To GO Where No One Has Gone Before!

Well they shot off the Space Shuttle Discovery with its crew of seven, the Japanese Science Lab Module and a fix for the space stations crapper. The crew manning the station has been using bags to collect their liquid waste since the throne malfunctioned about a week ago. Fortunately the solid waste portion of the space toilet is still working. Good luck to crew of the Discovery and the Space Station on their mission.

Jeepy All Better.

Got the Jeep back today and it was the water pump. $182.00 not bad. I was expecting worse.

Change is in the air.

Today I went to work and today we had an observer that is going into the Radiography program. I was talking with her and while chatting our discussion round to gas prices and all the driving that they have to do in the program. She told me that her mother traded in a truck this weekend and that the car dealer had told them that they were no longer taking any trade ins with a 8 cylinder engine or greater. They said they can't sell them. It looks like the rise in gas prices made a great impact in the holiday travel with a new word being coined "Staycation." Tomorrow the Jeep is going into the shop. While driving today I noticed a pecking noise in the engine. I am not sure as to how long it has been going on but I hope that what ever it is will be a quick and cheap fix but probably not as it sounds like it is deep in the engine. Probably valve or lifter. Wish Jeepy and Me luck.

Cook Out

Today Needles and I traveled south to her Moms to have a cook out. We got the notice a little late but we arrived just in time for the food. We had pork burgers and southern style hot dogs with sides of baked beans, sweet potatoes and green beans. Also the Needles uncle grilled some baked potatoes. It was very good and of course I ate way too much. For dessert we had watermelon chilled to perfection. We stayed as long as we could until the weather threatened and we needed to get home so that I could mow the lawn. I just finished mowing about 15 minutes ago and it looks like within the next few minutes we will be getting some rain. I has been a nice weekend other than being a little hot today. Either the rain will cool it down or make it so sticky we can't stand it. We have been very lucky this year and usually by this time I am wondering about turning on the A/C but so far this year it has been mild to almost chilly at times. I think this year we will easily hold out until June 1st. This is when we usually turn on the A/C give or take a day or two. I am glad that we have a extra day this weekend. Hope that everyone is having a good long weekend.

Back from the Butchers

Today Needles and I made the trip to a not so local town to pick up some beef. After listening to what kind of deal we could get we decided on a side of Angus beef. We got several bags of beef and a few bags of pork, chicken and other frozen veggies. I think we got about 120 pounds of beef and 50 pounds of other goodies in all. We went with the premium package which comes with sirloin, New York strip and pork steaks, pork chops, pork ribs, beef ribs, several roasts, ham, whole fryer chickens, ground beef, beacon, sausage, chicken breasts and fritters along with several frozen veggies and steak fries. On average it was between 4 and 5 dollars a pound but for the choice cuts this isn't too bad for fresh beef when you pay over 2 dollars a pound for just ground beef at Wally World. We brought the food home and surveyed what we had and tried to decide where to put it all. After several minutes and a few tries at repacking we made it all fit. I think if we had one more bag of items we would have had to find storage elsewhere. It has been about 3 years since we had purchased a portion of beef and I think that time it lasted us about 14 months. I think we have more this time so we will see how quick we run through it. To quote Jenny from the Blog "Moo!"

UPDATE: For supper tonight Needles had a sirloin and I had a New York strip with mashed potatoes and sweet peas. It was very good.

McLuvin and McChubbin

I am not sure why but when any new or foreign shoes enters our home, it is like the cats loose their minds. They commence rubbing and sniffing and all the usual kitty euphoric activities. Needles purchased not one but two new pairs of shoes and when they were both delivered and opened the furry people were in heaven. That is until Needles put them away in the bed room so that they didn't overdose on huffing shoes. This morning Needles brought a pair of her new shoes into the living room while she got ready for work. After a few minutes we noticed one kitty rolling and rubbing the new shoes to death while the other kitty looked on awaiting his turn. It was like they were tag team shoe wrestling. When Needles was ready she had to shoo away the shoe seducers to put the shoes on and head out the door with the kitties longing for her return... Or more like her shoes return. When I got home I kicked my shoes off in front of the couch and noticed Tugger coming my way but after a quick sniff and head rub he was done with them. It was like he said "Been there, done that, lets move on." As I set here typing this post, in floor just in front of me I see McLuvin aka Tugger in full fledged head waller on the new brown shoes. Copper while setting in Needles lap is keeping and eye on him just in case he might get a chance. We might need an intervention. Do they have S.S.A.F.K? (Shoe Sniffing Anonymous for Kitties) Do they give a discount if we sign up two?

PS. I figured you could figure out who McChubbin was. No....not me. I think we need to call Dr. Scholls.

Appointment for Beef.

Saturday Rudy, Brando, Needles and I have an appointment for Beef. A not so local butcher is having a sale and since it seems that the prices on everything is going up and we like to buy in bulk we thought we would go ahead and get a few things. We have done this before about 3 years ago when we bought a half an angus so we know what to expect. We are just wondering if we will have the room. We had our freezer level full last time, but we do have a back up plan. My Mom and Dad said we could use their freezer if we overflow which is very possible since our freezer has a lot of Schwan items in it awaiting its turn to be consumed. Last time we went to pick up the meat we took 3 coolers and that wasn't near enough. I have a large carryall container to go into the back of the truck that I think will come in very handy. I Love Beef.

Weekends

Mom, Dad and Grandma have been in town the last few days, so we have been spending as much time as possible with them until they go back on Wed. Last Thursday Rudy, Brando and their crew, Mom and Dad, Grandma, Needles and I all went out to eat at the Trace Inn and we finally got to take Mom and Dad out to eat for a belated anniversary. I think we all had a good time even though Needles got a different cut of meat other than what she ordered. Today we went to town and did a little grocery shopping and got the digital converters for their TVs so when the signal changes in Feb 2009 they will be ready. This weekend we haven't ready accomplished much but it is nice to be able to visit with family. Have a good weekend.

Steven King's THE MIST (Review)

If you haven't seen this movie then turn away and stop reading. Otherwise I warned you. The movie started out nicely with very believable characters and reactions to a violent storm that has torn up a small community. As family's are settling down and converging on the local grocery store to get supplies as a weird mist rolls in. Just when people are calming themselves a earthquake hits and shakes up the communities already shaken nerves. Just add a man running for his life and shouting things are in the mist and were off to a nicely rounded horror story. Sure a few non believers make a break for their cars and you hear their twisted screams of torture and unimaginable death in the mist. The endless preaching of the bible thumper at first seems harmless and understandable for some in a stressful situation but after awhile the people start becoming their own worst nightmare. The actions of some of the characters seemed inconsistent and their seems to be a wave of mistrust in each others idea of danger even after seeing and hearing it first hand. I think this is an attempt to heighten the uneasiness amongst the characters and raise the stress level but it just seemed frustrating and of topic at the time. The preachy ladies profit-like predictions start to convince a growing group that she might be right. After several cheesy special effects the holy rollers are in full effect looking for someone to blame and a sacrifice to appease their version of god's thirst for blood. What was once the majority now finds themselves a minority and figure out that they would be safer to take their chances on the road. The preachy ladies constant bible thumping gets to the point where if I were trapped with her I would be the first to volunteer for sacrifice just to end the torture of her voice. I found myself cheering when she finally "get hers" and cheered even louder when the Coup De Grace came. The movie characters explain the revelations type happenings to a military experiment that has opened a dimensional door which allowed these creatures to enter our world and wreck havoc. The creatures are unimaginative in their design although the acidic spiderwebs were a nice touch. When the group ,that made a break for it, runs out of gas they come up with only one solution. I was into this movie, even with its cheesy special effects and inconsistent acting up until the very end and then the last five minute ruined this movie. I haven't read any of Steven King's books but I have seen all of his movies and I have been told many many times that his movies don't translate well to movies but I feel that this movie had a lot of potential up until the ending. This movie had the potential to be in the top 3 of his movies in my book but I have to put it in the middle of the pack now, right there with Storm of the Century and Sometimes They Come Back and the end of the pack being The Langoliers and Riding the Bullet. Christine and The Silver Bullet are still number one and two respectively. I would have to put IT in the top 5.

THE MIST

on a scale of 1-10

Acting- 7

Special Effects- 4

Story Idea- 7

Entertainment Value- 6

Would I watch it again- No

PS. Although not one of John Carpenter's best, go watch The Fog (1980 version) It's creepier and has a better ending. John Carpenter's best movie by far is The Thing and the funny thing is that the movie poster is shown in the opening scene of The Mist.

Home Again

Today we woke up to the same ole grind. I have done three loads of laundry and one yet to do to get us caught up. Needles is currently fixing lunch and later this after noon I have to tackle the yard. It looks like a jungle out there. My belly is a lot better other that the occasional ache but I think I on my way back to health. I am not sure what spurred the problems. Food, travel or just the general change in life's order of things but I was miserable at times. Like I said all things seem to be getting back to normal and preparing to get back to the work week Monday. I am not looking forward to it. Have a good weekend everyone.

Day 6 & Day 7

Thursday I awoke to stomache cramps and just an overall nauseated feeling. I did manage to put away some of my breakfast but left most of it on my plate. I hoped at the day went on it would go away but no such luck. We left the B&B to walk around downtown and spent a couple of hour walking around until it started to spit rain. Since I was not feeling well and the rain we decided to go back to the Inn. For the most part I was in bed yesterday. Late in the evening I was able to eat a sandwich from Panera Bread. After spending 7 hours of the day in bed I went to bed early and slept probably the best sleep I had slept the whole time we were gone. This morning I woke up feeling better but still a little ache in by belly. I got a shower and it felt wonderful. Shortly after that it was time to go down for breakfast. We had omelet souffle with a raisin muffin and fresh fruit. Yum..I finished all but the muffin. After breakfast it was time to pack up and leave. We wedged, cramped and stuffed all of our stuff into the trunk and I was surprised it closed. We said goodbye to our host and away we went on our trip home. The first stop was to gas up but shortly after that we were on our way. After a couple of hours we arrived in St.Louis. We were getting a little hungry so we stopped off at Ruby Tuesday. After eating it was time for the main event for the ladies. The stop at THE LOOPY EWE yarn shop. This is for knitters and yarnaholics almost like seeing Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster or so I am told. We walked in and the ladies went wild screaming waving their hands in the air grabbing skein after skein of yarn off the shelf and yelling "I must have this!" Well maybe it didn't quite go like that but close. Let's just say that I was surprised that the ladies cut their visit at an hour, I was expecting more. After the ladies got checked out with their purchases we headed East in the direction of home. We rolled in the drive way around 4:30pm exhausted and glad to be home. I think we all had a good time and we couldn't have asked for better travelling companions. Vacation 2008 is in the books.....Now time to plan for 2009?

Day 5 Continued

In addition to the day, after we got back to the B&B and rested for a bit, it was time to think about supper. Ragged suggested the Springfield Brewing Company. We drove down the street and made a mad dash for the front door in the pouring rain. After settling in we ordered drinks followed by the main meal. Before long our hunger was satisfied again but we needed another caffeine fix so off to the "Mud Hut" Mud House we went and then back to the B&B to call it a night. Tomorrow will be our last full day in Springfield and the ladies are feverishly looking for things to do.

The picture above was not taken by me as we were being bombarded by big ole fat drops of rain. Not very conducive for picture taking.

Vacation Day 5

Today we started the day off with a nice breakfast. Today it was Spring Herb Egg Strudel with sausage and fresh fruit. After that we were off to battle the rainy day. Our first stop was Bass Pro. After a run through we decided to go back through and pick up the items for purchase. Bass Pro proved to be an expensive stop. Cynical and I scored some nice The North Face wind breakers and I snaged several shirts. After we checked out and had taken our items to the car we went back inside to eat at Hemingway's. We all had the buffet and it was very good. There was fried catfish, cherry glazed ham, roast beef, smoked turkey, salad, several soups and sides to choose from. For desert I went with a little of all the choices. Bread pudding with rum sauce, apple cobbler, ambrosia and chocolate mousse. After we stuffed ourselves it was time to move on to a stop the ladies had planed. We stopped off at a yarn shop and Cynical and I looked over a used book store and a comic book store. When we left there we thought we might stop by the Springfield Tour Center and check to see if there was any information we might have missed about things to do. After visiting with the very friendly people at the center it was time to head to our next stop, a coffee shop. Cassil's coffee was one we had marked to check out so we stopped in to satisfy our caffeine cravings. Shortly after getting hopped up on our beverages of choice it was time to move on. With all the rain we decided to return back to our B&B and make plans for supper and make out a plans for our last day in Springfield.

Vacation Day 4 (Rainy Day)

This morning we awoke eager to take on the day and the schedule we had planned. We first descended down the stairs and into the dining room for breakfast. For breakfast we had Eggs ramekins, bacon, orange juice and fresh fruit. After finishing breakfast we were off to Mansfield and the museum and last home of Laura Ingles Wilder. A quick look through the museum and the tour had begun. We first toured the home that was build on Rocky Ridge Farm. The guide took us through each room talking about the furniture and what Laura liked best about each room. She also spoke about Rose, her daughter and the items that were purchased by her for her family. After we finished the tour of the home it was back into the museum to finish looking at some of the items near and dear to any Little House fan. Items like Laura and Mary's slates for school, Ma and Pa's marriage certificate and even Charles Ingles fiddle. We then strolled over to the gift shop and made our way to the Rock House. The Rock House was purchased by Rose for Laura and Almanzo and was very interesting with some of the modern conveniences of the time. One being window screens that rolled up into the wall like a window blind. Another interesting fact was of the 11 thousand dollars spent building the home 3 thousand was spent just getting electricity back to the area. After we left there we went into town to the local cemetery and the grave site of Laura, Almanzo and their daughter Rose. While in the area the ladies scoped out a yarn shop in Rogersville so we stopped by for them to visit and peruse their yarn. To keep our day rolling we then decided to make a run to Lambert's Cafe. The atmosphere was interesting and the throwed rolls a bit intimidating but Cynical was up to the challenge and had one hurled his way. I ordered the BBQ ribs and the slab that arrived had me questioning by ability to finish it. I however did finish it and then some washing down the rest of my tea , baked beans and half of Cynical's throwed roll with a little molasses on the side. After our bellies were full we then decide to finish off the day at Fantastic Caverns. This was something I had been wanting to do for several years and finally can mark it off my list. After the tour we took a small walk on a wooded path and then made our way back to the B&B sans and side trip to Panera Bread for supper. We ate our carry out on the back deck of the B&B and finished off our daily cookie left by housekeeping. It is now time to kick our feet up and relax in preparation for tomorrow. Bass Pro for Me and Yarn shopping for the ladies.

Day 2 continued and 3

Sunday night after the Art Festival was over and they were all packing up the gang and I walked down the street to a local Bar called Ebbet's Field. The bar was filled with 20 somethings and the atmosphere was a bit loud at times but the food was great. Cynical and I had the Bum. A cheeseburger with a side of greasy under deep fried fries in oil that needed to be changed awhile back. Needles had a salad and Ragged had the chicken sandwich. After a couple of drinks we walked back to our B&B and took up our comfy spots in our room. The next day we took it easy to allow our bodes to rest from the travel. We did get to visit a local coffee shop and the cappuccino was perfect. The place was called Oaxacafe pronounced (Wa-ha-ka-fay). A little later the ladies spied a yarn and craft place and were eager to descend upon it. They loved the place called She's Crafty and return a little over an hour later with yarn in need of a new home. The lady that owned the place was very nice and tried to get them to come back and have a knit in, but the ladies were afraid to leave their men unattended and up to or own devices so they hesitantly left to check in on us. Later that evening we walked to the downtown to Maria's Mexican Restaurant. Since it was Cinco de Mayo we waited for a table and was able to enjoy the celebration. It was very loud and packed. Standing room only while a strolling guitarist belted out familiar tunes from south of the border. The food was fantastic and just what I wanted to satisfy the spicy craving I had been having. While downtown we walked around to discover a very neat coffee place called the Mud House. We rolled in after our meal and after ordering our drinks, set up residence at a table. The place was very neat and the coffee gave us just the energy kick to get us back to the room. Last night was stayed up late talking about the plan of attack for today. We plan on going to Mansfield and the grave site, home and museum of Laura Ingles Wilder. We also plan on having lunch at Lambert's and finishing up the day with a visit to Fantastic Caverns. I am sure I will post more later of the days events. Stay tuned boys and girls.

Day 1 and 2.

Friday evening after work I began my last flight of the bumblebee in an effort to get the house ready for guests. Needles was on her way home from work with the fixins for Tacos. Around 6:30pm Rudy and the bunch showed up followed by Cyncial and Ragged just a few minutes later. We all filled our bellies with supper and conversed with each other until late in the evening. After Rudy and bunch headed home we sat and talked until our eye lids got very heavy and decided to call it a night. The next morning was officially our first day of Vacation. We rolled out at 9:00am and arrived in St. Louis around 12:30pm and walked down the Boulevard to the Arch and stood in line for security in the very cool windy weather. After emptying our pockets and walking through a metal detector we entered the museum. Just after entering we stood in line to do something I have wanting to do for along time. I went to the top! The ride was interested and the view at the top was amazing because the weather had improved while we were in the museum and waiting for our time to go. We then decided to grab a bite to eat at Laclede's Landing, Hannegan's Restaurant and Pub, their Chipotle Cheese Dip was amazing and their burgers were perfect. It was time to head out of St.Louis and try to find a room on the other side of town due to the fact that the Cards and the Cubs were in town and rooms might be hard to come by. We decided to venture to on to Route 66 State Park otherwise known in a previous life as Times Beach. We walked around and found that most if not all of the trails were closed and the bathrooms were glorified outhouses. Not much to see or do so we headed down the road to our next destination. We rolled into Meramec State Park shortly after 5pm and after a few round abouts found the visitors center to see about a room. The scenic drive was very nice and our rooms to say the least were secluded, Crystal Lake secluded. After settling in with out no interwebs, beds as hard as a rock and our T.V. that got only 3 channels we had no choice but to enjoy the scenery and the it did not disappoint. The next morning we were on the road again minus one pillow and on to our next destination, Rolla, Mo. for Stone Henge the sequel. After a few photos we were in search for B'fast. Huddle House was just across the road so that's what we did. After eating way too much food we got on US 44 and on to our final destination Springfield, MO. We are now at the Walnut Bed & Breakfast and enjoyed the Art Festival being held just outside the front door. We walked up and down the street for a couple of hours looking at all the amazing artists work and the unique items for sale. Before long our feet and bodies needed a little rest so back to the B&B for a little rest and relaxation because that's what Vacations all about.
That's all for now folks.

Polished Weapons.

Today Needles and I had dental appointments. I am ashamed to say that this is the first time I have been to the dentist in 5 years and it has been roughly 10 years since I have had my teeth cleaned. We both passed without cavities and I am very surprised, however I do need to go back to get a filling that is probably 20 years old redone due to wear and tear. We both wanted to get our weapons polished up because I plan on using them next week when we are on VACATION. I seem excited about it do I? I can't wait. At first the weather forecast kinda got me down but after realizing that I am going to get away from work for a week and the excellent company we will have on our trip has turned this frown "upsidown". I have also noticed that the weather forecast has been a little revised so it looks like we might get a nice day or two which will be nice. When I was at work today, I received a phone call from Needles asking me if I wanted her to pick me up a sandwich since we were leaving at noon for our appointment. I said "Sure where ya goin?" She said "Quickies." I said " What kinda sandwiches they have?" She said "Subs." She then proceeded to name them. There's The Nooner, Mile High Club, Big Willy BLT, Moby-Dick, Maui Waui, Hog Wild, Colossus and last but not least the Bootknocker. I of course had to have the Bootknocker because that just spoke to me. The sub was very good and don't forget their slogan. Get It Fast and Go Away Satisfied!
PS. One Day til Vacation.