Love Hate Relationship.

Needles enjoys watching House M.D. I am not saying that I hate the show but the inaccuracies in it are astounding. The show implies that the Doctors do EVERYTHING from the time the patients walk in the door, ALL diagnostic testing,ie. lab work and x-rays, to the time they are miraculously cured and going home with several brushes with death but non the worse for wear. Although I know that this show needs to have an entertainment value to get people to continue watching, but if you think that watching this will give you insight into what to expect when you go to a hospital for treatment, it would be like watching grass grow and learning the intricate workings of all the Eco systems of the world. If they made a show about what doctors really do in a general practitioners office setting it would be -Dr. walks in and looks over a chart with patient history prepared by a nurse, order tests, look at results, make diagnosis and write prescription or make a referral to a specialist, end credits. Boring Huh? This show might get exciting if it was in an E.R. setting with an E.R. physician but I guess they already have a show like that.....E.R. The show states that they try to maintain health care accuracies but when they omit every employee from the admissions clerk who takes insurance info and prepares admission papers, the lab tech who draws blood for testing, the radiologic technologist that does X-rays. MRIs, Ultrasounds, nurses that dispense medication, keep charting information in order, bathing and monitor any change in patients condition and the orderlies that wheels them to and from testing and to their car on discharge. When you see patients in rooms with glass walls, I think HIPPA(patient confidentiality) isn't top on their list of accuracies. Another thing about the show that drives me nuts is that when the patient first comes in they are having benign symptoms like an ingrown toenail but after several thousand dollars of testing, that no insurance in their right mind would pay for, several life threatening mis-diagnoses and then the final diagnosis that someone says something and Dr. House has a moment of clarity, like getting hit in the head with a brick. Of course this last diagnosis is so outlandish it's like they are diagnosed with a rare form of stomach ulcer because their grandma's neighbors aunts cat was kenneled with a dog who's owner had a homosexual encounter in a cave while in college 15 years ago and was exposed to bat shit while a foreign exchange student in Argentina and found Marco too stunning and had to get his "Broke Back Something or other" on. I mean to paraphrase Jenny for the Blog "WTF?" I guess it is good that a lot of sick people are cured but I bet when they get home that have to sell off everything they own because of the hospital bills that was accumulated during their stay. I guess that is one thing that is accurate. Most doctors don't care about how much of a bill the patient is going to get stuck with. They just care how much they are going to be reimbursed by the insurance for their service. Enjoy your next doctors appointment or hospital stay.

Virgin Mary Pretzel on Ebay.....Go Bid!

Here is some of the Q & A that is on the Virgin Mary Pretzel listing on ebay. I was going to bid on it but it is a little out of my price range at around 99 million dollars. Ooo so close. I thought it was the funniest thing I have read in awhile so enjoy and God bless. (monks chanting in the background.)

Question & Answer

Q: How would you rate the pretzels freshness? Do you think it is still edible?
A: It is just as crisp golden and delicious as the day it blessed us by coming into our world through a holy deliver. (out of a oven)

Q: Have you seen the replica for sale for $5000????
A: It is just the image of ours reversed. Don't be fooled by the fool!

Q: Would you be willing to throw in honey mustard dip?
A: In no way would we ever add anything that would lead to the eating of this pretzel, for it is a gift from the heavens!

Q: Would you consider this item a Holy Relic?
A: I consider it a pretzel that looks like the picture it sits next to. Don't read into it.

Q: This is the work of the devil!!! Repent all you sinners!!!
A: Halleleuja!!!

Q: CON ARTIST
A: Jerk

Q: Did you eat paint chips when you were a child?
A: Good one David Spade

Q: PRAISE THE LORD! It is miraculous! Are you sure this salty delicacy of a divine nature is mint? No chips, cracks, repairs, loss of salt? What is the expiration date on the bag? Is it still fresh or has it turned soft and rancid? Since it is not stated in the listing, I assume shipping is FREE Priority with insurance. Do you take checks? I don't use PayPal. Most importantly, should this sacred biscuit end up with a non-paying bidder, will it be available after the strike? PRAISE EBAY BOYCOTT!!
A: The pretzel has been locked in a box for almost 3 years since it was found. The original packaging is included, but seeing as this is a collaborative effort, the bag is not on my person as I answer this question. Yes shipping is free priority with insurance, no we will not take a check, PayPal only

Q: Is she salty?
A: Of course she is salty, she's a damn pretzel

Q: Thank you for confirming that eBay attracts the galactically stupid.
A: You betcha.

Q: Can you get me 10 of this? I am willing to pay $100,000.00 for all 10. Let me know as soon as possible cause I already have a buyer lined up for all of them. Shamcy
A: We didn't make it dude, God did.

Q: How many little nuggets of holy salt are visible on the blessed pretzel? Are you willing to sell the divine salt nuggets individually, or is it strictly a package deal?
A: Sorry this salty treat is far too divine for us to risk her life scraping the salt off...

Q: Does this pretzel come with the original Rold Gold package? What are the dimensions?
A: Yes the packaging comes with the pretzel... and the dimensions are the size of a pretzel... About 1 1/2" tall.

Q: Just curious, item is described as "coveted", "a religous icon", and as a "relic". Could you provide any proof to support these claims? (or atleast look them up in the dictionary, so that you can re-think your description?)
A: No.

Q: I notice your 'God Given' pretzel also resembles the Hindu symbol for 'Om: Symbol of the Absolute'; would you be willing to rename your offer to 'The Hindu Om Pretzel; previously known as the Virgin Mary Pretzel' in exchange for my bid?
A: Sorry, auction is as is.

Q: "Good Morning" or is it "Welcome to Planet Eerf" my question is - if I were to win - and I am in Eugene - would I have to pay shipping costs???
A: No, shipping is free on this item

The auction just got pulled. It hit the limit of 99,999,999.99. Soooooo sad.

New Car Smell...

As you probably read in Needles Blog that we got a "new to us" car. A 2007 Dodge Charger SXT and the way things has worked out it is almost like the car was fated to be ours. The only complaint I have is that tomorrow and the next few days the weather is going to be crappy. Not that this car is going to be a sunny day, temps above 70 degrees, not a cloud in the sky type of car but we would prefer not to drive a rear wheel drive car we aren't familliar with on snow and ice just yet. In the next couple of weeks we are going to try to go and see my parents weather permitting. My brother and his family just came from the promise land and had seen alot of the damage that was done there by the recent tornados. We haven't been down there for several weeks. I hope we get to see them soon.

Come on Spring! I am sick to death with this cold weather.

Economy...I'm doing my part.

If the economy make a sharp up swing, I just want to say that we have done our part. Check out Needles Blog.

A Wet, Windy, Nasty, Muddy, Soupy, Sloppy Mess

Today of all days the sun decides to show it's face when it seems like we haven't seen it in months. But today the wind and mud makes it unplesant to be outside.

Red Truck a Go Go.

Well a long time member of the family that had been having a few issues is now gone. We say Good Bye to Lil Red and happy trails to your new home. Our 91 Dodge Dakota 4X4 had been in the family for about 12 years and we put almost 100,000 miles on her. She did very well up until about 8 or 9 months ago when she developed some issues that made her existance as a back up vehicle a little worrisome. We are on our way to a new to us car and the first and major step was selling little red. We didn't get as much for her as we wanted but close enough and I think she is going to a good home. We will miss you Lil Red. sniff sniff. Bwaaaa!!!

AWWWW Crap!

Now that I heard about Dinosaur World I wanna go there....

Vacation research.

We are trying to plan a vacation within a few months and doing some research into the area and things to do. One of the things I know I want to do is closed for renovation until possibly May 3rd. But there is something else that I have been wanting to do for about 8 or 9 years and I am very excited about. I can't wait because not only are we going to go on a vacation. We get to spend it with people we love to be around.

Renta Car research has brought about some info. It looks like and mini van is the most expensive thing to rent and the milage has restrictions. It looks like having a minivan for a week is going to be 350 to 400 dollars depending on the milage. A standard car or luxury car with unlimited milage is $150 to 200 a week. We will see another option might be available to us by then.

PS Thanks Ragged & Cynical for the Valentines Day Card.

We got it.

We didn't get as much as they threatened. They were saying 2 to 5 "snow with 1/2 ice on top. It didn't start sleeting and raining until 10pm last night. This morning it was just ice covering everything. I drove to work after almost busting my ass a few times on the way to the garage. And yes of course I had the idiot that pulled in front of me as I seem to alway have one going to work, why would a little ice make any difference. We got about an inch of snow but on top of the ice. On the way home I noticed that my defrosters wasn't working and my windshield wipers quit working on the way home also. JOY! When I left work to come home I had a completely clear windshield. When I got home I had about a 6" by 6" square that wasn't iced over that I could look clearly out of. Yeah Winter! Now go away...

What The Bliz?

I don't know but I am very upset. It seems that someone who I will remain nameless. (CYNICAL) Has not been keeping up with his job of informing us of our Blizzard Flavor of the Month. Why is it that it is a third of the way through Feburary and I am just now hearing about this from a T.V. commercial? All I can say is I am dissapointed and I think someones Fan Club privlages should be revoked. Cynical I am terribly upset so I must end this post and go get myself and Choco Cherry Love Blizzard to make myself feel alive again. I think a little piece of me died when I found out about this neglect. I think I am going to go slit my wrists with a fpoon.



PS. Needles mom scored 8 sets of orange Halloween lights, various blow mold bones and 4 skull trick or treat buckets for $3 at and auction. Thanks "L".

*Update*

I am sure all yall was on the edge of yur seat to find out what happened. They got the semi out of the ditch at around 10:30 pm that nite. Too bad that Jenny went home about 10:00 and missed the hoe thing. We will save ya a seat for next time Jenny.

On another note we have put Red Truck up for sale. It has been a good one but we are needing something that gets better gas milage and is comfortable for 4 with room to travel. We drove through some car lots today. I was hoping to get though them without talking to a dealer but we got stopped while driving through one of them. I think if I would have kept on going he would have jumped in front of the truck. I think we will be in the market for a vehicle in March so we are doing some research and looking for now. But once wez gets our Goverment Tax relief check we be livin large. Look out Jefferson's here we come! Thank Ya Mr. Bush! Dumbass!

PS. Why isn't spell check working? Did they go on strike like the writer's?

Excitin NIte in Red Nek Holla!

Wez havin sum excitin goins on in this here nek of the woodz. Wez has a semi truck off in the ditch. Cops are there and everthin. Wez just settin here and hear a noise like a tornader but it was a semi truck tryin to make the korner. I says to myself "Good F'n luck!" and then I heard a bad noise. The bad thing is that I got my socks wet from the puddles on the porch. Next thing I knew shes off in the ditch. Wez now camped out in the winder watchin all the excitmint... I wonder how theys gonna git outta this one. It's almost as excitin as watchin the Duke Boyz.

Lucked out yet again.

Last night we had some storms roll though the area. We heard the Tornado sirens and just about the same time the power went out for a few seconds. I went into the back room to see just how bad it was getting outside. I noticed the neighbors flag flapping wildly in different directions. Thats about the time the hail started and last just a minute or two. Rain fell so hard that I couldn't even see the street lights and the wind whipped up and we could hear it roaring until late in the night. We went to bed with the sound of wind and thunder. When I went to work today I heard about the destruction in the surrounding states. I called my parents in the promise land and they have been without phone and power since the storm last night. Tonight is supposed to get cold so they are without heat until the power comes back. They also told me 3 people were killed in a trailor about 4 miles form their house. This was the deadliest storm in 20 years. I feel that we were very lucky.

This is a picture that reminds me of a simpler life. No job, no stress, no responsiblity and no worries. Heres to the good ole days Cynical.

Hooray for the underdog!

I am so glad the Giants won the super bowl. I root for the underdog every year and I usually loose. Not this year.

P.S. Was it me or did the commercials suck this year. Especially the Sobe mineral water.

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!!!!

Today is the day for the super bowl. I really could care less about the 2 teams that are playing but I am all for the Super Bowl get together and food. Today we have been invited by Jenny from the Blog (who will never post again.) to come to her home and enjoy the Super Bowl as we don't get network channels where we live. Yes we would pay for them if DirecTV offered them but they don't so there you go. Anyway we are heading there to enjoy an evening of the 3 F's. Food, friendship and funny commercials. I ready don't care about the teams and it seems that every where you look the Pats are favored. I seem to always root for the underdog so we will see. I guess I had better wrap this up as we are going to leave soon and we got a few things to pack up. Have a great Super Sunday! Go Giants!

List of things we have on tap.

Spinach, Ham and Cream Cheese Wraps
Oriental Chicken Wings
Taco Bell
Coffee
Various drinks
A bunch of commercials with a football game in between them.

Happy Ground Hog Day!!!!!

Six more weeks says our Ground Hog.

Not to bad.

I was not looking forward to the weather that was headed our way last night. When we went to bed last night all we had was a little slush with some rain and a few flakes. This morning we had about 1/2 inch on the ground. A lot less than the 7 to 10 inches they we predicting. One of my co workers live about 35 mile north of us and she got 8 inches. I think we were lucky. It semmed most of the night the rain and ice seemed to split just south of us. The ice to the east and the snow to the west. Tomorrow 40's and Monday 50's so the white stuff isn't going to stick around long at all.

Winter go away!

Tomorrow we are supposed to get another winter storm that rolls though the area. We just got through high wind last night, gusts reaching in the 50mph range. Now we are going to have wintery mix tomorrow evening turning into snow and sleet. They are talking like we could get several inches out of it........GGGRRRREEEAAAATTTTT!!!!! I am sick of the cold and even though we haven't had a lot of snow this year I am tired of it too. Cynical if you are desperate for snow then come on up. Needles co worker works for the road commissioner in Indiana. They are preparing for 1"inch of ice with up to 10" of snow on top. CRAP!!! I will keep you posted as to how much we do end up getting.

Blast from the past.

This was a TV show that aired in 1978. I remembered some of the details but I was stumped when I look for it a few years ago. Apparently this show must have stuck in other peoples minds too. I found it on IMDB and some of the comments written about this show sounded like I had written them myself. I wish I could find this on DVD but an internet search came up zilch. Oh Well at least I know the name of the show I remember watching at the ripe old age of 5 and scared the crap out of me. One of the scenes that I remember was the creature chasing one of the main characters into a cabin in the woods the person gets into the door and turns to slam and lock the door. The creature (Mud Monster) sticks his hand into the shutting door and has his hand lopped off. The severed hand crawls across the floor. This is pretty scary for a 5 year old. I also remember the creature could be fought with salt.

Another scary moment in TV was on Kolchak the night stalker. I remember a zombie episode where Kolchak found a zombie in a junk yard. I remember that how he was to stop the zombie was to fill it's mouth with salt and sew it's lips shut. He climbed into the car and proceeded to fill the mouth he sewed one stitch and then the second stitch the zombie opens it's eyes and that was about the time I broke out of there. TOO SCARY.

ELEVEN

ELEVEN YEARS

ELEVEN YEARS AGO


Eleven years ago today. Happy Anniversary Sweetheart.

Tonight

Tonight after Needles and I got home from work we received a phone call. It was Rudy, Brando, Yin and Yuri wondering what we were doing. They wanted to take us out to eat on our special night. We went to the Trace Inn and had fantastic food. Since the new year I have been trying to eat healthier so I ordered the chicken breast salad. We enjoyed the outing with the family and enjoyed the time together. Thanks Rudy and Brando.

A Weekend of FUN.

Friday after work Needles and I began the trek South to the promise land. We arrived shortly after 5:30pm and were greeted by warm smiles , a warm home and warm beef and veggies in the crock pot. We sat and visited for about an hour until we enjoyed our supper meal graciously prepared by our hosts. The food, conversation and entertainment worked too hard at shortening what was left of the evening and soon it was time to turn in. Saturday we started off with coffee, apple and banana nut muffins and fruit for breakfast we enjoyed each others company, a couple of open houses and then the call of Japanese food stirred us into action. After we fill our bellies with some of Shoguns finest a visit to Target and a few other stores to walk off some of the food. While in Target we warmed ourselves with coffee from Star Bucks since the temperature was hovering in the teens. When we returned home we conversed about future plans for vacation and enjoyed each others company. After warm potato soup, just the things to warm chilled bones, a fierce game of Trivial Pursuit (battle of the sexes) erupted. The MEN were victorious in their supreme mental skills that will unquestionably become legendary in time. We stayed up late into the night but blurry eyes and yawns hinted at it was time to retire. Sunday morning we awoke to scrambled eggs and turkey bacon with biscuit and jelly on the side. We sat and talked about the goings on in our lives and before long Lunch was upon us. Cynical wanted to try a new place for pizza. The place was called Roca Barr and the pizza wasn't bad. We ordered two 12" pizzas and when we left all that was left was full stomachs. We returned to their home and lounged until it was decided to make a run for Chinese take out for supper. The portions were too large to finish in one sitting so we saved it for later. Later that night a Euchre game broke out and after a brief refresher session for us all the game was on. I have to say Ragged and Cynical played well and the out breaks of laughter during the game made it hard to keep score as the games bounced back a forth. After the games we went back into the living room and chatted until bedtime. This morning we enjoyed cinnamon rolls for breakfast and visited as much as we could knowing that in a couple of hours it would be time for Needles and I to return home. We put off getting packed up to leave as long as we could but knew it was time. We hugged our hosts of the last 3 days and thanked them for having us. It was now time to return home. Thanks again guys. We had fun and way too much to eat.

24 hours

In less than 24 hours Needles and I are hoping to be going South. This last day will last forever. I thought that today was long but I fear that tomorrow will not come soon enough. We are in abit of a crisis at work with a couple of people going to be off of work for several weeks and our limited employee pool might be stretched I fear. We usually have 4 full time employees and 3 part time eployees. We might be down to 3 full time and 1 part timer. Things could get interesting. We will see how things pan out.

Ebay winnings

Here is a couple of items I scored off of Ebay for yard decorations for CSF08. I am pretty proud of my win because these items together would cost from $120 to $180 bucks depending on where you buy them. What did I pay for them you ask...

$54 bucks and that is with shipping... I couldn't wait to try them out so I had to put them up in the house and Needles took pictures. It's almost like Xmas morning around here. I won another inflatable this week. A $70 item for less than half price with shipping. I will take a picture when I get it.

I love ebay.

P.S. Three days to our visit to Cynical and Ragged's. I can't wait.

Not been a good week.

This week has had alot of downs and not too many ups for us. It just doesn't seem like we can get a break. I am not going to go into details but I hope things start to look up soon.

Last of the gift cards.

This week has been dedicated to the purchase of products to use up my Xmas gift cards. Last Sunday Needles and I used up my Subway card while we were on our way home from the promise land. Thursday I ordered a few items from Bass Pro and last night I ordered 3 CDs from Barnes and Noble and today Needles and I went to the big city and finished off my Lowe's Card. I seems I will be having some good mail coming this week.

List of items purchased by gift card.

1. 2 subways subs
2. 3 plastic 31 gallon tote containers
3. Johnny Cash greatest hits
4. Black Crowes greatest hits
5. Stone Temple Pilots greatest hits
6. Mossy Oak shotgun sling
7. Butt Out (deer field dressing tool)
8. Blaze Orange PVC rain poncho

I know I gave out 5 gift cards myself this year and I think they are a great idea to get someone who you haven't a clue what they want or need. Also today Needles and I did a little car shopping. Since it is Sunday it is the perfect time to wander the car lots without hassle. Also since it was 63 degrees outside although a little windy it was nice to get out and walk around the lots. Hope everyone had a nice weekend.

background pic for Utube.

background pic

2008!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Back Again.

We are back from our weekend visit to the promise land. We had fun but the visit was too short. We finished up X-mas 2007 with my family and we ate way too much. We had a family get together and I got to see family I haven't seen in a while and also new family I have never seen. In fact there were 3 of them that I had never set eyes on until this weekend. We had a good visit and I hope to make it back down there soon.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Candle warning.

I went to visit a friend the other day and catch up on what has gone on in our lives since we hadn't seen each other in several months. He informed me that he had had a fire in the kitchen. When I asked what had happened he told me of the actions which caused this unusual outcome. My friend "D" has three cats in the house. One loves to sleep on the stove because of the warmth of the pilot lights. My friend placed a candle in the way to maybe detour the lounging feline. Apparently the lite candle was nudged on top of one of the pilots that was burning just under the surface of the stove by one of his furry housemates. The candle was burning but hadn't melted the top of the wax very much but the pilot light under the candle had melted the wax in the bottom of the jar. The pressure of the melted wax was growing and growing like a bomb without any ones awareness until a slight whistle was heard. My friend went to investigate the noise and was going to put out the candle when the thing blew up. The melted wax finally found a path though the not yet melted wax on top of it in the container. The pressure pushed the wax out of the container at such a force that it caused the wax to aerosol into small particles which in turn caught fire by the lite candle. The flaming candle wax exploded all over the ceiling and the kitchen cabinets. Luckily my friend was far enough away from it to not get any on him. With what looked like 1/4th of the kitchen on fire he decided to retreat and grabbed a kitty under each arm and headed for the door. One of the cats was by the door when he got there so he kicked it out the door as he tossed them outside to safety. When he ran back inside to see what he could do or maybe call the fire department and to his amazement the fire was out. The only sign of a fire was the blackened dust on the cabinets and ceiling. He was very lucky and it could have been a lot worse than how it turned out. Word to the wise, never burn a candle on the top of your stove.

A Picture Says A Thousand Words...

This is one of TIME Magazines top pictures of 2007. It it very powerful and touching. I think it sums up what a lot of families in this country is going through right now, for some it's the first holiday without a loved one. Grab your loved one, hold them tight and tell them you love them and Merry Christmas.

X-mas update...

All presents are wrapped! Hallelujah!

Finishing up for X-Mas.

Today Needles and Jenny from the Blog was nice enough to allow me to tag along for a day of last minute X-mas shopping. We headed out to the big city a little after 9 am this morning. We first went down town and walked up and down the street ducking into various shops that the gals wanted to look over. Jenny found a few gift items and then it was on to the more important matters in life. Where to eat? We spied and new Chinese restaurant while walking to the downtown area. This is the 3rd Chinese place that we know of and so we had to try it out. We filled out bellies and then we were off to find more bargains. We stopped at at a couple of stores before our stop at Star Bucks t get out fix. After getting high on caffeine we went to Kohl's to finish up a few last minute gifts. I also scored a pair of 70$ boots for 60% off. We returned home to relax and chat before Jenny had to leave. It was a fun trip and we are tired but we are also a little closer to being done with X-mas. Will it ever end?

Thanks USA Network.

I guess its better than a stick in the eye but I just found out that 4400 is cancelled. No final episode to find out what all this bat crap crazy stuff was leading up to. Whats next Battlestar? I hate when shows do this.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland.

This morning we awoke to 3 to 4 inches of snow covering everything.

Of course there was about a half inch of ice underneath it that made it a little slick.

I ventured out this morning to get a gallon of milk for breakfast. Later I went to Rudy and family to find them out enjoying the snow. We played in the white stuff for about 40 minutes and then we went inside for coffee and hot chocolate. A little Nester the long eared donk donk and back to the house I went to see what Needles was up to.

Here are a few pics that I took during my outing.

ME.

Winter Storm Part 1

Last night it started snowing during the night and by morning we had about an inch or so covering everything. Shortly after 9am we started getting the sleet and rain which has decreased the snow amount but as the temperature drops tonight I suspect it will get nice and slick out there. Needles and I are planning on staying indoors where it is nice and warm. I only ventured outside once today to get the mail and back inside I went. Today was predicted to be snow most of the day but it turned into mostly rain. Tonight we are supposed to get more snow but with the rain that we have already had I doubt we get very much. Maybe pictures tomorrow if we get ambitious enough to go outside.

White Weekend.

Well the weather outside is fine now but looks like it is going to go downhill over the next 12 to 24 hours. The local weather and weather channel is giving 1 to 6 inches of snow in our neck of the woods. I guess we will see what we get. Last weekend Ragged and Cynical visited and Cynical loves snow. Maybe another visit this weekend???? Probably not but you guys are welcome anytime. Needles and I have plans to go out to the Trace Inn with Rudy, Brando, Yin & Yuri tonight for ribs. Then we are going to watch the Bourne Supremacy at their house. Looks like its going to be a nice night before the snow storm.

Dirty Ditch Nanner!

This weekend we had house guests. Our company arrived around 7 ish Friday night in the rain. After catching up with each other on whats going on in our hectic lives, and some kitty scritchin we enjoyed Needles vegetable soup and homemade bread for supper. We then felt like braving the cold nasty night and visit Rudy, Brando and the kids. After catching up, a couple of rounds of Guitar Hero and a few laughs we returned home for some late night chatting followed by a good nights sleep. Saturday morning we had beacon and eggs. Needles and Ragged decided to make a run to the local yarn shop so off to the big city we went for the ladies to get their yarn fix. Shortly after that we stopped by Garfield's for lunch that stuffed us to the point we were almost miserable. It was very good and we had lots of fun drawing on the tables with crayons. A quick stop by Starbuck's for a tasty hot beverage on a cold wet Saturday. When we arrived home and decided to watch a couple of movies and stayed up late into the night. Another good nights sleep and we were up again for cinnamon rolls for breakfast and nice lounging around the house before the unfortunate hour that our guest had to leave. It is a shame that when you get together with friends and family that you really enjoy the time races by so quick that a couple of days seems to flash by in an instant. It was a rainy weekend but with Ragged and Cynical here it made it a great weekend.

TIN MAN Dreams

I have been having nightmares of booby monkeys flying after me. Needles says they are not booby monkeys they are babboobs.

If you haven't been watching the mini series on Sci-Fi called Tin Man. The show stars the bad witch Azkadellia played by Kathleen Robertson. She has markings like tattoos across her chest that she can call on. The markings turn into flying monkeys and do her bidding. She frequently sets her monkeys free. She sets her monkeys free more than on Witches Gone Wild.

Pictures from the weekend hunt ( Not for the sqeamish )

A Four Deer Season

This is Needles Uncle "B's" deer he got Saturday 12-1-07. A nice 2 1/2 year old 9 point, it is the biggest deer he has ever harvested and he was very happy to get it. This fellow made a trip to the taxidermist and will be gracing his wall in several months as well as he should. I hope I get a chance at a nice one next year. I had my chance last year and wasn't able to get a good shot.


This is my doe from Friday evening. I was just about to think that my season would end with just one deer and then in a matter of seconds that all changed. This 1 1/2 year old doe and 2 others ran straight in on me. When I first saw them from about 300 yards away I didn't know what they were in the fading light but once I realized what they were and they were heading my way I stood up and my seat cushion fell out of the tree stand. I was afraid they might have seen it and would run another direction but I lucked out and was able to fill my tags.

This doe was harvested by Needles Uncle "K". She had been shot by hunters in the field next to us and "K" made the right decision to put her down.

All of these deer went to Needle's Mom "L's" freezer and will help out greatly on the grocery bills.

Here is the 6pt buck I got first season.

Xmas called on a count of rain.

The Xmas tree will be postponed due to rain. The tree and ornaments are in the garage. Thanks you for your patience.

A new member of the family.

Needles just finished configuring and ordering a brand new laptop. We have been looking for one for awhile as her lap top's A/C connection has been a problem for a month or so now and her laptop is over 4 years old and feels like your lugging around a cinder block. It also has been having some slow down issues that we can't seem to figure out. It is time to put the old Compaq Presario R3120US laptop down. It has been a good one but time to move on. Her new one will be much lighter with 120G hard drive, 2G RAM and 12 cell battery that equates to 4 to 5 hours battery life. I think it will serve her well and of course we are loyal to HP Compaq Presario laptops as this will be our 3rd one. The new one is a customized Compaq Presario V6500Z with all the bells and whistles. I am excited and with build time and delivery it should be here before Xmas. Needles justifies the purchase by saying she is keeping the economy going but her computer really did need a upgrade. My laptop has been rejuvenated with some added memory. It did have 512 MB but I recently upgraded it to 2G which seemed to speed everything up a lot. Even surfing the interwebs has been improved with quicker download and loading of pages. I was very impressed with how much it can speed up your computer and the memory was installed in just 5 minutes.

Deer Season Part 2

Overall the season was very successful. Needles Uncle K killed a young doe Friday morning and will be good for the table. Apparently she had be shot just before running by his stand but wasn't hit good enough for a quick kill and he thought he would go ahead and put her down as she wasn't going to survive anyway. Last night I was in my stand when 3 does got jumped up and ran straight for me. I was able to get one and that was the end to my deer hunting. After Needles and I had taken the deer to the meat processors we wondered about going on home or staying the night and going home this morning. I am glad we decided to go home today as Needles Uncle B killed and nice 9 point buck this morning and had to pull it out of a dry ditch about 5 foot deep. We got all sorts of pictures and I was very happy for him as this was the biggest deer he had ever killed and was going to get it mounted for the wall. This was the first year that all of us had killed a deer. Unfortunately Needles Uncle C didn't get to hunt. That is it for now. I need to get cleaned up and shave my 10 day old deer season beard off my scruffy face and maybe get a nap. I didn't sleep well last night.

Back from the South.

Today we returned from my parents house and I am glad to be home. The trip home was very rainy and hazardous at times but we managed to make it home without incident. We did see a truck that must have hydroplaned and was in the ditch facing the wrong direction in the South bound side. We got to spend some time with my parents and we got to ride the extended safari trail back up into the woods. It was fun and I was amazed that the golf cart would negotiate the hills and water crossings. We went to my Grandma's house and enjoyed pizza and I got to see my Aunt Rs new puppy named Lil Bit. It is a chihuahua and terrier mix very cute and gave her kitty's a rough way to go. This week we will be back to life as usual until Wednesday and then it will be 2nd deer season. I hope to end the season early and enjoy a couple days to relax. I have been able to sleep late for a couple week. I need a couple of days to get back into my old sleep schedule. Looks like the weather over the next week or so will be good for sleeping and not much else.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner....RUN!

In just a couple of days it will be Thanksgiving and Needles and I will be down at the homestead. We are leaving tomorrow night so that Needles can be down there to help with the preparation of the feast. I am going to try to restrain myself and not eat so much this year but I seem to say that every year and by the time it is over I am in full triptophan coma with a side of belly ache. We will have to return because I have to work Friday but that evening we are going South to the promise land and spending the weekend with my parents. Hope everyone has a great Turkey Day.

I am back from my hunting trip and I would have to say that it was a successful one but frustrating. We arrived at Needles Mom's house Thursday and stayed the night and I headed out to the tree stand Friday morning. I sat it the stand for 3 hours that morning and saw nothing. Not even a deer far off in the distance. Frustrated yet anxious to get back in the stand for the evening hunt I left for the stand early and sat another 5 hours and again saw nothing. Very frustrated and perturbed that the recent irrigation work around my hunting area the week before by the farmer that leases the land may have just screwed my whole hunting season I returned to the house to warm food and a nap. Saturday morning started the day anew. I was in my stand for almost 2 hours when the first deer of the season walked within range. It was a young doe and I heard something coming up behind her. I let her walk and waited on what else was coming into range. I could see it was a small buck but not sure since he was behind some brush. I shot and upon investigating my harvest it was a nice young 6 point buck. He will be good for the table. I commenced with what needed to be done and returned to the house excited at my success. Needles and I took the deer to the processing place, made decisions on how we wanted the meat prepared and returned home. I took several pictures of me and my kill and I even did a short video of me standing over my deer in the field and told how the hunt went down like on those big time hunting shows. I looked at the pictures that were taken and enjoyed flipping through them until I accidentally hit the format button and erased them all. I have no pictures of my deer. The only saving grace might possibly be Needles uncle K which took a couple of pictures which I hope turn out. So you see it was a successful hunt but a frustrating one. We will see what 2ND season has in store for me.

It's almost here.

Tomorrow is my last day of work this week. Needles and I will be heading to her old homestead for the first deer season. I have yet to pack any clothes but everything for hunting is ready to go. I am going to be worthless at work tomorrow. My mind is already in the woods and in a short while my body will follow. I probably won't sleep a wink tonight. It's like I am a little kid and tomorrow I am going to Disney World.

With the way this week has gone and some of the frustrations at my work, my co worker says I need to go and kill something. Nah It's not that. It's just setting in a tree stand and feeling the stress of life drift out of your body every minute you spend in the woods does a body and mind good.

I am ready.

This is the pattern I am shooting. 4 shots at various yardage all within a space about the size of a saucer. The first shot was without adjustment from last year at 30yards and I shot 2 3/4" shells. This year I am shooting 3". The yellow center dot is roughly an inch. If the deer walk within 75 yards of me, they are game. Can't wait til Friday.

It won't be long now...

Before to long I will be too anxious and not sleeping the night before the big day. I will be walking into the darkness, and feeling the bite of cold on my face. My breath will be like white puffs as I exhale in my hike. I will walk for what seem like forever to get to my stand. I will walk as quiet and deliberate as I can until I get there. I will then settle in and lean back again the tree and stare out into the blackness. Slowly the pitch black will give way to dull gray shapes and distant birdsong . Within a few minutes colors will start to come into focus and the foreign shapes reveal a more recognizable view. The frost of the morning will be clearly seen on tree limbs and leaves, birds in full song interrupted by the far off report of others on the hunt. If I am lucky a squirrel might stir from its den. He will scramble down a tree and across the leaf litter on the ground making as much noise as a elephant in the early morning stillness. I will fight off the last cold shiver as the sun shows it's crown over the tree lined horizon. It starts to melt off the frost and give the woods and everything in it a pinkish hue. Before long my stomach will start to day dream of breakfast while all along my fingers will twitch to be wrapped around a hot cup of coffee and my toes to seek a warm heater. Even if the hunt isn't successful there is nothing like watching nature come alive in the early morning. I can't wait.

Do Nuthin Weekend.

This weekend was a Do Nuthin weekend, but it is amazing that for a Do Nuthin weekend we have had stuff to do. Yesterday we HAD to rearrange all the Halloween stuff in the garage in order to get my Jeep inside. I have to say that I think we gained more room and things are more organized than they have been in the past. We also went to the big city to do some long needed grocery shopping. With all the goings on in the last couple of months we haven't been able to do the necessary evils of life, ie. grocery shopping, house cleaning, kitty pestering, sleeping, you know what I mean. I still have a couple of jobs to get done this weekend and have been procrastinating. I have to change the oil in Needles truck and mow the lawn. Two jobs although not difficult, but it seems to take a stick of dynamite to get me off the couch to do them. This morning we had a nice B'fast of cinnamon rolls and 89er's blend coffee. Tugger is laying in the floor with his eyes squoze shut and Copper in his own little world pouncing dust particles moving through the sunbeam streaming in the window. (He's not right.) This is a great DO Nuthin morning...

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween and I am beat down dog tired. After the Cache Slash Fest then there was our Trick or Treat night last night and this tonight. I took several of my more benign props to the Hospital for their Trick or Treat night. After my 8 hour day I went home drove out to Gary's took down some of my props drove down to Rudy's house to borrow the truck then loaded it up with the props drove to my house loaded up a few more and then off to the hospital. Started set up at around 4:30 and was ready for the first of the ghosts and goblins for the night. The official start was 6 pm so we slipped off to the local Chinese place for supper. We got back to the hospital at 6 and the ghouls was out in force. It was pretty much non stop kids for most of the 2 hours we handed out candy. The staff had to make 2 runs to Wal-Mart for more candy. They said that they usually have about 80 or so kids.....Tonight we had at least 250 kids. At 8pm we started tearing down and loading up. We got about of there and 8:35 and got home to unload and take the truck back to Rudy. Thanks Rudy for letting me borrow the truck. Have a Happy Halloween Everyone! I need a nap.

This is the pumpkin I submitted and won 25$ for first place. I didn't have much competion with only 4 submissions.

This is some of the props in the yard for Trick or Treat night.

Electric chair with new costume this year.

New bloody stump surrounded by severed heads.

New Count Dracula.

Front enterance of the Hospital.

This is the information desk.

This is the main hallway of the Hospital.

Some more Trick or Treaters.

More ghouls and goblins in the night.

Night before Trick or Treat.

Tomorrow is Trick or Treat night for our backward community. I have the fence up and just have a few items to put out for display. I bought enough candy to last us tomorrow night I hope. I am anxious yet tired. i think with all the activity of the Cache Slash Fest I am not as giddy as I have been in the last few years. I am glad that I took tomorrow off to get the yard in good haunted order.

PS I have been working on a Cache Slash Fest slideshow DVD. I have a some success with it but for some reason now, I am burning DVDs that work fine in the program but after I burn them a portion of the DVD doesn't work... This has happend the last few DVDs that I have burn so now I am fed up with it and I am calling it quits. I have invested way too much time and effort into this and now feel like it was a waste of time...

CACHE SLASH FEST 2007

Thank goodness it's over.

Saturday began in a frenzy of moving 3 truck loads of Halloween items to King of Halloween's place. After unloading the haul we setup registration tables and photo back drop. Around 12:45 our first arrivals rolled in and we started registration. Over the next couple of hours we registered roughly 40 groups of cachers. Our final tally of attendees was about 125 and we kept our 5 states that we had last year without gaining any more. After registration we had them sign the Cache Slash Fest pumpkin, name tags and move on over the the photo area.

At appoximatey 1:30pm we explained what we were going to do with the Murder Mystery Cache and gave them their coords. for the caches. We were going to start the bon fire at 4pm but the Murder Mystery solutions were due at 6pm. We had cachers stroll in starting around 4:30ish and continued until after 6pm. After the majority of people got their bellys full we started the prize drawings.

This lasted way too long and by the time it was over, it was dark and we were struggling to read the numbers on the prizes. When we got all the prizes handed out it was time to goto the Night Cache. At the night cache Gary drove them out to Red Hill and the start of the trail head. The started down the path and followed small tack reflectors in the trees down the path. When they got to the cache area they found George Caches body. On their way out we had 3 scare stations set up and a video camera with night shot at my station. After the Night Cache alot of the attendees left to continue caching but some returned with us to the event and enjoyed a compliation slideshow of the last 2 years.

The cachers all left at around 9:30pm and I was exhausted from all the work that it took to get this event together. All in all it went somewhat smoothly. One coord of the 8 caches was off by about 300 ft and we had a few prizes that were handed out wrong that screwed up the count but other than that and running around like a chicken with my head cut off it was worth it. I think next year we are going to scale back a little so that we can enjoy it and not be soon busy. We have gotten nothing but goood reviews so far from our fellow cachers and we hope that everyone had a good time.

As for now....Time to take a nap......ZZZZzzzzzzz.

Halloween Fast Approaches.

Today while Needles went south to meet up with Ragged and others for a knit day, I went to a friends house to help with Halloween preparations. We got a lot accomplished in the 6 hours I was there. King of Halloween said he would probably have everything lite up and going tomorrow night. All I know is that I am home and dog tired. This doesn't feel like October. Hotter than Hell and the ground is so hard we had to water down areas to get stakes in the ground for some of the decorations. I think we are in the home stretch with the Cache Slash Fest 2007. We just have to place caches and do some more scouting for the night cache and I think we will be ready. The rest of it will just have to sort it out as it comes along.