The Random Dozen

1. How do you feel about "Gladiator" sandals, also called "Roman" or "Jesus" sandals? A fashion yea or nay? ~ Ok, the originator of this meme used a picture of several versions of women's shoes as an example for this question, and i am not a woman, so i am a little unsure of how to answer.  I know that they make similar sandles for me, but the picture kind of threw me.  However, i LOVE sandles and wear them whenever i have the opportunity.  I don't really care about fashion, so... i don't care.  I will wear them whenever i can. 8)

2. What is your favorite pizza? ~ Veggie.  I love mushroom, bell pepper, onion, chunks of tomatoes, and spinach on the pie.  I am not sure why really, but i am not a huge fan of meat on my pizza.

3. There are plans in the works to sell roughly 1,000 items from Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas. This means you could buy Picard's chair for your family room. If not a Star Trek item, what prop, background, set, etc. from what TV or movie would you buy if you could? ~ Wow, at first i thought, "BAH, who cares!" But then as i tried to honestly think about how to answer this questions i found that i do. LOL.  Here are a few items i would not mind adding to a collection if i had the opportunity (in no particular order):

*** The Tin Whistle and case that Captain Piccard receives after his experience in the episode The Inner Light.

*** I wouldn't mind having a small piece of a Terminator from the Sarah Connor Chronicles.

*** A unit patch from 303rd Logistics Unit would be really cool from the show The Unit.

I could probably go on and on, so... i will just wrap it up there.

4. Name a local food or restaurant that your area is famous for. ~ I work hard to not give indications of who i am, or exactly where i live in this blog, so i am not going to be very specific on this one.  There is a Mexican restaurant not too far away that has made several additions to their original building, so it looks sort of like a crazy Lego house, but the food is amazing.  Youhave to know what times are good, but pretty much anything more than 30 minutes after they open, the wait time can be out the door.

5. What is your current favorite snack? ~ Currently i enjoy taking animal crackers and using them to eat vanilla pudding.  Yum!

6. Hypothetical: You are required to be a reality show contestant. Which show would you choose based on your probability of success? (You cannot choose "none.")

A. Dancing with the Stars

B. Biggest Loser

C. Survivor

~ From the list provided i would have to select Biggest Loser because if i can devote myself to something like that i can really get into it, but to be completely honest, i would be a long shot on any of these shows.  The first show that popped into my head though was Amazing Race.  Not sure i could win, but what a lot of fun that would be.

7. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being uninhabitable and 10 being cleanliness that meets the standards of OCD, how clean is your vehicle's interior? ~ I go through seasons where i am hyper sensitive to what my car looks like, and then the pendulum swings and it looks like i am taking a load to the dump.  So, this morning it is a 3, but the range is more like 8 to 3.

8. It doesn't feel like Spring until _________. ~  I start sneezing.  Every year i get hit with alergies.  If i am not taking Zyrtec by the first week of April i am pretty much stuffed until the 4th of July weekend.

9. Something that made you laugh really hard recently is ____. ~ That is a pretty rare occurance.  I am trying to remember... i remember that it was over something completely "stupid" too... I know it was "stupid" because my beloved was looking at me like i was insane.

10. Tell me about a goal you're working toward. ~ Only one?  There is the actually finishing the plethora of books i am partially through, the fact i really would like to pursue some serious tech certifications, getting all of the tubs recaulked in my house, painting the living room.  There are so many more... the wording of the question would dictate that you are looking for just one though, so... i would really like to get through the books i start.  I enjoy reading, and i am pretty selective about the books i begin, but i will get into the book and life intervenes and i get interupted.  It may be a few days, or even a few months before i remember the book i started, which by then i have picked up and started a different book (sometimes more than one).

11. Share a thought-provoking or inspiring quote this week. ~ "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." ~ Miyomato Musashi.  This one has actually been very inspiring to me of late.  This quote above has inspired me to just focus on one step at a time until whatever it is i am doing is finished.  To not take "side trips" (or at least keep them to a minimum), and to just take the next step.  Wether it be reading a book i've been wanting to read, or to just clean up my sink in the bathroom.

12. Name one thing that you do as a parent that you absolutely know will make your kids happy. ~ I would love to have such confidence that anything i do will ultimately make my kids happy.  It feels like all i do is hinder them and cause them misery.  If you just see their faces when i am asking them to do something, or helping them with homework.

The start of a new season

Since 2 days before DS1 (my oldest) was born i have been employed with the same company. That seems to be rare in today's corporate climate. Over fourteen years with the same company. I love the company i am now leaving. They have been incredible in helping me really get on my feet career-wise. Early on they sent me to all kinds of schools, they were there for all three of my children. For the last twelve of my years in the National Guard they supported me with covering the difference in my salary during my two week deals, as well as for my entire thirteen months of active duty. So, it was sad when i found out that they had lost the contract for the agency i currently work for. I had to make some hard decisions about if it would be worth starting the mega-commute again in order to stay with them, or should i stay where i am and seek to be employed with the new contract holder. In the end, for quality of family life reasons, i chose the latter.

Now... on to my regularly scheduled rambling...

I have been having a hard time getting fingers to keyboard of late.  I really have been itching to write some more, to expound on the characters i have, but life has been conspiring against me.  A coordinated attack that even all of the pawns don't realize the role they are playing.  I have decided that my oldest character will probably become more of solitary guy... sort of like a hired role player (Doc / inventor) with the Steel Spiders.  My intent with him has always been to visualize the day to day things in the Under Hive.  My second oldest has been about to experience a serious life style shift - for about 2 months now.  No shift can occur unless i actually write about it.  Then there are the two new kids on the block.  The 1st of the two needs some tweaking in his current story arc, and the 2nd actually needs to get an introduction.  The only female lead... well, i 've got nothing for her right now... she will have to sit idle at least until something new comes up in my mind.

Yesterday my blog actually got spammed with about 15 comments from someone writing in Chinese.  When i used the Google page translator (very handy IMO) it was for a lot of things that i would rather not advertise, so i went through and deleted all of them.  I have word verification for the comments, but... didn't seem to work.  I really don't want to have to personally verify each and every comment that gets added... but if it happens again i might just change my mind.

My mind has been so random of late that i have three unpublished blog entries filled with notes for future blogs, and i haven't even touched one of them for today (yet)! I have one for TRON, one of just one line entries, and one i've been working on regarding my thoughts on God's sovereignty and man's free will.  Ok, i will take two from my "one-liners" and call it a day for today...

The first is Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers has declared that he doesn't want to be "The Man" anymore. (A good ESPN article regarding this)  Some may see this as a weakness in a professional sports player, but i see this as a man willing to set his personal pride aside to better serve the team.  He is recognizing that he is getting older, and while he has not "slipped" all that much, he is not recovering from the weekly aches and bruises as he used to, nor is he going to be able to maintain that top speed for many more years.  This serves as a notice to the Panthers that they can't keep doing the things they have in regards to the Wide Receiver position by not really having two complimentary receivers out there.  #89 has been the man, and i sincerely they do get a #1 to replace him.  I really want to see Steve Smith retire with a Panthers jersey on.  I feel he has earned that.

I will end today's blog with my favorite episode from Star Trek: The Next Generation.  Back when my beloved and i were "just" dating we would go to a weekly "hanging out" with "KEG's" family to watch Star Trek TNG.  She was hooked on the one where the Enterprise kept looping back through time and had Kelsey Grammer as the Captain of the ship that they keep "bumping" into.  But favorite is The Inner Light from season 5.  This is the episode where Captain Picard is affected by a drifting Space Probe and he finds himself living the life of a man on a dying planet.  I have tried to figure out what it is about this episode that appeals to me beyond the fact that Picard begins playing a tin-whistle-like instrument.  It has been a personal desire of mine to learn and play like that.  Just what i need... something more to take up my abundant free time... but just like a former employer used to say - free time will not schedule itself.

Music Monday - Wednesday Edition

Today is getting off to a pretty good start. Around Midnight last night my beloved woke me up (i hadn't been asleep all that long). She needed to communicate something that was important to her, and i am glad that she did. I know i need to work on my communication skills and fortunately this was not one of those "intense times of fellowship". Afterwards there was a 'gentle' thunderstorm rolling through our area... which was really cool. After she fell asleep i stared out the window, prayed a little, until i fell asleep. Then this morning i dragged my sorry fore-quarter-contact out of the sack and headed over to the gym. Now, i haven't been in over six months (sarcastic comments welcome, and expected), but it feels great. I've added ten minutes on the elliptical to replace running because this old soldier's knees can't take the pounding, and there may actually be some old "war" wounds in there. For example, i have no problem with the leg press and knee bends (where the resistance is bending the knee), but on the leg extentions i can only do about 10-15 pounds... and on the leg press and the leg extension i have to do each leg individually. But to end this portion with an ADD moment... i got to work and started a pitcher of ice-tea... only i failed to remember to put the tea bags in as i was distracted because i was refilling ice trays. LOL Ok, on to the music portion of my Wednesday edition of music Monday... I think i may have found a new music group to slip into my top ten, maybe top five, favorite bands ~ Gaelic Storm. Yesterday, while i was listening to Pandora (only the greatest thing since sliced bread) an instrumental "duel" between a fiddle (violin) and bagpipes came on and grabbed my attention. The title of the song? Samurai Set! I mean come on! Gaelic (Irish Folk Music) Storm (i love thunderstorms!) - Samurai Set (Really? Do i need to explain this one?) - Fiddle Playin', Bag Pipes, Irish Whistle... can it get any better!?! Well, at least for me. 8) Here is a You Tube video of the song i am mentioning here... I am still checking out their other songs to see if i will really move these guys into my Fave 5. *chuckle*, but so far i like their music. Oh, and on a side note... they performed some of the songs for the movie Titanic. Ok, some past due venting here... The Unit was canceled! What's the deal with that! I know all shows eventually come to an end, but i thought the shows wrapped up fairly well. Well, except for Molly Leaving Jonas! Major bummer there, but then i've heard that the divorce rate in spec-ops units is pretty high. There is a joke that you can't get promoted beyond a certain pay grade unless you've been divorced at least once. Well, that's all i put down to ramble about for today. God bless...

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I've never been one to 'imbibe'. Well, at least not in the traditional sense. Growing up, St. Patrick's Day was an excuse for my mother to leave me and my brother at home while she went out to her favorite local 'watering hole'. (We had a whole system worked out answering doors or telephones) Later on she would take us and i got to see what so many other people "saw" in the day. To be honest - i still don't "get it". Just like i don't "get" Mardi Gras. Over time though, i seem to have developed an appreciation for various cultural things that are from Ireland. I know that some of the things are probably commercialized and not true representations, but things like River Dance and the Irish Whistle captivate me. I really enjoy the rhythms of Celtic Music. I appreciate the art and symbolism incorporated into the Celtic Cross (just one example above). I am not Irish myself. I am an American mutt. I am part Native American, part English, part French, and who knows what else. Not enough of any one heritage to 'claim' as my own, but my beloved and her family are most definitely Irish, so we enjoy celebrating the day. Although there is not much known for certain concerning the man i took some time to research him on the internet. I will not go into detail, but he was thought highly enough of to be made a 'Saint' by the Catholic church. A funny story comes to mind - sort of related... When my mom passed away back in 2000 i spent a few weeks with my brother and his family. The second weekend i was there things were kind of wearing on both of our families. We were staying at his house, our mother's health, etc. was starting to take it's toll. I remembered that mom loved to go to Kevin Barry's Pub, and that we had all gone as a family the last time we were together and everyone was healthy. They served great food, and happened to have some great live music! We arranged for the kids to be watched while we all went out to eat and enjoy some music. My brother refrained from ordering beer because he thought we were "uptight" Christians. Well, eventually my beloved did order a Killian's Irish Red - her favorite. You would have thought that the flood gates were opened because my brother then began to order the same. Long story short, your author here was the designated driver and after enjoying a great meal, a full set of music, as well as who knows how many round we left. Now my brother lived on an Island in the middle of the Savannah River and the road was kind of 'twisty'. Not Alpine like, but you get the idea. Soon everyone was awake in the car (again), but the fog was thick and i was having trouble seeing where the driveway was. From the back seat i hear, "stop the car". I need to comment here that at that point in my life i had never experienced either the party scene of college nor the Army, so i did not understand the urgency. I was not parked, i was in the middle of a dark road on a foggy night. Not an ideal place to stop the car (despite the road being on a island of maybe 100 residents at 1:30 in the morning). Again, from the back seat, "stop the car". At this point my beloved bails out, opens the back door for my brother's wife, and flees to the side of the road. I think most, if not all, of my readers know what came next. My poor brother was not able to open the door or the window from the inside as they did not work for either door in the backseat. The poor guy was trapped. Fortunately, not five more meters up the road was the driveway. The next day my brother was shuffling around his house looking for his checkbook. I enjoyed telling him that i thought i saw it on the floor in the back of his car. Sick, i know. My beloved still enjoys telling that story. Despite how it ended that night is a very pleasant memory from an unhappy time in my life. Anyway... i am looking forward to my beloved's corn beef and cabbage dinner! My mouth actually just watered...