Firepower Weekend!

Over the Labor Day weekend, my family and I, along with a number of family friends set out for a little out of the way place in Iroquois County to spend the weekend camping under the stars. This is a great place. It is about 5 miles from anything... no electricity, no running water other than the creek, and no people living nearby. Only about 80 acres of woods, grassland and fresh air. (The only drawback that anyone can talk about is that we have to dig our own latrine! Fortunately we have a old hosptial commode chair that we place over the stew hole and throw some canvas up over the branches of a downed hickory tree. It provides not only privacy, but a sense of normality when doing your business. ) We have been coming here now for about 4 years or so and each year we bring out all our guns, paintball gear, cooking accessories, and games and enjoy a few days of doing nothing in particular. One of my good friends nicknamed the weekend, "Firepower Weekend," and I think that moniker suits it quite well. And it sounds better than "Labor Day Weekend Campout." This year we had some new attendees to Firepower Weekend. One of my son's Boy Scout troop members came out and got to shoot the crap out of my 8mm Mauser! (I doubt it has been shot that much since 1944!) He also got to see how much food we can make in an evening, and even got to try my family's homemade ice cream for the first time. And our pastor, a big shooting and hunting fan, came out and almost immediately found himself involved in an airsoft BB gun fight with myself, my son and a couple of other kids! He also brough out a number of weapons and we enjoyed shooting them at targets or just plinking. (Plinking, for those who do not know, is just picking a safe target, where ever it might be and trying to hit it with your gun, or more accurately, bullet fired from the gun!!! It is quite fun and very theraputic!) As and aside, it was reassuring to later find out that he keeps a loaded .45 cal. 1911 Colt with hollow point bullets in his home.... just in case! In any case, we spent most of the afternoon shooting ammo at all kinds of things.

After cleaning up a bit from shooting, the kids found the foam swords and weapons I brought and managed to smack the crap out of each other for about an hour or so. It is funny to watch my dog Gunnar. He always seems to go after anyone who is attacking (in order of importance) Me, my son or daughter, my friend's kids, and lastly, anyone who looks vunerable.

Later that afternoon, after playing a game or two, we got the fire going well and cooked a number of pork loins, potatoes and onions, sweet potatoes and homemade ice cream with chocolate chip cookie bars. Man oh man was it good eating. The meal is always eagerly anticipated and this year proved to be a feast! Everything, and I mean everything, tasted wonderfull!

After supper, a bit of cleaning up, the homemade ice cream came out and the campfire talking began. I even got to make fry pies with my cast iron pie maker. If you have never had one, I feel sorry for you.

All In all, it was a great way to spend the weekend. Here is to next year!

Later!

Photos descriptions! The first two are of my son and one of his best buds doing what best buds do best! Shooting at each other with Airsoft BB guns! How I have great memories of BB gun fights as a kid. I hope they cherish their fights too! The next one is of my daughter getting ready to shoot her brother and friends with her BB gun pistol. The mask is a bit big but the outfit she was wearing is hilarious! Nothing like princess clothing for a gun fight! The next one is of my wife shooting my M1 .30 carbine. This is a WWII vintage gun that shoots really smoothly! It is a blast to shoot! The second to last is of the foam sword fight that broke out just before supper! The kids were really wearing themselves out but having a great time doing it! And finally, the last one is of me making the most delicious of desserts, homemade ice cream! The recipe we use is close to 150 years old and we don't change a thing. I could eat a ton of it. The only thing missing this weekend, was my Mom's homemade chocolate sauce to go on it!

More cooking with Fire

Here are the two last images of the fish boil. You can see the last part of the mushroom cloud from the kerosene fuel buring and the final extinguishing of the fire after the boil over. Again, this is quite a bit of fun to see and take part in, and the food is quite tasty!

later!

Now that's cooking with FIRE!!!

Hey Now! That is what I call a fire! Recently, at a meeting of the very small sportsman's club I belong to, we had a traditional Door County (Wisconsin) fish boil. What this is, is basically a simple proceedure of boiling onions for 10 minutes, adding red potatoes for 10 minutes, then adding Lake Michigan White Fish for another 10 minutes and at the end of the 30 minute cooking time, throwing on about 12 oz of kerosene or diesel fuel (as seem in the first photo) onto the fire which super heats the fire and the water, causing a great fireball and the water to boil over. This boiling over is essential as whitefish is very fatty, and the boiling over of the water removes all the nasty fat residue and also extinguishes the huge fire you now have under your kettle! ( I have more photos of the fire and boil over and will try to post them.) Once you can get to the kettle, you can lift out the baskets that hold the fish, onions, and red potatoes and set them out on the table and it is a feeding frenzy! It tastes delicious! Also it is traditionally served with cherry pie. I am not sure about the history of this cooking recipe, but most of the people in the Wisconsin area are Northern European, either Norwegian, Swedish, or North German and I suspect that this tradition comes from the early settlers to the are of Door County, Wisconsin. I could be totally wrong, but either way, it is alot of fun and tastes great!

You can find all kinds of similar recipes by googling Door County Fish Boil, but few mention the super heating process at the end.

Enjoy!

later!

Best 4,,, ok, 2 days of Gaming...

Lots Of Pics!

Scroll down for descriptions!

Let's see.. where to start. Okay, Gen Con #40 was this last weekend, and as it says, it is the best 4 days of gaming. I headed out on Friday morning with the family and a friend in caravan mode. We got to Indy that afternoon, shortly after lunch and immediately discovered that parking is much harder to find than planned. But we persevered and found a nice cheap spot only a mile or so from the convention center. A funny thing happened on the way to the center. No sooner than we were about a block from the Mecca of gaming, we over hear a conversation that goes something like this... "The cloak was used for as a protection cloak instead of invisibility...." We knew we were in the right place. Anyway, we got in, got registered, got the incredibly heavy swag bag and were off to get a lay of the land. I have been once before, but the rest of my family and my buddy Dave had not. So we went exploring and I think they were a bit stunned by the sheer size of the convention. We did not have a game scheduled until 5pm that afternoon, but we needed to get some food and get checked into the hotel. We wandered around the exhibit hall and gawked at all the stuff on display. Not just games and gaming material but, flesh and blood. As Dave said, I was prepared for the high gamer geek level at the convention, but not prepared for the costume party and potential babe fest at Gen Con. (You can see some of the Conan Babes posing with my daughter) He was right after all. Gaming is geared toward males, aged 14-20 and most of the displays, if appropriate, took full advantage of using the babe factor to get people into the booth, or some of the female costumed characters dressed as a gamers fantasy come true. Heck, while hanging out at the True Dungeon Tavern and playing a game of Three Dragon Ante, a chain mail bikini wearing gal comes right up to us and asks us what we are playing. I don't really know what her real purpose was, but she certainly was not shy. I am kind of glad my son was gone at the time, but he got eye fulls later on throughout the weekend.

But we did not come to gawk. We came to game and game we did. We got involved in a big game of Epic Battlelore with the game designer and had a great time. (My team won!) My son was the only one to score points on the other team, so at least losing for him was not totally a loss. Then later, everyone on the family got to join a Settlers of Catan game and I think my daughter really impressed some of the strangers in the game at how good she really is at the game. It was a blast and maybe on of the best times at the convention. We were also invovled in some other games, including the huge Memoir '44 game (seen in photo #6) with none other than the CEO of the game company that makes the game! (Very cool from a gamers point of view) we did not win but we came awful danged close. The time at Gen Con was a blast and I really hope to make it again next year. My son said he definately wants to go again and so that is a good thing and makes it more likely. We will see.

Now to the photos.

Photo #1 This is the D&D room sponsored by Wizards of the Coast. Everyone there is playing a Role-Playing Game... and what you see is only about a third of the room!

Photo #2 This is the kid gaming room, normally filled with a bunch of really good games, but lo and behold, Dave and I found Rock 'em, Sock 'em Robots! We had to relive the childhood of the 70's once again! (I seem to recall them being bigger when I had them.)

Photos 3&4 Julian in the Role Playing game room with some of the gaming mock ups! Nice atmosphere for gaming, and the floor, much like a dungeon tile door, I think could double as a dance floor!

Photo 5 The kids with Lord Vader.... There was another Darth Vader at the con, but he was not any taller than I am so, he had to be an impostor.... We also think that George Lucas was spotted at convention too.

Photo 6 The big "Overlord" version of Memoir '44. It was an 8 player game with myself, Dave, Julian and the overall commander, Henry on one side.

Photo 7 This is Julian and I with E. Gary Gygax, the creater of Dungeons & Dragons, the game the created all other role playing games and started Gen Con 40 years ago. Meeting him was a bigger thrill than I expected it to be. After all, he is responsible for some of my best memories as a kid. It was actually an honor to get to meet him. I did have him sign my DM guide... okay... call me a geek now!

Photo 8 The Conan Babes in front of the Conan video game booth. These girls were here all day long and had probably been asked by thousands of guys to take pictures, but this was the first time I actually saw them looked excited to take a photo! They really glammed on to Cora taking a photo with them. And speaking of Conan, I got to talk with the Secretary and Treasurer of the Robert E. Howard foundation and got some really good info on some stuff for a new blog posting... but that is for another time.

As of right now, I have to stop typing. So, if you can, go to Gen Con next time! You will not be disappointed!

Later!

Game On!

Update on things...

Okay! So what has happened since we last met? Quite a bit actually! My son returned from his trip to England, Wales and Ireland. We are still getting stories from him and it seems to have been a really great experience for him. He had a great time and made some really good, new friends. It took him a while to get back into the swing of things at home, but after finding him a job walking beans for a week or so, that helped put him back on track.

Both of the kids had birthdays. My daughter turned 9 and my son turned into an official teenager. I think we had good days for them. Each of them had friends over and we got them some nice, but not out of world gifts. It is nice that they are not be more discerning about their gifts and that one or two, rather than more is enough for them. We also planned a large party for them with some other family that has a birthday in August. We rented out the local sportsman's club and had a family day of fishing, shooting, cookout and just hanging out. Later that evening, the invited friends showed up for a DJ that came to play tunes for them. All in all, it was a great evening. Things learned from this party though... Glow stick liquid can irritate some peoples skin, and glow sticks float on the lake and they certainly can't stay in the lake, so loading a canoe on a van at 10pm is not much fun and physically holding it to the top of a van is quite a workout...

Other things...
on a down side, a family in town, very good friends of ours, are facing the decision of having to move in the near future to follow a job. This pretty much sucks for them because of all the reasons it would. Packing, selling, leaving school, etc. But it sucks for us too, as they are probably some of our best friends in town. It would really be a downer to have them leave. We, and they, are holding out hope that something will keep them in the area. But right now, I don't have much hope. It would also mean that I will have to look for a new gamer buddy, as he is my main gaming friend.

Speaking of games, I am heading out, with the family, to Gen Con over the upcoming weekend. It was a great time last year, which was my initial year. I convinced the family to go and I hope that we all have a great time. I have some apprehension that there may be some logistical problems, but I hope we all have a good time. (If you don't know what Gen Con is, think of it as the Mecca of gaming conventions with 30,000 other people who share the same love of gaming as you might.)

And school starts up in one week, and think that maybe, just maybe, my kids are looking forward to it. I think that three months of travel, heat, and just hanging out at home has killed their enthusiasm for summer vacation. We will see. I personally am looking forward to having them back in a routine.

So, that is it for now!

Talk at you later!

Star Trek Movie News!

I am not getting too excited about this yet, as filming has not even started but.... here is some news taken directly from E! News online.. Something to look forward to in 2008! (especially since the HALO movie is in financial limbo)


Four Vulcan ears are always better than two.
J.J. Abrams, creator of Lost and Alias and the auteur who will be reviving the Star Trek franchise next year, said Thursday that his take on the sci-fi classic will feature dual Mr. Spocks, the younger of the two to be played by Heroes villain Zachary Quinto, as reported earlier this week by E! Online's TV blog.
And serving as young Spock's older and wiser incarnation will be none other than Leonard Nimoy, who was on hand when the good news was announced during Paramount Pictures' panel at Comic-Con, aka fanboy heaven, in San Diego.
"People have been asking me why I'm doing this movie, and I think the answer is obvious—we have a great director, a wonderful script, and a wonderful young actor playing Spock, so…it was logical," said the 76-year-old Nimoy, to everybody's proudly dorky delight.
Per the closely guarded script penned by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, Quinto will star as Spock in his pre-Wrath of Khan days. Nimoy, meanwhile, will have a meaty cameo.
When asked how much of his take on the half-Vulcan Enterprise veteran will be inspired by Nimoy, Quinto, was last seen opening skulls and getting skewered as the power-hungry Sylar on Heroes, said: "Well, as much as he'd like it to be, since he's working on the film, which is an honor."
But, "I certainly intend to bring my own spin to it, and working with these guys, I'm sure I'll find it," he added.
Abrams' addition to the canon, which is slated for a Christmas Day 2008 release, couldn't be coming at a better time, at least for Trekkers, considering there hasn't been a new addition to the cinematic series in more than five years, and because, for the first time in what seems like forever, there is no first-run Star Trek spinoff series on the air right now.
While the last cinematic permutation of the series was 2002's Star Trek: Nemesis, Nimoy hasn't played big-screen Spock since 1991's Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
Shooting on the new film—which, taking a cue from Casino Royale and Batman Begins, will bring us back to where it all began for Spock and pal James T. Kirk—is expected to kick off in November.
Abrams, who promised that he'd return to Comic-Con next year with more scoop, said that the role of young Kirk has not yet been cast and that they're trying to find a way to get William Shatner involved.


Check the full story at http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=3a6f8f14-fb89-4eeebc462598412ea62a&entry=index&sid=rss_topstories&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories


LIVE LONG AND PROSPER!

A list for parents...

I am skimming a book that a friend loaned me, called, "Shut up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life." by Larry Winget. Winget is a motivational speaker and for the most part is a pretty practical and reasonable person and most of what he says in the book is pretty straight forward and most of us would call it common sense advise, but most of us would rather whine about our problems, rather than do something about them. One of the best chapters is on Marriage and Relationships. It really is actually pretty good and I advise reading it. But in another chapter, called "Kids are a Pain in the Butt." he has a list of advise for raising good kids. It too is common sense, but sometimes we need to be reminded of them. I am going to put them in the blog to help those who read this and are parents, to help you remember some of the stuff that we sometimes forget of think that they already know, or worse, think that it is someone else's job to teach them.

Short list for raising good kids:

• If you have little bitty kids, sit on the floor a lot. Communicate at their level.
• Teach them about money. How to earn it, save it, invest it, spend it, and give it away.
• Listen to them.
• Ask more, tell less.
• Hug more, nag less.
• Show your kids affection even after they think they are too big for it.
• Teach them the really important things: Kindness, charity, love, forgiveness, compassion, respect, honest, responsibility, and how to have fun.
• Never lie to them. Never tolerate any lie from them.
• Encourage your children to develop their own uniqueness. Do not try to mold their personalities. Let them be who they are and let them become what they want to become, not what you want them to be.
• Do not make a jackass out of yourself at their sporting events.
• Do not protect them too much. Let them make their own mistakes and suffer the consequences. The lesson is in the consequences.
• They need love more than stuff.

That's it. Pretty sensible stuff and something I think every parent should take to heart. Especially the 3rd, 4th, 5th and last one. No one is a perfect parent, even if we think we are. If we try to be, then we are not being good parents. Spoiling your kids, letting them get off easy, or giving them too much freedom is not being a good parent. If your kids get pissed at you because of a decision that you have made, then most likely, you have made the right decision, and hopefully in time, they will understand.

Okay... off my soapbox.

Pick up the book I mentioned and got this from. Not a bad read. Certainly is easy to read. You just might find something useful!

later!

Name five books...

I was just reading something that I thought would be fun to try... Apparently 43.6 percent of all Americans read at below the seventh grade level. And if that is true, then many, many more are not reading books. So here is what I am going to ask you to try and do. Ask someone, anyone, what are the names of the last five books you have read. Hopefully they will be able to answer, but more likely, they probably not be able to. And then if they do, ask them how long ago was the last time they read those books.

For those who are wondering, these are the last five books I have read:
1. Killing Time ( a Star Trek Novel)
2. 3 issues of Miltary History or Military Heritage magazine (that's something like over 100 pages)
3. Conan of Cimmeria by Robert E. Howard
4. Conan by Robert E. Howard
5. Knights of the Air (biographies of WWI pilots)
...and I am currently reading Medieval Swordsmanship: Illustrated methods and techniques. by John Clements

All of these have been read in at least the last three months or so.

Go ahead and ask someone, or even ask yourself! You might be really surprised at what answers you get! And if you can't remember the last time you have read a book, shame on you! Go out and get a book and read it! Sheesh....


Later!

Along came a spider.... my near miss experience with a Brown Recluse

Hey, an update on my leg wound... Wow! If only my leg looked like that picture that was posted previously. Since then, the bruising (or more accurately, poisoning) of the skin has increase to 3 times the size seen on the picture. The center of the wound has turned necroptic (dying off) and the redness has turned a deep deep shade of purple! A blood culture came back and found no bacteria, thereby ruling out an infection, and pretty much determining it is the result of a bite, most likely spider and a Brown Recluse at that! I am pretty lucky actually. I did not need IV antibotics, the necropsis has not spread widely and I am actually feeling much better. (No more nausea, muscle pain, severe headaches, and swollen foot.) I can actually walk for the most part of the day without too much pain, although I try to limit what I do. The redness, a result of the poison has spread up to the bottom of my calf muscle, almost all around the bottom of my leg, (front and back) and moved down now to encompass my ankles, but I think I am getting better. I also believe that I am only going to lose a little bit of tissue on my Achilles heel area and not a big divit as seen in worse cases of spider bites. I hope that the redness will start to dissipate soon. I have avoided going to the gym all last week, for obvious reasons, but I think I will try a light day tomorrow. Hopefully, all will be well and I can get back to normal! If anything changes, I hope it is for the better!

Later!

Lookie at what I have!

Apparently, sometime on Saturday, the 30th of June, I did something or got bit by something that caused a huge infection on my lower left leg! I did not notice much until late Sunday when it felt alot like a localized sunburn. But after a walk on Monday, my leg and foot were swollen and sore and hurt enough to make me think something out of the ordinary was afoot.. no pun intended.

Late that night, I had my wife do a quick internet search for spider bites and lo and behold, this wound was starting to look like a Brown Recluse Spider bite... so, off to the emergency room we went at 10:30 at night! One Educated Opinion said it was a sub derman infection called cellulitus and I began taking antibiotics for it. The other Educated Opinion did not rule out a spider bite but thought it was most likely te cellulitus. Either way it hurt like hell.

Then, on Tuesday I went and did something stupid and stood on my feet for about 6 hours at a outdoor concert. Needless to say, Wednesday morning, you could find me crawling on all fours in order to simply get to the bathroom shower. I was a real invalid and felt like crap. However, a ton of ibuprofen and a little rest made it feel better and I think I am on the mend. It still hurts, and I can'r really even walk right yet, but I feel far better than I did yesterday!

Hope I didn't gross you out, but thought it worth sharing!

Later!

One more trophy!

The annual "Old Fashioned 4th of July" in my hometown went off with a bang! Good weather, (a bit humid), lots of activities and entertainment, and the usually car and motorcycle show at the park. Last year I entered in the show and got first place. It was on a whim, but it still felt good to win, especially against another bike that had a ton of custom work done to it! And just earlier this year, I entered my bike in the show for the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby car and bike show. And I won best of show! There were only 4 bikes maybe, but I did beat out a Harley with big ape hanger bars and lots of chrome and noise. That was a really good feeling! This year I entered the bike again. I was a bit concerned at first, not because the competition was stiff, but because there was no competition! (that would have been a rather hollow victory) I had the only bike there until about 1:45 or so. Then two other bikes entered into my category (Import Street) and gave me legitimate competition. After all was said and done it came in with a first place trophy.

Some people say that their bike is merely a tool, and I can accept that. But for me, my bike is an extension of my personality and style and so I keep it in the best shape and look as I can. I ride it maybe not as much as I would like, but my situation is much different from most bike owners. My wife and I carpool and our jobs and other responsibilities sometimes require us to cart along more than can fit on my bike. Some might say, add more carrying space or a luggage rack. But that is not what I bought a bike for. If I wanted to carry all the stuff I would need to do what is required on certain days, I might as well take my truck or car! I really enjoy riding, but I want to do it without a lot of "baggage".

Anyway, I just wanted to update the blog, show off my trophy, my bike and my motorcycle cutie!

Later!

While kids are away....

Last week, while both my kids were away, (my son to the UK and my daughter to Girl Scout Camp) my wife and I took advantage and went to one of our favorite get away from it all places. Oddly enough it is located only about 1.5 hours from home and is near Covington, Indiana. It is a bed and breakfast log cabin call Cabins and Candlelights. It is probably the best bed and breakfast we have ever stayed in! It is a complete place to stay with full kitchen, stocked with goodies, dining area, sitting area, large bed and hottub all contained in the same room. Outside you have a fire pit and wooded area, a creek nearby and lots of wild critters to come visit you while there. As you can see from the photos, it is a very elegant place and truly is a place to relax and get away from it all. I really like it there and highly recommend it for anyone who needs a bit of time to themselves. The owners have thought of everything and all that remains is for you to visit. We have been twice and will definately be back...

Some of things we don't normally get to do while we were there...

sleep in

pick wild raspberries for pancakes

talk a walk in the woods

have a quiet campfire

read for hours

relax in the hottub

watch a movie without interuption

go antiquing

go eat somewhere we have never been

and other things I won't go into detail about....

Check it out on the web. Just search for Cabins & Candlelights! You will not be disappointed!

Later!

Update from the UK and Ireland!

Well, after nearly 8 days of not hearing a thing from our son, who is traveling in England, Wales and Ireland, we finally got a phone call telling us that all is well and that he actually does not miss us or is not homesick because it "is the most amazing experience." That makes all the hard work and time to get him over there worth it all. We have heard that they have been having experiences that your normal tourist coudl never have and much of what he talks about is making me jealous! (like complete free run of Warwick Castle and stuff like that....)

He will be there until the 9th of July and returns on the 10th. So far he has taken over 1GB of photos on the digital camera. I think that is something like more than 300 images! Wow!

I am so glad he is having a great time, but I can't wait to see him and hear all about it!

later!

One of the toughest things I am going to do....

Hello All!

This coming Thursday, the 21st of June, I am going to have to do one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I will be letting my 12 year old son travel to another part of the world, where for the most part, I will be unable to help him, watch over him, guide him, comfort him, yell at him or do anything more than talk to him on the phone. He is leaving for England, Wales and Ireland to spend three weeks abroad with the People To People Student Ambassador program. He was nominated and selected from a group of Central Illinois Students to go on this cultural exchange program and for the last 6 months we have been working to raise funds to send him. Well, now the time has come. I think it has snuck up on everyone in our family. I think that for a very long time, my son thought that it would really not happen, but indeed it really is. I know that he has many apprehensions about leaving and traveling so far away from his family. I have the same ones. However, this program has been doing this sort of thing for almost 30+years and is very well organized and well planned.
Aside from being very proud of him for going, I am jealous. I have never been anywhere other than Canada and that cannot really be said of going to a foreign country, especially when I have only traveled to Toronto. He is going to get to see and do so much. The itinerary they have laid out for him is amazing! I highly doubt he will even think about calling home he will be so busy and moving around.
Thursday is coming up fast. I am quite nervous but I do not want to let him see that. I am sure there will be tears upon leaving but he will not see concern in my face. I hope to add entries to the blog as he progresses in his travel. But for now, all I want to do is get through Thursday and see him off safely and comfortably. Other than making sure he is well prepared, that is about all I will be able to do for him. Wish me luck!

Later!

Earliest Memories?

How far back does ones memory go? Are we able to remember things from our very early childhood days? I was thinking about this when on vacation in St. Louis. My daughter, who had visited the arch when she was about 2 years old or so, thought she remembered it, but really was only remembering a photo she had seen. My son did remember some of it but it was very little and he was about 6 years old. Not that far back in terms of length of time for him. It piqued my interest and I thought about what some of my earliest memories are. Here are what I came up with.

I remember an afternoon spent in a mud puddle at the entrance of my parents driveway. My younger brother and I spent a good hour or so playing in a deep muddy pool of warm water. There is a photo of this, and I am not remembering just the photo, because I distinctly remembering riding through the puddle with my trike and pouring water over my brother's legs and arms. And I remember my mother laughing at me before taking the picture.

I remember a 2 year old birthday with a clown cake. I remember it being decorated on the counter just to the left of where the fridge in my parents house now sits. I also remember tasting the icing and taking a picture outside by the front lamp post.

I remember my first day of walking to the school bus. I had to walk with my older brother, who was 13 years older than me. I also remember standing in the road outside my parents house with my sack of things for school waiting for my mother to take a picture. I don't know if that photo still exists or not. I vividly remember my fear and walking behind him to the corner to be picked up. It was a sunny, hot day. I don't remember the bus arriving but I distinctly recall the bus driver saying to my brother, "It looks like you have a shadow today." I also remember the nervousness I felt when he walked to the back of the bus and I stayed in the front. I thought I was supposed to stay with him but instead he moved as far to the back of the bus as was allowed. I don't remember anything after that.

I definately remember the old neighbor we had next door. Lee Fry. I remember stealing his cane and letting us sit with him on his front porch in the afternoon. He also used to give us cold drinks in the summer. I remember his yard was often overgrown and it had junk lying around in it. He was quite old and I think we have photos of me and my younger brother posing with him. I also remember visiting him in the nursing home in Hoopeston I think. Maybe it was Watseka. He died when I was maybe 5 years old but I don't recall a funeral that I attended. I currently own his mitre box saw and his single shot 12 guage shotgun. He was a cool guy.

Speaking of old guys, I remember the barber how used to cut my hair. Snuffy Barth. Snuffy was his nickname and for the life of me I cannot remember his real first name right now. I remember the old barber chair that was too big for me to sit in so I had to sit on my dad's lap. The shop always had neat things to look at and examine but we (my younger brother and I) were always told to sit still and not mess with anything. I seem to recall his shop being in a garage or at least it looked that way to me. Snuffy was a short balding man that had a interesting pattern of speech. Almost like he was puffing out air as he talked. He was incredibly friendly and made getting haircuts tolerable for a youngster.

This is what I can come up with for the moment. I am sure that as I think harder, more memories will come to the fore. If any of you have that you want to share, feel free to comment! Thanks!

Later!

Family time part two...

In this second, and last installment of the St.Louis Trip, you can see some photos from Dave and Barry's which we spent some time and $$$ at last night. If you get a chance to go and like the interactive video games and spending alot of money on cheap prizes, this is the place for you! This morning we got up, ate another bowl of cold cereal and stale danishes and headed out for Hermann, MO. Home of Stone Hill Winery, and bithplace of our favorite wines. We took the trip a few years ago and liked the place and since we were in the area we decided to go aout again. We did the tour for all of $4 for the 4 of us and learned some cool things about our favorite wines... In the photo of the barrels stacked up in a pyramid, you are looking at the newest batch of the Port wine. This is good stuff! And in the other barrels are the other red wines fermenting and aging. This winery was established in the 1830's but took a big hit during prohibition when it went from making wine to growing commercial mushrooms! After the tour and wine tasting we went to the restaurant and had a great meal. From there we went to the St. Louis Mills Mall and checked out the Cabelas, and a few other specialty stores. But we were pretty tired, and the kids really wanted to hit the pool so as of this writing we are back at the hotel, swimming, looking at delivery menus and basically just relaxing. So, I guess it is time to get wet, eat and maybe play a game... family time... just like we wanted.

Later!

Family Time in St. Louis

Hello there! I am in St. Louis right now spending a bit of time with the family. We decided to do a short family vacation as my son, Julian will be spending 3 weeks in Europe over the summer and we will not get a real vacation this year. So here we are in St. Louis. A good distance from home but not too far to make it hard to get there and back... First off, I have to say, I miss my DOG! Gunnar is my best buddy and I miss him. I wish he were here. Ok... there, that is done. He is staying at home with a neighbor. I hope he is ok. Ok, now I am really done.

Coming in we decided to hit the zoo first as we have heard great things about it and aside from parking and food it is basically free. (It is funded through taxes.. smart idea!) It ws not too hot like it usually is when we visit zoos, so the animals were actually out and awake as opposed to looking something more akin to roadkill. Our visit to the zoo was not as long as hoped as Mapquest gave us some really screwy directions and the fact that there are little to no signs indicating that there is even a zoo around the area it is located. We drove around for about an hour before we found the place. Once found though, it was a nice visit and we had a good time. Beware dive bombing puffins in the penguin house!

The next morning, we had a really bad, stale continental breakfast and headed out to the Gateway Arch. I have been before a few times but each time it is really amazing to me the size and magnitude of this monument to westward expansion. They have really done a nice job with the memorial grounds and the museum inside the visitors center is really nice too.

We finished the arch around 11 am and headed for something called the City Museum. Now, this is not your typical museum... it is more of an art museum or a work of art in progress. It is like the worlds largest set of monkey bars made from recycled items and materials and bent, banged, welded, and glued into a fantasy world were you can explore and crawl around and basically throw yourselves literally into a peice of art that someone has made. There is a tremendous amount of creativity and imagination in this place. It is really hard to describe but maybe you can get a bit of the idea from the photos. In a reversal of roles, Julian was being the brave kid for once and climbing out on precarious outcroppings and cages that hung in mid air while Cora was holding back. I think that she thought that maybe somewhere something was going to jump out to scare her but there is none of that. I must say, you should be very limber, have good knees or knee pads, and not closterphobic in this place! It was a great time and I highly suggest it.

After that it was back to the hotel for a bit of swim time and then to Dave and Buster's, the big dinner/bar/video arcade in Maryland Heights. It is a good time and is actually cheaper than going to Six Flags and the kids liked it just as much! We visited with some friends that evening and had a good time. Tomorrow is a day for Mom and Dad.... Hermann Missouri and the Stone Hill Winery!

Later!

Going to the Principal's office.... *yawn*

Recently I did a stint as a substitute teacher. I like doing this part time job as it nurishes my appetite to be a teacher and to do something different once in a while. It is also a lot of fun and 99% of the kids I meet are great kids! However, there is that pesky 1% still left out there, and I am going to talk about them for a bit.

While subbing, I encountered a couple, no three kids, all boys who were somewhat considered troublemakers or unruly, or just lacking respect or discipline. One boy just seemed to thrive on disrupting class and the attention it got him, and so, he was removed from class, oldly enough at the request of many of the other students. Off he went to the prinicpal's office. I saw him later, no worse for wear...

The second boy, while struggling in school, seems to be able to cope with the class work, seems to be a victim to his own inablity to ignore outside stimuli and reacts, or more accurately, overreacts to it. I was present when he and others were called out for taking a test in private room without teacher supervision. One thing led to another and he started to yell, hit the wall and otherwise over react to the situation. Off he went to the prinicpal's office, with me escorting him. While walking I tried to tell him that it was not the fact that he was not to take the test without a teacher present, but his actions that followed that got him a visit to the office. I think it made sense to him and he seemed to understand, a bit. (Later he was about to over react and he stopped and looked at me and said, "Oh, right!" "I remember!" and he stopped and just sat back down!) After his visit, he was back at class, able to finish the test and looking like it was just another day at school.

The third boy, had a direct confrontation with me and I decided that if I did not act immediately, I would loose respect and give this boy more confidence to act out again in the future. This kid seemed to think that he was better than just about anyone else and held other in contempt. It is a good thing that our local school kids are nice, because this kid is pretty small and nerdy and stands a good chance of getting a pounding if things in the make up of the school kids was different. Anyway, I took him to the office and went in to the meeting with the Dean of Students while he was made to explain while he was there. He basically stalled, hem-hawed and ignored the Dean and as I was leaving, the principal was filling out a disciplinary report. I looked a the boy and he seemed to not care at all. And why should he? All he was getting was a report form and maybe a after school detention. (Don't know for sure, though)

None of these kids seemed to be in the least bit intimidated about going to the office. Maybe it was because they have been there so many times, they don't care, or maybe it is not a big deal at home and so they don't worry. I do know that in my time and that was not that long ago, a trip to the office was a thing of dread! I even remember getting spanked! In grade school! (so much for that now) Punishments were real then, it seemed. Long after school detentions, extra homework, extra physical work, and even expulsion. Doesn't seem to be the case now. Maybe that is a good thing. Maybe my school district doesn't really have really bad students like I hear about in other places, but I think they have made the "OFFICE" a very un-intimitating place. I remember at my school it being a place to fear. Not so now it seems. That is too bad. I don't have a solution, but I would think that making it a more scary place might make it a less often visited place too!

Your thoughts?

Later!

Non Sequitur

Check out the "Non Sequitur" comic for May 3rd, 2007. You might find it at www/gocomics.com/nonsequitur.

This is a great comic strip and this day's comic in particular is right on target. It is something that my wife and I have often wondered, every time we hear about a suicide murderer blowing themselves and other up in the name of their religion or god. So why are the Jihadist leaders, leading by example? Huh?

In a nutshell, the comic shows a jihadist leader on a pulpit in front of a crowd of followers. One of the crowd has his hand up and asks, "Um... If being a martyr is so great, why don't you ever volunteer?" And on the bottom, of the strip, a text box that states, "Why jihadist rallies never have Q and A sessions."

Wiley, the creator, hit the nail on the head. Maybe if a few more jihadist leaders lead by example, there would be less holy war in the world.....


later!

Global Warming on Mars??? How's that happen?

I am not sure where most of you stand on the topic of Global Warming, but I am not a proponent of the theory. While most people believe humans are responsible for it, I have yet to be convinced. I do admit that we humans do put a bunch of crap into our environment and we aren't doing it any good by continuing to live as we do, but I don't know if I believe that we can affect the entire earth with our efforts alone. Here is something that has recently come to my attention. It is certainly on the opposite end of the spectrum on then debate on the global warming. So I present this to you, "For What It's Worth!" Note the final paragraph of the article. In that same vein, so was Issac Newton, Galileo and other noteworthy scientists!

later!


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070228-mars-warming.html

Mars Melt Hints at Solar, Not Human, Cause for Warming, Scientist Says
Kate Raviliousfor National Geographic News
February 28, 2007
Simultaneous warming on Earth and Mars suggests that our planet's recent climate changes have a natural—and not a human-induced—cause, according to one scientist's controversial theory.
Earth is currently experiencing rapid warming, which the vast majority of climate scientists says is due to humans pumping huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. (Get an overview: "Global Warming Fast Facts".)

Mars, too, appears to be enjoying more mild and balmy temperatures.
In 2005 data from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and Odyssey missions revealed that the carbon dioxide "ice caps" near Mars's south pole had been diminishing for three summers in a row.
Habibullo Abdussamatov, head of space research at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory in Russia, says the Mars data is evidence that the current global warming on Earth is being caused by changes in the sun.
"The long-term increase in solar irradiance is heating both Earth and Mars," he said.
Solar Cycles
Abdussamatov believes that changes in the sun's heat output can account for almost all the climate changes we see on both planets.
Mars and Earth, for instance, have experienced periodic ice ages throughout their histories.
"Man-made greenhouse warming has made a small contribution to the warming seen on Earth in recent years, but it cannot compete with the increase in solar irradiance," Abdussamatov said.
By studying fluctuations in the warmth of the sun, Abdussamatov believes he can see a pattern that fits with the ups and downs in climate we see on Earth and Mars.
Abdussamatov's work, however, has not been well received by other climate scientists.

"His views are completely at odds with the mainstream scientific opinion," said Colin Wilson, a planetary physicist at England's Oxford University.

The end of a good thing.

As many of you know, I was the Cubmaster for the local Cub Scout pack in my hometown and I stepped down a few years ago and handed it off to a very capable person to keep the program going and growing. And this person did a great job of it, at least until, it became to much for some other people in the organization to allow a woman to be in charge of the pack. For the last two years, the current cub master has been brow beat, un-duly influenced, coerced, backstabbed and undermined in as many different ways as you could imagine by members of the pack committee. Many friendships have been dashed apart because of this style of leadership and in the end it has hurt the program as a whole. Recently, the cub master stepped down from the position and for good reason and I cannot blame her at all. Even her assistant wants nothing to do with the program as he does not want to be manipulated and worked as a puppet for a program he has no investment in anymore. (His son is no longer a cub scout but rather a boy scout.) In addition, I stepped down as a committee member and as a advancements chairman, and a few other people in the group stepped down for maybe the same reasons as I mentioned above or for their own, but all in all, it was pretty much a wiping of the slate for current committee members and leaders. To solve this problem, a family meeting was held to find new talent and volunteers for the organization. I did not attend the meeting as I do not want to be associated with the leadership at the current time, and I did not want to be involved anymore. However, I did hear from those that attended that the focus of the program will now, no longer be about the boys, but what works for the adults who lead the group. I heard that a large number of activities and events that I and my successor worked hard to develop are being eliminated because, "while the kids love it, it is a hassle for the leaders and adults." Big freaking deal! Because it is designed for the boys is the reason the kids love it! It is not about the leadership, it is a program for the boys. Since when do people (and I mean adults) who volunteer in organizations like scouts and things like that think that it is all about them and how much recognition they can get, instead of putting their time and talents toward helping boys develop, grow, mature and become men? I think it is people who have never had any kind of real recognition in their life or maybe have done nothing that proves that they matter. The committee leadership that picked and poked and tore apart the group so that they could have it their way, got exactly what they wanted. A group that is all about them. This cub scout organization that I worked so hard to develp and make a fun program for the BOYS has been destroyed all because of some people's egos. To these people I say, grow up! It ain't about you. I am sad that this local group will now founder and fall and ultimately fail those it is supposed to help, the boys of my hometown. But those that brought it down can blame only themselves for what it will become.

I am glad I stepped away when I did. I am only sorry that so many friendships were damaged over this matter. If you find yourself in a situation similar to this, simply walk away while you can. Cut your losses and hopefully you will retain some of your friendships and dignity.

Later!

I am still here!

Sorry to everyone, or anyone for that matter, that reads this blog. I have been terribly busy with a fundraising event that has pretty much occupied almost all of my time. Writing in a blog was pretty much the last thing I was thinking about. My apologies. I will attempt to get something worthwhile in here by the end of the month at the very least. Lots of new things are coming up that I can comment on for you to read about or ignore, so stay tuned!

Later!

Stop Yer Whining!

Last night, I was watching the TiVo (and if you don't have TiVo, you should consider it) with my wife and she was catching up on some of her Oprah shows. This particular episode was one of those feel good shows that she often has on, but this one in particular had a pastor from a church in Kansas that started a movement based on the 11th commandment... "Thou Shalt Not Whine." It is a movement to reduce the amount of complaining in the world. He believes that the amount of trouble and strife in the world is directly proportional to the amount of whining and complaining that people do and that if people can make an effort to quit complaining about things, then the stress and strife might be reduced. It kind of go to the idea that the more you focus on something (good or bad) the more it is amplified and expanded. If you bitch and moan about your horrible lot in life, then your life just gets worse and vice versa.

Anyway, he came up with the idea to wear a purple arm band on your right wrist and to try and go 21 days without complaining about anything. (At least out loud as far as I can tell.) If you do find yourself complaining you are supposed to switch the armband to the other wrist and start over on a new 21 days. (21 days is supposed to be the number of days needed to break or start a new habit)

You can find out more about this program at http://acomplaintfreeworld.org/ I know that way too many of my friends complain about way to much. I too complain about too much when in reality, I really have very little to complain about. Things are pretty good for me and my family. So my wife ordered some of these for us and friends. Check back later to see what happens! And stop whining about it!

later

A Dead Serious Weekend

Wow! What a great and incredibly busy weekend for my family! Where do I start? How about...

FRIDAY... that seems like a good place. Let's see. On Friday after work, we needed to get alot of shopping done for a number of reasons. My wife was hosting a baby shower for a good friend of ours, and we as a family would be hosting a couple of young ladies in our home as they and their performing troupe brought their play to our little town. After getting everything purchased we headed home and tried to get the house ready for our guests and get everything organized for rest of the weekend. Finding a bit of down time, we watched a movie and relaxed before heading over to our church around 10pm to recieve the "Mish Kids" from the Cincinnati, Ohio region. These teenaged kids and the adults that travel with them, are actors, stage crew, and support staff of a show called "Dead Serious... About Life." This is a show that lays bare the problems that many teenaged and some pre-teen kids face everyday of their lives. It show the effects of teen sex, drinking, drug use, abuse, and ridicule. Up to this point I had not heard of the show before, but the church was sponsoring the play and we had signed up to host some of the troupe members. The "Mish-Kids" pulled in just a little after 10:15pm or so and we got to meet the two wonderful young ladies that would be staying with us. Heather and Suzanne were to stay with us and would depend on us for lodging, food, and travel while in town. It was late and they looked tired and hungry so we headed home, got them a bite to eat and get them settled in.

Dead Serious... about Dancing!
SATURDAY... Saturday morning came and as usual, Gunnar the wonder dog was the first one up and as is the norm, that makes me the second one up. He headed downstairs to go lick the faces of our sleepy headed guests, but I stopped him. After all, they had travelled a long way and had a very long day ahead of them, so I let them sleep. After a while, though, I had to get them moving because they had an entire stage to set up, a play to rehearse, and show to perform, all by 6pm that day. I have not had teenage girls in my house for any length of time, so I got a quick lesson in the amount of time needed for the girls to get ready. I can fully imagine that I will be experiencing this first hand soon, as Cora grows up and enters her teen years. Despite all my fears that I might not have awoken them in time, they were up, dressed, fed and ready to go! I dropped them off at the school and left them to go to my next appointment... getting things gathered up to feed all of the performers and crew at the school and helping my wife get her stuff gathered for the baby shower. I helped her get ready and then I met up with our pastor, got the food together and made it back to the school in time to set up and be met with 45 hungry teenagers. One and a half hours later, I was heading back home from the school, and took in a bit of a breather with my son in the form of XBOX.
Then, the big plan of the day... a date with my daughter! (See "Dancing with the Girls" from the March 2006 posting... check the archive) It was the annual Daddy-Daughter dance sponsored by the Girl Scouts. We had a dinner reservation at 5pm at the local eatery, and then off to the dance at 6pm. Man! What a great turn out! The dance floor was packed with dozens and dozens of frilly dressed little girls and almost as many well dressed dads, grandpas, step dads, and brothers or other male dates for the dance. And it did not take long before everyone of those little girls was out dancing with their dates... whether the dads wanted to or not! My daughter and I danced for two solid straight hours and had a blast! It was totally fun and almost too short of a time together! But we were there until 8:30pm and I had to head out again to get Suzanne and Heather at 9pm. I would have to get them home, feed them, let them relax, and hopefully get them a good nights sleep for the next day's performance. It was nice having them back in the house again. We did not get much time to visit and get to know each other better, so we took some time to do so before calling it a night. Apparently the play went well and the turnout was good. I would not be seeing it until the next day, but I had already heard great things about it from them and others, so I was really looking forward to it.

Dead Serious...about Life

SUNDAY.. the day of the play. I hated doing it, but I had to wake the girls up early so that we could attend the 8am chuch service all together. I was glad the Suzanne and Heather decided to forgo the teen Sunday School gathering to instead hang out with us at the house. The initial feeling of uncomfortableness that all strangers have was pretty much gone, and by the time lunch was ready, my kids, and my "mish kids" were hanging out playing HALO having a good time, and the girls felt comfortable enough to dance around in the kitchen to the music on the XM satellite. It is funny to think that they were doing the same thing that we do as a family when we are feeling happy and a bit silly. It was a good feeling. I felt like we had succeeded in making them feel at home. But our time was coming to an close soon. The girls had to pack their stuff and get back to the school for the last performance. The show was at 2pm and I would be with the Church confirmation class to see the show. We were told to sit apart from the kids so that they could take it in without the watchful eye of their parents. Actually, I preferred this, as I could then concentrate on the play myself.

In a nutshell, WOW. What a great play. It is not like it was the best play I have ever seen, it was just that it was the best play about the pressures and troubles facing teens I have ever seen. It was pretty emotionally raw in some places and it did not neccessarily end on a happy note. It was not overly preachy but sent a great message, and it even gave members of the audience a chance to go back and talk with people who were just willing to listen. The message was a faith based message, but the biggest message the play tried to get across to the teens in the audience, or anyone for that matter, was to just talk to someone and don't try to face your problems on your own. My son thought it was an awesome play and I saw quite a large number of thoughtful, or even tearful faces in the audience and a fair number of audience members did take part of the listening room. It was a very uplifting experience. I highly recommend it for any community. You can find out more about it at http://www.mish-inc.com/ You will not be sorry.

Then, we finally had to say good by to our "girls," Suzanne and Heather. They were here for such a short time, but they were so fantastic that I will miss them. If the play comes back to this area, I am definately going to request that we be allowed to host them again if the circumstances allow. It was a great time.

That night, it was a very deep night of sleep. I was Dead Serious... about sleeping.


later!

News from the Neutral Zone...

It is official! Star Trek XI is off the ground and looking for a landing in Christmas of 2008! And the best part, it will focus on the ORIGINAL Star Trek story and characters! Don't get me wrong, Next Gen, DS9 and Enterprise were great shows, (notice I left out Voyager) but they can't hold a candle to the original shows.

Check out the link below for more info!

http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=b3ea9976-ddad-47f6-b0e8-f8f599de18e3

Later!

If you want...

If you want what you have, then you have what you want.


Given to me in a Valentine's card. Think about it. It makes great sense.

This beastly body...

"We are constantly confronted with the limitations of the body. My body seems a mere encumbrance to me; an imbecilic wagon, hitched to horses of desire, which is the soul. Without my body, I feel I could spurn the earth and mount to those vast, sapphiric peaks of accomplishment and soluble mystery which by reason of my lumbering and utterly useless body, I can but catch brief glimpses, across the uninteresting and monotonous expanses of worldly life.
Yet, it may be that this beastly body of mine has a purpose. Perhaps abstract desire must take concrete form ere any step can be made toward accomplishment and knowledge."

Robert E. Howard, letter to Tevis Clyde Smith, Jr.
Aug. 28, 1925
(Robert E. Howard, Selected Letters, 1923-1930. Necronomicon Press, 1989)

Why did I post this? Any number of reasons but mainly two... First off I thought it would be an interesting and thought provoking statement, especially when some discover that it was written by the creator of the pulp fiction Conan the Barbarian character. Most who have never read the stories by Robert E. Howard, think of him only as a superficial fantasy writer that deals only in blood and gore. Again, that is because they have never read the Howard stories.

Secondly, I love the analogy of the soul, being compared to a team of horses. The horses of desire. It clicks with my feelings that a soul, while an incorporeal and intangible thing, is still a part of the human body and life, just as much as the heart, lungs or any other internal organ is. Without a soul, I don't think that we would be anything more than just another animal. A soul to me is God's fingerprint on us all, being made in his likeness. And it always seems to me, looking for a way out of the body to soar to a higher peak. And this is why I think humans always strive to attain and accomplish more than what they have. The soul is looking for a better place, a better life, a place where the soul can soar.

Enjoy...

Later!

It's almost time...

Last week, after suffering through a blinding blizzard and some really damned cold temperatures in my part of Illinois, the state did what it does best and flip flopped completely in the weather department. We had some really nice temperatures last week, sometimes topping out in to the 50's. It was nice and gave those of us who have motorcylces a tast of what is to come and made some of us consider getting the beasties out of hibernation. At the same time, one of my favorite motorcycle accessory producers; Kuryakyn, sent me the new 2007 catalog of things to spend my money on. But what was really neat was their philosophy behind making all the cool products that they make. From the letter in the catalog:

"Our ideas are products of creative minds that realize a motorcycle isn't simply a means of transportation, but ratehr a representation of a person's very identity. We firmly believe that a motorcycle adventure isn't just a destination, but also the quality and enjoyment of the excursion and the pride of making your motorcycle a tourist attraction at every stop along the way."

This should be called the "Way Cool Philosophy of the Two Wheeled Brotherhood."

Here's to hoping for warmer weather... it is almost time!

later!

Gunnar - King of the Hill

Gunnar - King of the Hill
Originally uploaded by cgeiken.

A great photo of Gunnar. he literally could not wait to get out into the drifts and snow. By the end of the day he was one pooped puppy!

My wife just discovered that I can post photos directly to my blog from "flickr.com." So, you will probably see alot more photos on the postings! Cool for you and easy for me!

As you can see, Gunnar is at the top of a 4.5 foot snow drift. This was before the snow plow made it another 1 or more taller. I have not seen snow like this around here for maybe 12 years or more. This is kind of reminisent of the snow fall I remember as a kid.

Later!

Later

The Valentine's day Birthday Boy

Kids feeding Gunnar his birthday cake
Originally uploaded by cgeiken.

Here is a photo of Gunnar and the kids with his birthday cake. Notice how intently Gunnar is focused on the cake. That is because it was made with a can of dog food, two eggs, a cup of flour and some milk. It looked just like a cake but smelled like something much different. He absolutely loved it. He is even so well behaved as to not eat until he is given permission!

Valentine's day is OK again...

Okay again you ask? What could I possibly mean? Hasn't Valentine's Day always been okay and a good day? Well, as a matter of fact, for my wife and I, it has not always been the best of days to express our love and affection for one another. To begin with, in the past, we always seemed to try too hard, or were too poor, or something got in the way of making it a nice day to enjoy. My wife had one of her favorite cats die on Valentine's day. One of our biggest and nastiest fights came on Valentine's day. Eventually, we just stopped recognizing Valentine's day and things seemed to be much better on that day. Nothing big, just a card and a small treat and it was all good. Sometimes when you try to put too much into a particular day, be it Valentine's or a birthday, or maybe even a big holiday, you can include too much stress and a day that is supposed to be special, instead turns out to be a big mistake and a disaster.

My wife and I have only casually observed Valentine's Day for the last umpteen years or so and it has been good for us, but we never really acknowledged the day as "Valentine's Day." It was just another day. But I think that all of that has changed for us now. We have another reason to celebrate the big "V" day.

Our wonderfully loveable, well behaved, handsome, protective, and incredibly smart dog, GUNNAR was born on Valentine's day of 2006. This year, we got to celebrate his birthday in addition to doing all the regular Valentine type of stuff. We did not go all out for the Valentine stuff... cards for each other and the kids, some treats and a nice meal out was the order of the day. I liked it. Nothing big, nothing outlandish. (I did get some "Sharries Berries" in the mail from my wife... gourmet choclate covered strawberries... oh. my. God. Yum.) And, along with the Valentine day stuff, we got to lavish attention and love on our pooch. We even made a dog food based birthday cake for him. (We have entered into that realm of crazy dog owners, I know...) He loved the cake! We even shared it with some of his doggie buddies. It didn't hurt that we had a huge snow storm that socked us in for two days and the kids were out of school, we were off work, and he could have us to himself for as much as he wanted. He loves playing in the snow! It was a good day for him and for us.

So... Valentine's day is back on the calendar for me. I will never again make it a huge day, because after all, it is just a Hallmark Holiday, but now it is more for my family and I.

Happy Birthday to Gunnar Valentin Von Geiken (yes, there is no "e" on the end of his middle name, the "i" is pronounced as an "ee")


Later!

Sleeping in the Cold!

Greetings from frozen Illinois! This last weekend, I had the particular joy of spending time with my Boy Scout Troop at the Annual Klondike Derby. Unlike the last two years, it was actually cold this year, but with not much more snow than the last two Klondikes. (More frozen mud and grass than snow.) For many of you out there, spending two nights in below freezing temperatures may not sound like a lot of fun to you, but this is one of the highlights of my year. Camping with the scouts is always fun, but joining them in the Klondike, trying to take home the prize and then working with them to stay warm, entertained and fed is also enjoyable. This year was no different. We did have a few scouts that were not as well prepared for the weather as they should have been and it did affect our performance, and most certainly theirs. We tried our best to get them comfortable, but in the end, I think it will be a learning experience for those boys.

One of the things I like best about hanging out with the Scouts is interacting with them on a level of not a scout leader but as a friend. I usually try to involve myself in some of their conversations, games and activities. I have even begun to be the game master for the troop. The boys love having some of the new and different games that I bring along to play after all the planned activities have ended. Let's face it, sometimes even Boy Scout Camp can be boring after hours, so I figured that having fun, easy to play games ready to go would help keep them from getting in trouble or at least keep the whining down.

All of the boys, or at least a very large majority of them, are a sheer pleasure to be around. I like to think that while they see me as one of their leaders they also see me as a friend. And even more so, I really am starting to see how my son is starting to take a role as a leader in the group, especially with some of the younger ones. And he is even starting to stand out among the older boys, even if he does not stand up for himself strongly enough. A case in point is during one of the activities at the Klondike, my son had the correct answer and method for accomplishing a goal, but the older boys decided to do it their own way, which in the end, turned out to be wrong. They should have worked together and listened to their other fellow scouts and maybe they would have done better.

Over all, the whole scouting experience is a great thing for me. I never got to be in Scouts as a kid so I am kind of experiencing this whole adventure along with my son. So far, it has been a fun ride.

Until next time!

later!

Book Recommendations...

Greetings!
I don't think I have given any book recommendations in a while, or any for that matter. But recentlyI have read a book that was such fun and heartwarming to read that I must encourage the rest of you to read it. It is "Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog." byt Jack Grogan. For anyone that is a dog owner, especially a big dog owner, you must read this book. It is the misadventures of a horribly behaved dog that does so much wrong but get it right at just the precise time that he will remind you or your own dog eventually. It is a true story and filled with laugh out loud stories, stories that will tug your heart strings and maybe make you cry, and with good lessons for all of us two legged animals that only a dog can teach us. And for those of you who have an older dog, or maybe have recently lost your dog, it will be amazingly hard to read the last three chapters, so I warn you now, be prepared, not so much as the sadness of the end, but more so for the insight into the passing of a pet. Believe me, it will make so much sense to you that you will wish that you had thought of it yourself.

So go out and get "Marley and Me." You will not be disappointed.

Other Quickie Recommendations:

Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson (Historical Fiction)
The Complete Roman Army by Adrian Goldsworthy (Military History)
Eragon by Christopher Paolini (Fantasy)

What's new and what was old...

Welcome to 2007! The first post of the new year! I have not posted in such a long time, the last time being the posts from Las Vegas, because it has just been too darned busy to write a blog entry. Bad for me... I will endeavor to do better...

Since the last post, an anniversary, Christmas, New Years, and a 40th Birthday have come and gone.

My wife and I celebrated our 16th anniversary in late December with a quite dinner together and a get together with some friends at a local watering hole. It was a nice time, but I cannot wait until these bars in our area are SMOKE FREE! Yee-gahds I hate smelling like tobacco smoke. I supposed that if cigarette smoke smelled like pipe tobacco, people might not mind as much, but as it is, good riddance to the smokers, or at least to their nasty little habit.

Christmas is always a good time, however, it is not my favorite time of the year, nor my favorite holiday. Too much goes into making Christmas the holiday we expect... lots of lights, bigs trees, lots of food, tons of gifts and all the other things that make it what it is. I often wonder what Christmas' were like 200-300 years ago. I think I might like that level of celebration better. Now, mind you, I for one am not complaining about the great gifts I receive or give, but maybe some of the effort and money spent on getting these gifts and making the big parties and the elborate decorations might be better spent on spending more time together in a quieter setting. But then again, with my family, there is nothing small or quiet and yet, it is still a great time and would not miss it for the world. Maybe this is what makes Christmas such a delima for me. I am wanting more (or less, more specifically) but really enjoy and look forward to the chaos that celebrating Christmas with my family is. This year was especially good, because my sister
and brother came up with family from Texas and we had a great time together. It was good having everyone back in one place.

Next, was the New Years eve party. We have started in the last few years, a travelling, or progressive dinner party with friends from the neighborhood. It has been a really good time with some really great meals. No one, except for the person that hosts the end of the evening party really has to deal with much of a mess for very long and the guests only stay about 1.5 hours at each dinner site. It is a good time for my family. We really enjoy it. But this year, something changed! My son decided to head off on his own for a party with some of his friends. It was kind of weird not having him around. I guess I should start getting used to this. As he grows, he is going to be doing less and less with us and more with his friends. Hopefully he was taught well and there will be nothing for us to worry about as he heads out on his own more often.

Resolutions are something that were missing from this new year party again. No one mentioned that they had any, so I guess they are gonna keep doing what they have been doing in the past. My resolutions, and I make some every year are pretty short. First: To count to 10 more often and handle my kids like I do my dog. Second: To help my wife get back into shape. She is too sexy to be out of shape! That is it, but I still have to keep up with the other resolutions from years past... they don't expire, you know!

Finally, to end the holiday, or to start the New Year, my wonderful wife turned 40 on the 4th! With her help we planned a party at a friends house and invited a large number of people to join us. However, even though it was my wife who was turning 40, it was a large number of our friends who were acting either childish, or very old and could not come out and play with us. It was a bit of a disappointment for my wife, but to those who came to the party, it turned out to be a very fun one. It was great to have the family and friends who came and I thank them for it. It was however, a disappointment to have many people say they were coming to attend but then, with out notice, not make a showing. Too bad for them. Not only that, it seems to be to be rude. It did upset my wife a bit, and that makes me sad, and a bit angry, because my wife deserves the best. She sacrificed her 40th birthday present of planning a cruise, in lieu of sending our son to Europe on an ambassador trip, and I wanted to make it as nice as possible. And the gifts... not that she needed any, but sometimes a nice gift on your birthday from someone who gave it some thought, makes you feel good about yourself and gives you that warm fuzzy feeling. However, aside from a few gifts from myself and family, what upset me (and I am sure her) was the lack of communication or gifts from her family on her big day. They failed miserably. That is all I will say about that. But it was sad comment on the lack of effort on such a big day. I know it bothered her but she did not say anything.

So that is all for now on what has been happening since I last posted. I will endeavor to do better. The writing muse has been sleeping lately, and little has come to mind to post about, but I will try.

Until then however,

Happy New Year!

Later