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what a week.

my wife and i hit our 16th year of marriage. we celebrated by taking in a show and then returning home for a meal that i cooked for the family. it’s a family affair, these anniversaries. there is nothing wrong with that. they all have been a part of the past years, so having the family celebrate is a good thing. i love my better half. she makes the ride most bearable!

my son jon spent most of the week enjoying his first homecoming week. bonfires, school color classes, a visit to the school from dan hampton with the week capped by the home coming dance.

for his birthday i got him a suit for the dance. i know. crappy present. but he liked it! here he is in all his glory…

homecoming 2009 oswego east high school

he went stag to the dance, not unlike his dad all those years ago. at around 10p, i received a text asking if i could drive his date home after the dance. date? he didn’t have one.

turns out that his dates, date, had some change of heart during the dance, and the next thing you know, he’s got a date. nice girl. hanna is her name. apparently they are boyfriend/girlfriend. we’ll see how long that lasts. he had a good time and looked good to.

then, on sunday, jon spent his 15th birthday just hanging out. he graciously helped me around the house, and we enjoyed a cake at the end of the night. i’m starting to feel really old.

my wife finally got her student teaching paperwork. she’ll be working in a school in plainfield. though she wanted to work in oswego, that was not to be. but knowing that she is placed, has lightened her load a bit. congrats michele. i am so very – very proud of you and the work that you are doing.

this week also included balloon boy. what a stunt. kid floats away in a helium filled balloon. uh. i don’t think so. but virtually every news organization on the planet followed this to it’s conclusion. this was such a non event. it was never even plausible to me as i have had a 6 year old. they are pretty heavy. the balloon wasn’t that well built to have carried him away. i just never believed it. today, it appears charges will be placed on the family and the costs of the search recouped. damn straight. what goofs.

health care seems to be moving along but not, as they say in poker, all in. it seems that the public option has been left somewhere, and not anyplace that seems useful. this troubles me. and, unlike any number of people, i blame the house and senate for this. the president did what he said he would do. let the folks that last time, during the clinton years, the house and senate wanted. to be involved. well. look where that put us. a watered down version of a public health reform bill. as to the media involvement, if you’re smart, you can simply go out and find the answers that you want on any of the governmental sites that are available. if you believe what you are told by the likes of beck, hannity, rush or the like, then you are simply not informed but rather entertained. but really folks. this isn’t a movie or a half hour entertainment show. this is our lives we are talking about here. there are very few things that are as important. so. go out and get your own answers. then make an informed decision. and stop listening to the entertainers.

afghanistan. lets take our time, and get it right. move the military that are in indefensible outposts in to more populous cities and regions. there has been a ton of talk about how many al qaeda are in the country. i keep asking myself how we, or anyone knows this. they don’t wear tags or name badges. so how do we know how many of any faction are in the country. i just don’t understand. and if we really do know how many there are, then this should be easier than it is. and since the election in country is so up in the air, we should probably wait until it is settled correctly, before we allow any more of our country men and women to serve in that country. so taking all the time required seems like the prudent thing to do. we can’t leave. pakistan is too close. anyone over running their country would be a blow to the entire middle east. so we must figure out a way to protect and server the region. but again, not until there is a government in place.

that’s about it. i’m done with the soap. i guess i just needed to vent.

sure. you can find the definition of indoctrinate in any dictionary. here is a link to m-w.com.

ok.

here is what it says:

1: to instruct in fundamentals or rudiments : teach
2: to imbue with a usually partisan or sectarian opinion, point of view, or principle

this definition can be placed with any number of people or groups, as it is expressed by the dictionary. my opinion on just a few of those, are listed below:

boy or girl scouts
church
the military
community groups
indian guides
anti-government groups
gangs

now. not all of these groups are bad. and, since we live in the united states, all of them have an equal right to exist.

however. to accuse the current administration of ‘indoctrinating’ our children to believe that they should help others and be involved in their community in a good way? nothing wrong with that.

the thought that the current administration is ‘indoctrinating’ any person within the united states to do anything other than what they might want to do, is ludicrous. in my mind, we have spent years, more than the 8 brought forth by the bush administration, spending time being self-centered and obsessed with our own personal world, that we have forgotten what made our country great all those years ago. the fact that we helped and supported each other.

the go west folks back in the day, helped others build lodging, fences, banding together in wagon trains across this great land. we did it together. we picked each other up and helped each other along.

for the administration to want to help us go forward and help each other is a bad thing, is just wrong. often, i will see stuff laying in the middle of the street. like a bag of someone trash. it only takes me a minute to stop and grab it. thus keeping it from further messing up my neighborhood. i have tried to teach my kids that same type of service. why? because it benefits us all.

so. indoctrinate me. make me think of all the things that i can do to help my neighbors. my fellow american citizens. i haven’t a problem with that at all.

back in april, my boss and i made a bet. it was simple. the cubs would make it into the playoff’s for the 2009 season. the amount? $20.00.

things started out ok. wins. losses. some more wins.

but the tide, as it were, never turned. it seems that we have had one of the worst august’s that i  can remember.

several times, during the last couple months, rick asked if i wanted to ‘buy out’ for half, and i had said no, still believing that my beloved cubbies would make it.

then, during this stand against the nationals, and a horrible loss, i decided that maybe it was worth it, and bought out my bet. $10 in lottery tickets was bought with my buyout, which then netted him $5.00. he still won, kinda.

i hope the cubs finish better than they look like they are going too, but playoff bound, looks far far away.

there’s always next year…

it is no surprise that i love coffee. i drink it all the time. it is my poison of choice.

for years, i had always used a capresso version because it took beans and ground them fresh to make the coffee. it worked really well, for a while, then would give up. i tried, a couple times, to buy a reworked version of them, and they too, would break. i finally gave up.

a friend of mine had introduced me to the keurig method of coffee that they had at her work place. it was simple. load up a flavor that you like. put in $.50 and bam, a fresh cup of steaming coffee. tasty!

a year ago, i sprung for a home version. it works like a charm. love the fact that it makes a cup exactly like i want it, and doesn’t waste anything. it’s great and i suggest it for anyone that enjoys a fresh cup of coffee. if i have a complaint, it is that the k-cups aren’t technically recyclable. that bothers me and someday, i hope to find a way to to have that no longer be a problem.

even better, my inlaws decided to purchase one of their own. while my wife was on her vacation in arizona, her mom taught her how to make iced coffee using the same system. now, i can make a huge glass of iced coffee whenever i want to at a fraction of the cost that it would be if i went to mcdonalds or other coffee expert stores. and it tastes better than the ones you get there.

it’s simple. fill a glass with ice. load up a k-cup. run it. add your own flavor (i use international delight irish to taste) and there you have it! it’s delightful!

interesting end to the week.

first. a congratulations to my friend rick l. his sox, and specifically mark buehrle pitched a perfect game. not just a no hitter, but a perfect game. there have been 18 total in all the years of baseball. think how many games per year and the odds become, well, crazy! i thought that it was cool that the prez called him. bet that was a true treat! congrats to the sox, and to rick, the loyal fan.

some minor problems on the space station this week. but the problems were quickly rectified. i would have been petrified.

my wife asked me the other day if i thought that our president could do no wrong. i think he has already done things that have made me less happy. don’t ask, don’t tell. the possible prosecution of the former administration. the lack of promised openness of the new government, and his answer to that question this past wednesday night. those are just some of the things.

however. i felt very dismayed at the comments about the police and the professor. i think that not knowing the facts, he might have been better off just passing over that question on wednesday night. but, since he did answer it and used what he framed as stupid police officer tactics, i feel that now, after a better understanding of the facts, he should apologize. openly and quickly. he’s a bigger man than the way he is being portrayed by those on the right. but giving them the ability to tear into something like this, is also stupid. i wish he would have thought about that before he spoke.

health care is stalled. the prez says he’s ok with that. i think not. i know i’m not.

the markets up. that’s a good thing. i love the way that the right is spinning it to what they want to believe. even more humorous.

today marked the 40th year since we stepped foot on the moon. it meant nothing to my kids, and i guess i expect that. to me, it meant that the things we want to attain can most certainly be had. i still remember watching it. thinking how cool it was. how we could go that far and yet make it seem so close. it is still one of the biggest things to ever happen, during my lifetime, and i am not sure it will ever be surpassed.

there was a great sight in my subdivision this evening. one of aurora’s finest was parked along a route normally used by folks that can’t see the numbers 2 and 5 on their dashboard. the only problem is, where he was parked, there would have been plenty of time to be, well, cautious. maybe next time, he’ll hide.

and the health care debate rages on. anyone with half a brain should be able to come to the conclusion that this will be/ is a good thing. or. maybe i’m dead wrong. but i believe in it and hope that people will get the picture. still sitting here with fingers crossed.

my last wish is that some broadcasting company in the middle east will hire the fat bastard, the beck, hannity and about 10 other folks away and move them, all expenses paid, to the middle east. maybe then they will learn…

i love fark.

read it all the time. i have some friends at work hooked on fark too. over the years we have all tried, unsuccessfully to get our own fark headline to show up. well. brian finally did it!

Not news: No IL state budget. News: 6000 state workers not being paid. Fark: Because lawmakers were at the All-Star game

yep! there it is. right o the front page for wednesday! how very cool. i know. seems like a little thing, but sometimes those are the best things!!!

way to go brian! way to go. for more of brians mind, check out his blog!

well. we didn’t see it, because the power was out at home for a while, but apparently it didn’t hit the dirt, thanks to a good move by pujols. that’s a good thing! there is someone out there that wants to help the president! wish it were so with the rest of the country. if the good energy bad energy thing is true, then, think of what this country could do if it was loaded with good energy?

it’s like me. i work pretty hard to keep the energy good at work. it’s makes it easier to work there, especially as hard as we are working to keep things going forward.

i try to do the same thing at home. there can only be so much bad news. sooner, rather than later, you just have to take the bull by the horns and try to make things better on your own, if at all possible! i’ll keep trying. and hopefully, others will too.

lastly. it kills me that he’s a sox fan. but i’ll live with it, because, in america, you have a choice!

what if the people of the united states of america took a week off of the tv, the internet and radio and just went out and did. did what?

cleaned up a neighborhood.

helped a kid at sports, or reading or writing or arithmetic.

volunteered their services locally before or after work.

bought lunch for someone in need.

adopted a pet to a good family.

read stories to folks in the library.

connected with friends and family.

rode a bike.

hugged someone.

supported the grand union of the united states of america and all of it’s promise.

what would the news shows have to talk about???

microsoft has launched a new site that takes advantage of the current push for all of us to become more energy aware. it’s called hohm. the idea is simple. add all the details about your house, including each room, door and major appliance. then add some details about your prior energy use (elec and gas). when you are all done, it will lead you to what steps you can do to improve your situation. nice idea. (i’m still pissed at them for dropping money. much nicer than quicken, but i digress.) the results are interesting. and i do find it curious that microsoft created the site. really.

it brought to mind the lengths that i have gone over the last few months to change how we do things here. i am slowly replacing all of the bulbs in the house with cfl bulbs. and believe it or not, i have found a difference in the elec bill already. i still have a way to go. but it is easier to do it in stages.

after our last little heat wave, i decided to replace the augment the curtains in the house with levelor room darkening blinds. not exactly cheap, but cooled off  the rooms that needed it nicely. pretty cool that you can head to lowes, give them a measurement, and have them cut them on the spot. the ones we got are no strings attached, which makes them even nicer. that helped a lot too.

my driving habits are pretty much ‘slow as you go, captain’. i know that i have pissed off some locals doing so, but i put money back in my pocket and extend my coupe’s range. so. i’m ok with it.

kids are coming back on saturday. can’t tell a lie. have missed them greatly. my oldest son turns 25 on the same day. man. i’m getting old.