Good Morning

Been awhile since I have been here, sometimes I just don’t feel like posting, it seems that my life is too boring or I don’t want to think about what is happening in my life…

I haven’t been painting… I haven’t started any new artwork… of any type. I keep thinking about writing a book, but sometimes I feel like that is a random thought that is popping up in my head because I haven’t found a new writer that I want to read.

What I would want to find in a new writer is a Fantasy writer, where the main character is gay, and they go on fantastic journeys, and do amazing things. Now I can think up the fantastic things and the amazing things that they see, but I cant think of a reason for them to leave the comfort of their own bed… sort of like how I feel in the morning… sometimes the only reason I get out of my own warm bed is to go to work…

Hmm that gives me an idea… LOL

Anyway, it is time to get ready for the New Year again, back top the gym fulltime, I think that I am hesitant to get back to the gym because I’m on the cusp of the buff body for the first time, I am down to a size 31 waist, and I’m start to get some definition in my upper body, my arms are finally getting bigger, time to get back on the bike and start training again…

I really think that missing the ride last year depressed me

Gratitude

Many times in order to feel grateful, you must practice it, this is the act of looking around at your life and being grateful for what you have, even when it does not seem that what you have, fulfills your need for you want.

During the month of December, when we all are concerned about buying things, wishing we had more money to buy things for the people we love, and oftentimes we end up resenting the work that we put into that, I’m going to practice gratitude, and see how my attitude can change from the beginning of the month to the end.

~

I am thankful that I have a job. It isn’t the best job, but I get a paycheck every week, and I know that paycheck is good when I deposit it.

I don’t often feel like, that I have a job that challenges me in a way, that causes me to use my brains, but I’m grateful that it is not a high stress job that constantly calls me to answer the phone, listen to vendors complain about past due bills and worry about how we are going to meet payroll.

Keep Track of your stocks

not a lot going on

Its a quiet time for me. not really depressed, just taking stock seeing where I’m at, and if I want to do anything about it.

I haven’t felt like posting lately, not enough going wrong that I feel it is that important to talk about.

but in reality, I never feel that much about talking about my life.

It is easy to see in the eyes of my boss, that he is not really interested in hearing what is happening in anyone else’s life, and that is what turns me off about talking about my life.

It is easy to see that most people aren’t really interested in hearing about your life, because they want to tell you about their life.

Which is a funny thing about blogs, in blogs people take the time to read about your life, and give you encouragement, but in real life it doesn’t happen so much.

Or maybe it doesn’t happen so much to me, because everyone thinks what a great life I have.

And in reality, I must admit that my life is great, sure I don’t have everything I want, but I do have everything I need.

and for that I must be grateful.

"Heyyyy, Like 'Arf-Arf,' Man"

Nestor Waddell had to rush his 11-year-old Labrador mix, Jack, to the vet in May when he started acting strange during a walk, which had taken him into some bushes. The vet concluded that Jack had discovered and devoured some dry, harvested marijuana. According to Waddell, "(Jack's) eyes were kind of glossed over. ... When he was trying to walk, he was looking at his paw, and then looking at the ground and then trying to get his paw to reach the ground, but was unsuccessful." [KING-TV (Seattle), 6-10-09]

Body

This from Frank in Australia.

"I am a very fit guy who swims and works out, eats well. The stuff I am supposed to do. I have lower back pain and am not sure how to strengthen that area.
I have tried excercises from the mens mags but most of them hurt too much for me to do. I do ab work, but I know I have to do more than that.
Can you help?"

Frank, Australia.


Hi Frank

Now with regards to the lower back pain... Assuming it is a muscular weakness you have there are definitely ways you can strengthen this area. Below are a couple of exercises you can try. The feeling should be that of muscle fatigue. In exercise #1 more in the lumbar or lower back region, and in exercise #2 more in the abdomen. If the pain persists I would recommend getting an assessment by the likes of a physiotherapist.


Good luck.


Exercise #1 Lying Corba




Lying on stomach lift torso, retract shoulders, keep toes on ground
Hold for 10 secs lower and rest for 10secs. Repeat 3-8x, 1-2x Daily

Exercise #2 Lying Leg Lowers




Lying on back. Knees bent @ 90 degrees, Hands up or by sides, Beginner-lower one leg maintaining arch though lower back (not hyperextending) Bring leg back in 10 reps each side, slow tempo. Advanced-same as above with both legs

Regards


Nathan Martin
Les Mills Body trainer

hmm

Not Crab Cakes

I have been trying to learn to make crab cakes, but it is too damn expensive to practice with crab, so substitute tuna with this recipe and it will come out just fine, just make sure you use Panko style bread crumbs as listed, so that they will be dry enough, also turn down the heat on the oil once you drop the cakes in the oil.

Dog Pack Attacks Gator In Florida

At times nature can be cruel, but there is also a raw beauty, and even a certain justice manifested within that cruelty.

The alligator, one of the oldest and ultimate predators, normally considered the "apex predator", can still fall victim to implemented 'team work' strategy, made possible due to the tight knit social structure and "survival of the pack mentality" bred into the canines.

See the remarkable photograph below courtesy of Nature Magazine.

Note that the Alpha dog has a muzzle hold on the gator preventing it from breathing.

Another dog has a hold on the tail to keep it from thrashing.

The third dog attacks the soft underbelly of the gator.

.

.

Not for the squeamish


.

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Day by Day

I've been sick, Allergies and a Cold... And once again I'm dealing with stuff left over from the bookstore, and that always depresses me.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel, it seems that in order to make the tax lien go away (better than paying for another 10 years, and it is not a trust tax), but to make that go away, I need to declare Bankruptcy, which is another thing that depresses me.

That is the best choice of the choices I can make.

Life is actually good, we have moved and are settled in a new house, and the rent is cheaper than the old place.

We are in town, but in a place called Hidden Valley which is just that, a valley that is hidden in the middle of town, the Agilent Technologies Site across the street (back entrance) uses sheep to keep their hillside weeds under control, and it is wonderful to hear them. There is also wild turkeys in the area. No neighbors have dogs that live in the area full time, so only when the grand-kids visit next door do we hear any barking dogs. At night, it is so quiet that you can hear the crickets chirp.

In this little valley, there is a couple of farms and vineyards that you really can't see if you are driving fast, but if you slow down you can see them, and it is way cool.

We have gardens all the way around the house, and no neighbor looks down upon our yard, so we can go out naked in the back

The landscaping is on well water and timers, and the landlady pays a gardener to come once a month and weed and trim. we Just have to water our potted plants, and keep our fountains full, we have four of them.

The inside of the house is both smaller and larger than our old place, only 1 bathroom, and the living room, dining area and kitchen are smaller, but the bedrooms are bigger, and we now have a TV room, and a room which is general storage, Art studio, and pantry.

Miss Vickie continues to get better, and Cowboy is visiting her 3 times a week, instead of 4.

She is getting more comfortable with Cowboy handling her finances, which is good, because sometimes she doesn't pay her bills, then she pays the same bill 3 times. So Cowboy getting that all up to date, and taking care of it will make things easier on her, we are going to tackle her taxes next.

later

Nothing new here

Yeah, yeah yeah, I know, nothing new to post, well thats just where I am right now. to tell you the truth I've been busy...

My partner's mom/dear friend, (not really his mom, but she is sort of adopted, he has known her for 30 years, and is his first partners mom, he died of Aids), she was in car accident three weeks ago, and he has been there every other day to take care of doctors, lawyers, and her other business, so he has been busy, I go with him on the weekends.

She is in rehap now, and is healing faster that the doctor expected, so that is all good, but it is stress full on Cowboy.

We are getting settled in our new house, but that also takes work, and I am dealing with other personal issues that I want to put behind me soon, and be done with (The Bookstore still), who knew that I would be dealing with stuff 7 years after going out of business.

I started a new painting to get back into my art, I have a easel setup now, and am no longer painting in the bathroom, the new painting is a landscape, it is different for me, I am happy with it so far.

When I get a few minutes I also play small worlds on the Facebook account, kinda stupid, but I like it (and it doesn't cost)

I'm a Twit

you can follow me at JackHampster

Marriage

Rainy Days

JON PON RIDE CONTINUED


So my Sweep Duties started in Petaluma, and I had to wait until the last rider came in and had lunch, by the time we got on the road, most of the heavy downpour had tapered off to a drizzle.

Marjorie, is a first time rider, 63 years old, and had not been on a bike for some time. She was a moderate cadence rider, and she used her front set of sprockets rather well. (When I sweep, I like to look at how people use their gears, and point out any helpful hints if I can to make them a faster rider). But she was not using the the complete portion of her back sprockets , so when we got to a place where we could stop, I pointed that out to her.

I told her that at this point is was better to use more of the middle ring on her front and to use more of the complete ring in the back. I had her try it out, and she said that it was much easier than before, I also pointed out that we were now going faster. She also felt more comfortable to try using more of the entire range of gears.

This is exactly what I like about Training rides, helping someone to get better and make it easier at what they have committed to do.

Rained Out

So this weekend, I went on the Jonathan Pon 2 day Ride.

I called My friend Beau who is in charge of the ride and asked if it was going to be canceled because I heard it was going to rain. He assured me that it was just going to rain a little bit, just while we were riding and maybe some during the night while we were safely in our tents. I assured him that I would be there on time, with my tent (it sleeps six), ready to go.

So off to my house to pack, did I mention that I have been moving? Well I have not moved the bike or the tent yet, so I had to go to the condo to get those, and the Internet, cable and Telephone were being installed that night as well.

"That Night" you said, in as at nighttime after dinner? Well, it was day three of Telephone Installation.

Tuesday, for which I took off from work to be there, they lost our order, no they didn't lose our order, it wasn't released to the technicians. So they reschedule us for Thursday instead, same time slot, 12-2 pm. They then showed up at 3:30, did something up the street for an hour, then cam e back to the house and said we had no signal, and then left.

Friday they came back at 4:30, and the poor man had to install all the wires, etc in the rain. he was there until 11:20, his wife brought him something to eat, and Cowboy went out and grabbed us stuff to eat from Safeway.

I was trying to pack, and pay attention to the Technician, I forgot somethings like a jacket for wearing at the campsite, and I should have packed everything in a plastic baggie.

So I popped out of bed at 4:30 ate something then left for the city, I had to go back to the condo, because I could not find my tire irons, yes there are somewhere in the house, but I had taken them off the bike, I put them in a small contain that I take on ride with me, but I forgot where I put that. and You cannot go on a ride without tire irons.

I arrived in the City, about 20 minutes late, but it was in plenty of time because we allow ourselves 45 minutes to chat, check out bikes over, do a safety meeting, eat etc.

Well, it was drizzly on the way down but it was not raining when I got to Mill Valley.

So we were off, and well to make a long story short, it rained, not that hard but constantly. The worst part was right after lunch, but thankfully I had Sweep duties from Petaluma to Vally Ford, and I was waiting under an awning for the riders to come in eat their lunch, and for us to head out again. It had calmed down to a slight drizzle, when it was time for us to ride out again.

More later

Digital Tour of Karnak

Tour the Famed Temple of Karnak

http://dlib.etc.ucla.edu/projects/Karnak

The New House

hmm

Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.
- Mark Twain

Sometimes, when I look at my children, I say to myself,'Lillian, you should have remained a virgin.'
- Lillian Carter (mother of Jimmy Carter)

I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalog: - 'No good in a bed, but fine against a wall.'
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Last week, I stated this woman was the ugliest woman I had ever seen. I have since been visited by her sister, and now wish to withdraw that statement.
- Mark Twain

The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible.
- George Burns

Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year.
- Victor Borge

By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.
- Socrates

I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury.
- Groucho Marx

My wife has a slight impediment in her speech. Every now and then she stops to breathe.
- Jimmy Durante

I have never hated a man enough to give his diamonds back.
- Zsa Gabor

Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
- Alex Levine

My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying.
- Rodney Dangerfield

Money can't buy you happiness .. But it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery.
- Spike Milligan

Until I was thirteen, I thought my name was SHUT UP.
- Joe Namath

I don't feel old. I don't feel anything until noon. Then it's time for my nap.
- Bob Hope

I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it.
- W. C. Fields

We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its way through Congress.
- Will Rogers

Don't worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.
- Winston Churchill

Maybe it's true that life begins at fifty .. But everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or spread out.
- Phyllis Diller

By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he's too old to go anywhere.
- Billy Crystal

Life - Death

John Hefferlin, DD.

To all thinking people there comes a time of deep questioning, when they ask themselves. “What is life?” and ‘What is death?” Before these questions can be answered satisfactorily, however, the most basic question of all arises: “What is God?” To this, no man can possibly give a complete answer.

We have progressed so far beyond the old anthropomorphic concept of a god with human attributes and characteristics, that many people who formerly considered themselves to be atheists or agnostics are now accepting the more modem and scientific approach to God as Infinite Mind, infinite Intelligence. Infinite Energy and Substance. Infinite Wisdom and Love. The magnitude of God is so tremendous as to be beyond the scope c f man’s imagination’ God is so vast, so enormous. Everything which exists or ever did exist or ever will exist is within Go,. from the most inconceivably tiny particle to the outermost galaxies within the infinity of space. I cannot possibly tell you what God is, but if you will allow me, I can share with you what God means to me

Try, if you will, to imagine the most beautiful and perfect tiny baby you’ve ever seen— only a few days before birth, still in the womb. Imagine that you can communicate with this little one and you ask the question: ‘What is your world like?” Listen carefully and you hear: ‘My world is a wonderful world. Here I am snug, cozy, and warm. I’m surrounded with love and my every need is provided for, even before the need exists I hope I can stay here forever.”

Now you ask another question: “Where is your mother? What does she look like?” You can almost imagine the little facial expression changing to one of quandary. Listen again and you hear: “My mother? I don’t know what you’re talking about. What is a mother? Do I have one?” You smile to yourself as you realize this little one cannot possibly know anything about her mother until long after she’s born and she learns of the parent-child relationship. And yet, she will never be any closer to her mother than she Is right now, since she lives, moves, and has her being within her own mother.

This is very much like my concept of God. We live, move and have our being in God; yet we know very little more about God man does the unborn baby know about its own mother.

Then, although living in a world of comparative darkness, where the horizon is limited to the smooth moist walls and surfaces of the womb, the unborn baby is suddenly filled with but one extremely urgent and miraculous desire: to reach out for broader horizons. Thus, the time for birth arrives and the child is born.

Where does the baby go when it’s born? It doesn’t go anywhere, since it is already here. And yet a whole new universe has come into being, where the horizon is ever- expanding. What is birth? Beyond the biological and physical experience of being ejected from the womb, birth is actually the transition of consciousness as the baby passes from its seemingly one-dimensional world in the womb, out into this world of three dimensions.

Following birth, this little one grows through infancy, childhood, adolescence, and finally reaches maturity, taking its place in the world of adults. Then, eventually, death occurs; it may be the result of accident, illness, or old age, but death does come.

It is now that we face two of the most significant questions in our entire existence.

“What is life?” Life is the manifestation of the vital forces of God, individualized in man as an individual entity, because God is All-in-All. We live, move and have our being in God. That which we are is some part of God, individualized in us as us. We live, therefore, that God may be more adequately and abundantly expressed.

“What is death?” Death is the passing beyond this three-dimensional world into other worlds of varying dimensions—into an ever-expanding Universe with ever-broadening horizons. We die, but we live! Life, as we know it in this three-dimensional world, will continue just so long as the body retains sufficient channels through which the vital energy of God can flow. When enough of these channels cease to function, the body dies. It is like discarding old clothes. In I Corinthians 15:40, the Bible says: “There are celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.”

What happens when the individual passes through death? Where does one go? Just as the unborn baby must pass through the process of birth so that Life shall continue, the individual passes through death for exactly the same reason, to experience greater life! Where do we go when we die? We don’t go anywhere since we’re already there. Like the process of birth, when the baby passes from its “one-dimensional” world within the womb and moves out into this world of three dimensions, death is the passing from this three-dimensional world into that world of many more dimensions. Our consciousness continues to expand in direct relation to the ever-expanding Universe, with its ever- broadening horizons, as it unfolds before us.

Just as the unborn baby cannot possibly perceive that its world is part of and within the three-dimensional world, we apparently cannot and do not perceive that our world is part of, and also within, other worlds of innumerable dimensions beyond this one.

a moment of silence

Cowboy's step-sister passed away last night.

and after we got the call, the world seem to stop. Not that we were shocked, for it was expected, she had stage 4 ovarian cancer.

but there seemed to be a silence that was going on, we were just watching TV, but Cowboy seemed lost in thought while he was watching TV, he didn't laugh in the usual places.

He wasn't close, and he feels no need to go over there, I think there is a reluctance to go over there, because even in the easy times, that part of the family finds enough drama in the most mundane things, such as... "isn't this best pie you have ever eaten, I can't tell you the recipe because it is secret, but isn't this the best pie, I'm such a good cook, don't you think so?"

You watch TV and you see that after someones dies, the whole town drops by and is supportive. but that isn't real life, is it?

Death, whether you are directly effected or not brings up such issues, when you hear about it. What to say or do, how to go about it, sometimes issues that relate to our own experiences with death, or even issues about our own fears.

What might be considered weird, is that Cowboy is taking a class, and this week the project was to write your own eulogy.

So Monday night, Cowboy dressed up like he was going to a memorial, went to class and read his self-written eulogy to his class, it got me thinking, what would I want written about myself when my time is done?

its a little bit strange

My life, that is...

and what is going on in it and around it.

Long complicated stories that revolve around taxes and what is meant by all the various tax laws, and how they are to be interpreted. I have spent so much time at the library researching tax law that I almost feel like I should try to pass the bar.
~

Cowboy's step-sister has stage 4 ovarian cancer, and is not expected to last more than two weeks, he was never close to her, but her illness and expected death affects his dad, with whom he is very close.

It is also keeping the rest of the family busy, and Cowboy has been asked to make the arrangements at our church, for a service - our church is the same church that his step sister attends.

I feel like some how we should be more involved, but at the same time, life is dramatic enough without borrowing more. There other complicated issues that revolve around that part of the family that makes it more dramatic than it needs to be. This drama happens when ever that side of the family gets together and really has nothing to do with the events, but the events are making the drama harder to take. So he is attempting to be there for the concrete needs without having to go through the other drama.
~

Today Cowboy & I celebrate our seven year anniversary, we chose this date, the date of our second date, because I broke my leg roller-blading, and though Cowboy expected to finally get some, what he ended up with instead was an invalid in his living room chair for four days before I was strong enough to drive home.

So since we had the receipts of that day (from him going to buy crutches) we were able to pinpoint this day.

My life would be very different if Cowboy had not come into my life. and when anyone starts to complain about being alone, and that they cant find anyone to love, I ask them, "Have you opened yourself up to love, and let someone in your life, do you have too many expectations about what they should look like or what job they need to have?"

Sure we have differences of opinions, but we really try to own that our individual issues are our issues and to not take it out on the other person, either in drama or silence.

One of the things that I love about Cowboy is his laugh, it warms my heart when I hear him laughing even if I have no idea what he is laughing about.

me legs are a little bit tired

I went for a 45 mile bike ride on the Mountain Bike, only 3,ooo feet of climbing, I know for you hard core bikers that ain't much at all. But I was on a mountain bike, and you were probably on your climbing road bike.

By the time I was done, I sure was wishing that I had rode it instead.

But I decided that I need to give myself a work out, so I rode the Mountain bike, it was tough and rough, and maybe I think I need to do it more often, ride the Mtn bike that is. That way I can do short little rides, and still get in the workout on my legs that I need.

Where did we go you ask? Well we rode from Sebastapol to Occidental then over Coleman Valley Rode to the Coast, then north, turning east at highway 116, to Ride into Duncan mills for lunch, boy was I hungry... What no tuna fish, well okay Turkey & cheese then.

Then we rode back up the road from Duncan Mills to Occidental

45 miles - it took all day - well to 5pm

upsetting me

so these days we have universal access to the internet and everyone feels free to comment on everything.

so everyone does... which gives you...

people who don't "read", who don't try to understand a different point of view, people who just making comments, comments that don't really address the issue, it becomes mostly just a place for haters of all types to spew their garbage...

and some of it is real garbage...

of course the real damage is what it does to your own mental state of mind. you start to believe that everyone hates you.

and along the way, people forget the real facts, people forget that most people are just one accident away from being out on the streets, they think that because they have a job, and they have health insurance, that they are covered.

my boss thinks that he is safe, but he forgets that he drives a company truck, and that the insurance, gas, and the truck are all company paid, and if the company went away so would those things.

yes maybe his house is paid for, but if he had no company insurance, just one heart attack, the house would be gone.

it sort of makes me laugh, but it makes me cry at the same time, when people talk about, how it is "class warfare", because we are talking about raising the taxes on the rich, and they talk about how the rich pay 40% of all the taxes and neglect to mention that they make 60% of all the wealth. it seems to me if you make 60% of all the wealth then you should pay 60% of the taxes (i'm not sure of the figures)

for example, I pay taxes, Social Security and medicare on all of my wages, but my boss makes 1.5 times than I do, at some point he stops paying taxes on the money above a certain threshold.

he might pay more dollar wise, but percentage wise, he pays less that I do on the total portion, he might make the case that he pays more income tax than I do, but he gets to write off more than i do, so he actually pays less, and he does not have the expense of a car or insurance or gas, or clothes, because the company pays for all of his.

they think that all the others folks, the ones with no job, no money, are the cause of their own plight, and maybe some of them are, but sometimes the "rules" get in the way.

I once had an employee that was caught in the trap that if she made too much money, the state would take away her state sponsored child care, but how to you get from point A to C without going through point B? She was not trained enough for me to pay her more, yet if she worked long enough for me to train her, and I gave her incremental raises, she would lose the child care and then not be able to stay and work until she got trained enough so she could afford it.

it sort of makes me laugh, but it makes me cry at the same time, when people talk about, how we are becoming a socialist state, just because Obama wants to fix the broken health system.

every issue is complicated, but calling each other names and putting walls does not help.

my boss, i'm sure you figured out by now is republican, and whenever we start to get into some argument at work, I tell him he has valid points and we all need to sit down at a table and work it out, for some reason that shuts him up...

i think sometimes he just wants to hang on to the drama, and i think that is what the commenters are doing as well

Ten Years

My mother died ten years ago this month. and after all this time, it does not hurt as much, it did however take a while for it to get to this point.

At the five year point, when another friend's mom died (in March), my un-faced grief somehow built up to a point where I had to see a counselor, and get some pills to help me relax.

I had buried my grief inside and never expressed how much my mom had meant to me, but also I never knew how my mom had treated some of my brothers and sisters. and that each of us, no matter how close we are or think that we think the same, have different perspectives.

Well, I am reminded of this because, over the last few days, I have had friends, some close, some casual, lose one of their parents.

My heart goes out to them. and I wish there was someway to ease their hearts.

However there is no way to ease someones heart when they lose a parent, all you can do is be there, let them vent if they need to, maybe share some things that you went through (without doing a one-up-man-ship type of thing) and if you knew the parents, share one of your fondest memories.

Maybe get them to share one of their best memories.

take a break

Another Silly Game

This one is about the stock market - Invest a million dollars and see if you can make money

Learn more

Hero Factory

All right! Time for another turn in the silly factory, the last one is my favorite, maybe because it s both a silly name and I am into this cooking thing lately.







Turn Yourself into a hero

where did I leave my car?

I have three of them, and I know where the Mini Cooper is, that car is parked out right in front of the neighbors' house, must remember to move it at the end of the week, otherwise it will get a parking ticket on it.

It is a cute, white on white convertible. really like that car.

The problem is....

I can't remember where my other two cars are, or even what kind they are.

That could be a problem if they get towed away, I can just imagine what kind of bill I would get from the towing company


(from a dream I had last night)

hmm

You Are Charming and Eloquent

You are influential and persuasive. You tend to have a lot of power over people. Generally, you use your powers for good. You excel at solving other people's problems. Occasionally, you do get a little selfish and persuade people to do things that are only in your interest. You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out. Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia. Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Bears

It was Polar Bear Weekend, up here at the River, and though I did go out one night, I just was not in the mood to be out that much.

Cowboy was away for the weekend, and I had a short bike ride on Sunday, so it was mainly sit in front of the TV and watch stupid shows.

One of them (but it wasn't one of the stupid ones) was actually about Polar Bears, global warming, how the ice is melting and making it harder for the Polar Bears to survive. I enjoyed that a lot.

I went out Friday night to the Triple R, paid 10 bucks to get in and saw some friends, the 10 bucks was to cover the cost of the show as well as raise money for charities, I was not interested in the show, so just stood around in the bar sipping tequila, and talked to friends.

After I awhile I headed to the Rainbow, where I saw an old friend, that I had not seen in awhile, they said they did not recognize me without my beard, I said "oh its still there, it is just gray now" and so he felt my face and then put on his glasses. Ahh, we're getting older.

The funny thing is my beard is getting grayer, but my hair is still pretty dark, what I hate the most is my nostril hair is gray, and so that means I have to pluck those like crazy.

The Sunday ride was in beautiful weather, abut since it was my first ride of the season, I coughed like crazy, so much that some friends said that they thought I didn't smoke, I laughed and said I don't, just had not been on the bike in awhile.

It was a nice fast and short ride, so I was home early, thought I wasn't tired but I fell asleep on the couch. So Cowboy said, he'd take me out to dinner instead of me cooking Beef Stroganoff like I planned.

I'll make it Tuesday instead. I'm going to make broccoli soup tonight.

It is going well

Cowboy's Dad went in the Hospital to have a Quadruple By-pass, he did not have heart attack, he was in for some routine tests, and they discovered that he had a blockage.

So they scheduled the operation for yesterday, and everything went very well, The Doctor said he has a great heart, and everything went better than expected. He is responding well, and we are all very happy about how he is doing.

it's a brand new year

This year we did go out to the River and celebrate, and I must be getting older because it wasn't as much fun as it was in the past.

Maybe partly because we were so disappointed in dinner. We went to the Village Inn, yeah the same one that Bing Crosby did the Christmas movie at, but though the food is normally quite good, it was not up to its usual standards this night.

It was a Price Fixed menu, which can be a good deal if you are in the mood to eat a bunch, but we did not want to eat that much, and the price dd not include any wine.

It was entirely too much food, the steak was cold, and nothing was really exciting about the food. They did decorate the tables and provide party hats, but they would have been better off to make sure the food was good.

So that was disappointing, when we got to the bars, (all three of them, is the River dieing?) we had a nice time but we were not in the mood to drink much with being so full from dinner. We rented a room so if we drank we would not have to drive back home.

It was nice to see friends, but I think next year if we go out, we will go to the city, and see a different set of friends.

Today is Cowboys birthday, but he has to work, has class, and his father is prepping for heart surgery (tomorrow), so yesterday I made him his birthday dinner.

We started out with Bread and Cheese skewers barbecued until the cheese melted, followed by shrimp that was marinated in tequila & lime, served with a white wine.

Then I made him roasted asparagus, wrapped in prosciutto and Parmesan cheese, four cheese mashed potatoes, and Fillet Mignon with a Fresh Blackberry & Cabernet wine reduction sauce.

For dessert, I made chocolate puff pastries with Ghirardelli chocolate.

He will open the rest of his presents tonight.

Suit up

it just ridiculous...

Have you seen it?

The commercial for Geico, the one where the president of the company is talking to the gecko, and he is telling the gecko that if he dresses in a little suit that will make him look more professional.

I think it is just ridiculous, the gecko is not going to look more professional, he is just going to look silly.

Anyway, just my opinion.