday. We had more run ins with some new creatures. Ali found a baby snake, later my mom found what appeared to be the snakes mother. It is a type that I have not seen on our property before. I hope to have snake expert Tim identify it for me. 🙂 I also saw my first field mouse in Florida. We also seem to have adopted a permanent rabbit friend that hangs in the yard all the time.
I paid the bills Sunday night. I paid off the bills from our most expensive month of expenditures I can ever recall. We bought and did so much stuff in May it is staggering. I am in spending hibernation until further notice.
I have been sleeping abnormally solid recently, a full nights sleep with no interruptions. Last night the streak was broken. I woke up at 4am and was unable to fall back asleep. My mind went into the dreaded state where I do nothing but recollect things. I remember past events and how long ago they seem, which makes think about old age and how depressing it all is and then I jump to another memory that continues the cycle. I try to clear my head and remind myself how tired I am but it doesn’t help. Life would be so much simpler for me if I didn’t have to dwell on mortality and getting old. It really gets to be a drag.
Did anyone else imagine the homes they would show in Tide commercials were the ideal home growing up? This was another thing that ran through my head this morning. I remember seeing the laundry detergent , household product commercials growing up and imagining that was how I wanted my household to be. Weird.
The next 3 weeks are all short weeks. This weekend we go home so I can play in the Pottstown Rumble. The following weekend, my sisters wedding in Arizona. I wont be working a full week until July 7th. 🙂
David Brinkley died today at the age of 82. When I was growing up I used to watch the national nightly news quite often. Back then we only had a TV antennae so we got the major networks and that was it. So, from 6:30 to 7 you had news and nothing else to choose from. When I saw David Brinkley he would do special spots as John Chancellor was the host. (is he still alive?) He was a very odd looking man with a speaking style that was unmistakable. When I heard the news from him and John Chancellor, it was important. They were serious beyond reproach. I’m sad to see David go, he was a good one.
I found out some disturbing news today. Evidently FEMA, the governments disaster department wants to classify our entire area as a high risk floodzone. They want to make flood insurance mandatory. The insurance coverage down here is odd. If a hurricane rips off your roof and everything gets soaked, you are covered. However if the associated rains causes flooding and outside water gets into the house, you aren’t. Unless, you have a separate flood insurance policy. With a high risk flood rating this has the potential of socking every single home in our area with a 2000-3000 dollar flood insurance premium every year! (on top of your homeowners insurance!) Naturally there is an uproar. The people that live out in our area are generally working class people that live in the Estates because they can’t afford to live anywhere in the high rent districts of Collier County. Such an insurance premium would put a big squeeze on the majority of the people in our area. Evidently the FEMA maps are based on old data. The county claims that the building codes requirement of raised slabs also makes this floodzone designation erroneous. Our house is built on top of a 3 or 4 foot high mound. It would take amazing amounts of rain to climb to that height. It’s letter writing time….
I know a lady that was out of work for more than 6 months being treated for cancer. She is a heavy, heavy chain smoker. Granted, the cancer was not lung cancer, but it was cancer nonetheless. I thought that when she returned she would have certainly given up cigarettes, given her brush with death. Nope, still smokes like a chimney. My ex father-in-law had a heart attack. The docs said you HAVE to stop smoking. Did he stop? Nope? My mom smokes, my brother smokes. I just can not fathom the thought processes that go through the heads of people that smoke but especially those that have had significant health issues caused either directly or indirectly by their inability to kick a bad habit. I guess the same could be said about the multitudes of obsese people that develop diabetes and other health problems because of their terrible eating habits, weight gain and lack of exercise. To me, without your health, the rest of life gets pretty miserable real fast. I have a hard time finding sympathy for those that experience health problems as a result of their inability to control themselves…. Don’t particularly know why this came to my mind today….
Yesterday I picked up one of those free brochures that you always see laying around. It was about the Federal Reserve and how bankers have basically indebted our country to the point where we could sell every single thing of worth to them in this country and we still would not be out of debt. It discussed how reform was needed and suggested a system called Social Credit. It was pretty eye opening stuff and really made me think about how much corruption is simply accepted just because that is the way it has always been so noone gives it much thought. If you are interested on more on the subject, look here.
For the first time in 7 months, I headed out to the beach to play some doubles volleyball. I have not played any outdoor doubles since last October. Neither has my partner Rich, who flew down from PA to play in this tournament with me, among other things. This tournament was much closer than most that I play in. Only a 45 minute drive instead of the near 2 hour treks I am accustomed to. It was a loong day. Lower to mid 90’s with humidity nearly as high. Rich had some serious heat related issues and by the end of the day it was just down to a matter of surviving the day. We only lost one game on our net during pool play and then lost our first playoff game by a couple points. I’m positive that if we didn’t have the heat issues we would have been in the finals for sure and had a good chance to win it. However in the end, winning didn’t really mean all that much to me anyway. As a matter of fact we conceded the 3/4 consolation game so we could get out of there.
All the teams on our net except one were nice. The “Not nice” team was a co-ed team playing men’s BB. This team had a huge gaping a-hole that constantly verbally abused his female partner. In the 10 + years of playing volleyball I had never seen such behavior. I assume they were boyfriend/girlfriend. He was saying how she sucked at this, sucked at that and rolling off the curse words like he was firing a machine gun. After one of his tantrums, he took his nascar/Budweiser visor and tossed it off the court. His partner was nice enough to walk over and retrieve it and hand it to him. He yells “I guess I didn’t throw it far enough the first time!” and throws it again! He was a total idiot. I felt very bad for her. At one point when hothead was off stomping somewhere else, I went over and asked her if she wanted me to say something to him. She said no, she was used to it and thanked me for offering. I told her how not cool it was and she didn’t deserve to hear that sort of crap. She shook her head in acknowledgement and again thanked me for offering. It was really an awkward situation. You want to mind your own business, but there is just no reason for a man to treat a woman like that. I held my toungue. One of those moments I regret not doing more, I am sure I could have had a convoy of backers to confront the dope. Argh it frustrates me just thinking about it now. And the ironic part is, this team was playing in Men’s BB and finished 4-2 in pool play! She was a good player. Guy was such a jack ass .
We came home beat up, sunburned and tired. On Sunday we hit the airboats (my 4th time) and then spent the rest of the night relaxing and geeking on the Xbox. Fun.
Ali flew up to PA on Saturday for her family reunion. Nicki was looking for her all weekend. She was also scared of Rich and his girlfriend so we had to try to pacify her. I felt bad for her. Ali comes back tonight so things can start getting back to normal hopefully.
No yard/house work this weekend so the grass is long and the house is pretty much a mess. Guess I will be spending the evenings this weekend trying to restore order.
The weekend is just around the corner, no interesting thoughts, no cool links. Just looking forward to a good weekend. Out to dinner, volleyball, alcohol and no yard work sound pretty damn good right now.
My buddy Rich flies down late tonight with his girlfriend for a long weekend. We are playing in a vball tournament on Saturday and then gonna just do whatever the rest of the weekend. I’m looking forward to it. I have played ZERO outdoor doubles since last October. Rich hasn’t either. It will be interesting to see how it goes. At this point I just enjoy getting to play as opposed to 5 years ago where I was playing 3 or even 4 times a week and winning meant everything to me. My busy schedule, physical limitations and lack of people I know that play down here has changed volleyball from being one of the biggest parts of my life to a diversion that I only get to participate in a few times a year. Bums me out a bit but I guess everything changes sooner or later.
I had to do some modifications and repairs to my new flying wing last night. The control surfaces were pulling loose. The high speed puts high stress on these joints so I needed to beef em up. Hope to give it a test flight tonight.
I got an eval copy of Windows 2k3 Server. Installing it now. I’m debating if I want to implement it here since I recently upgraded all of our servers to Windows 2000. There is no real need for it here but the part of me that likes to stay current with technology is making me want to do it sooner or later. I like the security initiative they have talked about with 2K3, if it actually delivers is another story.
Got an email saying my Novell CNE requires a test by October to keep it current. I won’t be pursuing it. I would be interested in how many CNE’s are dropping from the ranks. It used to be THE certification to get. It brought great respect from your peers. However, Novell has just been obliterated by MSFT. It’s funny when I first started, I was a MSFT zealot. Then I got into a big Novell environment and saw how good Novell’s products were. Just about when I got comfortable with it, the higher ups decided to convert to all MSFT. I opposed the move, but it was inevitable. Just like thousands of other businesses, we abandoned Novell. I’m actually surprised Novell is still in business for themselves and haven’t been bought by someone.
Here is the quick clip of the 4 wheelin idiots.
Another weekend flies by. On Saturday I played my first golf of this year and I believe it is the first golf I have played in over a year. I enjoy golf, but it is expensive, I am not very good at it and I don’t really have anyone to play with regularly down here. It was my first chance to play a round with my new clubs. It was a scramble format tournament which is great for me as it takes the pressure off. I decided early on that I would only hit irons all day long. My woods play is far too erratic now and could be dangerous and embarrassing since several of the holes are precariously close to a major roadway. I had a typical day for me. I impressed my teammates with my ability to hit irons long but embarrassed myself with some duffs off the tee that didnt even make it to the womens tee area. It was a good time. We finished towards the back of the teams in the standings, even with us finishing 6 under par. Following golf, we got a fancy lunch and they handed out prizes. It was a great deal for 40 bucks IMHO.
Saturday night, I finally got a chance to go see The Matrix Reloaded. I had heard and read all the negativity about the flick so I was well prepared to be disappointed. Granted the film was not fantastic, but I thought it was far from the utter disappointment that some had felt. Reading about some of the plot twists ahead of time helped me follow the story better. The special effects were waaaay cool. There is a dumb 10 minute love scene that is pointless and gave the film it’s R rating. I hardly think it was worth it. Some of the story made no sense but I think I followed the important parts. Overall I enjoyed the movie more than X2. I was also clued in that if you sit through all the credits you get to see the trailer for the third and final movie. Us and 1 other couple sat through to the end. 🙂 I’d give the film a solid B in my book.
Sunday was rainy early on, a rarity here. Normally the rain comes in the afternoon. So we had to wait a bit before mowing the grass. I did that and several other outdoor projects.
My buddy, Mike called and said that he had finished the plane that he was making for me. It is a flying wing. It is far faster than anything I have owned. I met up with him and went to a field to do my “maiden” flight. Mike first flew his so I got a feel for how it handled. I got mine ready to launch. 2 attempts, 2 nosedives into the ground after a few feet. The second crash pulled a connector off that could not be fixed at the field. I was disappointed but packed it up and took it home for some TLC. I made some quick repairs at home and launched. I had some less severe launch failures but finally on the 3rd attempt I had it in the air. Wow it is faaaaast. Just screams through the air and sounds like a pack of angry hornets. I landed safely. On my next flight I had another scary incident. After doing a loop a couple hundered of feet in the air, my battery pack unexpectedly released, leaving the plane to flutter to the ground, helplessly. It took me awhile to find it. No damage to the plane but repairs were needed to the battery pack. I got it up into the air a couple more times. It really is fun. Something to scare the neighbors with.
Around the same time, we began hearing what sounded like a motorcycle racing around our area. Keep in mind, the speed limit on our road is 30 mph. It turns out it wasnt motorcycles but 2 idiots on 4 wheelers drag racing each other on the streets. These guys were going at least 60 if not faster. This continued for a good 20 minutes. Finally we had enough and Ali called the sheriff station. Cops caught em. Hopefully they fined em but they probably got off with a warning. Some people are really ignorant. I have a quick clip that Ali shot of them flying by our house, I will post the link soon.
June is finally here. It is going to be a BUSY month for us starting this weekend. My buddy and his girlfriend are coming down this weekend. We are playing in a vball tourney. The following weekend we have an All Star minor league baseball game to go to. The following week, we fly to PA for the Pottstown Rumble and my neice’s christening. The weekend after that we fly to Arizona for my sister’s wedding. Crazy busy. Maybe all this activity will help me shake the cloud that has been hanging over me recently. I haven’t felt very good about stuff for several months now. 2003 started bad with my car burning up and has never really gotten much better.
My mom reported that she only saw one of our fish in the pond still. The baby alligator had to go, I couldn’t have it taking out my beloved fish. So armed with a flexible rake I worked on getting it out. It was a tag team effort between my mom and I. I would drag the bottom, trying to get him to come to the top. My mom would spot him and then I would try to nudge him out of the pond. We got him out once only to have him scoot back in. On the second attempt, we got him out and into the open. My mom got in front of him with the rake to distract him. I came up from behind with my first baseman’s glove and a fish net. I got the net over his head and pinned him down with the baseball glove. After some squirming and adjusting, we got him into the cat carrier. I took him out to a wild area and set him loose in a canal. He seemed happy….
