Shorthand, 'cause I ain't got the time to be pretty.

Feds visited me last Wednesday, wanting info on a former student who was tryin' to get a security clearance. Dude was pleasant, but I couldn't stop starin' at those clip on shades he had flipped up on his glasses. What the hell? Guy in question took my class in 05 and made a C. Other than that, I had no recollection. I have about 150 students going through my classes every 8 weeks, so 05 was way too long ago for me to remember anything. I'm sure he'll get cleared. He'll be working in the CIA soon, I'm sure.

My garage door went tits up on me last Wednesday, just as the feds left. The big spring thingy snapped like a twig. Still need to get that fixed.

Lost my pool match Wednesday night, but it was close. The guys game came together at the last minute and he beat me like a step child. I lost one game by sinking my last ball, the 8 ball, and the cue ball, all at the same time. Try doin' that again. I won the next game, but then this guy turned into a ninja on me and left me in the dust. Ah well, next week.

Thursday I had lunch with the folks at the Stagecoach inn in Salado. I think it's overrated, but the folks love it. Home cookin'. Here's a merge of the front of the place.



Mushy sent me this program to do these sorts of shots, and it took us days to get it workin', but now I'm mergin' everything in sight. Here's a merge of the front of Pappasito's in Austin.



Well, it's Friday, so you know what's on the schedule for tonight. It's the night for me to go to Salado and get a haircut - once every 6 to 8 weeks. Then there'll be Chinese food with Dad, followed by a high school football game, and more frustration on my part as I try to get decent pictures. Denise will take Mom to the mall in Temple and eat at some cafeteria there that I've never tried.

Girls night out and boys night out, followed by lazy laying in till about noon Saturday. No clue what's on the plan for tomorrow. I need to spend about two days catching up on reading blogs, and I really need to get this friggin' garage door fixed. SUCKS not being able to punch the button and come and go, as if from the Bat Cave. Really putting a bummer on my scene.

Sorry Bruno...

But I can't avoid the generals chicken. It's sooooo goooood!

Denise and I took dad to Dynasty Chinese Friday night, and the generals chicken and shrimp fried rice was wonderful, as usual. That egg roll ain't nothin' to sneeze at ether.

Mom had a tooth ache, so the girls night out between her and Denise had to be rescheduled. Until last year, mom was still goin' to Ft. Worth to visit her dentist every four months. He was the same guy we all saw regularly since the mid 1970s. She didn't want to stop goin', but my sister and I talked her into shifting to a guy down here. The Idea of my 79 year old mother driving up I-35 just to see a dentist, when we have perfectly good ones down here, drove my sis and I nuts.

When I could I'd usually try to fix it so I could drive them up (Dad would always go with her), but it became hard to arrange as my teaching schedule got full. So now she has a local guy, but he can't figure out why her tooth is giving her fits, so he's hooked her up with a specialist. I hope it all turns out to be something simple. I'd hate to see her suffer through a root canal, or some similar crap.

After dinner, we took my dad out to watch a high school football game. His old school at Academy wasn't playing Friday, so we went to the nearby town of Holland to watch the Bumble Bees play Texas Christian Academy. Holland is the town my Dads family lived in after he left to go to the Army in 1942. His parents and two of his brothers are buried there. He wanted to go by, so I took us out by the old cemetery.

It was about 7PM by the time we got there, and the sun was steadily going down over the hill to the west as we drove up. I know, from the memory of many thousands of visits, exactly where the family plot is. It's a nice place, and I like to go by and see the folks now and then.

I'll never forget the first time I saw my father cry. He'd been gone, half way across the world, when his father and mother had died. He went home for his fathers funeral in about 1964, but I can't remember if he'd been able to get to go home for his mothers burial or not. She lived long enough, her mind robbed by Alzheimer's, until I could get a chance to get old enough to remember her.

I have a vivid memory of standing in a circle around her, along with my father and his three brothers, with this tiny woman in the center of the group. She was not much taller than I was at the time, and looked up in wonder at all the guys towering over her. Dad said later that she didn't remember him, or any of his brothers, but that she always knew who her grandchildren were. She died in about 1968, while we were living in England.

So we stood there, much later, side by side, looking at the grave, as my father saw his mothers name on the headstone for the first time. I looked up at him and saw the emotion on his face. Men in those days didn't cry, so I hugged his waist and cried for him. We both cry much easier these days. I blubber like a fool at the drop of a hat.

The circle goes round and round, and now I'm about the age he was then, and I'm dealing with a few of the same issues he had to deal with. As we both get older, I see that his mind is steadily drifting into old fond memories. He's living in the shadow those memories more and more, but I won't have a son to remember him, and hug me when he goes.

I love to take him on these drives, to get to hear the same old stories again. I know that the day will soon come when he stands there with me in spirit only.

We went to the game, but dad wasn't really into it. Denise and I enjoyed the fun, watching TCA score lots of points on the Bees, but dad was drifting the whole time. He thinks about the days back when he played, and all the people who have passed on since then.

The football field was pretty nice, compared to the one he played in. The kids have much nicer gear, and the bands are much bigger. The Bees tried to hold it together, but TCA had a great little receiver who kept catching lots of good passes. By the time we left, at about half time, the score was pretty lop sided.

The sun went down, and the bugs came out. Dad told me he was ready to go any time I was, and so we hit the road. I took us over to Sam's to gas his car up, and then we headed back to Temple. We visited with mom for a while, and then Denise and I headed back to Killeen. We stopped at Blockbuster and rented a few flicks.

We watched "Perfume" Friday night. It's an interesting little period piece, about a guy born in pre-revolutionary France with a ridiculous sense of smell. You need to check it out, if you're into these gritty period things. I loved it, but the end it became a bit silly. Interesting concept, but silly in the end. We also rented "300", which we watched today. I'd seen it in the theater, but Denise hadn't. Love it, and I'll own it one day. I also rented "Pathfinder", which I've been dying to see since it came out. Rented the unrated version, so I should have some fun in store.

Well, we're going to a party tonight, and I need to get my ass off this thing and wash it. Gotta go powder my balls (inside joke), so I'm off. I hope all your Saturdays were as casual as mine has been so far. Cheers.

Have a whole new reason to look forward to Fridays now.

Because I have more time than I need allotted to me down in Florence, teaching a 16 week class in about 18 weeks, I usually give the kids Fridays off. I show up and take roll, and then while I get caught up on other things, they ether study other things (remember, these kids are supposedly the smart ones), or they just shoot the shit. This morning was just as hilarious as last Friday.

Along with the normal banter about which one of the guys likes it up the ass, and who'd supposedly done what to whom, the cheerleaders (in uniform, of course) all somehow got into a discussion of which one of them had supposedly kissed another girl, and would they do one of those Girls Gone Wild videos. The boys were all sitting at attention, and then one of the boys, hearing them talk about kissing other girls, spoke up and said "Would you... please?" I was rollin', but mostly inside. I was busy grading exams from one of my Ft. Hood classes, and needing to get it done. These kids today! Love it.

After that was over I headed up to the office on base and found my buddy Dave looking at the web sites for Terlingua. We're all goin' to the next chili cook-off the first weekend of November, and he was scoping out the agenda for that weekend. They have live acts there each night, mostly country bands, but the live shows cam be quite fun.

We found out today that the Derailers are gonna be playing there one of the nights. They have a great sound, sort of a combination of Buck Owens, Bob Wills, and the early Beatles, if you can believe it. They're a regular in Austin, and will be playing the ACL (Austin City Limits) festival there later this month. I looked at their web site and according to their tour schedule, Terlingua is no where to be seen. Oh well, we'll see.

The trip this year should be fun. There's a rival cook-off down the road that has a much wilder reputation. I went over there briefly last year, but we got there just after the wet t-shirt and chili wrestling contests had ended. our timing will have to be better this year.

Anyway, I taught my lunch time classes, taking one bunch through the beginning of World War 2, from about 1933 to 40, and the others from about 1817 to 1828. Andy Jackson and the beginnings of the cotton economy/Industrial Revolution. Fun stuff.

Then it was home to do laundry and try to pull something out of my ass to post here. How does it smell so far?

I'll be heading over to Temple to eat with dad, and then he wants to go to a football game in Academy, his old school. I'll take Denise with me. We had plans to do stuff till the old geezer came up with this, and I have a hard time saying "no" to the man. I also need to come back by the base later and try to get mom a new sticker for her new Buick. She needs it so she can shop at the commissary on base.

Saturday evening, Denise and I will be doing to a wedding. A friend of hers from work is getting hitched, and then we'll all be getting sloshed at the big reception down the road. Sunday morning, I have to be up in Gatesville at 9AM. A few buddies and I are going to Ft. Worth to a gun show. I'll probably get a chance to give that GPS system back to Jim, if all goes well. It sure was fun to play with on that road trip to Tennessee.

So, I hope you all have a good weekend. Rest up. The pro football begins in earnest, which means cold weather will be blowing down from the north in no time. I can't wait. Take care. Cheers.