Almost back to normal...

Last night I saw three shooting stars from the hot tub.

And this morning, I woke up to this...

It looks to me like things are almost back to normal. And my eyes don't hurt this morning. And if I let my imagination run a little, in the picture, it looks like God took a giant broom and swept all of the smoke in to one long pile stretching from horizon to horizon.

And then there's this...

Robert Koch, with hose, of PatRick Corporation, a private contractor from Oregon, hoses down a house as a wildfire approaches on Partington Ridge Rd. South of Big Sur, Calif., Friday, June 27, 2008. Fire crews continue to fight the Basin Complex fire, which is burning in the Los Padres National Forest near the coastal town of Big Sur.(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

I heard about this after the fires in Southern California last year. Apparently, if you have enough money, you can hire a private fire department to save your home. This is so weird to me. And the social implications are staggering. Private schools, private security, and now private fire departments. Just a little reminder that we really need to stop spending tax dollars on destroying and killing in the name of freedom and invest here at home.

And I pulled weeds and put down mulch in the pond area this weekend.

Jake is pulling more weeds today around our yard. And this afternoon, I plan on trimming a couple of trees and maybe weed whacking the vacant lot behind our house. The weeds there are dry and as tall as Jake.

I am glad for the short week this week in a lot of ways. But the sad thing is that I have way more work than I could get done in a regular 40 hour week. And last week, a couple of people threw more work my way. They didn't ask, "Do you have time for this?" or, "When do you think you could get this done?" And it really pissed me off.

And we are expecting a visit from Laurie this week, today or tomorrow until...well, until she feels like going home again, I guess.

Better Today...

We can see the outline of the mountain. And last night we actually saw stars and could discern the occasional contellation.

Has anyone ever said, "It's gonna get better before it gets worse."

I don't think so. Would that be great though? Like you were having a good day and feeling great and sunshine and moonbeams are coming out of you butt... and you tell a buddy about it all and, and s/he listens and says, "Well, you know, it could be better! There are lots of people who just won the lottery and gave birth to their first child and who just fell in love and all. And, you know, be prepared, friend, because it will probably get better before it gets worse. Hang in there, and call me if there's anything I can do to bring you down."

Worse Today...

And work is worse too. An old project that has been on hold is coming off of hold, my current project is crazy and the go live date keeps slipping, the customer for my next project is getting antsy, another customer wants me to go to Knoxville, TN for a week to provide training and help with their application, and there are two new customers wanting my time and expertise. If I were still running CommTech, this would be like two years worth of work in the span of six months. As it is, well, I'm just busy, and everyone who thinks their need of me is the most important is pressuring me to focus on them.

But whatever. Maybe I'll get some time off around Christmas.

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes But Only People Make You Cry...

That's not really relevant. But I was trying to think of a title for this post, and that tune from Paint Your Wagon popped in to my head. As a general rule, I hate musicals. And that movie is the exception that makes the rule. I mean, come on, Clint Eastwood sings about how he still sees Elisa and all. Clint Eastwood sings. And it is the first movie I ever saw, or at least the first I remember seeing. We saw it with Jack and all the other kids fell asleep at the drive in, but I stayed up. Mom was pregnant with Laurie, so I must have been about three at the time.

So I know some of you have it pretty bad, but for those of you out of state, I thought I'd show you what it's like here.

This is what our view normally looks like...

And this is what you see today...

No, Doug Henning is not in town, you really can't see the mountain.

It's pretty bad, bordering on unhealthy.

Mysterious booger formations in the morning, getting a little winded from time to time, itchy eyes and such. It's a bummer.

Also, I just found out the Fireworks Celebration has been postponed indefinitely. I'll give you an update on that when I know more.

Catching Up Is Hard To Do...

So there was Father's Day a bit over a week ago. I got some nifty gifts and grilled cheese and a milkshake for dinner. I got the McSweeney's Joke Book of Boke Jokes, that is printed upside down and backwards for starters. And a great cheese grater. Perhaps the greatest cheese grater - it has a bowl that attaches to the bottom. No mess.


Well, less mess.


And I got Onion Goggles that keep you from crying when you chop onions.





I was skeptical, but they really work.









Last weekend was Middletown Days. That's a parade down the main drag followed by two days of rodeo events at the Fairgrounds. We went with Frank and Marla and met a few friends there.





Here's the rodeo chicks...

It was really hot out.

The coolest thing to me was how many people I said "hi" to and talked with. I'm starting to feel like I'm part of the community more and more.

Anyway, I can't believe this isn't child abuse. I'm not sure how well these videos will come out online, but it's worth a shot for the comedy value.

The first event had a couple of dozen kids chasing steers around trying to yank a ribbon off of the tails.

Did I mention how hot it was?

Then came the real child abuse - 4-7 year olds kids "bronc riding" sheep. So I guess it was also animal abuse.

These are taking a long time to upload, so I'm stopping. But you get the idea. Every single run was a definite contender for America's Funniest Videos. I half expected to see Bob Saget come out with cash. And I'm told this happens all over this great land of ours.

I bet you in some states the kids don't wear helmets.

When we couldn't stand the heat anymore, we went for pizza. The next time you visit, if we don't feel like cooking and we don't take you to Ting's, make us take you to the brewery for Tostada Pizza. It's flippin' sweet.

Last Friday, the good folks at TDECU took our design to their CEO for approval. Overall, he was very happy with our design. And, of course, he had some changes. So I'm scrambling again.

On Saturday night, I saw lighting in the distance out West. The first time I saw it, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. But after a dozen or so, I was sure. And I woke up to the smell of smoke. And on Sunday, it got worse and I turned on the scanner to hear some pretty urgent dispatches to save horses, homes, and people up at the Walker Ridge fire. Our is but one of 800 or so fires raging across the state right now.

And the valley is filled with smoke. And I woke up today with a sore throat and itchy eyes. And it is really hot, and just miserable out. I went on the deck tonight and could only see a dozen or so stars and Jupiter - but no constellations.

It's creepy.

Sometimes it's too easy...

It's a Girl!

By CHRIS TALBOTT, Associated Press Writer Thu Jun 19, 6:16 PM ET
JACKSON, Miss. - Jamie Lynn Spears gave birth to a baby girl Thursday morning at a south Mississippi hospital, according to a friend of the Spears family. The friend, who asked not to be identified because the family had not yet announced the baby's birth, told The Associated Press that the baby was named Maddie Briann and weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces.

The 17-year-old Jamie Lynn was the star of Nickelodeon's "Zoey 101," a sitcom about prep school friends, and is the younger sister of pop star Britney Spears. The Spears family announced in December that Jamie Lynn was pregnant.

The father is Casey Aldridge, a pipe-layer from Liberty, Miss. The couple is not married but announced an engagement several months ago.

Come on, really? The father can lay some pipe?

Congratulations to Jake...

Today was the last day of school. Jake came home, and instead of knocking as he usually does, he burst in to my office and thrust this in to my face...






...and said, "Where's my case?"



We told him if he made the honor roll, we would get him a case for the bass he bought himself.





He's a great kid, and he earned it...





...Case Closed!

I was just emulating Glenn...

Sorry it's been so long. I've been busy with work...









It's been long hours with a customer who keeps changing their minds about things, personnel changes, things like that. So I've spent a lot of time on the phone, doing design work, managing the project, building a test plan - basically the work of three people.





And then I've blown off steam watching Lost Season 2 with Rachel and playing World of Warcraft. I got myself to 60 and saved 700 Gold for an epic mount. And after all that, well, I haven't much felt like spending more time in front of a screen.



But when Travis called this morning to make sure I was OK, well, I decided I better put something up.

A lot has happened. Rachel has done a bunch of interesting craft projects.

I turned 40.

Rachel got me this great print...

Laurie has stayed here off and on, and then she got a job. So, you know, congratulations to her. And she's almost as big of a video game junkie as me. So it's not wasted time, it's family time.

Dolores got her Master's

That's a huge accomplishment and we are all very proud of her. Her sister came out and we all got soaked at the ceremony and then went to dinner at Pazzo.

Lauren is rocking along toward's nursing school.

Jake got his grades back on track, we think. And he got a Golden Mustang Award for PE. A year ago he got a C in PE, so we are proud of him. He's had a good year, all told, and one week to go.

Oh, and he and I spent the better part of today trying to bring our lawns back from the grave.

That's about it for this update. I will try to get back in to the blog.