What the hell?

I mean, how long will it be till we get over this stupid thing with weed? I mean, if this is a lesson about ANYTHING, is says that you can be a fully functional human being, at the VERY TOP of your field of endeavor, the friggin' greatest Olympic athlete of all time, and still take a drag now and then. If he'd been shot with a cocktail in his hand there'd be no press. And booze kills people every day. Wait a moment... THERE, another drunk driver just killed someone. Sheeeeiiiiitttt!

I mean, I was so stupid back in the day. Bought into all the shit my folks told me. Passed up so much fun, in so many ways. I say leave the guy alone. Hell, he's already rich, so it can't really ruin his life. They can just fuck his whole future, chances for 2012, everything, and for what? Please!

My wheels.

I recently put a few new stickers on my bumper. Took a shot while I was parked at the library in Florence. That's where I do a lot of computer stuff during the week, killin' time between classes on Mondays and Wednesdays.



My old jeep used to be plastered with bumper stickers. Folks always knew it was me goin' by. Once I traded it in for this little silver bullet, well, I guess I wanted to keep it lookin' classy. But slowly, sure enough, the stickers have just materialized.



First one was the Billy Bob's sticker. Covered a ding in the bumper that was there when I got it. The Smoky Mountains thing was purchased on our last road trip to Tennessee. The ACL sticker was given to me by a friend who lives in Austin. Thay'd also gone to the festival and had a few of these stickers layin' around.



This one was purchased at a gun show in Dallas. Same folks who sold me the "Thin the herd" t-shirt. Loved it, so I had to go there.



Now, this is totally off subject, but check out this cool ride. Spotted it outside the pool hall we played at last week. I think it's the one I'll get some day. Love the paint job/decals. NICE!

A night off, and a sleep in, kinda.

The weather stepped in last night and gave me the evening off. Got the word as my San Saba classes were ending. The classes on the base were being canceled due to the threat of ice on the roads.



We had about three days in the 80s last week, but then the norther blew in, and with it some slight precipitation. So by Tuesday night it was droppin' down into the 20s and I was building a nice blaze in the fire place.

That gave Denise and I the chance to enjoy a real night at home together during the week, which is usually a treat of the weekend. I got home first, a few hours before she did, so I got the fire goin' and started dinner.



She picked up some pork chops the other night, but we weren't expecting to be able to cook them for a few more days. I busted out the skillet, tossed in some butter, pepper, and some sweet white whine, covered it and set the burner on medium.

We also did some green beans for her. OK, I had some too.



Turned out really good. I thought maybe I'd cooked them a little long, but Denise said they were delish. Who can argue?



Denise also whipped up some good, buttery cheese sauce and I boiled some Rotini noodles to throw into it.



Mmmmm, good. Toss on some fresh pepper and it was good to go. Have some in the fridge for left-overs too. I doubt it survives the night.



Good lookin' eh? You should have tasted it. That's some left-over Chinese stir fry there, heated up in it's sauce and poured over the finished chops. I know, I shouldn't post this stuff. It's just wrong.



That wasn't the half of it though. Denise introduced me to something called a Kahlua and Cream the other day. Last night was my first attempt to make them. You see the ingredients here.



And this is the end result. Tastes like a ice cream float, but with a kick. Wonderful. And yep, somehow in all this orgy of gastronomic goodness, I lost my shirt. You know, that'll happen.

It turned out the ice was mostly west of here, so the morning classes today were only delayed. I had to go down to Florence for about 40 minutes, and then did my drive to Saba. The sun is out, and everything here is back to normal.

Hope the weather is treatin' you nice. Cheers!

Monday stuff, and a new twist.

First off, I want to explain why I haven't been around here as much in the last few weeks... hell, the last month. Well, I've been workin' on somethin'. Started it back in early December, right after comin' home from that Gun Show in Nashville.

The mind started to wander off as I was drivin' back down I-40 towards Texas. Next thing I knew the normal ravings of my imagination had taken a seemingly more solid form. A story started to come together in my head, and when I got home I started to write it down.

I tell you what, tryin' to write this stuff down has finally given me an appreciation for all the stuff I didn't study in grade school, like spelling and punctuation. Hell, anyone who's read enough of my stuff over the years probably doesn't need to be told what a dolt I am. Thank God for spell check, is all I'm sayin'.

Anyway, I've policed up the stuff I've written so far, revised and fleshed it out just about the way I want it, and set it up in a new blog. It's an ongoing story, only maybe a third finished. Having played with it enough for now, wanting to get going with the rest of the story, I've decided to let more of you in on it before I move forward. So, click over there and see what you think.

I had an epiphany this morning, driving out here to San Saba, and I think I know how the rest of the story is gonna go. It's gonna be juicy stuff. Lots of blood and guts. Should be fun to write, and I hope, fun to read.

If you know enough about me, and about some of the people in my life, then you'll probably come to recognize some of the characters in the story. let's just say, I've stolen liberally from life and art, and changed the facts around to make them work, and to make everything more fun. I tell ya, it's been a huge blast, putting all this stuff together. It continues to be. Hopefully, you'll like it too.

So, go check it out. Leave comments if you want, or you can email me. Go ahead and tell me how stupid you think it is, and how basic my command of the English language is. And if anything fails to ring true to you, go ahead and say so. Any help you can give towards realism will be deeply appreciated. Having said all that, this baby is mine, and I'm the only one who really needs to like it. So there... But I hope you do like it.

Now, on another front, I made my last payment on my land today. 17 acres, south of Killeen on HWY 195. Paid off a 15 year note in 6! Very happy at that. Now, if I can only sell it, I'd make enough in profit to pay off about 90% of my other bills. Torn though. Part of me wants to keep it and wait for the price per acre to go up even more. We'll see.

Denise and I had a great time this last weekend. Very relaxed and fun. But the next one will probably prove to be hell on wheels. My sister is finally moving most of her crap into storage and moving herself into the upstairs room in my Mothers house! This is NOT something I'd like to see happen. But she's been totally unable to find a job of any kind that would allow her to pay her own rent, and mom just isn't willing to pay the grand a month it takes to keep little sis in the comfort that she has become accustomed to.

If you've read any of my past rants about my sister, then you know that the chances are pretty good that this is NOT gonna end well. But, I realized a long time ago that there's NOTHING I can do about any of it. So, I'll just stand by, ready to haul boxes and fix things. I tell ya, it's times like these that make me glad my job keeps me so friggin' busy.

Anyway, I'm off. Gonna go back to the other blog and write some more crap down. I tell ya, it's just flowin' out of me these days. Take care. Cheers!

Shootin' at Daves, and other stuff.

Went up to Gatesville, or really up west of Gatesville last Sunday and blasted away for a few hours with a few friends. Let's say we were celebrating our constitutional right to piss off a hell of a lot of scared liberals. You might say we were celebrating a last hurrah.



Looks like a mug shot, don't it? Maybe the James Gang, in better times.

God knows how long folks like us will continue to enjoy the right to get together in a field, as generations of our forefathers have done, and practice with our guns. We might soon be beaten down and "civilized", like our British cousins.

I was there a while back, about 2003. I stepped into a gun store in Sheffield, just to see what they had. It was sad. Nothing there but BB Guns, non firing replicas and toys! Sad, to see what these formerly free people have been reduced to. Sad, to think that this new government of ours, which publicly celebrates individual liberty and the individual "right to choose", doesn't trust it's own citizens enough to allow them unfettered access to the very power that average citizens once used to assert American Independence and sovereignty.

I'd bet good money that the leaders of the modern left, if transported back to 1775, would be riding out into the back country of Massachusetts to beg the colonists to pay their taxes, telling them it was their patriotic duty to submit to government authority, and help the Redcoats confiscate the arms of the patriot resistance. And now these nutless wonders run our country? Sad indeed!

But, it's not like the Right hasn't handed them all the ammunition they need to take over. It couldn't have happened without the corruption, mismanagement, and ineptitude of the Republicans in Congress, and the mismanagement of the Bush administration... amplified out of proportion, of course, but the regular rants of the media. They sowed the seeds of their own destruction. And we all were complicit, failing to stand up and shout "NO" when the Republicans outspent the Democrats and failed to live up to their own stated principals.

So, with nothing else left to do, resigned to the "change" that's rolling our way, my buddies and I went out Sunday to keep the faith with our forefathers. We filled the air with lead, and let a few war whoops fly. Maybe a few Rebel Yells too. And when the gun grabbers come, we won't give up these rights as easily, as sheepishly and our British brothers did, or the Canadians, or the Aussies. This is Texas, mother fucker! We don't play that shit here!

Having said all that, I've got to say that I'm proud as hell to see my country, 40 years after Martin Luther King's assassination, electing our first Biracial President. It does make me feel good. It makes me feel good about my own people, like we've moved on from a horrific and repressive past. So God bless this country, and it's resilience, and our new Executive. And please God, grant him the wisdom to know, as so few in our government on ether side of the aisle seem to know... that there is a HUGE difference between what you CAN do, and what you SHOULD do!

God bless this system of ours, with all of it's flaws. It's still better than most others I can think of. Still... but the time is coming I fear when I may not be able to say that any more.

Anyway, rant over. Here's some shots of the fellas and I out blastin' away.



This is Dave, our host, taking a turn with one of the pistols that materialized when we all got there and unloaded our toys. I think it was a .357 Magnum. Kicked like a mule.

This is Dally, loading his Civil War musket with a mini ball. He's the guy that makes all the Civil War loads for these shoots. Works on them at home. All perfect replicas of English Enfield rounds.



Eventually, Belknap (that's the other little fellow there behind me) and I took out our Tokarev SVT-40s and started blasting away. His son (the kid with the western holsters below) set up a good sized rock next to the paper targets and we proceeded to blast it into pebbles.

Then his son took a turn with my rifle. Love that rifle. Fun to shoot.

Well, that was our fun. Lets hope we can continue to do this sort of thing in the future. Cheers!

OK, the shots from Christmas.

OK, you remember, maybe, Denise and I went to Kentucky for Christmas. It was another road trip, not too long after the last one. But we love doin' that drive, so it was easy and fun.

We started out at my Mom's place on Christmas eve. That's the picture you see above there. I put together a box for dad's flag and medals, and mom loved it. We opened presents there and had lunch. Mom cooked fried chicken, some of which we took with us on the drive. We left there at about 2PM and drive on to Memphis.

After getting a good nights sleep in Memphis at a La Quinta, woke up Christmas Day, took advantage of the complementary breakfast and drove on to Denise's kids place in Bowling Green.



Once we got there, we waited for her other daughter and Denise's grandsons to show up, and then we enjoyed another Christmas with lots of cool presents and fun.



On day while we were there we all drove back down to Nashville and checked out the ICE show at the Opryland Mills Mall. I'd gone to Kentucky hoping for cold weather, but it turned out to unseasonably warm. So, going into this ice show, where it was 9 degrees, was a fun time for me.



Mostly, my time was spent supporting Denise, doin' whatever the others wanted to do. I love to see her having a good time with her kids. And I also love to play with her grandson Collin. He loves it when I pick him up by his feet and toss him around. I'm like an amusement park ride for little kids. I love it too.



On the drive home we stopped in Memphis again. This time we walked up Beale Street and ate some great BBQ at BB Kings place. Blind Mississippi Morris, "The Real Deal from Beale" was playin there that night. It was a great time.



During his break, Morris was led over to the bar near us and he enjoyed a complementary adult beverage.

We made it home in time to have a drink and celebrate the new years here at home. It was a great trip, and it's been made even better now with the news that Denise's younger daughter Lynn is pregnant. She came home in tears Friday afternoon and told me. Lynn had called her to tell her while she was at work. It's wonderful news!

Anyway, if you want to see more of the holiday shots, go here for the Christmas shots, here for the ICE show, and here for the pictures from BB Kings place.

Enjoy the pictures. I had a lot of fun taken' 'em. Cheers!

Busy, busy, busy...

But I figure I need to post somethin' so the few people who still click over here now and then won't think I'm dead, piled up in a smoky heap on 183 or somethin'.

I think I told you last week that I'd started working again, teaching in Florence and San Saba. Well, that's all goin' down smooth. No problems. Well, none worth talkin' about anyway.

This week I'll start two more classes on Ft. Hood. That'll be eight classes in all. Naaa, it's not that much. I'm used to it.

I started playin' pool again last Thursday night. This time it's a Nine Ball league. Different rules, but mostly still the same fun folks. I lost, of course. They put me up against some little spindly dude that no one had ever seen before, who turned out to be REALLY good.

In a situation like that I don't feel bad about loosing. It's all in fun anyway. I mean, I did have a good time. Lots of good friends, two good cigars and three Coronas, not that I'm counting. I will meet that mother fucker again' though, and we WILL play another round. Did I say I didn't mind loosing? Sheeeeiiiitttt!

In my spare time, Denise and I have been busy cleanin' the house. It's too easy, as much as we both work, to let things go and end up livin' in a pig sty. So I've spent the last week or so goin' through lots of old boxes and piles, shredding old exams and papers and throwin' stuff away.

I took a bunch of old school stuff out to the base... old test banks and support materials for text books... so the folks out there could shred and incinerate them, and I brought a box of books to the library here in Saba today to get rid of them.

The house is lookin' a bit tidier now, and my main desk is no longer under such a huge pile of crap. of course, it's my nature to "collect" things, so I'm sure the pile will reappear in time. They always do.

Anyway, I do have the pictures from Christmas to show you, but I haven't posted them to FlickR yet. I can't do that here from the library computer, so maybe I'll be able to get it done tonight, or later this week. One way or the other, it'll get it done this week.

In the meantime, an old friend emailed me this video. If you're a gear head and love these old planes (and I know you do), maybe you'll love this as much as I did. Enjoy.

Back to the old grind.

I started back to work in Florence and San Saba today. It sure was nice to be able to sit around and be lazy for a while, but all good things must come to an end, or so they say.

I'm still workin' on the holiday shots, so be patient with me. Maybe Wednesday. Probably Wednesday.

Got on a clean up kick over the weekend, tryin' to get some stuff done around the house. Went through the shelves and sound lots of stuff to shred or throw away. Hooked up my new printer/scanner, and it's workin' fine.

Got my car tuned up Friday. They changed out the plugs and cleaned it up. replaced the battery cables and they told me my battery was iffy. I decided to wait and see. well, Sunday night at about 10PM I was goin' to Wally World to get a new one.

I cracked open my PC and vacuumed all the dust out of it. It's still a piece of crap, but at least the sound issue has gone away. I can listen to music again, and I can hear all the moaning and groaning in the videos. Porn just ain't the same without all the moanin' and groaning, you know?



As far as the world scene is concerned, I say turn it to glass. There'll never be a day when the Arab leaders and the Israeli leaders can really be brought to a place where they'd rather have peace than risk loosing. So, turn it to glass. keep it from draggin' us down too.

Anyway, I'm off. Gotta go listen to more "music". Cheers!

I'm kinda late, but Happy New Year everyone!

We got home late last night, in time to enjoy the new year here in the comfort of our own home. And as much as we enjoyed the trip, it is nice to be home.

Slept in today and spent most of the day watchin' bowl games and tryin' to get a jump on cleanin' up last years crap. I got most of the culling done on my pictures and started the photoshop process. I think there'll be a few nice shots to show ya.

Now we're lookin' at goin' out to eat and to a movie. See ya later. Cheers!

Headin' home this mornin'.

Breakfast is cookin', so this'll be short. We'll try to get as far as we can today so the drive on the 31st is short. Plan to stop in Ft. Worth that day and see some friends there. Plan is to be home and celebrate the new year in our own bed. Here's to tryin'.

Anyway, I'll see ya when we get back. Cheers!

Went to the movies tonight.

No, it wasn't Imax. There were no explosions and no humans died grisly deaths. The littlest of us, Denise's 9 or 10 year old grandson wanted to go see a chick flick, and all the chicks who run the show around here agreed.

We slept in again, as usual, and then rolled around the house much of the day today. I was watchin' Hannibal and some other History Channel stuff on TV. Plans were to go to an early showing, but everyone was still laid out on a couch or bed, vegetatin' when that opportunity rolled by. We ended up goin' to the 6:40 showing of Marley And Me.

We joked walkin' in that it'll probably be sad. I said somethin' about how the dog'll probably get leukemia in the end, like in "Beaches". Doesn't every chick flick have to end like that? I think it's a rule.

Anyway, I have to say, I loved the hell out of the movie! It had a slow build, but it turned out to be really good. And yes, we were all ballin' like fools at the end. I think even the usually emotionless teenager in the group was whipin' his face once when I looked over.

The performances were all great. I did get tired of lookin' at Owen Wilson's weird assed nose in all those closeups. What, did he have a horrible wrench accident as a kid or somethin'?

Anyway, if you've ever doubted the course of your life. Ever wondered what the hell you're doing. If you've ever been loved by a pet. Felt that unconditional love they always give, and then had to do what all good pet owners eventually have to do, don't miss the movie. It's well worth the price of admission.

Well, dinner's on the table, so this'll be a short one. Y'all have a great night and we'll talk again in a few. Cheers!

Oh, I forgot to tell you one thing. One of the surprises in the movie was the appearance of Kathleen Turner in one scene. I tell ya, that speeding freight train called AGE musta run smack dab into her, t-bonin' her when she wasn't lookin', tryin' to cross the tracks. Beat that signal. Remember when she was so hot? It hasn't been that long ago, has it?

Anyway, it's a great flick. Check it out. Cheers!

Havin' a nice weekend in Kentucky.

We got up late on Saturday and had bagels for breakfast. Denise went to a place called Panera Bread for those. They were wonderful. She lived around here for twenty some odd years, so she knows all the good spots to get the best stuff.

Later Saturday afternoon, we all (Denise and I, her eldest daughter Chantal and her two sons Bryce and Collin, Denise's younger daughter Lynn and her husband Dale) piled into two cars and drove about an hour south to Nashville. We went to a huge mall and resort down there, the Gaylord Opryland, and paid about twenty bucks a piece to see ice sculptures of "How The Grinch Stole Christmas".

Seein' as how it was about 72 there, with folks walkin' around the mall in shorts and flip flops, the 9 degree temperatures inside the "Ice" show were much more to my liking. It turned out to be really cool, and I got all sorts of good pictures of it, including one of my breath as I blew condensation like a chimney. But, being here in Bowling Green, I don't have access to my home PC. I can't download them and work on them till I get home, so you'll have to wait a bit to see them. Maybe this weekend.

After the chill of the Grinch, and after some wonderful hot chocolate after, we spent a few hours walkin' around the mall. It's friggin' HUGE, with an Imax theatre and a half dozen restaurants, all packed. At one point it occurred to me that we could see "The Day The Earth Stood Still" at the Imax, but the ladies poo pooed that idea. Not enough time. Then I became enthralled with the idea of eating there in Nashville and having a Yuengling off the tap. Nope, that didn't happen ether.

The first few places we looked at were ether the wrong food or there was a two hour wait for a seat. So, after the walk around the mall, we hit the road, thinking we'd find a place to eat off the highway. Well, before you knew it we were in Kentucky again, rollin' into a TGIF here in Bowling Green, where they don't have Yuengling. Muh! The food was good, if maybe a bit overdone. I couldn't help but feel a bit gypped.

Oh well, It was a fun time anyway, so I can't complain. Denise is really enjoying her time here with her kids. She keeps asking me if there's anything I want to do, but I tell her that I'm easy. Whatever she wants to do is cool, and that's the truth.

Today, Sunday, She and I drove up to Elisabethtown, near Ft. Knox, to visit a few old friends of hers from her Ft. Knox days. That was a lot of fun. Of course, the day was darkened by the dismal performance of the Cowboys.

Friggin' Cowboys! Here I am, in a nest of Satan worshipers (Packers fans - well, imps of Satan anyway), havin' to put up with their abuse, and the 'boys played like rank armatures! I'm glad I was on the road all day with Denise and didn't have to watch it. These boys, her grandsons, would have learned a whole new collection of expletives!

Not sure what tomorrow will bring. Maybe another trip to E-town or Nashville. We are plannin' to go to a movie at some point, but I don't think I'll be able to talk them into the Imax thing.

Whatever goes on, I'll tell you about it in a few days. Cheers.

Just chillin', here in Kentucky, in nauseatingly warm temperatures.

Nauseatingly warm! It's like 67 now. I might as well be in Texas! The drive up to Wisconsin has been called off. Ironically, too friggin' much snow! Denise's relatives all told her not to try it. I was yellin' "We're comin'!" from the other seat, but it' ain't happenin'. I'm destined to go without a white Christmas this year. Baaaa, humbug!

Otherwise, everything here is cool. The drive was painless. We left Mom's place in Temple after having a brief Christmas thing there. She made us more fried chicken and baked beans. We left there, me ballin' like a fool (Only after we left. Didn't want Mom to see.), and got on I-35 at 3PM.

We drove to Memphis Wednesday night, making a few gas and pee stops here and there. We got to Little Rock and crossed the Arkansas river at 10:30. We were still feelin' good, Denise drivin' and me relaxin', and decided to keep goin'.

We stopped at that rest stop on the way to Memphis, but that stray dog was nowhere to be found. Hopefully someone has found a way to take her in. We drove on and crossed the big, lit up bridge over the Big Muddy at 1AM.

We stopped at a La Quinta on the East side of Memphis and had a great nights sleep. I think we both drank about three adult beverages while we wound down from the road. After getting up, giving one another a special Christmas present, we enjoyed the complementary breakfast and hit the road for Nashville and Denise's kids and grand kids in Bowling Green Kentucky. We drove up her daughters driveway at 1:30.

After we got here we exchanged presents. I got some cxool stuff, but Denise's grandson Collin made out like a basndit. I had a wonderful time last night, watchin' him put his Leggo planes and controle tower together. I resisted the temptation to play Godzilla a few times.

Now, were sitting' around the house jawin', gettin' ready to eat a big dinner. There's a plan to head down to Nashville in a few days and take the youngest kid to some sort of ice show they have goin' on down there. We could still drive up to Wisconsin, but the latest report predicts snow AND freezing rain, so I'll probably veto that. Too much of a good thing!

So, all is well. I'm takin' lots of good pictures to show ya later. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and has a wonderful New Year! Cheers!

Merry Christmas everyone!

I think I've been really good, but I guess all things are relative.





Have a wonderful holiday, and smoke 'em if ya got 'em!

I'm in Kentucky, probably on the way to Wisconsin. I'll be standin' out in the snow, bundled up in my Uggs and fur hat, lookin' for a chance to kill a cigar. Bliss! Love it!

You guys take care, stay warm and we'll talk again soon. Cheers!

Went to Austin last Saturday.

Like I said, Saturday was taken up with a trip to Austin. Gun Show fun and good food at Pappasito's. Originally it was just gonna be Denise and I, but she told a friend from work we were plannin' to go. Next thing I know this friend and her husband are goin' along. We're droppin' Denise and her friend Karen off at the outlet mall in Round Rock and then her husband Rick and I are goin' to the Show.



Got a few shots of some interesting stuff at the show. This is some sort of clip fed shotgun. You tell me. That's an AR-15 knock off in front of it. Looks like it shoots .308 or somethin'.



This is a .50, all broken down in it's case. I suspect that you won't see stuff like this for sale too much longer, what with the gun grabbers in power again. That's an M-14 there in front, and there's some nice, now very expensive AKs at the top of the shot. I will miss seein' them. End of an era. Very sad.



We drowned our sorrows over the sorry state of the body politic with beer and margaritas at Pappasito's. Karen and Rick had never been there before. It's always fun to take virgins down there and introduce them to the wonders of the spicy beef queso and such. It's fun to see the look in their eye when they bite into that dip for the first time.

I tell ya, the four of us went through that stuff in record time. Before you knew it you were down to crumbs in the chip basket and lookin' for the little swishy waiter to sashay his ass over with another one.



None of the others were shrimp eaters, which meant that I couldn't introduce them to the excellent bacon wrapped delights of the brochette shrimp. That's it there, with one sitting, marinading in the butter and white wine sauce. Of course, them not bein' shrimp eaters meant I didn't have to share, which was a good thing.



Denise went for the chicken fajitas this time...



While Rick and I went for the combination enchiladas. One chicken and one beef, smothered in their special sauces. Wonderful stuff. Of course, lookin' at this shot, it all looks kinda mixed up. That's because I dove in when the plate arrived and didn't remember to get a shot till one of the enchiladas was almost gone. I shoved the rice over into the sauce that was left to get all of it. Waste not, want not, someone said.



After the food we all went to Highland Mall to walk it off and try to get some more Christmas shopping done. I hadn't been there in many years. Turns out it's gotten very run down since I was there last. Lots of stores are closing, and the place has gone ghetto. I guess the white folks in Austin must have found a different place to shop.

Good news, there's a F.Y.E. Music store there that's having a going out of business sale. I got several CDs and a few DVDs there that I'd been lookin' for. The Black Keys, Grinderman, Joe Bonnamassa Live, and a Dickey Betts thing from the late 70s.



When we got back home I spread some of the spoils out on the computer desk and took pictures. That's about a hundred bucks worth of Bulgarian clips... three 30 round clips and one 40.



I saw several irreverent t-shirts I was dyin' to buy, but I was a good boy. I just spent $2 on this bumper sticker. Can't wait to get it scanned and on the sidebar here, and on my bumper. Love it.

Friday feed with Mom.

Got to Mom's place Friday evening and noticed that the leaves on her tree had turned and one of her plants was still pretty in the front yard, so I decided to try to use the Macro setting on the camera to capture it all.



Not sure what this is, but it's always beautiful, sittin' in a pot by her front door.



I tried to get right up close to these leaves. I think it turned out
OK. Next, I need to get right up to them and see how clear the shot is.

I would have done it last Friday, but I was distracted. You see, Mom had whipped up a batch of her famous fried chicken for dinner. We'd decided to eat in this Friday.



She'd cooked fried chicken, tater wedges, french bread, broccoli and peas, and there was cranberry sauce there for me. Wonderful!



Not only that, but when we arrived she'd already had the blender out and the Strawberry Daiquiris were ready. Thing is, she'd made a little boo boo, using about twice the amount of rum, So they were stout! Denise put a bit more ice in there and tried to dilute it as bit.



In the end, it all turned out great. We sat in her living room and chowed down. I think I had about three of those drinks.



After chowin' down, I abused Mom's yellow cat. He loves it when I grab him and squeeze him. Growls the whole time, but doesn't do much to try to escape. He's just a growler.



As Mom cleaned the kitchen, her big Main Coon came out from hiding. He's only barely socialized, so he doesn't let other folks near. He saved their house once though.

Dad had put a pan of grease on the stove on high, thinking he'd turned it off, and when it burst into flame, this cat came to get mom, who was sitting in her chair in the bedroom. She grabbed a fire extinguisher out of the cabinet and put the fire out. They got a new kitchen out of it.



Also, after dinner I hooked up mom's old, antique sewing machine.



She'd found a place that would fix the peddle on it, and I was tasked with getting it all plugged back in. No problem. Mom showed me how to use this thing when I was a kid. I've always been fascinated with the gears, tryin' to figure out how the thing worked. I used it once to sew a zipper on an old down comforter, turning it into a sleeping bag. I took that bag on many canoe trips, and I took it out on the ships with me. It kept me warm when the friggin' Navy was tryin' to freeze my ass.



I also got this shot of this funky cat toy mom's picked up for her babies. There's a nob on one end that controls the rod with the thingy on it. The nob sets the rod to spin, wavin' the thingy, dingy ball, thingy, around in a tantalizing way... if you're a cat. Trust me, it works.

After dinner, Denise and I went to the mall for a while, Christmas shopping. One task mother'd given me was to get her another universal remote for the TV in her bedroom. We stopped at Radio Shack and got one, then stopped back by Moms and I programmed it for her. She called me yesterday to tell me she loved it. Success!

Saturday was Gun Show fun and great food at Pappasito's, but I'll cover that in the next post. Cheers!

How's about a Friday post?

Today is the end of school for the year. I've given all the exams and graded them, so all I have to do is post the grades on the schools computer and turn in the grade books and I'm done. It all starts up again on the 5th of January, when I'll start driving back down to Florence and then out to San Saba. Ft. Hood doesn't start again till around the 12th, so it'll be an easy transition back to work.

The principal of the Windham School district out at San Saba had a big Cajun feed for all the school folks yesterday after school. It was GOOD. Lots of shrimp, gumbo, dirty rice and such. At one point, a guy who must work for the city walked in and told the cook (the principal) that he was from Louisiana (you could tell from the accent), and that the food was really good and authentic.

He looks at me at one point and says somethin' like "I think I read somethin' on the web you posted about San Saba. Don't you have a web site?" I was like "Huh? Uh, yea. You mean Fathairybastard?" Everyone in the place laughed. I was shocked. I thought at the time, "Cool, recognition!", but then I thought "Oh Shit, now everyone here's gonna be readin' the friggin' thing." It was like walkin' into that blogger meet last spring and everyone there knowin' who I was while I had no clue who they were. I've gotta take my pictures down from this thing, or do a new avatar like Mushy's done where you can't really tell who it is. For some reason I'm not really jazzed to have everyone there know I have this thing set up, but maybe they'll forget. What are the odds?

I'll start playin' 9 Ball in January, switchin' from Wednesday pool nights to Thursdays. The 8 Ball team I've been playin' on is breaking up (people gettin' out of the Army and goin' to school full time), and several of them have invited me to play on this other team. It should be fun.

Talked to Mom yesterday and she was distressed. Some bureaucratic agency, maybe Social Security, sent her a letter tellin' her she was no longer qualified to get Medicare, or something like that. She's in a panic, but I'll go over there today and see if I can figure out what's goin' on.

There have been a few of these panics since dad died. It's a huge mess, tryin' to deal with several government agencies when apparently, one doesn't know what the other is doing. And yet, people seem to want MORE government. Bizarre!

There's a Gun Show in Austin this weekend, so Denise and I will be heading down Saturday. We'll turn it into a Christmas Shopping trip. First, sleep in. Critical detail there. Then drive down and go to the Gun Show. Then hit Pappasito's for the great shrimp and dip. It's been a while since we hit that place, so we're both lookin' foreword to it.

After that, once we've gotten sufficiently full and liqueured up, we'll hit Highland Mall and do some shopping. Denise has several family members she's still got to buy for, so it should be intense. There'll be a lot of me saying "Why don't you get this? Why don't you get this? Why don't you get this?", and then her saying "OH, I don't know"... to the friggin' point of distraction. You know, it's the whole men shopping vs. women shopping stereotype. I'm thinking three or four beers for me and two margaritas for her with dinner and things might get smoothed out a bit. You think?

We're plannin' to have the Wilson family Christmas on Christmas Eve this year. That way Denise and I can hit the road for Kentucky that afternoon and get to her kids place by the afternoon of the 25th. Yep, another road trip. I want to be here for Mom, it being the first Christmas without Dad (Christmas was their wedding anniversary too), but she insists she doesn't care. We'll make sure the holiday is a good one, and then we'll jet out of Temple in the afternoon. Try to get to Little Rock by the night off the 24th, so the drive is broken up. Nether of us mind the drive. I actually enjoy it.

We were gonna fly and rent a car in Nashville, but driving is SO much cheaper and handier, we decided to do that instead. We'll drive home some time like the 30th and have New Years here with Mom. Denise has to be back to work on the 2nd, and me, as I said, on the 5th. So that'll give us time to rest.

Anyway, I've got to start posting grades. You guys have a great weekend and we'll talk again on the other side of this one. Cheers!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UPDATE: Well, I got a call from Mom. She finally got hold of a lady at Dyess AFB named Katie. This is the sweet lady That guided Mom through all the drama with the feds when Daddy died. She's a wonderful lady and I'm plannin' to contact her and tell her so. Anyway, Mom found out that not only is everything cool with the medical coverage, she's also gonna end up gettin' $50 more each month. Good news!

Also, she's cookin' fried chicken, taters, peas, french bread and a salad for dinner tonight, and we're just about to head over there. Yea, I can feel your envy.

The gun show is on for tomorrow, but Denise and I are gonna have company. A friend of hers from work and her husband are goin' with us. He and I will leave The girls off at an outlet mall in Round Rock and then he and I will go to the show. We'll take out time and then pick them up again after, and then the four of us will got to Pappasito's.

So everything is cool. I turned my grades in and I'm off till the 5th. You guys chill and we'll get together again later. Maybe I'll have food pictures to tease you with. Cheers!

Excited! Very excited.

It's just too bad we have to wait till friggin' May to see it. I'll be sick of the hype by then.

Saw some cool stuff on the way to San Saba the other day.

Stopped at a local stop-n-rob here on the way back to work one day. You know, I have about three hours to kill here on Mondays and Wednesdays. Spend most of it here at the library on their nice computers, tryin' to get stuff done.

Anyway, I was on my way back to work one day when I stopped to take a piss and get a Dew. I came walkin' out and a truck had parked next to my car. When I went by I glanced in the back and guess what I saw?



"Holy shit", I thought. "That's an RPG... and a Ma Deuce?" I hadn't even noticed the welded mount sitting in the bed. The digital cammo bag could be a big clue, but you can get that stuff almost anywhere now.



I was surprised, to say the least. But then when I looked closely I realized that both were fake, designed for training purposes. There must be somethin' goin' on from Ft. Hood.



As I backed out I saw the OPFOR sign painted on the right side of the bumper (click to enlarge). Aaaaa, so they must be doing training out here somewhere. I'd seen choppers from the base from time to time, Apache gunships flyin' over the scrub as I drove down 190. That must be what they're up to. Help train the chopper guys to be able to recognize the rag heads in trucks tryin' to lay an ambush.

Of course, my very first though was "I wanna play!" Hell, I've got blanks for my AK. Why not?

Anyway, this last weekend was very relaxing. Denise and I went to eat Chinese food Friday after Mom begged off. She'd been busy all day and worn herself out, so she didn't feel up to it. We went over there after dinner and enjoyed her company anyway. She brought out the Chateaus Monet and we enjoyed a little tipple.

We found out when we got there that she'd picked up a little toy for her cats. It's a motorized thing that tosses a fuzzy ball around on a string. She'd put the batteries in wrong, so I fixed the issue and got it working. The cats were freaked out by it at first, and then fascinated.

After the road trip last weekend it felt really good to sleep in both Saturday and Sunday and rest. We went to a Christmas party Saturday night, but that was all the excitement we had.

Now the temperatures had gone south on us, down to freezing, and we're lookin' forward to bein' able to use the fireplace. Light up a little blaze, lay down the sheep skin rug and get a snuggle goin'. Mmmmm, good times.

This is finals week at school. I gave two this morning in Florence. I'll give another down there tomorrow, two more on Wednesday here in San Saba and then Three on Thursday. I'll be done in Florence after tomorrow, so I'll be able to sleep in the rest of the week.

Found out today that the principal at the prison here in San Saba is putting on a big feed Thursday afternoon. He says he'll have all sorts of Cajun stuff. Lots of shrimp, sausage and gumbo. It should be cool. I'll run by and scoop up a meal before I have to head to Ft. Hood to give my last exams. I'll be sure and take pictures.

Anyway, I'm off. You guys have a great week and we'll chat later. Cheers!

Friday.

This'll be short.

Busy, busy, busy! Workin' on somethin' cool. Maybe one of these days I'll show it to ya.

We're lookin' forward to this weekend. Gonna relax and take it easy. Last weekend was fun, but both of us are payin' for it. Denise came down with a cold and I think I ran out of steam some time late last night. I've been draggin' since then. So sleepin' in the next few days will be cool!

We're takin' Mom out to eat tonight. Chinese food! Woohoo!

Goin' to a Christmas party Saturday night. Good friends of Denise's from work. Nice folks. It'll be fun.

That's it for now. I'll get back with ya Monday. You guys take care. Cheers!