Goodbye 2006 - Hello 2007

At this point in the year, at the end many people talk about how lousy the outgoing year was and how they hope the incoming year will be so much better. Truthfully, I really can't complain about this year we are about to leave behind. 2006 was pretty good to us.

Sue has already mentioned many of the same things I will refer to, but what can I say. I read her blog last night, and noted that she has the same idea I had for tonights blog. What can I say. great minds think alike. ( Of course this begs the question as I'm a man, what mind...)

As Sue has mentioned, 2006 was the first full year Sandy has spent with us. It was also the first summer visit we have had with Tara and Elisa for quite some time. We got our first car that Sue and I have owned together, and we bought our first home. All in all a pretty good year.

In November, our first car, a 1989 Ford Crown Victoria we named "Vicki" died on us. However, thanks to our wonderfully generous Church Family we are now the owners of a 2000 Dodge Intrepid we have named "Doddi". So even the negative things have had a positive outcome.

In the world around us, the war in Iraq continues, although Saddam Hussein has been hanged in a move that surprised many and outraged others... I hope I am wrong, but personally I fear the backlash may be more than we bargained for. When you consider the execution came on the eve of Eid the festival that signals the end of Ramadan, a high Muslim religious event, it is not surprising that the soldiers on the ground are on High Alert.

We also lost several notable people this year. Most recently President Gerald Ford, and The Godfather of Soul, James Brown. Others who passed away this year were Steve Irwin, the Famed Crocodile Hunter, M*A*S*H* and Nashville Director Robert Altman, Character Actress and Academy Award Winner Shelly Winters, Funnyman Don Knotts, Character Actor Darrin McGavin, TV Star Dennis Weaver, among many others whom we will miss.

Some things in this world are better, some are worse. We need to trust God that what happens to us is within his plan for us. I gave up the idea of making resolutions many years ago. I do however plan to continue to love God, and to attempt to be a good example of what a Christian is to those around me. My wish for 2007 is that all who read these words find the peace and calm that I have. I have much to be thankful as we put 2006 behind us. I have a lot to learn also. I also need to continue to trust God, and learn to recognize what it is He wants me to do. May God bless you and keep you in 2007, and in the years to come. Happy New Year!

A Lazy Saturday!

This is Saturday, but I am in somewhat of a lazy mood. I am hurting a little bit. Not a lot, just enough to have very little ambition to do much of anything today. Sue is coughing, seems like she has a bit of a cold. She is taking Creomulsion to stave off the cough... (Yeah I know that rhymes Whoop de do!)

So today I basically did nothing. I got up, read the paper, and later on when Sue went to lay down I ended up watching one of my favorite Cold War movies of all time, "Ice Station Zebra". I had recorded it from TCM the other day. Sue isn't all that big on the movie, so I figured today would be the perfect time to watch it. I like some types of movies that she doesn't like, for example Horror movies. I generally don't end up watching them. It isn't that I can't watch them, I just haven't taken the opportunity to do so. Sue could easily go into our room to watch something else, or she could sit and read a book. She doesn't have a problem with me watching what I want, like I say, I just haven't bothered to watch those movies. One of these days I will probably get a copy of "50 Horror Classics" this collection that I've seen advertised. I also plan to get a copy of all of the Universal Horror Classics such as "Frankenstein", "Dracula", "The Wolfman" etc.

If she were so inclined Sue could get romance movies if she wanted to. They periodically run movies based on Janette Oakes novels on The Hallmark Channel. I don't really care for some of those, but the same thing applies. I can read, or go into another room. That's what is great about our relationship. We don't need to entertain each other.

A lot of times though, in fact the majority, we do agree on what we want to watch. We also usually read the same books. This can make it a bit difficult when we both want to read a new book we have just gotten our hands on... I read bit faster, so nine times out of ten, I get the new book first.

At any rate, this has turned into a blog not unlike what Seinfeld was supposed to be ... A blog about nothing!

No Movie Guide Today

I guess I will have to write an actual blog today. I looked at the movie guide I usually cut and paste in this space on Fridays, and there was one lousy movie listed as opening today. (Okay, it might not have really been a lousy movie, but I didn't see the point in cutting and pasting just one. )

So, what the heck to blog about? Let's see, it's wet and rainy today. Our new car is getting wet. I went out to get the paper and discovered the car had not melted! I was going to take some pictures of the car for Mom & Dad, but no such luck.

Sandy and Sue are making some cookies today. We are gonna decorate them later. Yum Yum. Sandy is being pleasant today, I hope it continues. We will see. For the time being, we will enjoy her good mood. At any rate that's the blog. What can I say, we are rather boring folks!

Driving along in my automobile....

I couldn't resist the Chuck Berry shtick! It's nice to have wheels again! We have only been without a car for 52 days, but it felt like forever. Sue and I have been together for almost 9 years, and to be honest, we didn't get a car until February of this year. We got used to be able to go where we wanted to go, without taking a bus, or asking for a ride, or taking a cab. There are many things we will be able to do now. I have somewhat been neglecting the library, as getting there even with the Ford was problematic. I couldn't afford the gas. Every time we went past a gas station, Vickie would gasp and say "Feed me!!!!!!!!!!!!" So it was difficult for me to get to the church to get any work done in the library.

We are so blessed to have a church that is so generous to have helped us with the money to purchase this car. We have been told we don't have to pay it back, our only obligation is to return the favor someday, and to take good care of this car. We will definitely do that. We will also make some donations to the love fund at the church

We have also named the new car. We tried out several ideas, but nothing quite seemed right. Finally Sue hit on Doddi. Well, she figured she is a Dodge Intrepid, So, Doddi. ( I thought she was saying Dottie) I had tossed out Trep, Sandy waned to name her Christine... Paging Stephen King... I think Doddi works pretty well.

Today's the day - But When???

It's Wednesday. Car day supposedly. I called the guy this morning, and he said the tires had come in this morning, and he would call me when it was ready. That was at about AM, it's now going on PM. We are getting just a tad impatient. I am anyway.

I am almost wondering if we jinxed ourselves by telling everyone about the car. It's just frustrating as ll hell! We have the check for the car sitting here, and nothing to show for it yet!!!
I did get the guy to agree to bring the car to us, so part of me wonders if he is gonna make us wait till the end of the day.

Well, I will blog when we actually get our hands on the car!

One day closer!!!

We are one day closer to getting our car. I was able to get hold of the church secretary this morning, She prepared the check, and then from what we were told, the wife of the Church Treasurer was kind enough to take the check to where he was at work (I think) so he could sign it.

Then a friend brought the check to us. Now all we need is the car. I called the dealership today, and he said they would not likely get th tires until late this afternoon, at the earliest, and perhaps not till tomorrow morning. I will call around noon to see if the tires came in and have been placed on the car.

I asked the guy if he would be able to bring it out to us, and he said he could meet us half way. I told him I wasn't sure we would be able to get a ride. He said he should be able to get someone to follow him over to the house.

I hope we don't end up waiting till late tomorrow afternoon. I will let both of he readers of this blog know.

Merry Christmas

Here it is, Christmas day. We can't really complain. We are getting a new (to us) car the day after tomorrow, we have a house we are buying, we have food in the house, we are reasonably healthy - Well, sort of you know There's an expression: "I'm in good shape for the shape I'm in" )

I decided to watch a little of the Cowboys/Eagles game. Our church Youth Leader James is there at the Cowboys Stadium in Irving. James is a major Eagles fan. (Well, he's still a nice guy, I guess I can't hold that against him. Well not too much anyway!)
So naturally the Cowboys are getting their asses kicked at the moment. 23 - 7 with 4:52 left to play. Off hand, I'd say they're screwed.

It just goes to show, I should not watch the game if I want to see the team win!

All in all tho, I have to say this is a good Christmas. The best thing about is, that My Lord Jesus Christ has blessed us wonderfully this year. Merry Christmas to all who may read these words. May God Bless you.

Sue's lost voice... and other stuff.

Sue has managed to lose her voice. How many husbands would rejoice at this? ( I honestly don't as I am the one who usually runs his jaws non-stop 24/7 /365 )As to Sue's missing voice, we are theorizing that she lost it yesterday afternoon. On our way home from buying the car, we were driving back to The Colony when a woman started to run a stop sign, and nearly T-boned Terry's car. Sue made the comment that she wanted to go back and pick up her heart, Terry and I both considered we each may need to change our shorts. We are wondering if at that point in time, Sue may have said something along the lines of: YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If so, then that's likely where her voice went.

Today was a nice Christmas Eve worship service, and after, we went to a friends house for lunch, but neither Sue or I were feeling very great. Sue because of the aforementioned voice loss, and allergies, and general blahs, me because last night I slept lousy. Oh well, what else is new.

We would have liked to made it to the Christmas Eve Service but didn't Sandy was able to go, and hopefully she represented our family positively.

For all who read this blog (both of you) Merry Christmas.

NEWS!!!NEWS!!!NEWS!!!

The long national nightmare is over! (Well, not really. The war in Iraq is still going on, our troops are still dying for no damn good reason, and Shrub is still sitting in the White house. )
However, we have gotten a car!!!

We won't actually get it home until Wednesday, but we found her and made a deal. With much help and generosity from our church family. Some very generous folks donated to the cause of helping us get a car, and with that help we were able to get set up with one today.

Our new car is a 2000 Dodge Intrepid, with 91,000 miles. Sandy and I saw the color as a Silvery-Green, Sue saw it as just Silver. At any rate, we took it for a test drive. I drove it first, Sue took over , and then our friend Terry drove it as well. He was helping us find a car, and brokering the deal for us in a manner of speaking.

Sandy thought it had a decent amount of room in the back, and when I started driving, Terry (who is 6'3") said he had plenty of room as well. So I guess that thee teen age girls ought to have enough breathing room for a trip down to the southern part of Texas this coming summer.

One slight problem we had was that we needed new tires on the back. They wee willing to put them on, but added to the amount for the deal. We went back and forth a little bit, and finally came up with a figure we could all be happy with.

They should be able to get the tires by Tuesday and have everything together, cleaned etc and we will be able to pick up the car on Wednesday!!!

Thanks to God, and thanks to the wonderful people at our church. We were told that our only obligation is to return the favor some day when we are able, and take good care of the car. We will definitely do that.

Okay, okay! I'll do a real post!

Sue considers my copying the movie guide on Fridays cheating. So I guess I will write a real blog. Nothing new on the car front, so now I need to come up with a subject to blog about.

Mac,our youngest kitty, has been a royal pain in the ass today. Being a kitten he is into everything. He is up on the counters, he is in the sink, he has also come up with a new little trick. He has learned how to open the laundry room and linen closet doors. (They're the accordion type doors.) He manages to get his paw underneath the doors, and pulls them open. Sheesh! There are days when I feel like skinning the little %$@#!!!

Now for a minor rant. Bush is apparently hanging out at Camp David over Christmas trying to figure out what he is going to do to change the situation in Iraq. My answer, figure out how t bring the soldiers home! Sending more troops over there is essentially putting a bandage on a gaping wound. Frankly I think he should end his twin party-hearty daughters over there. Then lets see how fast he gets the troops home. Oh well, the idea of Bush having an intelligent thought is about as likely as another lawyer going pheasant hunting with Dick Cheney.

Friday Movies

Here are the Friday movies for this week.

Merry Christmas
New releases this week
Christmas holiday edition
Click on the film's title to read a full review.
The Good Shepherd
Taut psychological epic about the early CIA focuses on the toll that secrecy takes on one agent's life.
The Good German
This homage to '40s Hollywood works as both a tale of postwar intruige and an experiment in film history.
Night at the Museum
A night watchman (Ben Stiller) must fend off dinosaurs, cowboys and Atilla the Hun when exhibits come to life.
We Are Marshall
Tale of a tragedy-torn university and its football team has its heart in the right place, but that's not enough.
Volver
Secrets are revealed when a dead mother reappears to her two daughters in this Spanish melodrama.
Curse of the Golden Flower
Director Zhang Yimou's domestic squabble set in 10th-century China is cursed by its own excesses.
Rocky Balboa
Sylvester Stallone's unhurried, quiet approach may leave longtime fans of the series a bit restless.
Dreamgirls (opens Monday)
Big screen adaptation of the stage hit fictionalizes the rise of Diana Ross and the Supremes.
Children of Men (opens Monday)
Tale of a future world beset by infertility blends an atmosphere of gloom with traditional chase elements.
Black Christmas (opens Monday)
This remake of the 1970 horror movie follows sorority sisters who are killed one by one over the holidays. This film was not screened in advance for critics.
More movie reviews
Read about all the movies now playing in local theaters.

The Car we almost bought

We went out today with Terry, to a lot that apparently is owned by an acquaintance of one of our church members. Terry had talked to the people at the lot, and explained what we were looking for, and what our limitations were.

We looked at a 1996 White Mazda MPV minivan. It was clean inside and out, had good tires, and cold A/C, and good heat. All of the seat belts worked, and there was plenty of space inside for all of the kids.

One downside: 133,000 miles. Well we could possibly live with that. We test drove it, and it drove decently, brakes worked well, it had good pickup. We went back to the lot, and decided we would work out a deal.

Before we went on the test drive they were initially talking $6995.00 Just prior to leaving, they said they could discount it to $4995.00 to get our payments under $100.00 per month. ($92.50 give or take) We are sitting there talking deal and we tell him the amount we can put down, and all of a sudden the salesman gets a call from the owner of the lot. He can't possible let it go for less than what they have in it. According to them they have $5895.00 into the van. Kelly Blue Book is $4995.00 fr the year in question. We balk. Then we discover that they have given us ( without our requesting it) a 1 year warranty at the cost of nearly $900.00. Well once the price went up, they cut that to a 6 month Warren, at $475.00. Supposedly we can still get the thing at $92.50 a month. W decided that this deal was beginning to smell.

Well, to make a long story short, we walked. Sue and I have been talking, and decided that we might just as well gt something newer with less miles on it. I have done some more research and we can get into a 2000 to a 2004 for under $9000.00. This would keep our payments under the required $100.00 a month. I continue to have faith!

Car Update

For those whom have been keeping up with our quest for a car, we have some more news. No we don't have a car yet, but we got told that generous people of the church have added more money to the down payment fund. This gives us some more options. We have expanded our horizons a bit.

We did some more research into the Plymouth Voyager, as it turns out one of the things that Consumer Reports says is a potential problem is the transmission. Well, so much for that one. We are looking into further ideas.

We are going to go take a look at a few cars that might work for us, sometime in the next couple of days, I hope... Today it's raining though, so it doesn't look promising. Terry, our Pastor, might have some time tomorrow to go with us to help us look. If that doesn't work we may have to wait till after Christmas.


I am trusting in God that we will find something soon.

A lesson in Klingon Swearing

I was attempting to add a new picture to my profile. I thought it would be a simple matter of linking the picture I wanted to the right place here on edit profile. WRONG!!!!! Every bloody thing I tried, flat out refused to work! (Insert Klingon swearing here!)

I had the stupid thing working a couple of days ago. but today, inexplicably the link was not working. No picture. (Insert more Klingon swearing here!)

I thought maybe the problem was with Yahoo Photos. I tried the same thing with Picasa... (Insert even more Klingon swearing here!)

So I finally realized about the only way I was gonna get the damn picture here so I could pace it in the profile... I have to upload a picture of my smiling face here on this post... So here I am! Anyone else want to swear in Klingon?

Monday, and I have to fight with Social Security

Here is is, Monday. I am apparently going to have to call Social Security and sit on hold for hours because they don't keep their word. At any rate, here I am now waiting on hold. According to the automated system, the wait should be approximately 8 minutes. So I am waiting to see if this works out.

ARRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was about one minute into the 8 minute wait, and I moved wrong, or something and the phone cut off. This has happened before, usually when I am on hold for a long time about something. I am never quite certain if it's our phone, or I have gotten cut off by the place I am calling.

At any rate, I am trying to find out what the heck happened to Sandy's SSI check for this month. screwed up last month and forgot to move her check to go into direct deposit into the new account, due to extenuating circumstances. (Namely the car crapping out on us) and didn't get the call in to them until the beginning of December. I called them and was assured that the money would be deposited into the correct account in 3 to 5 business days... It never got there. SO I called again today.

I actually got through within the projected 8 minutes. The guy checked and discovered that the money should have gone in, but if it isn't thee by tomorrow am, I have to call back... What can I say, Our government tax dollars at rest!

End of the Year at Covenant

Today we had our end of year congregational meeting. As usual, this includes a meal. In past years, it has been a pot luck. Today we had a soup and salad lunch prepared by the ladies of the church. There was a Caesar Salad, and a tossed salad. We had a choice of Bean soup, Turkey soup, a Chili with hamburger, beans, tomatoes, and onions. There was also a Minestrone type soup. Sue had the Chili and said it was delicious. I had the Turkey and thought it was pretty tasty.
We also had cookies, fudge, and a banana/vanilla wafer pudding, along with a chocolate pudding that had chocolate chips, and cherries in it. The latter is similar to a dessert Sue makes that has Chocolate pudding, cherries, whipped cream, and Oreo cookies. That one is to die for, but what we had at the church was pretty tasty!

We then got to the reason for the meeting. We always have a congregational meeting to explain the budget for the next year. Earlier in the morning, before the service, we folks on the Session met to approve the budget to present to the congregation. Later at the congregational meeting, we also had to approve the salary and housing budget for Terry, (Our Pastor) While that was discussed, we had to request Terry and his wife Kay leave the room. When we called them back in, we all applauded them. Terry quipped:, "I don't know if that applause means you're glad we're staying, or glad we're leaving!"

To be perfectly honest, we can't envision Covenant Presbyterian Church without Terry. He became the Pastor about a month before Sue and I became members of the church. We got a ride home from Terry and Kay last week, and we had mentioned a Presbyterian Church that is in The Colony. I commented that we might check out this church sometime, and Terry said, "Oh no you don't. You can't leave!" We laughed and assured them that we have no intention of leaving Covenant. Terry knows this of course, he was just kidding. But he did tell us tat they enjoy having us as members of the church. This really makes Sue and I feel good. It is nice to be a part of something. Covenant is a very warm, caring church. We have felt welcomed from the first day we walked through the doors. You can worship anywhere, but when you find a church home, home is a very apt word.

Saturday without a blog subject

Here it is, Saturday afternoon, and I can't think of anything to blog about. So, I suppose I can write about not having anything to write about.. It's as good a subject as any. So I guess I can mention that Sue cleaned the oven today. We figure that the house had been a rental before we bought it, it's unlikely that the renters had bothered to clean it. God only knows how many years of gunk she cleaned away today.

Sandy had some things she had to do today, which she did. One thing was a homework essay. She also had laundry, and other cleaning she needed to take care of.

I basically took it easy. Sometimes I feel guilty doing that. I racked my back up on Thursday, so I guess I shouldn't feel bad about taking it easy under those circumstances. I still feel like I should be doing something though...

On a good note, Sue is trying some new meds that will hopefully help her to get a better night sleep. She tried it last night for the first time, and said she did sleep better. We slept in today though, so the first real test will be tomorrow when we need t get up at 7 am to get ready for church. I am hopeful that this will help her. It seems to me, that if she sleeps better, that should help hr energy level, and hopefully in turn will help her have less pain. Then at least one of us will be able to do more. Of the two of us, Sue has dealt with chronic pain a hell of a lot longer, so frankly, I would rather see her get to feeling better.

Friday Movies

Here are the Friday movie openings. Today there are several films that look like they have some potential. "Eragon", based on the books by Christopher Paolini boasts some marvelous looking special effects. "Charlotte's Web" a new live action adaptation stars Dakota Fanning, and the voice talents of Julia Roberts as Charlotte, and some fine digital effects ( animals talking etc ) Will Smith has a new look for "The Pursuit of Happyness". At any rate, read the reviews, and judge for yourselves. If wee get the chance to see any of these films we will have a review here on the blog.


New releases this week
Click on the film's title to read a full review.
Charlotte's Web
Fans of the E.B. White book are rewarded for their patience with this endearing live-action adaptation.
The Pursuit of Happyness
Inspired-by-a-true-story film spends much time making us feel bad, but ends on a towering note of uplift.
The History Boys
Alan Bennett's hit play about aspiring Oxford-Cambridge students becomes a witty, well-acted film.
Eragon
Fantasy tale about a teen hero who raises a dragon and does battle with evil warlords is strictly for kids.
Cave of the Yellow Dog
Docudrama of a precocious girl and her dog offers a beautiful setting but a slight story.
More movie reviews
Read about all the movies now playing in local theaters.

Tonight, a short Blog

As the title indicates, this will be a short blog tonight. I am in a lot of pain, and just can't sit here to write for very long. Sue and I had some errands to run today. Namely, Sue needed to see her Rheumatologist. (Actually she saw a doctor that is filling in for her regular Rheumatologist, who is out on Maternity leave. We found out today that she had a baby girl on December 6th. Congrats!)

We also needed to stop to pick up a few things, and at one stop, I got out of the car, went to take a step back, and didn't realize how close I was to a curb. I started to lose my balance, and twisted my back unintentionally, and now am in a great deal of pain

Such is life with chronic pain. This is what I was talking about the other day. I never know from one day to the next, if I am going to step wrong, turn wrong, or just breathe wrong. Then boom. Severe pain. I don't know how Sue has been able to deal with this for so long. Oh well, time to stop whining. I promise to try to blog more tomorrow.

Proof that we need a life!

While she was clearing the table tonight after dinner, our daughter Sandy said she thought that one of the floor tiles was loose, and that it made a strange noise. Not really sure if she was making a joke or not, I got up to investigate. I bent down to look, and discovered it was not loose, but as I tapped on it I discovered something really odd. Underneath this particular tile, is a hollow spot.

Let the wild speculation begin! To confirm the hollow sound, I brought over my cane and tapped it on the offending tile and several around. Just the one was hollow. Okay. Why would there be a hole underneath the floor in my dining room? Buried treasure? Jimmy Hoffa? Who knows. One thing for certain, we will not be likely to find out until we get around to remodeling the kitchen. I definitely don't plan on prying the thing up just to find out.

Now of course it is likely to make us wonder from time to time what the heck could be under that spot. I am considering trying to find a friend with ground penetrating radar to see what might be there. (NOT!!!) It could have something to do with plumbing, or electrical wiring. God ( and the contractor that built the house ) only knows. This does however go to show one thing for certain...

We really gotta get a damn life!

Birthday Yesterday and Car Update

Yesterday was my birthday. In case anyone wonders (Sue, the only one who seems to read this already knows,) I turned 48. Yep 2 years away from the big 50! Actually as far as birthdays go, 50 doesn't bother me. I have already mentioned it here, that I plan to have a party for that one. My birthday was a pleasant one though. I got several cards from Sue, Sandy, and Mom & Dad. ( Maybe they read this too!) The one thing I was hoping to get for my birthday, didn't pan out though. I was kind of hoping we might at least find a car we wanted.

Segue to the Car Update. We were unable to get everything together yesterday to go look at the place we wanted to go, but today we did. We went out to a dealership in Lewisville, and looked at a 1998 Plymouth Voyager that was in really nice shape. It had 96,000 miles, good tires, clean inside and out, the engine is very clean, the A/C works great, yada, yada, yada. Pretty much a decent car. We both drove it, and decided we liked it. It was selling for $4495.00.

We had looked it up online, got good marks on it from Consumer Reports, and according to the online payment calculator, could afford the monthly payments. We go in to talk to the salesman about it, and find out that he would be happy to sell it to us for cash, but they would not finance anything under $6000.00. He tried to put us through a credit union, but no go. The best they could do is offer to sell it to us at their cost which is $2900.00 plus tax, license, and dealer prep. In all if we could come up with $3500.00 we could buy it for cash.

We have a certain amount that the Church can help us with for a down payment, but not enough to cover the $3500.00. Oh well, back to the drawing board. the next trip out will have to be to one of these rip-off lots that will finance there. We will probably get screwed in interest, but oh well. God will help us into th car He wants us to have. In the mean time, we keep the faith!

Monday Rant!

Last week, the Baker-Hamilton report on Iraq came out, with the stunning, unexpected news that the current policy in Iraq isn't working. Here are some recommendations by the panel. Beginning of a phased withdrawal of US combat forces from Iraq and direct US dialog with Syria and Iran over Iraq and the Middle East. The Iraq Study Group also found that the Pentagon has underreported significantly the extent of the violence in Iraq and that officials have obtained little information regarding the source of these attacks. The group further described the situation in Afghanistan as so disastrous that they may need to divert troops from Iraq in order to help stabilize the country.

Well, Duh. Ya think? Now the question is going to be, what will Shrub do about it? He seems to be off in his own little world, convinced that no Civil war exists. Excuse me, but when you have more than one faction using violence against another, and both of these groups are citizens of the same country, then I would call that a civil war. ( Of course the term "Civil War" has always bothered me. George Carlin did a bit about it. "Civil War? Kind of sounds like " Excuse me. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPPP! BANG, KAPOW!" )

Civil War is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary - n. A war between factions or regions of the same country.
Gee, isn't that what I just said? Okay Mr. Bush, let me say this to you slowly, You have Shiites on one side, and Sunnis on the other ( I won't even bring the Kurds into this right now ) They are shooting, killing, maiming, and generally fighting each other. They are two different factions (Sorry, I know you need to have people use those little words) factions means groups - You have these two separate groups and they are both in Iraq. They are fighting and killing each other. Mr. Bush, This is called a Civil War. Wake p and see that reality of the situation. What you are doing over there is not working. Start bringing our troops home, and just let the damn Iraqis battle it out on their own. You got rid of Saddam, you killed his sons, you got your revenge for him trying to kill your old man. Now stop killing our young people. Better yet, let you two fun loving, hard drinking twin daughters go over there for a few months. Then you will have a common ground to talk to Jim Webb!

A friend of ours has mentioned the possibility of impeachment. I am reaching the point that I think maybe that might not be a bad idea. The only down side is, it won't get our troops home any quicker.

A fortuitous walk

Last night, Sue and I went for a walk around the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights. This is something we have enjoyed doing since we have been together. We have fun looking at how other folks have decorated, and get ideas for things we might want to do ourselves. Last nigh we also came up with a dividend. In front of one house was some cut up wood. Apparently a branch had come down, and the homeowner had cut it into smaller pieces.

After church today, we went over to the house to ask if we could have some of the wood. They told us sure, and we went back home to get something to carry it in. We dumped out the papers we had in the recycle bin, and used that.

Unfortunately, by the time we got back, the guy had taken a goodly portion of the wood, and stuck it in his garage. Oh well, we still ended up with a few pieces. We did learn something though, keep your eyes open, and you just might find something useful. I figure that we may just come across more wood somewhere along the line.

We enjoy having a fireplace. Sue has never had one, I lived with a girl years ago that had one, so I have a little experience with starting fires. Sue loves messing with the fire, and helping to keep it going. I love watching her eyes light up as she finds something that she enjoys. I plan to do as much as I can to help her find new things that she can have fun with. That gives me a great deal of enjoyment.

Sleeping in!

One of the most enjoyable things is sleeping in on a Saturday. Actually sleeping in on any day of the week works too! When you don't sleep very well to begin with, sleeping in can be bliss!

Sleeping at all can be bliss. It used to be that I would only get insomnia a couple times of year. Maybe I was stressed about something, or had something on my mind ( such as it is.) On those nights I would find myself looking at the clock every five to ten minutes, and thinking, jeez, if I can go to sleep now, I can get 5 hours. Then soon it would be, if I can go to sleep now I can get 4 hours, then finally screw it, I may as well just get up now!

What I would give now for that once in awhile insomnia. Now, I don't sleep well because of chronic pain. Just as you get to sleep, you turn ever so slightly, and the pain receptors light up like a ( excuse the use of this analogy in December) freakin' Christmas Tree! Then it's back to staring at the clock going, jeez you mean it's only ( insert whatever time you want here!)

Sue has had to deal with this for many years. I have been leaning this little joy of chronic pain over the last 4 or 5. I wouldn't wish this on anyone. There are days, I just don't feel like doing anything. I can relate to Sue a lot more now than I used to. I understood, a little, from having been a medic. I used to take care of Sue, and now there are days she has to take care of me. Thank God I have a woman like Sue. I know that she doesn't mind helping do things when I can't Unfortunately, I have to accept that there are days when I can't That, for me is probably the hardest thing to deal with. Even harder than the insomnia.

Friday Movies

Here are the Friday movie releases.
New releases this week
Click on the film's title to read a full review.
The Holiday
Beautiful, flawless film is both an homage to and an update of the classy romantic comedies of the 1940s.
Apocalypto
Mel Gibson's odd Mayan epic is a unique, great-looking film that's a bit too in love with its own carnage.
Blood Diamond
The acting of Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou holds your attention through a predictable storyline.
Unaccompanied Minors
Small kids may laugh as a rascally gang of kids traveling alone run wild during a Christmas Eve blizzard.
Coffee Date
Wry romantic comedy of sexual confusion deftly turns increasingly serious without losing its sense of humor.
Candy
Tale of a heroin-addicted couple (Abbie Cornish and Heath Ledger) is careful not to glamorize drugs.
The Architect
Strong performances give a firm foundation to this tale of an architect whose building and family are crumbling.
More movie reviews
Read about all the movies now playing in local theaters.

Thursday Musings

Well, here it is, Thursday. We are still looking for car deals. We know what we want, and as I wrote yesterday, we at least now have a down payment amount we can give to the dealers. We will find something. I need to give Bob Ingibritson a call, and give him some specific places that we want to go to look at cars. Then we can see what kind of time he has to help us go to look.

Next Monday is my 48th birthday. Not that I really care, as there isn't much we can do even if I wanted to do to celebrate. Frankly next birthday tat is going to really mean anything to me will be in '08 when I turn 50. To me that is a milestone. Of coarse Mom will not likely see it that way, as on December 30th of that year when will be 75. I suspect she won' really want to be reminded of that!

I have been using looking for a car as an excuse not to do any writing. I have at least one short story idea, have gone as far as writing the idea down, and have come up with some characters names, but done little else. Sue and I also need to get our butts in gear and start working on the screenplay in earnest. ( It's a bit outside of Timbuktu, I think... )

Anyway, we both need to get our rears in gear and start writing.I need to get going ton the Roadblock story, and get both Sue and I working on the screenplay. By now Karin has probably given up on us. It has been several months since we had the preliminary meeting. What do I need to do to kick myself in the ass and start writing again??? When I figure it out, I will blog it here!

Updates

Well, the Food Stamp wait is over. The mail showed up ( at 1:00pm - this is early lately, as it's been showing up after 6:00 for the last several days!) Lo an behold, there was the letter with the EBT card in it. Yea! At first I got torked because the paper the card was inserted into had a notice that the pin number would be mailed separately within 10 days. Sue kept a bit more of a level head than I did. There was another paper included in the envelope that told how to set up a pin number.

So we now have access to $78.00 worth of food stamps. Not much but better than nothing. We also found out that we will get access to the monthly $32.00 on the 11th of each month. It's not much, but it is better than nothing.

So it looks like I don't have a reason for any more rants today.

Also on the plus side, we got word how much we can get for a down payment from different members of the church. Now, armed with this information, we can now start looking for a card in earnest. We can tell a car dealer how much we can put down on a car, so that will make it a little easier to go look at cars. This makes me feel a lot more confident that we will find a car soon.

Tuesday Rant!

It's Tuesday, and here the promised rant. Remember I mentioned before that we had applied for Food Stamps, and been approved? Well, we got a letter a while back telling us we are entitled to $32.00 per month. You read correctly. $32.00 per month. This is supposedly a supplement. When I asked the lady how we were expected to buy food for two parents and a 15 year old girl with $32.00, I could envision the Prince-nez glasses perching on the end of her up-turned nose as she said:

"Food Stamps are only supposed to be a supplement, sir!"
She actually made the 'sir' sound like a curse.

Okay fine. According to the statement we got we are entitled to $12.00 for September, and the aforementioned $32.00 for October and every month thereafter. Fine. Great. The next hurdle is how do we access the $32.00? (Now that it's December, we're up to $108.00) We had a card when we lived in Dallas County. We tried calling the information from that card. Nothing. We finally get hold of the lady with the snotty attitude again. She tells us ( oh so contritely now)the card we have is just fine, and that there is a computer glitch, and we should be able to access the Food Stamps by the next day. You see she and her assistant were working on the problem until 7PM the night before, until the computers were taken down for the night. Okay I'm an idiot. I buy this one.

I try back the next day. Still no access. I try for a couple more days. No dice. I call the lady again. She gives me more song and dance that they are still having computer problems. After going round and round about this thing for another 2 weeks, she suddenly decides that we do need a new card, after all. We have to go into the Denton County office to get it. I leave a message asking if they could possibly mail the card. She responds to the phone tag, and says she will send the card. That was last Wednesday, As of today's mail, no Food Stamp card. One begins to wonder if she sent the bloody thing via Pony express! Hell, I could have walked to Denton and back ( even with my screwed up back and sciatica) faster than this!

Don't ya just love a bureaucracy!

Monday, Monday

Here we are, another week. The first week of the last month of the year. Last night we had our Christmas play at church. The youth group put it on. It was called, "A Cricket County Christmas Cruise." This was a sequel to a Christmas play the youth group did 2 years ago. "A Cricket County Christmas."

In the original story the city cousins ended up in Cricket County at Christmas to meet their country cousins, and attend the reading of their rich uncle Zeke's will. It turned out the country cousins of Cricket County ended up with Zeke's millions. However the city cousins learned that Christmas was truly about a lot more than money.

In this story, the cousins end up on a cruise ship. The Country cousins are mistaken for the ship's custodians by the cruise director, they mistake an actor portraying one of the wise men in the Ship's Nativity play as the real thing, and everyone thinks a country man posing as a millionaire, is the real deal. Hilarity ensues. The play was a lot of fun, and the kids had a great time with it. Sandy played Pete, one of the city cousins, and enjoyed herself.

We started out the evening with a pot luck (We're a Presbyterian Church what a surprise!) We finished up by making some Christmas stockings to go to The Austin Street Shelter, that we support throughout the year.

Today, Sue and I tried to relax, as last night when we got home, I threw my back out. ( I really gotta replace that back one of these days. The damn thing goes out more than I do!!! Tonight we had a fire in the fireplace, so Sandy could get a chance to see it. Sue and I broke the fireplace in Friday night while she was gone. Anyway, that's about it today. Tomorrow, I will attempt to think of something to rant about. It's been awhile since I have blogged a good rant. I will have to see what I can do about that!

Free to good home: 2 Cats, and one kitten!

Yesterday I mentioned about the decoration fest that Sue went on. When Sandy got home, she helped Sue put the rest of the ornaments on the tree. After they were done, I got a picture of the newly decorated tree. Fortunately that is.

When we got up this morning, the tree was on the floor. Ornaments were on the floor. 2 cats and one kitten were sitting there looking at me like"So where's our breakfast, man?" The only thing we can figure is that when we went to bed, they decided to help decorate the tree themselves. Being kitties, they couldn't go down the street to Dollar General, so they used the next best thing for ornaments. Themselves!

Obviously the wight of 2 cats and a kitten was just a bit too much for our five year old artificial tree. Hence, he tree on the floor. We put the tree back up, and tied it to a plant hook in the ceiling above the tree, with some twine. The angel tree topper didn't quite fit correctly, so I used the ribbons at the neck of the angel and tied her to the twine. Hey, you gotta use what you can to make things work.

Needless to say I can't wait to see innovative decorations our felines come up with in the middle of the night tonight... just wont guarantee they will live to do any more decorating after that...

You've got to be $#@ing Kidding!

I get humor from a newsletter entitled: Joke of the Day. ( If anyone wants the link to this just let me know)
Usually the jokes are a bit lame, and they also have pictures that are often pretty funny. Every now and then they have a gem.
This one is a brilliant, flawless diamond!




Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens...
In a recent issue of Meat & Poultry magazine, editors quoted from ''Feathers,'' the publication of the California Poultry Industry Federation, telling the following story:
It seems the US Federal Aviation Administration has a unique device for testing the strength of windshields on airplanes. The device is a gun that launches a dead chicken at a plane's windshield at approximately the speed the airplane flies. The theory is that if the windshield can withstand the carcass test impact, it'll survive a real collision with a bird during flight.
Apparently, the British were very interested in this and wanted to test a windshield on a brand new, high-speed train they were developing. They borrowed the FAA's chicken launcher, loaded a chicken and fired. The ballistic chicken not only shattered the windshield, but went through the engineer's seat, broke an instrument panel, and was embedded in the back wall of the engine cab. The British were stunned and asked the FAA to review the test to see if everything was done correctly.
The FAA reviewed the data thoroughly and had one recommendation: ''Use a thawed chicken.''

Decking the Halls ( or at least the Walls!)

Today, Sue went on a decoration fest. She added some more lights to the tree, and some garland, and dug out the ornaments for Sandy to put on the tree later. (Sandy was at a drill meet, so will have to do her thing later.)

Sue usually does a pretty good job decorating for Christmas, but I think this year she will go all out. And who can blame her. This is the first Christmas in our new hose, the first house we have ever lived in, let alone own. So I figure if it makes her feel good to decorate why the hell not! I take care of the outside, not because it's a man;s domain or any of that macho bullshit, just because that's how we usually do it. She decorates inside, and apart from setting up the tree, she does the inside!

I like being festive. It makes it feel like we are getting closer to Christmas, the more lights we string up, and the such. Soon we will be making cookies, Chex mix, and Slushies.. (I still remember my mom getting sloshed on Slush! She maintains she wasn't blitzed, just well organized. I'll have to ask mom if she is going to make slushies this year.

Well, getting near time to make dinner.

Friday Movies

Here are this weeks movie reviews. Enjoy!


New releases this week
Click on the film's title to read a full review.
The Nativity Story
Kid-friendly adaptation of the Christmas story focuses on teenage Mary's remarkable task of bearing Jesus.
Turistas
A Brazilian tour bus wrecks, forcing its passengers to face a conspiracy aimed at picking them off one by one.
Sleeping Dogs Lie
A finacée confides that she once performed a sex act on her dog in this blunt, provocative comedy.
Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj
Kal Penn returns in this sequel to the 2002 film from National Lampoon. This film did not screen for critics before press time.
More movie reviews
Read about all the movies now playing in local theaters.