Very Tough Waking Up

Yep, Beersnob and I finished putting up fence panels yesterday. Not a hard job but it required some lifting of wooden panels and screwing them into place. It took us about three hours including a trip back to Lowe's for more and longer screws.

After that I made us some Buffalo Chicken Dip, good for football days, easy recipe:
A can or two of Hormel chicken breast, a bottle of Franks Buffalo Hot Sauce, a bottle of Ranch Dressing, cream cheese and mozzarella cheese.

You can literally have this heating up in less than five minutes. Put the chicken in a baking pan, kind of separate it with a fork to make it finer, add the sauces (however much you want but I use a little bit and there is no wrong amount, add some of the cheeses. Again no wrong amount of cheeses just don't make it too saucy or too cheesy.

Put it into the oven for fifteen to twenty minutes at 325 and your done and ready to serve with chips. I used Tostitos Scoops. You've got game food.

After that I tried to rest up a bit but found myself unable to grab even a few minutes of sleep before heading too work. So I closed my eyes and tried to sleep anyway but failed at that so I showered and got ready.

Work was very busy last night, I started out with tomato bins, moved to the onion bin and that took much of my evening. Our zone manager came over to me and said "Thank you, I need people like you here. I don't have to watch you and I know you'll do a good job. I just want to say thanks." That really made me feel pretty good! Yes it's a part time job but come on, how often do you get complemented at work? I mean you just started and finished a full week and you've already established yourself that well?

So that was my day and then I read this article! Want to know how tough it really is out there? Want to be grateful for the job you have? Want to gauge yourself against the rest of the working class that make this country turn each day?

Be thankful if you have a job, this country is changing right now and we really don't know the full ramifications of this "hope and change" right now. I'd like to think that this full fledged experimentation with liberalism has taught the voting public how bad it can get with liberals in charge. We do not know what the landscape will look like in another couple of years after this fundamental shift away from prosperity and American values that made this country great.

If you are unemployed I'm sorry for you, especially if it wasn't your fault and your company left for a more business friendly country. Our government is against businesses right now. They hate prosperity and find it evil. I cannot stress this enough, when they demonize "corporations" they are demonizing workers. A corporation is not some kind of alien entity of and unto itself, it's made up of people who create more jobs for more people.

Yes I'm working for two big corporations and the hours are tough, I'd wager you work for a corporation as well. Big or small a corporation is just people dear readers and those people make this country work.

Eye on the prize!

Labor Day

The day we use to celebrate labor in this country, a grand day! It's cool, calm, and very nice outside. This week should be the herald to fall and the wonderful weather it brings. After such a long and hot summer, fall will be a nice reprieve many will look forward to!

Work was ok yesterday. It went fairly fast and the coworkers are pretty nice. The weekends are very busy and as I said it goes by very fast that way. The evenings go by a little bit slower and there aren't as many customers around. Either way I rarely see anyone from management around. It's like we are on an island in produce and they only come see us when something needs to be changed or checked. Other than those reasons they don't come around apparently.

No matter, I've got the job down so far in a little over a week. It's not rocket surgery, get fresh produce from the back, replace produce in the front when it gets low. Take out the stuff that has gone bad and throw it away. Um, that's pretty much it. I'd recommend it if you are in need of a part time job even, it's easy enough work.

So tonight I'll labor on labor day from 1630 to 2300 and get one day closer to the weekly paychecks that will be so very nice!

Eye on the prize!

The Draft

We had our keeper league draft yesterday and it was really a lot of fun, at least for what I stayed for. I'm sure it was a lot of fun after as well but I had to go to work.

Ten and I had a nice chat about the economic times and he was completely correct, incomes can't buy what they could even a year ago let alone two years ago. We could be doing pretty well on one income three years ago in my family but now as you dear readers know I'm now working two jobs to not only make ends meet but to gain a long term advantage in our finances.

Ten literally told me that I was doing what I had to do, that should be the rally call of the country right now. Do what you have to do to get by until things change, until D.C. has changed hands, and until this country gets back to it's rightful path.

Who knows what uncertainties there are in the future but thankfully I know that we will be prepared for many of them. Our bills will diminish exponentially thanks to a very unexpected source. Literally a miracle happened yesterday, we received child support two times in a week! Early last week I was uncertain how we were going to make it through this coming week until payday on Friday and now we are in very good shape! We can't plan on it as it is very sketchy on when it comes in but it will take a lot of pressure off of me if it does.

It was totally unexpected as it had not happened in months, so if you don't believe in miracles then come talk to me about it. Now we can stock up on groceries, fill up our cars with gas, and get our budget underway!

We had it figured to where it'd take so long with just the income we had and it'll go that much faster if we get a steady stream of child support on top of that. Probably at least twice as fast but I haven't taken the calculator to it yet.

The clouds are parting, blue skies are above, and the sun is coming up!

Eye on the prize!

Busy Day

This morning I'm going to participate in a couple of rounds in my keeper league football draft, after that I'm headed back home for some rest and to change clothes before heading to work until six.

Thing 1 is camped out on the couch with very swollen cheeks and asleep on pain medicine. Thing 2 works today, The Date works today, and I work today. We are quite the industrious family.

It's ok, there will be lots of tremendous benefits from this labor soon enough, actually starting on the ninth actually! That's the day that will mark a weekly paycheck from then on as long as I work two jobs.

That's the day our freedom and our security begins!

Eye on the prize!

First Night Of Real Work

I've learned that it's the first thing people see so there's a push to keep it all looking organized and fresh. I've also learned that like my real job my second job is also short handed so putting a new guy in there isn't going to be a lot of help for a while.

I was on my feet from the time I got there until I clocked out, I was tired by the end of the shift. I know the pace seems hectic right now but it's not that bad of a job. It literally reminds me of when we were on strike and I was a delivery driver. When we weren't delivering food we had to do stuff around the place like washing dishes. This is exactly like that. I can take a huge bin of whatever vegetable there is, empty it, clean it, and fill it again after taking out all of the bad stuff and fill like I washed a sink of dishes.

It's mindless, it's busy, and it's paying me. You don't have to think about it, just find a bin that needs filling, find the stuff that goes there, and fill it. Sometimes the stuff that goes there is out though and you can't do anything about that.

The night will go by fast because you can keep busy, likely as busy as you want to be as I'm pretty much by myself. I'll get used to the hours in a while, I can do all of the lifting and such already without a problem but I'll get stronger doing that much on a nightly basis. I'll also look forward to the day when I can cut my hours in half and if things go right that won't be very long!

Eye on the prize!

Six Days

Tonight starts a six day stretch working a second job without a day off. The good thing is that I get off at six o'clock on Saturday and Sunday and I'm off from my normal job on Monday for Labor Day!

I'll basically have three half days to work during the six days. As long as I keep my hours up it'll be fast and go well, just a long stretch until my next payday and then we won't be living so close the wire anymore, that's why I'm doing this! Nine days to my main payday and then I get paid every single week I keep the second job after that! That is so refreshing to me and us, it's going to be great to get this rather small monkey off of our back! I'm glad it's not a gorilla, it's more like a tiny squirrel monkey. (I think that's a real breed and it sounds much smaller than a gorilla, can't find a picture though. Just proof I'm keeping my sense of humor through this experience.)

Despite my dread of working two jobs that's more than a relief to me and makes this very worth it.This schedule will help me over the next six days too, I won't be as worn out as I would have been if it had been six full days. I even get next Friday night off out of this schedule!A friend/coworker at my first job was laid off about ten years ago, maybe a bit longer. He literally worked three jobs to make ends meet before he got called back. I'm glad we are in much much better shape than that and I'm not forced to do that. I would if it came down to it and there was no alternative but we aren't in that situation and I don't:)

Yesterday Thing 1 had her four wisdom teeth removed. She's pretty sore and swollen but is doing ok. She can't talk and can barely eat or drink but it'll get better day by day. She'll hurt a little less tomorrow and a little less the day after that. In two weeks she'll be as good as new again!

Eye on the prize!

Finished

After being in an uncomfortable plastic chair for the last three shifts at Walmart I should be finished with that portion of everything. Next I'll be on the floor doing what I'm supposed to be doing. I had a taste of it last night and honestly it's a lot like stir fry cooking.

It's very hard to screw up where I'm at, you look at stuff, get stuff, and put stuff out. It's not even that tedious and it should go fast. Another guy there is in the exact same boat I am, works almost the same hours, and has two teenage girls. He works a full time job during the day and the same hours at night, just not as many as I will be working.

The way The Date and I have figured, and I've run these numbers a hundred times already by myself, I should be close to quitting right around tax return time. I've probably said that before but that's how I keep reminding myself it's temporary and we'll make it through this too.

Eye on the prize, Dave Ramsay would be proud!

Not Bad

First of all my doctor appointment came out very well. No kidney stones, the cyst had shrank in size, and I'm completely normal within every measurable way:) Thank you for your prayers:)

Second of all The Date and I figured up exactly where we stood with medical bills, it's not as bad as either of us thought! In fact it might wind up being less than expected as we need to contact a provider and tell them to appeal the biggest bill based on advice from the actual insurance company itself! How cool is that?! It might go very well for us in that regard!

If that is paid by the insurance company then more than likely that low amount will be lower by a full third! And it'll be much faster to not only stop living paycheck to paycheck but it'll be easier to start building our savings account/emergency fund to minimize any unforeseen problems that will likely arise in the future!

This should be it though, we get through this week and next week and we are set!

Third the second job won't be that bad. It's tough starting a new job, always is because there's so much to learn right up front and this is not a fun process. For our purposes though it's necessary and I can handle being treated like a first grader to accomplish this for my family.

Eye on the prize.

Doctor Appointment

It's nothing bit, just an ultrasound to see if I'm still free of kidney stones and to update the doctors on a cyst. Nothing big anymore, nothing has changed in the five years that I've been going to I expect the same this morning.

While I'm off of work for my regular job I do work this evening and start my computer training classes. I should be home a bit after eleven and go right back to work in the morning with my real job. I started on the first day of the new pay period so I'll be receiving a full paycheck on the fifteenth of September and then every alternate week after. What is very cool about this is that I'll bring home a paycheck every single week!

So I'll get two evenings off per weekday and both evenings of the weekend after six. Not bad hours at all and it'll help us tremendously! The more hours I work now the faster I can cut them back later and then the faster I can quit later:)

Eye on the prize!

First Day Was Easy

Of course it was all just orientation, learning how to clock in and out, and things like that. When it is all said and done I'll be working twenty eight and a half hours a week in addition to my normal forty. It'll be tough but it'll be worth it with everything I'll be able to provide, including a big step up into future security!

Six months is my guess, maybe a big less, maybe a bit more but by then most everything will be caught up, finished, paid, or building and The Date and I will reassess the need for a second job then. We'll know exactly when we need to look at the importance of that many hours then and it's entirely possible I'll cut back my hours before that time anyway.

It really won't be so bad once I get used to the routine. As I blogged yesterday I'm excited about the fact that I'll be getting a paycheck every single week and that will dramatically help us!

Going To Work

Everyone who knows me already knows this but I have taken a part time job at WalMart and today I start with my orientation. The Date doesn't like this as we already spend less time together than we should. I feel the same way however times are tough today.

If we bite the bullet now and make this temporary sacrifice we will be in so much better shape a few short months from now. Not only then but far into the future and when she graduates with her degree then we'll be in tremendously great shape!

The reasons for doing this now are plain enough but there is one more reason that kind of surpasses them all, the security of my family is paramount. Next June our contract is up with the company. I highly doubt there will be a strike, not after last time. NO ONE wants that to happen again and it would take a very very bad contract offer to get me to vote in favor of striking again. I'd almost vote in favor of any contract as long as they don't take away my leave, or wages.

The fact remains though that we should have a safety net for our family and this is the best way to provide that. Our bills are few enough and Monday she and I are going to set down and organize what we owe and how much. I don't think they are as bad as they appear. We have little consumer debt that swamps most people starting out.

We do this now and we are positioning ourselves for a much brighter future but I'm not deceiving myself, this is going to be tough. But out of this we'll be in great shape to find another house, we could easily have a large down payment built up to do so, we'll have money for new furniture, new clothes, and a brighter future. But to get there I have to do this now. Each week though it'll get easier as more is paid off, the real benefit to this part time job is that I'll be paid each week, one week from my main job, once from WalMart. Add to that what The Date brings in and we'll be done with bills and on to building a savings account in no time!

That is what makes me want to do this even more, knowing that no matter what happens in the future we'll be ok and get the tough things we've dealt with the past two years won't be so tough anymore:)

Hurricanes

So Abostang and I were chatting over lunch yesterday and we thought it would be very cool to experience the full force of a hurricane someday. If there was one headed to the gulf coast but not New Orleans then we thought we'd drive down to experience one of nature's most incredible forces.

We'd pack up a few cases of bottled water and some food things first to help with relief efforts but just to get there and experience something that is naturally forceful would be a lifetime memory. Since Irene is the first hurricane since 2008 that appears will make landfall on the continental U.S. then it might be a wait.

Irene does look very powerful though and appears right now that it will rip up the eastern seaboard, up to Canada. D.C., New York, Boston, many Northern cities that don't typically experience hurricanes are potentially in the path of Irene. High winds, flooding, and debris damage will paralyze those places for a while if it is anything above a tropical depression by the time it gets there.

Irene should have landfall this weekend, I hope those first strike communities are prepared!

Out Of Touch

Today will be a fairly easy day at work. I'll by busy but it won't be overwhelming. Yesterday was a real hoot though. Ok while I'm good friends with one of the welders at work and this will sound bad this is genuinely what happened.

Bub, famous from this post right here, was asked to do some extra work to help out the short handed machine shop. Machine shop has two people, welding shop has two people. The difference is that welding shop hasn't had much work at all for years since they shut down the engine shop. Most of the days of the welders is spent visiting other shops, hanging out, and surfing online. That's literally it and without exaggeration.

They have to get certifications to hold their jobs which also earns them additional money per hour. So they are very well paid for literally doing nothing or very very little.

So this job came around to take over of pressing races into wheels, a simple job and a job in which my shop also has a hand in. I've seen it done a thousand times and could do it in my sleep. So the supervisor has the idea to keep welding shop relevant and give them a job to do during the day as they really don't have anything to do.

Welding shop pitches a fit about it as they feel it's not in their job description to do so. The lead goes to the union steward and files a grievance in fact to keep them from doing this very easy job. It's a principle thing I guess with them despite their large paychecks, both earn considerably more than I do and I pull in a nice paycheck myself.

I don't get upset when they add jobs to our shop, I get upset when they start removing jobs from our shop as that only leads to bad things eventually. When contract time comes around again, and it will next year, I'd be very nervous as a welder and they figure out they can get along just fine without the entire shop and shut it down. It's hard to find a job these days even with a skill like that. Welders are plentiful in this world.

Green Revolution

The highly vaunted green jobs that President Obama pitched to the public during his time in office has yielded less than revolutionary results.

According to this article a green grant of half a million dollars created 1.72 jobs. Hardly the numbers expected or promised. That should be proof enough that government doesn't create job growth and the private sector can.

If there was a demand for green technology and the actual technology was there to make it affordable to the public and save money then it would have happened already. The facts are that the technology can't compete with what's already out there right now. The efficiency isn't there and certainly the costs savings aren't there yet.

Perhaps in the future there will be some breakthroughs that will help prices come down but for now no one wants to drive a Volt. I'd love to have an off the grid home powered by wind but the price isn't there yet to pay for itself before the equipment needs to be replaced. Our electric bill is cheap enough that it doesn't make buying one and having everything installed a reasonable purchase with today's technology.

Someday I'm positive that the private sector will get there as self sufficiency is what I will continue to aim for but not today.

Grateful

Once again I'm headed to work:) I know I complain or seemingly complain a lot about my job but I'm also grateful for it. A lot of people in today's economy have no job at all to go to and I happen to have one that is reliable, secure, and steady. I am given a lot of time off as well as a great wage. Two retirement packages and federal holidays as well, it's hard to beat in this day and age when thousands of people line up for a handful of jobs.

I'm grateful for my family. The Date has been through a lot and so have the girls. The Date had a good rehearsal last night but came home exhausted and still had homework to finish for today. That's how difficult it is to be a full time student with fifty plus hours to go to your degree and be a full time everything else while handling a part time job.

The Things are handling the start of high school well or will handle it well when it starts tomorrow. Thing 2 already hates high school but she'll adjust. I had a great time in high school, it was a great time for me even though I was very busy.

I didn't enjoy college as much. I was young and too restless for my own good to spend time in another school then. So I dropped out and went to work to save money for who knows what I was thinking at the time. I wanted to start living and be an adult and not be in school anymore. I couldn't wait to grow up but I did have fun being a kid as well.

Regardless of my decision then it has lead me to a good life now, granted I've earned every step and it's not been an easy road as it would have been with a degree but it's what I chose to do. It's defined my education since I left college, I may not be the brightest bulb out there but I'd stack up my intelligence against many and hold my own. I love to read classic novels or longer than average books, you should see my Kindle to see what's on there. I have a deep love for this country and politics.

Politics is the one subject that effects every single person in this country whether they realize it or not, even the apolitical are under the thumb of political decisions made in D.C. It's just best to understand how the system works and to inoculate yourself as best you can against it. That's self sufficiency, something I feel I'll struggle with for a long time but I'll keep learning:) I hope you do too!

I'm grateful to God as well and foremost for without Him then none of this wild and crazy fueled life would be possible to begin with! I've got a decent command of the Bible but far from a real theologian's grasp for sure.

Now though I've got to head off to work and start my week again:)

Start Of A New Week

Beersnob and I shared a couple of cigars last night and some much needed conversation. He's got some big plans for the business and they are exciting. I'm off today and have to get Thing 2 to freshman orientation this morning while The Date has a class.

It won't be long before one of my goals could possibly be complete! A long time ago I had the thought of showing classic movies at the Theatre as a fundraiser for a lot of the repairs and general upkeep it requires. Turns out The Date and Master Baker were discussing this at Dogtown the other night and Master Baker said he had someone approach him wanting to do the same thing! Someone with some expendable cash that might be interested in donating enough to make it happen!

It might just be a case of it was meant to be. How cool would it be to see a double feature of Kurosawa movies? To show Seven Samurai to a new generation of people on a Friday night. How about two classic scifi movies one evening or two Hitchcock thrillers such as Psycho and Vertigo? Two Bogie and Bacall movies one evening and two John Wayne movies another Friday?

That would be a fun evening and I believe that it would not only raise money to help with the aging theatre's needs but bring some classic movies to a whole new generation. It's the perfect place and it's a great time to get this going at the theatre. I wrote a proposal for the board to look over and vote on and before long this might become a reality:)

Saturday Went Well

And turned from a day with no plans to a work day of epic proportions. R came over with an auger and we dug five holes with it in about ten minutes including the time it took to unload the auger. It made short and fast work of the project.

Now today we'll set the posts and pour some quickcrete around them to set up so we can finish the fence. I'll be doing the same at R's house. Great guy, can't ask for more out of one person.

After drilling the post holes here we went to R's house and thought it would take about the same amount of time to drill maybe a dozen holes. The first hole went fast, sandy, loose soil. The second got the auger drill entangled in some roots and thick clay. The machine didn't have a reverse on it so we couldn't just reverse the drill out of it's stuck state. So we started digging and cutting roots.

It took around three hours of digging by hand, shovel, and screwdriver to free the auger. After it was freed up though the remaining holes took literally less than a half hour to start and finish.

Exhausted and covered with mud, dirt, and sweat I came home and The Date and I did some yard cleaning and tree trimming. Thing 2 helped a lot, that little fifteen year old girl is a workhorse and does more than a lot of my coworkers.

I went to Dogtown for about an hour and a half. Talked over the USBL and it's demise and how it would still be a great league if it had been managed differently. I floated the idea that it's rise and fall would be great documentary material.

Today has few plans, mainly as I said up above, setting posts into the post holes. That's it:)

It's The Weekend

And I don't have a lot of plans other than to attend Dogtown tonight. It's an annual block party we like to attend, mostly theatre folk are there.

After that I don't have a lot planned and it's going to be nice. No plans and yeah, it's going to be nice and comfortable.

New Blade Runner

Usually I don't like or enjoy movies that revisit or new buzzword "reimagine" an original piece of art. Blade Runner is one of my favorite movies of all time. I don't like classics like that messed with.

However in this case Ridley Scott is directing a project set in the Blade Runner universe. There is no script yet, there is no idea whether it's a prequel, sequel, or a reboot of the movie. I strongly doubt a director the caliber of Ridley Scott would remake his own movie.

Regardless of the time setting of this movie and anything different than a full on remake and you can count me into that audience for sure. I love this movie, I've written at least one blog on the movie itself and how many times I've seen it.

It's a movie similar to It's A Wonderful Life where it did so so business when it opened (In fairness Blade Runner opened against Star Trek II, John Carpenter's The Thing another scifi classic, and E.T.) but over time it gained the status it deserved in pop culture.

I'm looking forward to see how this project develops and what Ridley Scott has in mind!

Our New Terrorists

When you hear the word terrorist what is the first image that pops into your mind? For me it is an Muslim who has been radicalized. Even though I live in Oklahoma I don't think of Timothy McVeigh first.

How many terror attacks have been carried out by Muslim extremists on American soil? I found a list to help you out. This list doesn't include such attacks as Beirut, the embassy bombings, or the USS Cole.

A search for White Middle Class Terrorist attacks on American soil turns up three names, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, and the hero turned accused but never tried Richard Jewell for the Olympic park bomb. I'm sure there is an abortion clinic bomber in there as well but no names are showing.

With such a staggering difference in Muslim terrorist attacks on our own soil versus white attacks on our soil I want to know why Janet Napolitano has decided it's alright to create this public service announcement. Muslims, even American Muslims are the likely first demographic of a terrorist attack on American soil. Why is that so hard to figure out? Why is that offensive?

I guess the white middle class men should be thrilled it's not a guy this time. It would look odd for a man to be leaving a purse in a station after all unless it was a cross dressing gay man but then she would offend the gay community and we can't have that. I'm not even going to search for Gay American Terrorist attacks on American soil....

Look this is a root cause of this whole administration, they hate America and the people who make it run. All Americans, white, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Indian. All of us who go to work every day make this country run and this administration declared war on us. Our federal justice department hates Americans, from Attorney General Holder filing a law suit against Arizona to Big Sis literally telling the public to watch out for White Female American Middle Class Terrorists!

Big Sis needs to be fired for this offense. She needs to create a PSA that shows an accurately depicted terrorist planting a bomb or getting ready to go on a rampage with a mall as a shooting gallery. That's the real threat Big Sis, do your job.

I just have to close my eyes, relax, and meditate on the words, "November 2012...November 2012...November 2012..."

Win Over A Liberal

So my rather contentious and sometimes heated debate likely came to a close yesterday with a win in the conservative column. I had him on the ropes last week when he started talking about welfare and how it was reformed in the nineties under a GOP congress and Clinton.

Naturally I struck a hard blow by informing him that under Obama those reforms were repealed which really took him by surprise. At that point I knew I had actually won the debate. His godlike Obama had actually done something he thought was going to hurt the country...as if all of Obama's policies aren't harmful to our country.

So he said he was going to research it and read the bill...I haven't heard back on that debate but instead on Monday I read is latest attempt to win after such a backbreaking blow. He insisted that Warren Buffet knew more about the economy than I did. Which is absolutely true. Buffet is a fan of more taxes for the wealthiest whatever percentage he thinks is fair.

I replied that Buffet is a private sector individual and creates more private sector jobs in the world than many companies combined. He's a powerful businessman and smart on top of that. It's completely his right as an American to pay more taxes if he feels that way and no one is stopping him from writing a five billion dollar check each week to pay more taxes if he feels he should be.

Then knowing my liberal nemesis was actually talking about taxes on the rich I directed him to this site and simply said this is what I support as far as tax reform.

He read the site and replied back that he wanted to know more and would read more about the Fair Tax. He liked the idea! So instead of rubbing his nose in my victory which I really wanted to do by saying that he agreed with the Tea Party now, and a conservative idea he didn't like or agree with at all, I let it go.

Perhaps I'll just take my victory in silence. I know he'll return someday with some other argument and I'll call him on it and it'll lead to another weeks long email debate. Or perhaps I opened that door in his head that will lead him away from his childish liberal ways and into the way America is supposed to work.

Government's main role is the defense of our liberties, everyone gets an equal chance at their own American dream but that does not guarantee success or an equal outcome. Just the opportunity should be afforded to everyone, after that it's up to you and the government should not hinder you in any way.

But for now a win is a win.

No Research

I've done almost no research this year for fantasy football, a mainstay of my sporting life for the past sixteen years. I've just got little interest in it this season. I'm in two leagues, one I've been in for those sixteen years and the other I founded as a keeper league.

I can't give up my spot in either as they would be hard to gain entry back into once my interest does return though. So I'll stick through a passionless season this year and I know my interest will return next season. It's just a lot of real life issues have collided at one time and that has drained my interest in most sports period.

All in all I know my interest will return, I know my smile will return, and I know that I'll be refreshed in a few months but it'll be a struggle for a while. I'm up to it though.

Pickles Going To Work

Yep, they won't actually be ready for eating until Wednesday but they can finish in the refrigerators at work. I'm only taking a a gallon of pickles with me. The guys at work love pickles and they'll love the spicy ones as well!

Well maybe not, I used some pepper extract that hits about 7.2 million on the Scoville scale. A jalapeno pepper is about 2,500 up to 8,000 Scoville units. I only used a drop and there is also vinegar used so the pickles will be dramatically less than 7.2 million units but it'll light you up for about fifteen minutes. That's when your body breaks down the capsaicin, which gives peppers their heat.

As an example pepper spray itself is about 5.3 million Scoville units and pure capsaicin is 16 million. So these will be very tasty but hot peppers. I estimate they would clock in around 5 million Scoville units due to the cooking and vinegar added.

They'll love them!

Rick Perry

By request I decided to jump into seeing how conservative Governor Rick Perry is and how he would stack up against known conservatives that have already declared. Most positions are well known for the current crop of GOP contenders.

Paul is more libertarian than I am, and he came in second to Michelle Bachmann yesterday in the Iowa straw poll. That is essentially the first pre-season football game to get a look at the teams. I don't know what it is but Bachmann just turns me off politically, she doesn't have the warmth or charm of a Sarah Palin.

I've been pretty vocal for a long time about my dislike of Romney. Gingrich, a lot of times I don't know where he stands anymore while I used to be a huge supporter of his. He's a thinker and a conservative that could get a lot done as he is very familiar with how Washington works. Maybe that's the problem. His campaign is in turmoil though and his personal baggage would be a distraction in the general election.

Santorum and Pawlenty round out the field of also rans while my personal favorite Herman Cain is the direction that I hope and pray America takes in 2012! A business man and not a professional politician. He reminds me more of a Ransom Stoddard (look it up) than any of the current contenders. A little out of his depth but he knows exactly what he doesn't know and isn't too proud to admit that while a lot of people would make something up to sound good.

Now that Governor Rick Perry has made his announcement official we'll focus upon him for a few minutes. Fiscally he's about as conservative as you can get from the articles I've found and read about his record. Socially he is around ninety percent conservative. That's not bad.

I differ with him when he issued a an executive order for forced inoculations of all girls entering the sixth grade for human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted disease that can cause cervical cancer. No politician ever should mandate something like this. It was eventually overturned but it shows a disturbing moment in his career where he really overstepped what a conservative should be about and that's keeping government out of people's lives.

I don't care if it's the cure for cancer, flu, and the common cold rolled up into one. No politician should mandate such a thing. That said I don't know why people wouldn't be standing in line for days on end if such a product were ever created.

Secondly his stance on immigration can be a bit McCainesque. We have current immigration laws in this country, we want and love immigrants as we are a nation of immigrants. We also want and would love you to do it the right way and quit sneaking into our backyard. Governor Perry signed a version of the dream act in 2001 that allowed undocumented students in state tuition. While I understand that the children of illegals had nothing to do with their status as illegals it is also money that could have been used to educate citizens.

The biggest problem that Rick Perry will have in the election cycle is that he is the governor of Texas where W was also governor. People will link the two either fair or unfairly. Yes I greatly admired many of the things Bush did while in office I also didn't like many of the things such as his big spending ways.

Yes they were mostly spurred by two wars, Katrina, the Indonesian tsunami, Florida being repeatedly lashed by hurricanes, and the number one event of his presidency 9/11. He had both houses of Congress and could have really scaled back the size of government and didn't do that.

I'd support Rick Perry if Herman Cain and Ron Paul are not the GOP nominees. I realize my ticket is just a dream for myself to alone enjoy but that is what I feel Washington needs, a breath of very fresh and clean air to blow away the institutional corruption that his taken root. A professional politician is the last thing we need as Americans and I believe that is what Rick Perry has become. Conservative yes, a few troubling moments in his Governorship but someone I could support given no alternative against Obama.

Pickles

Yep, I made about three gallons of pickles this morning! I bought all Wal-Mart had and a few from another store! I also made two quart jars of spicy pickles that I plan on taking to work with me on Monday.

I've got a ton of pickles now that will last about a year apiece. Again very simple to make, boil the ingredients, let it cool, stuff cucumbers in the jar, and pour the liquid over the future pickles and put in the refrigerator for three to five days.

These are half gallon jars of oniony, garlicy, dilly goodness! Never cooked and would rival a jar of the original super pickle brand, Claussen! It's so cool to be able to make your own and not only save money but have a sometimes superior product! The only way I could do it better would be to grow my own dill, onions, and garlic! Next season I'll be doing something along those lines!

GOP Debate Notes

Enjoyed the GOP debate last night, I'm still hoping for a Cain/Paul ticket. Those two could really get this country back on track in no time, even faster given a majority filibuster proof senate. Herman Cain and Ron Paul are the candidates I'm really the most excited about, they represent a different way of doing business that Washington really needs.

I can't agree with Ron Paul's assessment of Iran by any means but I do appreciate his ideas on nearly every other subject. Herman Cain is just that good to me, I could easily see him being elected and using business strategy alone getting this country back on track!

Manufacturers would flood the states again trying to get back to a business friendly atmosphere! That would expand the tax base, put people back to work, and generate all of the revenue the government needs to generate. I want to see a candidate come out and say we need to lower the debt ceiling! We need to freeze spending right now and cut all federal spending by a minimum of 10% across the board!

Romney is still plastic and fake to me and given the fact that he created Romneycare is still a problem with conservatives, Bachmann is too much of a firebrand and polarizing, Gingrich is a has been and compromises too much with liberals, Pawlenty I could live without pretty easily, and Santorum...meh. Didn't do much for me at all.

Gay marriage is still a state issue to me, if a state wants to allow it then by all means put it up for a vote. I want the federal government out of the lives of people as much as possible and it should be a choice for the people of that state. Limited government means just that to me, limited. Lots of limits.

This will be a pretty fun campaign season and no matter which candidate wins the nomination they all stand a very good chance of firing Obama from his job and ending his path of destruction.

All Is Not Alright

It's long been held that no one president can destroy a country and no one president can build this country. Well after the wild ride in the markets a lot of people are beginning to wonder about that. No the markets aren't our prosperity and country but they are a good indicator of how our nation is doing.

Important indicator too, like the unemployment number, the gross domestic product, things like that. Our country isn't doing well. It's all but a mathematical certainty that something bad will happen because of the government's big spending ways. We have too many unfunded liabilities and we are too far down the path to change course.

Congress needs desperate reform, new congressional approval ratings put congress around 10% approval. That's pretty low, really low. Congressional reform is a must. The people will demand it soon as they see how their country has been mismanaged and they are not happy about it.

Before the common people march on Washington to demand resignations of their leaders the leaders should really address this issue first and foremost. I don't advocate overthrowing the government at all, I advocate digging out the leeches and parasites that have entrenched themselves into our system. Those that have made our system corrupt and taken it's fruits as their own personal gains.

I advocate congressional reform, that they live under the same rules they decree for us. Our system is the best in the world's history, no country has grown as we have to become the lone super power in the world, now it should be our duty to take it back from those who are ruining our system and throw them out of office while imposing our rules upon them.

Citizen representatives was the goal of the Founding Fathers, now we do not have that. We have professional politicians setting up rules for them and another set of rules for the citizenry. This cannot be, at least for much longer.

There will be an event, a tipping point of some sort that will wake up the vast population and bring justice to Washington. I don't know what or when but we'll all know it when it happens.

Rain Again

It appears as if we have a storm coming in from the north, barreling down on us!
We could be in for a soggy day! That'd be a great relief from the drought we've had thus far! Things are starting to cool off and that's a major relief, we had a less than triple digit day yesterday, in fact it was kind of nice most of the day.

Today it appears similar but much wetter. I'm all about that, the garden will recover but I fear a few of the plants have already been burned beyond bearing fruit such as the tomato plants. The heartier plants are doing ok such as the squash and cucumber plants. A cloudy day would do them all a world of good.

So here's to a rainy day! May it produce as much rain as we need!

It's Not Ironic At All

The fact that the stock market has lost nearly ten percent since late last week, the fact that NASDAQ lost six percent in one single day, or the fact that the administration said none of this would happen if a debt deal were struck. That's not irony, it's intentional.

No one is this incompetent, no one. From 2001 to 2007 we had moderates in congress who instead of cutting the size of government while they were there grew it larger than we conservatives wanted. America got fed up with moderate, let's compromise with them conservatives and threw them out in 2007. Since then we have had unfettered liberalism.

The government has grown exponentially and three trillion dollars has been added to the debt under Obama.

Last November we threw the most liberal congress ever out after the rise of the Tea Party. The Tea Party is still ascending and will have a huge effect in the next election cycle as well. The GOP woke up, many painted themselves as the conservatives we wanted to send the first time but then we have the McCains in Congress who can't wait to compromise with liberals. They are next to lose their jobs in November 2012.

I've been talking to a liberal who sends me constant emails about how liberals are good, pure, know what they are doing with the economy, whatever the subject is liberals know better. He defends massive amounts of spending and yet gives no reason other than to take the wealth of others and raise corporate taxes. Let's see, if I were a corporation what would I do if I could make more money, avoid a ton of regulation, enhance my bottom line, and production costs low? Yep, my company is moving to Mexico and the jobs with it.

I hire people, a corporation is made up of people. It's not some conglomeration of monsters and metal. It's people who feed their families just like you and I do. I work for a corporation and I bet you do too. Big or small the word corporation has become a dirty word because of liberalism. GE made two billion dollars profit last year, good for them. Know who benefits? Anyone with a retirement program with mutual funds in it with GE stock! They get to have money when they are too old to earn it because GE made a profit in 2010.

Want to set our country into overdrive for two decades? Eliminate corporate taxes altogether, eliminate capital gains taxes, cut payroll taxes, and cut government spending across the board by ten percent.

We just took 1776 off of the stage, this might be the irony in what I'm blogging about today. It was about the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it might not be long before protestors march on Washington to demand resignations of all of those elected officials who have destroyed our country. We saw the Arab Spring, perhaps the American Fall is next...if we are not careful.

Sunday Was Tough

I did some fence work yesterday. R came over and helped me put some fence panels back up and there is still a lot of work to be done.

I cleaned up the fence line, tore out the old panels, dug a hole with some post hole diggers, and cut some tree limbs. Thing 2 helped a TON, she's a great worker! It would have taken much longer if it hadn't been for her helping me.

I'm sore, beat up, sunburned, and recovering but I'm ready for work. The heat was bad, the humidity was up, but later on we got a little bit of cloud cover and a little breeze. That helped R and I out. After all that we came in, collapsed, and cooled off.

The Date and T went grocery shopping, came home to find us still collapsed. What a long day.

It's Over

The show has closed, where the set once stood is now a bare stage again, and the theatre is back to being a blank slate from which the next show will enter existence.

Monday The Date will begin full week long rehearsals for the season opener. It'll be a great show and I'm positive it'll have big audiences!

I kind of apologize for the sparseness of today's update. I'm not much in the blogging mood, in fact a while back I seriously considered ending the blog. However it is a mental exercise to me anymore. Some people do the crossword puzzle, some the word jumble to keep their minds agile. I write something every day. It's my whetstone and while it is tedious to read at times it keeps the edge of my mind sharper than it would otherwise be.

I'm also a creature of routine. When I was younger I needed change and improvisation, the wine of the young. Now I get up at the same time, shower at the same time, leave the house at the same time, and definitely try to go to bed at the same time. If that doesn't happen it really throws off the next day. Once I could work a full day after a couple of hours sleep. Now I'm drowsy after nine, craving sleep before ten, and sound asleep a few minutes after laying down. Such is life anymore.

There are tremendous moments of happiness and joy and those are usually provided by my lovely wife and The Things. Things would be unbearably boring if they hadn't come into my life. Now while things are genuinely tough on us, we still have each other, shelter, lights, food, and a wonderful theatre family for support. I've still got a good job and we are Americans, blessed to be born in the greatest country ever known to mankind.

Four Out Of Five Finished

We have the fifth and final show tonight of 1776 plus set strike. Last night went well despite a power surge that knocked out the lights for a little bit. It killed the power briefly and rebooted the computer that runs the lights. The actors had to keep at it and they did for about a minute in the dark. The audience didn't seem to mind at all.

Other than that it went smoothly and we had a large crowd. Looking forward to this evening's show, it'll be the last of the season and then nothing will be on my evening schedule for a while.

Time For The Show

Yes, it's the start of the final weekend. Two shows and 1776 closes.

It's the end of a brutally hot week as well. Two brief rainstorms though made it bearable and offered welcome relief this week. I guess bearable is a relative term, whether you think you can bear it or not you still have to get through it huh?

Well my retirement packages took a beating yesterday. The Dow plunged a total of five hundred and twelve points. Guess Wall Street doesn't like what the politicians did anymore than I did. Giving this administration another blank check for possibly some future spending decreases. We are not being represented as we should be.

Simply put November 2012 the Tea Party needs to win more House seats and a lot more Senate seats and throw Obama out of office. To paraphrase then candidate Reagan, "Recession is when your neighbor loses his job, depression is when you lose your job, and recovery is when Obama loses his job."

The next President needs to run on this very simple platform, repeal the last four years of damage. One bill offered up to future President to sign, repeal every regulation, every law, every single thing Obama touched, thought about touching, freeze spending after a ten percent cut across the board and let America wake up from this nightmare of a joke called Obama. It'll be our own Deobamazination as Soviet Russia did once Stalin kicked off in 1953.

It's long been said not one president can build America and not one president can tear it down...I wonder.

Almost Over

This horrendous week is nearly over with. It's been a struggle on a lot of levels to get through so far. The heat, the amount of work that's come through my shop, Thing 1's fender bender and consequent fallout, and a handful of other things that have occurred this week.

Sometimes it's overwhelming but I know that just like anything else we'll survive and get through it. I really don't know if I can say things will get better or not, I don't know if I can say that we'll have a winning streak of a continuous string of calamities that will follow us around from now on.

I wish I could say for sure but I don't know the future at all but if the saying is right that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger then we will be King Kong standing on Mount Everest by the time this string of events is over with.

On the side of counting our blessings it did rain last night! We got a gully washer and it felt good!

American BBQ

Yesterday at work was murder. I was in a foul and grumpy mood all day long for various reasons the least of which was the weather. It did cause me to start daydreaming though and thinking about what I would do next if I didn't have the job I had.

I came to the conclusion of a restaurant owner in Belize. Might start off as a street vendor selling American BBQ. I really believe Oklahoma BBQ is a cut above the competition. I know of several great teams, some of the best in the nation are from Oklahoma. I've learned a lot from my coworker who regularly competes with many of these teams in fact.

The menu could be very simple, pulled pork and brisket, perhaps ribs but I'm not sure on that right now. Add coleslaw as a side and serve on bread and that's BBQ. I'd slow smoke the foods which is done around the world no doubt but as I said I believe ours is a cut above. The bark, the marinades I know, the sauces I can create, it'd be a lot of fun if nothing else!

Are there really any other cities in the world that are known for their BBQ? Is there a Memphis, Charleston, or Kansas City out there that is known for their BBQ?

You know something? Even if it didn't work out and I believe that since there is a large population of Americans in Belize that it would do just fine, I'd still be living off the coast of the Caribbean Sea!

Anyone want to open a restaurant in Belize with me? I could be convinced to leave soon enough!

Thing 1's Mishap

Thing 1 acquired literally a two hundred dollar minivan yesterday. It wasn't five hours later that it had been in an accident, poor girl is snake bit right now.
She's fine and the police officer agreed it wasn't her fault as a witness corroborated her story.

She had finished cleaning it and was coming home when a car was tailgating her, it moved to pass her, did and then brake checked her causing Thing 1 to rear end the car. The irate car driver then cussed at the very shaken Thing 1 until the police arrived.

A witness saw exactly what happened and relayed that to the police while another witness saw just Thing 1 hitting the other car but not the swerve or brake check. Thing 1 did not get issued a ticket despite the fact of rear ending someone, the police couldn't assign fault but chose not to issue the ticket based on Thing 1 and the witness's story aligning so well.

She is unhurt except for some ligaments in her shoulder that were stretched quite a bit. We took her to the ER to get checked out as a precaution. She's fine just going to be sore for a few weeks is all:)

It turned out fine and wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. Thank God above that she wasn't injured more than she was! A few days in bed and she'll be as good as new!

Week Off!

Well from the show anyway, Thing 2 and I aren't required for pick up rehearsal on Thursday evening so our next show will be Friday! That'll be a very nice break!

The producer's show went well enough but the cast was tired and worn down. You could tell they needed a break for a while.

Apparently there is a debt deal between Congress and the President, we'll see how much it cuts exactly and if there is a balanced budget amendment proposal requirement. It amazes me that the dems were wanting to raise taxes on the top one percent of earners. Exactly how much of a 14.3 trillion dollar debt can they pay? Fourteen trillion dollars is way more than any group of earners can pay. I say increase the tax base, reform the tax code so it's not as progressive and how about putting policies in place that makes businesses want to hire people instead of his regressive regulations that are causing four hundred thousand a week to lose their jobs and file for unemployment!

But I'm a simple man and now wise in the ways of politics...

Last Show Of The Week

The show went well last night. Today's producer show will cap off the first week leaving everyone a much deserved few nights off. The cast has weathered the toughest week of a show well and survived to receive two standing ovations for their efforts.
Great job everyone!

The nights off will coincide with the return of Shark Week on Discovery Channel! What a great week this is! Yeah there have been some Shark Week flops before and lots of repeats however this year should be a benchmark for the annual marathon.

Yes there will be some repeats in there from previous years but overall it's still an enjoyable week of marine biology with these ancient predators.

Recipe For Success?

I've been a casual observer of bad reality shows for a long time. Here's the recipe for a moderately successful show, and yes mediocrity is a bar they strive for.

You take a high maintenance "star", surround them with incompetent helpers, and hit the red button on the camera. It's actually that simple. I'm watching, I take that back Amy is watching Nail Files about this woman who has a nail salon called The Painted Nail in Los Angeles. She has an assistant, a publicist, and has been celebrities visiting her store.

Every tiny little thing causes a meltdown mainly due to helpers who don't help much. For example while dining at a very posh restaurant after a stressful day of fixing her assistant's mistakes of not paying the utility bills she gets a call from her assistant saying she is quitting. Now a minute ago she was telling her about how she doesn't trust her anymore and complaining to the camera about how much responsibility she has to take on as if she were Atlas himself. Now she is having a meltdown because the incompetent person quit!

She literally said the line, "How much can one human being take in one day?!"
Gee I don't know, why not ask the starving kids in India about how much they can take in a lifetime. You incompetent, self indulgent, vulgar, elitist, fake drama queen!

That's the drama. It's again that simple! I'd actually love to be a show runner for a show like this. I'd love it. I'd point actual reality out every second of the day to these idiots. I'd take every single foot of tape and design it to put the "star" in the worst light possible.

Anyone wonder about the decline of civilization? Yeah, this is a reason.

Rain!

Opening night went very well! The cast and orchestra melded together for a very good show! Over all it was solid despite a glitch or two here and there. Nothing major and nothing the audience would point out though as they don't get scripts to follow before a show:)

The cast party at Jamal's went very well. A rowdy time was had by a few while a good time was had by all. Jamal always lays out a great feast of cast party food as he loves cooking for others as much as I do. We said our goodbyes a little after one AM and headed home for the evening.

This morning I arose a bit after eight and put on a crock pot meal of roast, potatoes, an onion, and a sliced carrot. Along with spices and some beef broth it'll be finishing up late this afternoon. Just in time for a great comfort food meal before heading up for the second show this evening.

All in all it's been a fine week albeit busy week. I knocked off early yesterday afternoon to try and rest up before opening night. It helped, I had the shop in pretty decent shape.

This morning we also had an unexpected surprise. Rain! A full fledged rainstorm complete with thunder and lightning! I was going to mow this morning as some parts of the yard are needing it a bit but that's not happening now. The garden is going to grow very well now though! The squash looks amazing, the weather has been too hot for much tomato growth but the plants are doing well and growing great. The purple tomatillos plant is growing like mad! Next season we'll get things going much earlier as they are supposed to and add more staple crops like onions, potatoes, and such.

I plan on adding two or three more gardens next season as well to really get a lot of crops in the ground. It's about a month away from planting garlic which I cook with a lot. I've been investigating what kind to get, I'm sure there will be more than two or three varieties when we decide to buy.

Opening Night

Things went better last night than all previous shows that I've sat in for. The lights will be tight tonight, the actors and show the same.

I'm looking forward to going to bed tonight and waking without the alarm tomorrow. That'll be nice! It's been a long week for sure and now it'll be a nice weekend. It'll be a busy day at work, I know what's there to do.

All in all it's a satisfying feeling though to tech one of these shows. This show is a big show, lots of cast members and it's the season ending show. It's the finale and as such it should be remembered.

Hopefully the audience will be sold out, most summer musicals are sold out but with the Obamaconomy as it is I wouldn't be surprised to see half full houses either. Extra money is scarce with high gas and food prices right now.

Final Dress Tonight

After tonight it's showtime! The show is gelling and I'm sure the final bugs are ironed out this evening. I made a couple of more tweaks to the lights and a couple of more notes for myself.

I should be perfect this evening and for every show after this. As for now I'm getting ready for another day at work. I'm tired. I woke up tired. I'm mentally drained even though my body is willing.

My shop lacks air conditioning and it's be particularly busy this week. Lots of priorities and me to carry them out.

I've still got my loving family, The Date is still enrolled in school this coming semester, and we're going to do alright. Breaks are hard to come by right now but we'll survive the lack of them.

Another Long Night

Thing 2 and I left the theatre again around ten thirty. That makes for a long night and short sleeping hours. I hit the snooze button this morning twice.

The show was much better from last night, I expect it will be better again tonight before final dress tomorrow. Right now Jet is in my lap staring up at me, he had a long morning so far (about ten minutes) of running, chasing the big cats, and attacking anything that might move.

The rabbits are fed and have water, the dog is outside barking at who knows what, and I'm ready to go back to bed. Can't do that though so I'm going to stop and get a coffee and paper at the quick shop on my way to work. That's actually my custom to do so but depending on how hot it is I sometimes get a coke instead.

I'm more than a little upset with Speaker Boehner's debt ceiling plan. It essentially raises the debt ceiling by a one point five trillion dollars and cuts the same amount from spending. It will last until next April and really sounds like a wash to me. The simplest way to do something like this is to promote first a congressional reform act as I've blogged about before and then a ten percent spending cut across the board. Lowering the debt ceiling would be nice along with repealing fully Obamacare. The cherry on top would be a balanced budget amendment!

And that's why I wouldn't get along with anyone in Congress if I were ever elected.

Long Evening

The start of tech week went well enough. I got there at five thirty along with Thing 2 and we helped Tech Guy with the final stage preparations. We adjusted curtains and gave our best effort in getting an air conditioning unit going again.

After that I went to my perch in the tech booth to start loading cues. There's around thirty cues so it was easy enough. It was the first time I have seen 1776 since I'm not a theatre fan nor a musical fan so I had to find my way in the dark for a bit.

I believe I'll blow one or two cues tonight just because I'm still on the learning curve, by Thursday's final dress I'll be golden though.

I'm still sleepy and even hit the snooze button this morning. That's really pretty amazing for me as I'm usually awake and alert a few minutes before the alarm goes off but lay in bed regardless. That's the joy of tech week, and that's what we sign on for when we do a show:) It's a satisfying tired and a tired you can be proud of.

Tech Week

Tonight kicks off tech week, the busiest week of any show. The tech crew is brought on board to set light cues, tweak backstage prop wrangling, and get things set for opening night which is Friday.

It'll be a long week of long evenings. The show will be gone through with a fine tooth comb to get everything as polished as it can be. Tech week is also why I'm being selective with the shows I do now, it's a lot of work and demands a lot of time from you.

Fortunately Thing 2 is also stage managing and I probably would have been there anyway to either drop her off or pick her up. But we've got another show together and we'll both be there for it. I can't keep that girl away from the theatre, she'd actually live there if they'd let her. An old cot upstairs in the apartments/prop rooms and she'd be the happiest person in the world.

By the time her theatre career is over with here she'll be part of maybe fifty shows in come capacity, she's on pace for that many and she's going to be a freshman in high school next month! Yeah, she loves her theatre family!

So tonight 1776 gets the tech treatment and I'll be in the booth with my polishing rag.

Worked Hard Saturday

In the morning Tech Guy and I set up the lights for the summer musical and in the evening T and R came over and R and I cut down a tree in the back yard. He cut it down and Thing 2 and I hauled it out to the street for pick up by the city.

Hopefully they'll pick it all up this week and get it out of here.

Nothing much going on today thankfully.

Nice Evening

We visited with T and R along with Court and Mrs. Beersnob last night. Then we came back home and Court and Filmmaker Friend Chris came over and we just had a fun ole' time!

Nothing but a fun conversation and good memories!

After I came home from work I did catch President Obama pitch a fit on TV about the debt talks breaking down. There is no deal in place but they had come close. 3.7 trillion dollars over a decade? Yeah, that won't happen. Any time politicians can put off spending cuts to a later date they will because they won't happen.

We have a fourteen trillion dollar national debt and a 1.3 trillion dollar deficit this year alone.

Hear this, ANY DEAL must start with congressional reform first and foremost. Congress must be forced to live under the same rules they impose on us. No super sweet retirement pensions, no lifetime health care, no keeping of the campaign war chests. They should serve as intended and go back to the private sector and live with the rules they helped create.

That is the absolute starting position these talks should take.

Woohooo!

Yesterday I painted an entire aircraft, well the first coat anyway. We ran out of time before we could get to the second coat. It's been a long time since I've done that and it felt good that I could still do it well, fast, and efficient!

I was a walking sweaty bundle of clothing after though. I came home and took a shower. Caught a few winks on the couch and then headed to Third Thursday to run the sound for a night of guitar playing.

It went fairly well, a couple of technical glitches here and there but overall a good show. I'd change out the guy who plays at the end and put him in the mix somewhere else though. He's got a high smooth voice and he's a great player and singer but I don't care for his stuff. Everyone else loves him though so he'll probably close the show for many more shows.

It's Friday and I'm so happy that it is! Right now Jet is chasing Baby Kitty around the house. She'll go hide and Jet will poke around and stalk her, very funny for a kitten that's less than a quarter of Baby Kitty's size. Scotch is camped out somewhere and ready for a long day of naps.

I'm ready to put in my eight and kick off the weekend!

Third Thursday

Woohooo, one of my favorite days of the month!

Tonight is an acoustic guitar show at the theatre and I run tech for it! It's really a great show and anyone is welcome to come up on stage and play. The talent is solid and the songs laid back.

This heat wave is taking a toll on everything. First of all my temperament at work. My fuse is shorter and shorter each day. The fact that we are short handed while other shops are overstocked with people just infuriates me anymore.

It's hot and it's going to stay hot for weeks apparently. Our streak of days over one hundred is in the thirties now I believe. The paper said the record for a streak like this was in the nineteen fifties. So it's not unprecedented but that doesn't make it any cooler either.

Very Busy Day

First of all it was a hot and busy day at work, that lead into cleaning and organizing the apartments above the theatre that are used as prop rooms now. They were filthy, dirty, dusty, and hot as well. A handful of us attacked them though for the second week in a row and are making very good progress.

In a few more weeks they'll be organized and much easier to access for everyone in the theatre. After that I checked the lights for the musical 1776. I liked how they were set for the most part but will have to make a couple of changes. Mostly the gels will have to be switched out on the light bar in front of the stage.

The pickles are very good but I would like to change the recipe a little and add less canning salt. It called for a quarter of a cup for a gallon and honestly you can taste it and it taste competes with the garlic, onion, and dill and that shouldn't be happening. The second thing I'll change is putting them into the fridge immediately as they are crisp and crunchy but not as crunchy as the last batch from the alternate recipe.

This evening I'm making homemade grilled pizza again. It won't happen next week as I'll be in tech week rehearsals for 1776. So this week is it for a couple of weeks for Wednesday night cooking!

Pickles

The pickles have gone into the fridge this morning! That means as soon as they cool off all day they should be finished! They'll be cold, very crisp, and garlicy, oniony, dill goodness in a jar!

It's hard not to love a good crisp pickle, I actually enjoy looking at the jar with the pickles and spices around it. It just looks amazingly delicious and makes you hungry for more! Next season I'll be planting several pickling cucumber plants and I'll make gallon jars of them.

They are easy enough to do in large or small quantities. They really lend themselves well to making big batches of them.

Tonight I feast on pickles!

Early Morning

I've been awake since nearly three o'clock this morning but in that morning sleepy daze. Aware and awake but still sleeping in a way. I made Italian Beef yesterday and that's what I plan on having for lunch for a couple of days.

It's just an incredible and easy recipe to put together and let cook for hours. Get a roast, a crock pot, some sweet pepper rings in a jar (up to three jars depending on the size of your crock pot) a packet of zesty Italian dressing mix, a little beef broth, and the rest with water to cover the roast.

Put all of the ingredients into the crock pot, roast on the bottom and pour the jars of peppers over it as well as the dressing mix, pour in a little beef broth, and let cook for ten to twelve hours on high.

Take a fork and separate the beef, it should fall apart very easily but get the fat out of there. Scoop out the peppers and put them onto the beef and mix them with the meat, again with a fork. Serve on dinner roll or a bun. You'll be in meat lover's heaven for a good twenty minutes.

The Date and I watched the first season of Breaking Bad yesterday and then Thing 2 and us watched Insidious. She's been wanting to see that for a long time so we rented it and gave it a spin. It was ok but I believe Thing 2 is getting to the age where she realizes horror movies aren't really scary anymore. The Date even said it wasn't very scary. I thought it had a decent story, it crossed over into hokey a couple of times though.

The really bad bad guy that they were setting up the movie for really didn't do much in the end. That kind of sucked as it would have been more fun to unleash that creature instead of letting him almost disappear from the screen.

Breaking Bad is a very good series. The first season is only seven episodes long but we both believe we can get into it. Yeah it's a tough subject to watch as it involves making meth but it's really got enough humor to offset a lot of that horror. It's got drama by the shovelful though and situations pop up that really make you either laugh or cringe or both.

Give it a watch.

Pickles And A Wedding

While I was out getting a haircut yesterday The Date and T had gone to the farmer's market and she brought home a surprise for me. A bag of pickling cucumbers! So I found a different recipe and got right to making a batch of Claussen Clone pickles!

I used this recipe right here this time instead of the recipe that I used last time. The recipe last time was stellar, I just wanted to try something different. There is no shortage of Claussen Clones out there and I'd like to try as many as I can find.

This one was a bit easier as it used less spices and had onion in it while the last one did not utilize onion and had more spices. This one called for fresh dill heads and canning salt, the last one did not use much salt and used dill seed and crushed dill weed.

I did add a tablespoon of red pepper flake to one jar to spice them up and see how that goes. This recipe is also done faster, they set out on the counter for three days first and then go into the fridge for another day. That's four instead of seven days. This recipe is for a full gallon of pickles while the previous recipe was for each quart jar and was a bit more expensive to make as it used more spices.

So now they are on the kitchen counter and I shake them up to make sure the cucumbers are fully covered at all times. After that we attended a wedding.

Hollywood Actor and Red got married last night. It was very nice and the reception was great as well! World famous opera singer Leona Mitchell sang Ava Maria and it literally made everyone weep with how beautiful it was. It was so cool as she took the stage and walked passed the microphone and filled the hall with her voice only.

A great time was had by all! Thank you both for allowing us to be part of such a great time!

The Weekend And Grilled Pizza

Yes it's Saturday morning! We've got a wedding to attend this afternoon and Thing 2 has set call this morning. I'm going to have to get part of the lawn mowed, the rest I'm going to have to water so it doesn't die off.

The pets are all fed, coffee is brewing, and I'm blogging. It's the right kind of morning, the kind where you wake up! Last night I fell asleep around nine o'clock on the couch and woke back up close to midnight when I decided to head off to bed.

The Date had bathed the bunnies earlier in the evening, then we went to get some new air filters for the air conditioner. It was kind of slow at work but a few important jobs came in that had to be done quickly.

The other night I made pizza on my Big Green Egg. I learned a lot and plan on making it this coming Wednesday as well. Wednesday is typically the night where a couple of people come over and I make a nice meal. I love cooking for people, it's really one of my favorites things to do.

I know I need to do a couple of things different, first I didn't have enough fuel for the Egg to reach the 450-500 degree temps it needed to get to. I'll need to clean it out and start with a fresh bunch of lump charcoal. It hit 350 for a short time and could maintain 300 easily. That made for a longer cooking pizza on the baking stone. It tasted fine but I know I can do better.

Next I need to butter the crusts so they brown up a bit instead of being done and looking undone. Third I want to use a different sausage and possibly make my own pizza sauce. We used Boboli which tasted really good but it was sweet like Papa John's. I like tangy a bit better and found a recipe for that and I want to make it.

Everything else worked just fine though. The dough recipe was simple:
2 cups of flour
3/4 cup of hot water
1 tsp of fast yeast
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of olive oil

Let it rise for a half hour to an hour and put a dab of oil on it so it doesn't crack when it does rise. Then you flatten it out, any old shape will do, spread some oil on it so the sauce doesn't make it soggy, then sauce it, add cheese and your toppings. If your grill is at the right temperature then it should take around eight to nine minutes to finish up. Oh and make sure you cook your ingredients such as raw meats first before putting them onto your pizza.

Drain the grease off of them for a while and your pizza won't be greasy like delivered pizza is. I microwave the pepperoni first for about thirty seconds and let it set on paper towels to get degreased:) It makes for a LOT better pepperoni pizza! Grease isn't floating on top of everything that way.

Grilling pizza is just that simple.

The Alarm Is Off

It always feels great to turn the alarm clock off on a Friday morning after you get up! It's a lot like meeting a goal successfully. Yesterday was and today is going to be very busy at work, I'm the only one there in my shop. My coworker has gone to a cooking contest at Fort Worth.

It's ok though, I can handle things by myself. It just gets very busy because without fail everyone wants something at the same time and it has to be done right then.

Regardless today is Friday, payday Friday in fact and it feels good! The kitties have been fed and now are running around the house at full speed chasing each other. The rabbits are eating their timothy hay and nicknacks. Zip is outside watching the morning arrive. Me, I'm typing this out to you and getting ready to meet the day.

I hope you have a great day and a fine weekend!

Here's To Not Caving In

The debt talks are taking front stage this week in politics. So far very little progress has been made. Both sides are agitated with the other side because they won't give in. Time is on the conservative side though as if they hold to their line of deep spending cuts and no taxes then it'll happen with or without a deal.

No deal means there will be automatic deep spending cuts as the debt is the first thing to get serviced and it will be serviced as money will still flow into the government on a daily basis. Obama wants taxes raised though but is refusing to cut his record amount of spending.

Senator Obama voted against raising the debt ceiling but President Obama is singing a different tune. I can't hold that against him though as he was against President Bush's war efforts but has continued every Bush wartime policy. Things are different from the campaign trail than they are after you swear your oath.

However that goes only so far, the Tea Party put into office a massive amount of conservatives with one united goal, cut federal spending. Not only were they put into office on the federal level but at the state and local levels as well, liberals are scarce in the halls of government now. That's a good thing but conservatives are going to have to stick to their campaign promises and rein in government and it's overreaching powers.

We are taxed enough as it is, all three levels local, state, and federal. When I can't pay my bills no one steps in to help so government will have to live under the same restraints as the rest of us, conservative and liberal alike. Normal American families are hurting right now and jobs are scarce, the economy is tanking after the bailouts AND the stimulus package. The Obama administration hasn't got any bullets left to try but to raise taxes which is its ultimate goal anyway.

The problem is he can't. Conservatives hold the House and they won't cave in to any tax raising pressure, hence the standoff. It'll be interesting to see how much in spending cuts happen now and in the future, Obama is stuck and must deal with the House on the Houses' terms now.

Half Way!

Perhaps I pay too much attention to the day of the week and getting through the day. After work we went to the theatre and started cleaning the upstairs apartments which house all of our props. It was dirty, dusty, and very hot work...until it rained!

Then half of the electricity went out and eventually all as we were about to finish up. We got a good jump on the place though and soon it'll just be organizing things. I came home after and took a shower. I was filthy and sweaty. I fried up some potatoes and onions and had supper.

The Date and Thing 2 were at the theatre for auditions for a teen show. It'll be a traveling show to raise awareness of teenage problems. The Date will have to play one of the adults in the show while Thing 2 will get a part, we just don't know which part yet.

Back to the rain for a moment, it was sweet! It was a heavy rain for a bit and really cooled off the triple digit temperatures. I didn't have to water the garden or anything, it was very nice. A welcome reprieve from the oven baked surroundings of nature.

As I type this all three cats are in their post eating crazy phase. The littlest, Jet, is chasing around the bigger cats and having a great time! The other two have accepted him in just under two weeks and have played with him nonstop. Both are big enough they can hold Jet down with a paw as he fights them so that makes it especially funny!

How The Garden Grows

It's really doing well! I believe the beans I planted have died due to the heat but everything else is growing and blooming! The grape tomatoes are doing well and they actually taste very cool! They have a sweet flavor to them and are smaller than a cherry tomato.

The bigger tomato plants are still growing right now and doing their best against the triple digit heat. I make sure they get plenty of water in the mornings and usually cool them down again when I get home for a little bit. I don't want to over water them but in this heat they need water too.

I think I planted squash because that's what looks like it is growing in one square. I thought I just planted beans but I might have changed that up some. The cucumber plants are doing well as well as the purple tomatillos. We'll have a ton of sweet potatoes for sure! I hope Thing 2 likes them as much as she says she does!

Begin The Grind Again

This hot weekend is over and a new hot week begins. I was baking a ham late afternoon yesterday, which reminds me it needed to cook perhaps another hour as it was still wasn't quite as tender as it should have been, when R knocks on the door.

We'd been expecting him as T had texted to see if he could borrow a rake from us. I sat the rakes out and thought it was him picking it up. Instead he was dropping off. He had a roof vent with him, the spinning turbine kind. He must have noticed weeks ago when we were installing the window that ours didn't turn anymore so he brought a new replacement and we installed it.

Fast job too, fifteen minutes we had the old one removed and the new one secured and it was spinning away. The Date packed up half of the ham and R went off on his merry way:)

Rehearsal is going very well for The Date. They had one yesterday and Thing 2 and I had her very prepared. We ran lines with her all weekend. Three times from me alone we went through from the start and I believe Thing 2 took her through once. She'll have her lines down and be off book very soon!

Hot

It's just hot out, it topped one hundred fifteen yesterday and got up to one hundred seventeen in some places around the area. That's dangerous, deadly hot. It'll repeat today so stay inside, drink water, and be safe.

All in all it's been a quiet weekend. Last night I made an appearance to Hollywood Actor's bachelor party at the theatre and enjoyed a few nice hours of fun and frivolity with friends. Filmmaker Friend Chris arranged everything and I believe everyone had a great time!

I delivered my music video project product yesterday evening around six. She was happy with the final cut and I made her a few extra copies as well to pass out. It was really a fun departure from what I'm used to and what I've done. I'd shoot another one again in a second if the opportunity came up!

A Good Morning To You

I've got one video project to wrap up this weekend that I traded a set of family portraits for. Work for work essentially. After that I've really not got a lot to do after. Beersnob and I have been waiting on a reply from our contact in Texas about our super project but it's been a week thus far and no reply.

I was going to get a shooting schedule hashed out with him but he said it's a very busy time of the year for him and his family. I know he'll get back to us as he has every time but right now I'm optimistic we can get it worked out and shot very soon!

I'm glad it's the weekend but I'm pretty well rested and don't really need the weekend to recuperate.

I'm watching Jet run around the house, stumbling plenty in his wobbly little gait. The seven week old kitten is a bundle of energy, unfocused kinetic energy! He'll be a great addition to our other two cats and all in all a great addition to the family:)

One Day Of Work

Well the past two days have been an adventure, I'm glad it's over with and we've returned home safely. The herd of pets we've got were also happy upon our return home!
Jet didn't really notice other than no one was there to feed him as much as he'd like.

Court came over twice a day and took care of everyone though and stayed for a couple of hours to make sure they didn't get lonely:) She's such a sweet person and thank you very much Court for doing that:)

I hit bed last night around nine and I don't think I tossed or turned one bit. I was out out out. The Date caught a nap on the way home, well pretty much everyone riding did at one time or another but me. I can do pretty well at long distance driving as long as we stop for bathroom breaks once in a while.

I work today and then I'm off for the weekend with no plans that I know of this weekend either. It'll be nice!

The Warped Tour

I don't think I saw anyone over the age of twenty three or twenty four go into the show. I'm positive they got younger.

As the teens streamed out no one appeared to be over seventeen. We were remarking on who had the worst sunburns as they walked past our parking place. One particular couple, again seventeen at the oldest walked past as I was reading lines for The Date's show had a pretty bad sunburn.

The Date heard a thump and I looked over the book and saw the boy laying in the grass with his girlfriend fanning him.

The Date got out and walked over to see if he was alright and he wasn't. He either collapsed of heat exhaustion or low blood sugar as he had not eaten since earlier in the day. She came back to our ice chest and got him a Powerade and a package of sliced apples with a caramel dip, both were ice cold. Then we took a pillow case and soaked it in the cold water and placed it around his neck. He was shaking so badly and weak he could barely chew anything. The Date alerted the firemen who were standing outside the gates who summoned the event's medical staff.

After a bit of time he was sitting up ok, getting a little better and his ride arrived. His girlfriend waved to us and off they went, hopefully to get him more to eat and drink.

We also had a very pleasant visit with two people from my past. They predated The Things one and two. I am very proud to see how wonderfully well they are doing, and while I'd like to say I had some influence on how they turned out I can't. I didn't have them long enough to make that difference but they are great now:) Wonderful family and one family starting out with what looks to be a promising future ahead!

I'm glad after the chaos they endured that they are well adjusted and happy adults:) The world is a better place because they are in it!

Country Boy

Today we'll be traveling to Bonner Springs Kansas to the Warped Tour this afternoon. That means I'm writing this Tuesday evening as we are leaving by five in the morning. I'm fine with early hours driving, I'm more of a morning person anyway. That's when I'm the most creative and the most alert.

However I'll just not have the time to get everything written out in a timely fashion. The subject of this blog is Aaron Lewis and his song Country Boy. The official video seen here features Lewis singing along with cameos by legendary country stars Charlie Daniels and George Jones.

Lewis proudly sings about his upbringing outside a small Massachusetts town. It's not Staind at all, the flavor isn't depressed nor hopeless, instead it offers glimpses into his rugged lifestyle as an individualist and self sufficient. That's America my friends.

It's not preachy but it's not lyrically complex either, instead it plays more like a modern version of Bocephus' signature anthem A Country Boy Can Survive. Instead of Lewis' nine or forty five Hank sings of a rifle and a shotgun. The album cover in Lewis' video even features the album cover of Hank's Greatest Hits.

A very pale but more contemporary attempt is Dirt Road Anthem by what I'd consider the developmental league of country music. Neither the heart nor power is present in such top forty trash. Anthem is a strong word as forgettable is more applicable. The testosterone fueled anthems by Williams and Lewis aren't even in the same category as Aldean which is seemingly more along the lines of movie of the week.

In fact when Aldean drawls out biscuits it's actually laughable while you actually know that Lewis lives the lifestyle he sings about. It's heartfelt and genuine and that's the difference. It's as if Aldean has painted his portrait in pale and sickly watercolor pastels while Lewis and Williams have laid out masterpieces in deeply saturated oil colors.

All in all that's my blog today and as we've just awoken to undertake this trip for Thing 1's birthday the family is all astir and waking. We'll return home Thursday afternoon so wish us luck and I'll report back tomorrow:)

One Day At Work

This is it, I work today and then tomorrow we're driving Thing 1, to the Warped Tour tomorrow by Kansas City.

We got a hotel and are coming back on Thursday. It should be quite the experience, The Date and I aren't going to the concert or anything like that but probably looking around to see what is to see.

Yesterday was spent around the house, then we went over to Witchy's house to swim for a bit with Court. After that we drove down to the park and met R and T to watch the city's fireworks show.

Got out of that and traffic and got back home around eleven. All in all a nice holiday!

Happy Birthday America!

Two hundred thirty five years ago we broke away from England and King George. America went on to become the most amazing country ever founded. Now it seems that I read reports that America is descending as the world's lone super power and it on track to become an also ran or average in a few decades.

There are entire genres of books dedicated to a post apocalyptic America, while I do read these and find myself looking at them as sort of a text book for preparation, I also firmly believe if it ever happened it would be a long ways away provided the dollar was never removed as the world's reserve currency. Then it would be a short fall into a more chaotic world.

That is something that the world doesn't really want though, they want clear leadership. They want the knight to come to their rescue when they need it. They want that knight to come from a shining city on the hill and that is America. It's very true we used to innovate everything here in this country, many things are now designed here and outsourced to other countries for production where they don't have the EPA hoops to jump through or the oppressive tax codes that prevent innovation and spur further production.

As I type this there is a debate in Congress about the debt ceiling. This debt ceiling is almost a boogieman or sorts as it is a limit Congress set upon itself not to go above. The GOP wants trillions of dollars in spending cuts while the Dems want tax hikes to fill the gaps. There is a clear standoff and it'll likely end with a compromise deal of sorts to temporarily raise the debt ceiling.

So what happened? Did the Founding Fathers foresee how far America would come? Did they see what kind of wreck our government would become, how corrupt, how singleminded it would become with partisanship?

I think they likely did. There are so many warnings in the Federalist Papers as well as specific amendments against an oppressive government to keep it in check. In many many ways the federal government has overstepped its Constitutional boundaries. It's massive now, spending more in a few hours than what our Founding Fathers had to spend in lifetimes.

Now what has evolved is that the more radical liberal Dems see the Constitution as an obstacle to be overcome or gone around while the GOP sometimes aren't any better at it. The true facts are that both sides are riddled with politicians who get elected and go on to become self serving leeches instead of servants of the people, no matter how well intentioned.

Both sides are just as bad, they both have people who benefit from backroom deals, fill bills with riders that benefit their districts, and enjoy the company of lobbyists way too much.

If I ever lost my sanity and ran for Congress the first thing I'd author and the fastest to be shot down was to replace the Congressional pension program with social security. Every single Congressman would live under the same rules they impose on everyone else, period!

No massive retirement program for servants of the people, they would then be inclined to go back to working for a living after serving and wouldn't impose rules that oppressed industry rather than using ideology as their guidelines. They would literally be servants once again as intended.

However I know that is a pipe dream as there are too many self serving politicians that would make sure the bill would never see the light of day.

America, baby we've come a long way, we've got many more good and great decades ahead of us. Yeah we're hitting a four year pothole now but hopefully we'll have lots of fiscal discipline come from this and many more good unforeseen things!

A Day With Jet

Jet and I napped, he got a bath, we played, and we got fed. He crawled on my lap, how to climb up onto the couch and almost jump off. He did jump off of the couch once, landed on his little head and rolled over onto his back.

Unfazed he trotted off to jump into his kitty cube. Jet is so tiny he frequently falls over when he isn't concentrating on walking. He gets fed about every two to three hours and takes long naps.

Yep, it's safe to say Jet and I are bonding well:) Baby Kitty is still jealous but we give her a lot of love and attention, Scotch is adjusting well enough. He likes newcomers to the family. Zip wants to play and the bunnies are oblivious.

All in all life is good.

Up Early

Teehee needs a hand this morning with his moving van so I volunteered to give him that hand and get up early on a holiday weekend. I'm awake at this time anyway so it's no big deal, might as well help him out:)

We also have a new arrival to our family of two teens, one dog, to rabbits, two cats, and now one six week old black kitten I've named Jet. He's still so small he'll knock himself over if he sneezes. I couldn't name him Rocket after my last beloved kitty but Jet is close enough.

He's having quite the difficult time right now washing his face and staying upright. Sometime today he'll get is first bath. That'll be an adventure. Cabaret was pretty good last night. I stayed for half of it, Thing 2 wanted to go home early so I took her home. I went back because there was a family onstage singing gospel and I wanted to see the rest of their set. Amazing!

My first day off was very nice, productive, and now I'm ready to tackle the second day!

Busy Day Off

I got up and edited the shoot from last week for a photographer friend this morning. I set it to music and essentially made a music video montage. It took around four hours after digitizing to sync up the clips with the music. She was happy with it when delivered but we are going to add some higher resolution pictures and double the of stills so I don't have to repeat them twice.

After that I purchased a small air conditioner for our bedroom as there are three full sized windows and two face a very hot southerly direction and bare the brunt of thermal force from the sun. It makes our bedroom very hot. I paid our bills for the week and filled up with gas and got a car wash.

Now after a busy working morning I'm going to post my blog, sign into League of Legends, and play away the afternoon on my day off, the first of a four day weekend!