Revolutionary War Comes Alive!

If you look really hard you can find OhPrincess1

Let Us Remember - Hope & Change

Let me confess. For the first time in my adult life, I did not vote for a Democrat running for president. This was the 6th time I've cast a ballot for the office of president and the first time I didn't vote for a Democrat.

I heard the message of hope. There just wasn't enough plan there for me. Lots of sizzle and Mr. Obama is one of the greatest public speakers I've ever heard, but I just didn't see how he could institute all of his plans without an economically devastating tax plan.

That doesn't mean I was overly impressed with any other candidate.

I watched the tellie last night. OhCountess had it tuned to an NBC affiliate so we could also watch the local returns. I was shocked at how emotional the broadcasters got. I watched the crowds celebrate as if we'd been liberated from a dictator.

Today, I was called a racist since I didn't vote for Obama. Apparently, a vote for any other candidate meant you must be a racist. I hope this isn't where are nation is heading.

I've watched as the Obama supporters have gloated and disrespected John McCain. This has saddened me to no end. How petty of winners are the Obama supporters going to be? I thought this was the campaign for hope and unity?

During the Clinton administration, a great change occurred and the Republicans regained control of the House and the Senate. They celebrated and gloated and squandered every opportunity they had for fundamental change. Instead of doing good with their power, they chose to waste countless years attacking Clinton and eventually impeaching him. I fear the same thing will happen again (hopefully with far less stuff on dresses)

I'm a moderate. Somewhere between a Democrat, Republican and a Libertarian. I tend to be extremely fiscally conservative. History has taught us that when attempting to right an economy that is turmoil, raising taxes is devastating. That was my main issue this time. Cut spending. Cut waste, get job creation going again. It's as simple as that.

I'm very proud of our nation. We elected a man of color into the highest office in the land. I look forward to a day when that doesn't even matter and isn't even mentioned. Although I could never vote for a Green Bay Packer Fan...those guys are nuts. I hope that he can live up to his own hype. Frankly, I'm not sure I can understand the hysteria. I haven't really seen him do anything yet. Like I said, he's a great, and I mean one of the truly great, public speakers, but he's really not DONE anything yet. I hope he does. I fear the let down could be devastating if he doesn't live up to the hype.

My guess, I've offended someone in the last 24 hours by not understanding. I'm really a wait and see guy. I'll be waiting and seeing but fear what might happen if there is disappointment. I think there were a lot of people that voted for anybody that wasn't even remotely close to George W. Bush. He will probably go down as the worst president in history. I never voted for him, I've never thought he was fit to lead, but I also tried to keep in mind that his presidency will end in January, no matter who is elected president.

I hope that we as a nation move on and move on quickly. I also hope we don't repeat the mistakes of the past and get spiteful and vindictive. This isn't the time to be dwelling on what has gone wrong in the past and who screwed who. We have very serious problems that will require very serious answers. Pragmatism.

Lord I hope this is my last political post for a while. I miss being a smart ass.

Make This Your Election Headquarters

Seems this humble blogger will be providing election results for those interested following them.


Update:
I'm at poker league. I'm catching cards. D'oh! Looks like my crack crew has updated the map. Way to go! If I hear or see anything here at the bar, you will be the first to know!

7:57 pm: no political talk at the tables. Consensus is the election was today.

10:03 pm: I made it home. I'm watching NBC news. Tom Brokaw is emotional. Obama has been declared a the winner.

I saw this tonight and became immediately frightened. Do we honestly have expectations of this president that we won't have to worry about paying or mortgage or putting gas in our cars?



I really don't understand this.

10:14 pm: Why did I not cry? For me, this election was a very difficult choice. I'm actually more afraid of what might happen to our nation if the congress goes filabuster proof and everything is controlled by one party. Absolute power for one party? Seriously. That frightens me more then anything. The Republicans had that a few years ago. It was a disaster.

10:19 - We missed the SNL Election Bash last night. We are switching to it. I can't stand listening to the news broadcasters cry. Yikes.

11:09 - OhCountess fell asleep. I'm watching Obama's acceptance speech. One truly great thing about the next 4 years. Obama can speak. 8 years of one the worst public speakers has been tough for this speech coach to endure.

11:19 - Could the NBC news guys gush any more? Holy crap! You'd think we just landed on the moon again. Obama has been president-elect for about 1 hour. I don't see one thing fixed :-)

11:26 - Going to bed. Election coverage has gotten annoying. I really want to know how the Coleman / Franken race is going and the constitutional amendment to cap environmental spending. Let's hope Obama can live up to the hype. I fear a let down and what that will do. In case you are wondering, this has pretty much been a flow of conscientiousness. I'm exhausted. These views may not represent the views of the author or has brain.

I'm going to let all of this sink in and evaluate the events of the day. For those wondering, I'm neither disappointed nor angry. My feelings about either candidate are difficult to express. I also hope to return to the regularly scheduled program ASAP. I am really disappointed the Tina Fey is going to not really be needed very soon. Sara Palin (uff) will quickly slithering back into the woods.

My Office Election Results!

We took a very formal poll here at the office.

I'm sure these exit polls will be coming fast and furious. I'll be covering the election live on this blog as long I'm able to. The power of the press can easily be repressed though by da wife, da kids or I'm dealt really rockin' cards tonight at poker league.

Here are the results from my office:

McCain / Palin : 13

Obama / Biden : 6

Get the hell out of my office! / What are you talking about : 4

The Deed Is Done

I voted. Did you?

2 days until the election

[WARNING: This post got much longer then I anticipated. It might piss you off. Sorry about that, but then again, it's my party and I'll cry if I want to. Cry if I want to. Cr...never mind. One last post. Father Of Five - I'm posting my pictures of my crib tomorrow night...don't let me forget. Kat has asked me to guest post! November 21st is my day...oh crap! I left the oven on...enjoy!]

When I was in college, the first time, and even in high school I was seriously the biggest geek weirdo on the planet liked to study things like logic and rhetoric. Even for a while in college, I was completely fascinated by anthropology. What in the name of Sam Hill was a late teen/early twentysomething doing studying this stuff?

I don't understand people. Never have. I don't get how people think but I figured if I studied this stuff, I might someday understand where other people are coming from.

What I do understand is logic, reasoning and that absolutely nothing is unrelated. In my universe, there is nothing but shades of grey...oh yeah! Shades of grey.

This political season has brought something together in my head that I had never really seemed to fully grasp before. People will congregate around other people that they perceive as being similar to themselves.

My two undecided posts came with some really great comments. People really tried to explain their reasons in a positive light. Some even gave me sites to visit. Being the follow through blogger guy that I am, I actually followed the links (thank you for not sending me porn / spam / phishing / nefarious links. (a little porn would be fine)

The links sent were to sites that shared the views or ideas of the people that sent them. This has often made me wonder if people seek out these links to validate their ideas or do they go to them and get persuaded. It's probably a little of both.

I spend much of my time researching issues by first finding out what the relative terms mean and the doing searches based on those terms looking for research and findings on those terms and then cross checking them with various sites to see what all the sides are saying. I like to pay particular attention to the rhetoric used. Good lord. Can you find a bigger geek?

Wikipedia (I'm seeing a trend here) defines rhetoric as:

Rhetoric (from Greek , rhêtôr, orator, teacher) is generally understood to be the art (Latin) or technique (Greek) of persuasion through the use of oral, visual, or written language. A rhetorical question is a question which is asked to have a persuasive effect, rather than to elicit an answer.

If you pay particular attention to the terms and general tone of a particular presentation of information, you can begin to understand what the presenter is trying to help you believe.

For the last 8 years, the Republicans have been using fear to persuade the people. Reminding us that there hasn't been another terrorist attack since Bush got things under control. Never mind that several (think most) previous presidents could easily make the same claim. (Also note that 9-11 came on his watch...just sayin)

The Democrats came out of the blocks this year and rode the fatigue that this method has left us in and promised "change". That can be quite convincing. People are really tired of being afraid. They want hope.

I will never be a card carrying liberal Democrat. I love life without taxes. I believe people need to work and work hard. I strongly believe that the government can not and will not ever be able to solve our problems. Buuutttt.....I do believe that government should stay out of our lives and let us make our own decisions about who we live with and who we love.

I will never be a card carrying conservative Republican. I love life without morals being shoved down my throat. I'm not now and never will be an evangelical who believes the world was created on November 12, 1800 b.c. (no, it's true. I don't think it's wrong to teach evolution...shhhh...don't tell the PTA). Buuutttt...I do believe in a world of smaller government. Lower taxes. Far fewer social programs and a free market system where hard work is rewarded and sloth is punished.

So our two party system has left me screwed. I know, I know, we have more then two parties, but lets understand something. Most of the lemming that live in our country don't hear the other parties. I enjoyed our brief brush with Governor Ventura. Maybe someday we can have a 3rd party candidate with enough legs to make a run. This year...not so much.

On one of the links given to me, it was pointed out that the party of hope and nice messages was the Democrats. UppercaseWoman (you can call her Tori) shares some writing of another blog she reads that she thinks sums up her view perfectly. She summarizes:

Sarah L. just reminded me of this great blog written by two best friends of 60 years and I think their most recent entry sums it up brilliantly:

Which party has been screaming terrorist, socialist, Marxist, murder him and kill him… and which party has been talking about hope and unity.

Which party has been throwing everything but the kitchen sink at you everyday for the past two weeks hoping to scare you into thinking that there is an Un-American part of the country… and which party has been saying that there is no red America and no blue America but only the United States of America.

Which party thinks war is the answer to everything… and which party has suggested that maybe we need to sit down and talk this out to see if peace is possible.

I fully understand this sentiment. I'm not buying this whole scary rhetoric that we've been spoon fed these last few years. Creating ghosts in our closet and showing undue linking of events to perpetuate of myth is a Fallacy of necessity.

But, studying the ads from the Democrats shows that even they aren't free of this. In our local elections here, many of the Democratic ads attempt to scare you into believing that all the bads of the world will continue if you don't vote for their guy. Huh? I could have sworn that Bush's term ends in January of 2009. Have the Democrats had the power of Congress for the last 2 years? You mean to tell me that they couldn't do anything? Pffttt....

In the race for our open U.S. Senate seat. We see Norm Coleman (R-MN) as the incumbent vs. Al Franken (D-CA). You know, the actor/writer/talk show host. Ya...that Al Franken. His ads against Coleman have been all about fear and the corruption of Norm Coleman. Ya, I know he paid the back taxes in the states, that is true, but it is also true that his books weren't exactly clean either. He paid back taxes on taxes he didn't realize he needed to pay. It's weird how you can always spin issues...ain't it.

Anywho, why I mention this is last week I actually got a call from the Democrats hoping to persuade my vote. I'm always polite when I answer the phone, unless of course you violate my "No calls unless you are in the emergency room or with a coroner after 9pm" rule. Then I'm rude. Since both parties are so far doing everything possible to piss me off, this exchange did not really endear me to the party of the donkey.

Caller: Have you decided who are voting for this election?
OhCaptain: Well, I'm still undecided for president, but I'm pretty sure I'll be voting for Coleman in the Senate.
Caller: Why aren't you voting for Franken?
OhCaptain: I gotta be honest. I didn't really care for his views on his radio show and I figure he's nothing more then a celebrity candidate that has no idea about Minnesota. His campaign reminds me a lot of Hilary running in New York.
Caller: You know Coleman is not from MN.
OhCaptain: (thinking "nice change of direction...but that's not we ain't talking about Coleman...are we) how long has it been since Franken really lived in MN? Sure he grew up here, but the was 30 years ago. Seems to me it's possible things have changed since then. Besides, did you ever listen to his radio show?
Caller: You know he's the candidate for change.
OhCaptain: (for the love of all things reasonable...can YOU answer the dang question?) I've heard that. What does he plan to do to help us find a solution to our railroad problem here in Rochester?
Caller: So, why aren't you voting for Obama?
OhCaptain: I didn't say I wasn't voting for Obama. I said I was undecided on the presidential race but knew for sure I wouldn't vote for Franken. Is it OK if I don't necessarily vote a straight ticket? (I seriously doubt this person even knew it was possible to not vote a straight ticket...do you know what a straight ticket is?)
Caller: Well, we'd like your support next Tuesday. Thank you for your time. [click]

Well, that couldn't have gone much worse. Now, not only am I undecided, but I'm more pissed off then I was before. I was really starting to think their might be some hope. It struck me that this lady could not comprehend the idea that it was possible for someone to not be a party person. I don't find any of the major or minor parties match up with my beliefs. Each and every year, I struggle to find the candidate that pisses me off the least. Each party has a plank on their platform that I feel very strongly about and each party has a plank on their platform that I find patently offensive.

Someday. I hope we elect a candidate that understands the concept of pragmatism. That does what is best for our nation as a whole. A candidate that can set aside his own beliefs to do the right thing. I yearn for the day when the politician can tell his party that they are wrong. Logic and reason are good things.

And I just blew any chance of this blog being labeled "humorous". Crap. Did you read this far? I suppose the title of this blog does say "The life and thoughts of a Midwest geek." These are my thoughts....:-P Now, in comments, I leave it up to you. The reader. The person that's wondering if they can get the last 5 minutes back. The answer is no. But thanks for playing. Complain in the comments. Gush in the comments. Don't hesitate to look at pictures of my kids and say things like "they are so cute/adorable/up to something evil".

Obama or McCain or ??? - Part II

Wow. Thank you very much for all your feedback on my last undecided post. I created that post with a pretty clear agenda and the hopes to join in the discussion. If you are a person that has to have your life neat and orderly, be sure to stay single and childless. Once you are married with kids, everything changes.

Seems OhPrincess1 (soon to be known as OhPrincess-Living-In-the-Dog-House) has gone A.W.O.L. on doing some homework assignments. Remember my little rant about personal responsibility...we are working on those lessons...again. Film at 11.

OhCountess has been pretty much bedridden since Monday night with some really bizarre pain in her shoulder blade. Doctors, which I will someday explain my why I believe biology and medicine aren't really sciences...another post, have done little for this other then give her pills to help her sleep. W00t! W00t! I ain't impressed. She's now doped up and in pain...thanks.

Now - why are we here? Oh yeah, we vote on Tuesday of next week. Yes. If you are a U.S. citizen and not a felon, you HAVE to vote. I firmly believe that you should never utter a complaint about anything if you don't vote. You should shut the hell up and get what you got coming. If you voted for the other guy...complain all day. You are entitled.

I've rewritten this post probably 5 times now. The more I write about one subject, the more I just rant and rant an rant. I think I will be doing follow ups on the different topics I've started and scrapped here.

As cheer_dad suggested, I took the quiz over at Glassbooth.org. I gotta tell ya, I was more then a little surprised by the results. I've always considered myself a little 'l' libertarian. I think the best role of government is to stay out of the way of the people. As V said in the movie V for Vendetta, "The people should not fear the government, the government should fear the people."

My results from the survey were that I most matched Cynthia McKinney of the Green Party, but not by much. You see, it was a 20 point swing from the top to the bottom of my matching. My top match only matched me at 68% and my least match was John McCain at 45%. I always thought my political philosophy was simple, but apparently I'm alone.

I think what I've discovered over this process is that party politics will probably never be in my future. There are just some issues I feel very strongly about and each party offends one of them. I'm pro-choice, but for free market capitalism. I think consumers should drive the environmental movement. Basically, I like my government really small and unobtrusive. When I finally do share all of my opinions on the subjects, I will have offended each and every one of you.

I wrote the last piece with a particular goal in mind. I had hoped that people reading and responding would see just how difficult it is to discuss the positives of the candidate. So many people are voting for one candidate because he's not the other guy. This is a terrible problem and an even bigger mistake.

Our mission as citizens should be to elect the best possible candidates. I know people that will vote the straight ticket. I've never understood this. Why? Why do you do this?

So, where does this leave me? I have no idea who I'm voting for next Tuesday.

A really appreciate everyone's thoughts on this.

Real post coming soon! It's a contest!

I'm currently in the process of finding the time to write part two of Obama or McCain finalizing OMG that was funny part two of Obama or McCain and I really need to apologize for not getting back to that topic or really even posting in the last week. If anyone has seen the time I'm missing, please return ASAP. I missed it.

Back to the reason for this particular post. It's a short topic. If you are in reader, click through and look at my blog design...you like it? OK...now click through to my poker site...pretty neat look if I do say so myself. Well, I had nothing to do with them. They are the work of a fabulous blog designer named Nap Warder. She's a SAHM that does blog design and graphic arts cause she likes too.

She running a give away RIGHT NOW! Click this link for more details and enter. Her blog chronicles her life as a SAHM (stay at home mom...geez) and wife living in the Big City. She loses me on the Sex and the City talk but her run stories and her battles with the nannies are legendary! Check it out! Now. You know you want a blog redesign...

Almost there!

Wow. I barely remember the price of gas being this low!

This photo was taken today in Red Wing, MN.

Punpkin Patch Day

Every year we take the kids to the pumpkin patch. Today is the day!

Obama or McCain or ???

I've been sitting this election out from the comment side, but this is "the life and thoughts of a Midwest geek."

Most of my friends attempt to pigeon hole me politically. My conservative friends call me a liberal and my liberal friends call me a conservative. I tend to think of myself as a little l libertarian.

I'm finding this election season very disappointing. The partisanship is extra rhetorical much of the talk from either side is just...[holding back bad words].

I'd like to pose a challenge to those of you that are decided in your candidate. I'm still a bit undecided on a candidate and need your help. I'd like to know why I should vote for your candidate of choice, but I do have some rules.

1. At no time can you give a reason FOR your candidate is because he's NOT the other guy.
2. A reason for your candidate can NOT be a bad thing about the other candidate.
3. Please describe for me the plan, in detail. I don't want to hear, "He's gonna fix social security" or "He's going to cut taxes" - Hell, I can say that...can I be prez?
4. If you have supporting details...share them! MoveOn.org and Rush Limbaugh are NOT sources accepted...let's be real here. I like sources that aren't, by definition, slanted.
5. If you get uncivilized in your comment...you will be deleted. If you link to a post (perfectly acceptable response to this challenge) and that post is distasteful, you will be deleted. Name calling will not be tolerated. Please refer to here and here and here.

So there you have it. This is your chance to help me become less undecided. As you can tell, I want to make my decision based on who is ACTUALLY the best candidate. I like logic and reason. I'm a pragmatist and I vote.

Saturdays With Dad: Now with pictures!

For the last 12 years, OhCountess has been an angel of mercy, working as a Registered Nurse. You will never find a profession that deserves more respect. As the significant other of an RN. I've learned that one of the sacrifices I'd learn to live with is that every other Saturday, my wife works; 26 weekends a year.

The title of the post describes a topic I should write about much more often. Every other Saturdays, for me as a dad, our sometimes an opportunity to spend quality time with my daughters in my way. Every other Saturday...it's Daddy Time.

Yesterday was one of the other Saturdays. Mom was at work. As is typical for my girls, they were up and Adam at 6:30 am. A bit early for me on a Saturday, but that's life in the fast lane.

OhPrincess1 came to me with a question. She wanted to know if we had plans for the day because there was something she wanted to do. I'll be honest, I had no plans for the day so a suggestion sounded like a great idea. OhPricncess1 asked if today, we could make something in her Easy Bake Oven.
What a fantastic idea!

Step 1:  Clean the kitchen1. I don't know how many people are like me, but before I START cooking, I clean the kitchen. I love counter space and I want all of it available. I also used this is a carrot. You wanna Easy Bake...well we can't start until things get cleaned. I think we done good.Step 2: Pick out the project and get organized! OhPrincess1 picked the Cinnabon. Well why not? It was brunch time. She did a great job setting everything out and getting it organized. And note how nice it is when the counter is clean...just sayin...

Step3: Add water and mix. I'm just not sure that the bowl that comes with the Easy Bake Oven is really big enough. It was almost impossible to keep the dough in the bowl and what is with that stir thingy with the pan pusher on the end? Seriously...who designed this thing!

Step 3: Talk on the phone. Is this a genetic thing? Baking gets start, the phone rings and chatting begins. It's got to be a girl thing I just don't understand.


The dough was looking pretty darn good. Nice and smooth. You have to wonder though how anyone expects this to feed a family of four.
We just didn't think that the full size rolling pin was going to work. Look at it. That's like 200 times more rolling pin then we need. I firmly believe that you should always use the right tool for the job. OhPrincess found the rolling pin that came with a toy baking set they had. PERFECTION!

OhPrincess1 proudly loads her culinary creation into the oven. Honestly, this was about as much fun as I've had in a very long time. Just look at that face! She was so thrilled.

Waiting for these things to bake is probably the most drawn out cooking experience EVER! We did an experiment to see if it was true in this case. You know how "a watched pot never boils"...well a watched batch of cinnamon rolls still takes 14 minutes no matter how much staring you do.

While we waited for the first batch to bake, OhPrincess2 wanted to take a crack at this. We got her going on the dough trying desperately to keep a majority of the dry ingredients in the bowel. If you ever need to replace a power mixer, just use a 5 year old. Same result.

 
We got the dough mix, rolled, sprayed with cooking spray (can we just say Pam), covered in cinnamon and sugar and cut into Fourths (great opportunity to practice our fractions...don'tcha thing?

This time, we even remember to spray the pan. We didn't want a repeat of the Great Stuck Cake incident of '07. [shivers]
The first batch was done while just after we got done mixing the second batch. We quickly discovered the waiting for the 15 minutes of cool down time isn't
improved by staring either. Although OhPrincess2 was quite taken by cleaning the counter.

Eventually, we got the frosting mixed and the package reread while waiting for the first batch to cool and the second batch to bake.

The time went DING! OhPrincess was really excited. She was very proud of her hard work.
I couldn't blame her. They turned out GREAT. Apparently, my aggressive movements towards the tasty treats was unwelcome. She defended those things like French defend Paris.  Just kidding. She did a good job and I never got one.

With that crazy stir/spreader/pan pushing thing, she covered our little nuggets of goodness with sugary slurry.

All that was left for her to do was sample these little morsels.

The verdict was - AWESOME!

OhPrincess2 got join in the waiting fun. They were baked, but how do you explain to a 5 year old that until the red sticker turns something other then red...we don't touch. 

Eventually, they were cool enough. We learned a valuable lesson with the first ones. Spreading with that multi-tasker wasn't nearly as much fun as just dunking these things in the sugar stuff.

After all was said and done. We had a blast. I grew up in a family with 3 out of the 4 members were boys. I really never had an opportunity to do fun things like this. The Easy Bake Oven was just something boys didn't do. Too bad.

Haven't seen this in a while

Check out the gas price...

Stories from my youth - Part 1

I got the idea from BusyDad when sharing a story with him about stupid things kids do. He made a really interesting observation...wouldn't that make an interesting blog post. You know...it would.

Stories From Youth - Part 1

Back in high school, I really was a geek. I loved science and math. Only the truly geeky really signed up for things like "The Science Olympiad." I jumped at the chance!

The best and the brightest geeks from my school participated in a one day olympiad that featured many interesting competitions in many science disciplines. I seemed to excel in events that were multi-disciplined and required a certain amount of coordination.

But this isn't why I'm writing this. You see the reason I am sharing this with you is to teach you that while a teenager maybe capable of getting straight A's in school, scoring nearly a perfect score on both the SAT and the ACT, a teenage boy is, in the end, still just a teenage boy.

A member of our team and a future top 10 graduate demonstrated to the entire group just to what level of stupidity any teenage boy is capable of reaching. In a moment of sheer boredom, he whips open a pixie stick that he had in his bag, tears off the end and empties the contents into a pile on the tray attached to the stadium seats, grabs a card from his wallet and proceeds to turn the pile of sugar and citric acid in to long lines.

Yes folks, this future All-American scholar snorted the contents of his pixie stick up his nose.

After several minutes of shaking and his eyes producing copious amounts of tears - he gains control and says to the people around him "Oh crap, that burns."

Never underestimate the level of stupidity that can be reached by any teenage boy.

4 Generations

You don't get to see this everyday. Here is the complete progeny of my grandparents, Francis "Red" and Nellie OhCaptain (name changed to protect the related). All 4 generations of surviving relation all in one picture. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Jinkies! Um, wow. Thank You!

Twice in one week. I'm truly humbled and honored to be appreciated like this. Tismee2 (Gail) from over at Squared Off presented me with this award. It's my honor to make you smile :-)

Check out her blog. I look forward to finding her posts in my reader. She's a geek like me and writes about whatever she wants...how cool is that?

Thank you very much!

---

I'll be going through my photos from this weekend. My cousin got married in a small southwest Minnesota town. I'm not sure why it is, but putting me in a church at a wedding just gets my camera trigger finger just a twitchin. One picture I'm really excited about and not for it's artistic qualities but for something that can be extremely rare. We took a picture of all the living decendents of my grandparents. Not that the family is really that huge, but everyone all together just never seems to happen.

Peek-a-boo!

OhCaptain & family are hanging out at my cousin's wedding. Have I ever
mentioned that I only have 5 first cousins...total?

There's a first for everything!

Out of the ashes of my beloved Minnesota Twins season, arose a phoenix.

As far as I know, not once in the 5 years of this blog have I ever received an award.

Kat over at 3 Bedroom Bungalow presented me with the "Hooked on Your Blog" Award! Thank you very much!

I really should spread the love, and will do it soon. Right now, I'm working on recovering from last night's Twins game and watching my 403B shrink faster then my poker bankroll...

Thanks again Kat! I really am truly honored and humbled.

Spending the day with my oldest daughter

Sunday was a very special day for me as a dad. I got the rare privilege of spending the day with my oldest daughter, just the two of us, enjoying the Minnesota Twins guarantee that the Chicago White Sox would have to prove on the field that they deserved to be Central Division Champs.

We were joined by my good friend BiggTree and his oldest son. We'd been hoping to get together to watch a game like this all summer. Nothing like waiting until the last minute...right?

The game went great. On the way to the game, my daughter asked me about yelling. Her little sister has been getting into a log of trouble for screaming lately. This is one of those awkward rules where you are really trying to teach the idea of appropriate behavior. While it is in appropriate to run into Mom & Dad's room at 6 AM on  Saturday screaming at the top of your lungs, when the Twins are winning and you are at the game and there are runners in scoring position, Daddy has no problem with you yelling. In fact, I told her, "Dad is really hoping that on the ride home my throat hurts from yelling."

"OK. So I can yell then?" she asks.

"I wouldn't want it any other way honey."

One of my goals for this game, other then a Twins victory at the expense of my vocal cords was to start teach my daughter how to score a baseball game.

We had arrived at the game a tad bit later then I had hoped. Dad, in his excitement had only checked the date number on the tickets. In my haste I had assumed that the two back tickets in our box would be for the same game. Silly me. Someone had shuffled the one side. I grabbed at ticket for Sunday September 28 and on for June 28th. Son of Julius Goat.

No matter, they had me on file and issued a new ticket, we just had fair less time to set up our scorecards then I'd like.

My little girl and I scored the first 3 innings. I figured this wasn't too bad. We had fun doing it, but the excitement of the game took over...that and a need for ice cream served in a mini-helmet. My goodness is that good.  Weird huh?

My beloved Twins finished the season with a shutout of the Kansas City Royals. A most exciting game, but I truly believe that KC has mastered the art of Advanced Losing. They performed mistakes you don't normally see at this level of baseball. One out, man on second, routine fly ball. My poor Twins were besides themselves. The runner at second had run home. With a quick tag of second base the inning was over. My little league coach would have killed anyone doing something that stupid. No, seriously...that's a little league mistake.

We share the day together. We laughed, we cheered, we hi-5ed. We even jumped up and down and in the end we walked out. Huge smiles on our face. We even got to see someone propose on the Kiss Cam! Man...now there is a guy that knows how to seize a moment. (I'm not kidding, during the kiss cam, a guy whipped out the box when he and his girl were in the heart...Nice thinking dude! Inspiring to think he realized that at that moment, he needed to call an audible and just get it done. Bravo!)

My day with my daughter wasn't quite done. We still had a long drive home. Mom asked to stop for dinner which sounded like a great idea. My wife is a wonderful person, I love her dearly, she just doesn't like to mix up her fast food. She's a die hard McD's fan. I'm a man that likes to do something different. I took my daughter to Burger King for her first time. When we got home, OhPrincess asked OhCountess when we could go to Burger King as a family, seems there burgers are different the McD's. I just smiled as OhCountess rolled her eyes. Yep, Dad pulled an end around.

I capped off my day tucking in my most precious girls. OhPrincess2 wanted to know when she would get to go to a baseball game with Dad. She needs to wait until next year. I just think she's too little this year for Dad to take her to the stadium by myself. She's too little to go to the bathroom by herself, but I don't think I could ever bring her to the men's room. OhPrincess gave me the biggest hug ever and thanked me. I almost cried.

Honey, no need to thank me. I need to thank you. What a perfect day.

PS. Please keep in mind that tonight, the Twins will be playing the White Sox in a one game playoff. This is a big game. If you aren't hospitalized or with someone that is hospitalized or in urgent need of serious medical attention - I don't care. You can call me tomorrow. Seriously folks, it's that important. I don't want your credit card, your survey, or hear about your plantars wart. Anyone trying to interupt will be shot on sight. May the best team from Minnesota win :-P

Stand up & shout!

Joe Nathan enters the game bottom of 9. Twins lead 6-0.

Can you feel the excitement?

Game on!

Something to think about - Attitude

I'm really sorry I haven't had much time at all to post. My photoblog has been very busy lately. I've been posting my favorite pictures from my first paid photography gig. The weight loss plan is moving forward nicely. I've been working out regularly and making MUCH better choices of food. The blog is up, but no one from my family is updating it but me. I need to get a regular update schedule for it.

In case you aren't paying attention...the Minnesota Twins are making a run for it. Last night's game ROCKED! To be in the post season will probably be another kick to the schedule that I'd gladly take...sorry Twins before blogging...unless there is a lot of Twins updates :-)

I've had a lot of our lives unchronicled here. So many things to share and so little time to share them. Even today, I'm sharing something I didn't write, but was quite moved by it.

Yesterday, in our weekly team meeting, our team lead wanted to share something with us. He reads it every year to the girls swim team he coaches. I'm going to cross post this to most of my other blogs, you were warned. Source unknown.

ATTITUDE

Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Michael was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

Michael replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood." Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.

"Yes, it is," Michael said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood.  You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life."

I reflected on what Michael said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Michael was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

"The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter," Michael replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Michael continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Michael. "She asked if I was allergic to anything.’Yes, I replied.' The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity'."

Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude... I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:34.

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

As tough as it is, I choose to have a good day today. What do you choose for today?

One Boy Scout

A boy scout contacted the city and was given this project. More later
but wow.

The Greatest Gift

[Steps on soapbox]

When I think about whats involved in raising a child, I wonder how many parents have forgotten the goal of parenting. It's not to provide the greats toys or the most elaborate memories. Raising a child isn't about finding a way to always be their best friend. The whole purpose for raising a child is to teach the child how to live on their own.

I know, I know. That's shocking. How can I think of such a terrible thing? It's true. I hope and pray every day that my children grow up to be successful INDEPENDENT woman.

My wife and I strive everyday to teach our children personal resposibility and self reliance. Why? Because when they are adults, those are the two skills they will need most.

Too many parents these days try extremely hard to be their kids best friend. I watched Mom pick up her son at our daughters daycare. The daycare provider explained how the child had spent most of the day in time-out and their behavior was completely unacceptable. How did this mother handle the situation? She bent down to her son's height, looked him in the eye and said, "Oh dear, you've had a bad day? Why don't we go out for ice cream after supper and see if we can cheer you up." WTF?

I looked at the daycare provider and gave her one of those, "OMG - did you see that?" smiles. We talked about this after the Mom had left. We wondered if we should have said something. There may even be people reading this right now that are thinking, why is that so bad?

What lesson did the mother give to the child? "You were very naughty today. It's because something is making you sad. It's not your fault. Let's go celebrate."

In our home, if we get a bad report from a daycare provider, the punishment continues at home. We respect the people that spend time with our kids. Our kids need to learn to respect them. As we say here, "Who's the boss?"

These are big lessons for a child to learn. Children are way smarter then most people give them credit for. They learn these lessons very well. Parents the let a 4 year old walk all over them are doomed when that child is a teenager.

In front of our kids, we try very hard to be good examples. We try to never blame others for our misfortune. We accept our decisions, even the bad ones and we take their consequences. I'm quite sure I'm not perfect in this message, but I try extremely hard to live up to it.

I'm hoping to talk more about the subject of personal responsibility. It's a lesson we all need to understand. This concept shapes my politcal views. I worry about our nation and our societies desire to have the goverment protect us from ourselves.

Isn't this the best gift we can give our kids? To believe in themselves, to take care of themselves and to survive on their own.

[steps off soapbox]

Real hotel living!

It's a room inside a room!

Apple's Genius Playlist

I'm an enormous music fan. I like almost everything BUT country. I've never made that a secret.

At my job, I listen to my MP3 collection all day. This has precipitated the need to really ramp up the volume of the library. Over the years, I've burned every CD I own. Ask OhCountess, there are boxes and boxes of CD's in our basement. In my younger days, let's call it pre-domestication, if I had money, I bought music.

Anywho, let's move forward to today. iTunes has been my application of choice for delivering my tunes to my ears. It's interface was easy and clean. It seemed to handle a large library fine and the ease at which I can buy a song I'm missing is second to none. Damn you Apple. 

The latest version of the software, 8.0 was released earlier this week. Most of the last few upgrades have been eye candy only. Nothing truly groundbreaking...I'm not into movie rentals or TV shows...but this release finally had something for the large library music junkies like me. The Genius Playlist.

Not sure how they do it, but they scan your and send it to a cloud (long techie idea..another post) that chews the playlist and compares it and your ratings to millions of other users. Now, when I select a song and hit the Genius Playlist button...wham! A playlist is built around that song.

I was pretty apprehensive at first. I've seen systems like this before and frankly, they really sucked.  Apple's version how ever seems to have some legs. I've been using this feature for about 3 days and it's is rare that I skip a song. I've even rediscovered old tracks buried within the 12,000 songs in my library. I've been starting my day by selecting a song that best fits the mood I'm in or the mood I'd like to be in, selecting it in the library and hitting the Genius button.  BOOM! A playlist.  Seriously sweet!

What is your favorite music app? Do you use iTunes? Why do people call me unAmerican for loathing country music?

This geek labels this upgrade...rockin'!

I remember...

7 years ago today. Who can forget? The tragedy that was September 11, 2001 was at a magnitude I had never encountered.

I'm at work going about my normal routine. At the the time, I listened to James & Cory on KROC FM in the mornings. I usually half listened to their typical morning banter. Let's be honest, this isn't my first choice of audible morning stimulation, but hey, I live in radio hell. Not like we have a lot of choices.

I'm putzing along doing my thing when I hear out of the corner of my ear something truly bizarre. A plane has collided with the World Trade Center in New York City. WTF?

I am a professional geek, so I turned to the Internet to figure out what these to knuckleheads are talking about. MSNBC at the time was doing live video feeds of their broadcast. We tuned it in and information was really pretty sketchy right away. I'm sure people in NYC were much more aware of what was going on, but here in the Midwest, we could just sit by and watch.

The initial reports were of an airplane, but know one seemed to know how big it was. By the looks of the pictures, it had to have been bigger then a little Censa...Christ, look at the whole and the smoke.

My co-worker, Jake, a private pilot himself had joined me and we were watching this on my monitor. At the time, I had HUGE monitor. 24" CRT at the time was ginormous. We were both just riveted by this.

While the news people tried to sort this out, you can see a second plane hit the other tower in the background. Jesus. This isn't an accident. I mean, my God. One plane hitting the tower is an accident and weird, two planes. (excuse my french here) Fuck it! We are under attack.

I remember this as the day we just sat there, watching in horror. We were half a country away. You felt helpless, shocked, angry.

I remember 9/11. Never forget.

Ode to Weasel Momma

Today, over at World of Weasels, WeaselMomma posted "Stupid Thoughts." Anyone that knows me will probably use the term "sarcastic" at least once to describe me. It is generally assumed that I am being sarcastic, which has it's drawbacks when you are actually being serious.

Stupid Thoughts was a series of questions that just BEGGED for answers. I'm a sucker for these open question posts and have done this on several blogs when I've spotted them. I hate to see a question go unanswered...just seems wrong to me :-)

WeaselMomma suggested that I share with the millions um thousands crap dozens all of you the responses and questions I did. I'd love to hear how you answer these questions, or better yet...critique my answers. I think I hit some of them out of the park...or at least made sure they didn't go unanswered.

1. How come Puerto Rico won't vote in favor or statehood, but California won't secceed (no offense to Mike or BusyDad)?

Puerto Rico is on to something

2. Why does my entering a checkout line prompt the person in front of me to write a check?

Start wearing aluminum foil helmets. Protects from death rays, eavesdropping governments and causes people to "get it done"

3. If Ella Fitzgerald married Alan Funt, she would have been Ella Funt(sound it out people).

Yes.

4. Why does buckling a car seat immediately give small children the urge to use the bathroom?

Why is it when you go to movie, ceremony, church thing that has a hard start and you get there early, no one has to go but as soon as the event starts, there is a tug...

5. Why is it that every time I find a really great style of jeans, the manufacturer discontinues them?

The universe is out to get you. Just learn to deal with it.

6. Why is it that you start feeling better just a soon as you make an appointment to see the doctor?

Start wearing an aluminum foil helmet. Trust me.

7. Why does the weather always seem to turn lousy every time I have a day of errand running to do?

See answer to 5.

8. Why do we as a country sink so much more money into Alzheimer's research that we do SIDS research?

Old people vote in huge numbers. Babies and their parents do not.

9. Why does advertising for cat food served in fine crystal work? They are cats. They will dig for rotten fish in the garbage. They don't have extremely discerning pallets.

Why do people spend money on fancy beds for their cats? Dress them to look like little people? Feed them? I don't like cats. Remind me of rats.

10. How come the greater a man's IQ, the less likely he is to be able to dress himself?

Futility of vanity. I dress poorly. Must mean I'm smart ;-)

11. Why can young boys memorize every pokemon and their abilities/stats, but not remember anything they did in school?

Because they were playing with the Pokeman thing all day. Geez.

12. Why does it always rain after I water the grass? Or wash the car?

Again, see answer 5.

13. Last but not least, why are you still reading this lame wad list? You know you have better things to do with your time. That said I love all my readers for sticking it through to the bottom, especially with posts like this. I wish you all a beer.

I like beer. Saturday night was a little rough, but I got done what I needed to. The Mrs wanted me to get rid of all the stray beer. Dumping it out was suggested. The one thing I remember from college? Dumping out beer is alcohol abuse. Nuff said

Those are my answers. Like I said, I love answering questions. Think you can stump me? You think this smart ass can't come up with a funny answer to one of life's greatest mysteries...go ahead...try me. Who knows. You might just be able to ask me a question whose answer is not 42...but I doubt it ;-)

Time to open the cask...

12 years ago today. I made the best decision of my life. From the moment I set my eyes on you, I knew that only good thing could happen. You took my breath away and showed me the path to true happiness.

Today is the 12th anniversary of the day I said "I do".

Before we met, I was just a boy. I knew nothing of purpose in my life. I was having fun, but I knew there was something missing. I could feel a big hole. I didn't know what was missing.

We dated for a long time, too long I know. You couldn't wait any longer for that ring, but I wouldn't ask the question until all my ducks were in a row. You waited through holidays and gatherings, but I kept telling you that I would ask you in my own way. I had a plan.

When the plan was all set, I asked you to marry me. At first you were shocked, I had waited so long, but you finally answered "Yes!"

The entire time we planned for the wedding, you kept asking what I wanted. I'm a simple guy. All I wanted was you. I didn't care what it looked like, or how much it cost. All I wanted from our wedding was to be husband and wife.

12 years ago today. We completed our plan. 12 years ago today, you made me a man. I love you.

Happy Anniversary.

She did it! What happened to my baby girl?

Yesterday was a really big day in our house. OhPrincess2 went off to kindergarten.

It's a day I knew would get here, but somehow, you never seem prepared for when it does. I couldn't help it, I got pretty misty and I wasn't even there.

My new job offers some really amazing opportunities. The one big draw back is: I just can't get home when I need to. OhCountess took care of it, but OhPrincess2 got plenty of hugs from me before I left for work. OhCountess did fire up the camera and got some great shots of the big event.

I can't believe that it's been 5 years, but look at her now. She was really excited to get this show on the road and I can't believe what a big girl she is.

She was really excited about riding the bus. Her new bus driver was all set for the kids. When he picked her up, he greeted her by name and introduced himself. All I could think of was, "Wow!" now that's cool. It really made her feel special.

If you look closely, you can see her looking out the window. My little girl.

When she got back from school, she was beaming from ear to ear. She had had a really fun day. In fact, when she was walking down the sidewalk towards the house, she couldn't wait to get her homework out of her back pack.

Hi Mom! I'm home!

By 5 o'clock, it was all over. She was pooped.

I'm so proud of my little girl. Yesterday she became a big kid and had fun doing it.

Stay tuned...our adventures just keep coming!

The changes are, um, changing!

Let's step into the weighback machine and set the dial to, um, August 19th. I admitted to you that I have a weight problem and was actively working to make a change. Well things are a changing and it would appear for the better!

This past holiday weekend, my family gathered at my parent's camper for a day of swimming and togetherness. It's nice to see my brother and his family. They live about a 1 hour drive north of us and it just doesn't seem like we have the time to get together like we should. Well...that's another post.

In talking to my sister-in-law, she mentioned to me how excited she was to hear I was trying to lose some weight. She thought it would really help her to stay motivated if we would work together to motivate each other. I couldn't have agreed more. So we decided to start a blog about this adventure. Seeing as how I have 3 blogs (here, here and you are already here) already, I volunteered to set it up.

Here's a cross post to give you the flavor of the blog...

---

Let's kick things off with what my plan is and what's happened so far.

My plan is to change my lifestyle gradually. From what I've read, drastic changes to my lifestyle will only end with me giving up. It's unrealistic to think I can become a fitness freak and eat super healthy over night and stick to it. So...here's the items that I'm changing...

• Drinking less soda. I was drinking diet pop already, but it was pretty much the sum of consumption. I brought a glass to work to for water. It's free and pretty low cal.
• Think about what I eat in the cafeteria. I used to just order everything that looked good. No more. I don't need to be full in the afternoons so a light lunch will do.
• Take the stairs more. I know MumblingSages doesn't see it everyday, but I actually do hit the stairs quite frequently now. The elevator still looks appealing in the morning. That may never change.
• Use the power of the Wii for good not evil. Well...more good and less evil. I'm not giving up on video games, I'm just shifting my diet to a bit more of the Wii Fit variety. So far this game is really fun and best of all it's tracking my progress for me. In a weird way this is working. I like challenges and this one is documented so each night I hope to show a decline.
  

I figure just starting like this will be gradual enough to keep me interested. The Wii thing has had an effect on me that isn't just from the exercise it provides. It's the feedback that things are working that really helps. I started using it 2 weeks ago and already I've lost 3.2 pounds. I know, I need to lose a lot more, but I like to celebrate progress. It reinforces to me that things are changing for the better.

My goal is to lose about 3 pounds every two weeks. I realize that I'll have weeks where I don't quite make goal but then there will be times when I exceed goal. If my math skills are correct, I'll reach my target in 40 weeks. With 2 weeks down, I only have 38 weeks to go!

We can do this family!!!!