yep. arizona is hot, and it is a dry heat. spent the early evening hours in the pool tossing toys around. good to see the in-laws but better to see the kids.

got to meet the new little dog. scruffy. he is a pocket dog. not that that’s a bad thing, but small is just not my thing. he’s cute.

past that… not much to say. just lounging around, like any vacation is supposed to be.

peace…

mileage sucked today. always a wind. strong at times. but otherwise a very nice ride. it’s 8:30 here, but it feels like 9:30 and so, bed is likely very soon.

the car is holding up well. it’s not terribly uncomfortable. mich was squirming a bit more today, but it was likely because sleeping last night sucked. there was a mist this morning. but no real rain.

i have been trying to get us to places to eat better. but it doesn’t always work out. today, we had the WORST meal ever at a sonic. the worst. needless to say, that could of helped her squirm.

otherwise, we are doing good. miss the dogs and the sitters. miss the kids. we’ll see um tomorrow if they’ll get out of the pool.

it was 92 at one point today while we were out of the car. and. it really was a dry heat. still hotter than hell… but it was dry…

peace…

vacation is almost here. woohoo!

last night, the hawks – the mighty blackhawks took a 2-0 lead in the stanley cup! woohoo!!! not that i am a hockey fan, cause i’m not. but i am a chicago fan. hell, i even rooted for the sox a couple years ago. continue onward and upward!

finals for jon tomorrow. then it’s a summer of drivers education. what fun it will be!!!

michele’s almost done with school. if you know of a teaching position, please forward whoever to this website… mlratcliffe.net. her work samples and resume can be found there! can’t hurt!

awful accident at the close of the indy on sunday. from a safety standpoint, how far we have come.

there was an f1 debacle on sunday as well. teams should play nice within their little group. i would be willing to bet that there was an immense amount of being talked to for the rest of sunday. would not have wanted to be either of those drivers.

that’s it. off to work! it’s a brand new day!

i hope that everyone had thoughts of the men and women that protect us 24x7x365. i know that i did. i thought back to the people that i was able to meet over the years that did serve. the friends that i met that weren’t able to have some of their friends return to the states with them. my thoughts are with you all.

president obama. i know that the problems in the middle east are going to be pressing at you, but please, please work out the problems in the gulf. the loss of income for the state of louisiana and the devastation to the area around the gulf is just too important to america. it’s time to take over and get this thing stopped. right now, fault should be the last thing on anyone’s mind. it should be only to stop what is happening. take control. find some way to stop the leak. please.

my better half has started her observations for school. won’t be long now before kids will be bringing her apples.

there was a reunion of the hudson flight survivors. what a great story.

last weeks house episode was one of the best ever. how i love that show.

looking forward to the start of 24 this weekend.

can’t wait for true blood to restart.

my kids made it through finals. not stellar grades, but they tried hard and did their best. i expect that since they made it through the first hurdle, that it will be easier next time. congrats jon. congrats devin.

the bad:
palin gets a fox network show. holy cow. it must have been god’s will. or. god really does have a sense of humor.

haiti gets wiped out by a natural event. i feel terrible for the people of haiti. i can’t imagine that happening here.

more and more ice is melting at the poles. sure. it’s a natural occurrence. my ass.

the state of illinois needs to get it’s act together. i have no idea who i will vote for because they all seem a little self involved and dirty as well. why do things have to be this way.

j. p. morgan chase made a ton o money and will be paying huge bonuses to some of it’s employees. why are we letting this happen? who’s money are they using for this?

a snowplow trashed our mailbox last week. bummer.

the ugly:
pat robertson, the bitter old religious man, made statements this week that even god can’t believe in. so why did he make them? maybe he’s just old and tired. may be he’s just an idiot.

sports players are said to have guns in the locker room. why?

mark really did use steroids. what a revelation!

nbc has lost it’s mind with the leno conan thing. they will simply loose more viewers to the far superior letterman show.

shameless plug:
windows home server. don’t just take it from me. search the web. find any number of reviews and what it can do for you articles to see why everyone should have a server at home. i absolutely recommend this for everyone. what are you waiting for? go get one!

trying a new project this year. it’s the whole 365 pictures which = 1 picture a day. i took 13 yesterday to get one that i liked. guess i’ll put it up sometime today, along with a new one.

sat around the coffee table this morning gabbing with the wife over a cup of java. best part of the day. no fighting kids. the dogs are lounging. we can talk like adults!

don’t really want to go outside today. it’s 0 here in beautiful aurora. 0. that’s cold. snickers hobbled back in from his run this morning. didn’t see a problem with his pad. guess he was just cold.

let me say it again. i love my droid phone. it just works. and with the google voice hook up. it makes calls cheap and that has lowered my phone bill. love that. plus the network support for whilst being in the house? what could be better! who cares that there are 100000 apps for the iphone. most are bubble apps anyway. better to have quality than quantity.

my newest feature here will be the saturday shameless plug. i search a lot for software. i am kind of a junkie. this years new years resolution is to find free, or really cheap software that makes my life easier. to that end, here is my plug for the saturday shameless plug:

flock browser.

i am a news junkie. i also have a fb and twitter account. flock makes the use of social networks and news feeds, well, easy. there is a sidebar that controls all the action. you can post between all the social networks almost effortlessly. it’s based on the firefox browser and does a wonderful job. i highly recommend giving it a try.

i think that first, i would like to say kudos to my far better half. she has worked hard at her schooling to become a teacher. i have no worries what kind of teacher she will be. she is a caring and understanding individual. and that is just a part of what will make her a great teacher. her grades throughout the year have been high, with a 3.9 4.0 average. she still also manages to keep things going on the kid front at home.

frankly. she remains my best friend!

jonathan continues to amaze. he’s got good grades and is continuing to grow into a young adult. it is so interesting to watch. his hand eye coordination has improved, thanks to any number of shoot um up games that he plays constantly. he takes drivers education classes this summer. going to be a long year. i can feel it.

devin is moving along in his normal direction. being an adhd kid has it’s drawbacks, but even though his studies have suffered a bit this year, when he’s on, he is really on. i presume that he has what i have. too many things going on and never enough time to complete any of them. he enjoys some of his subjects more than others, as was my way in school as well. in his 5th grade year, he had a teacher that believed kids wouldn’t have any homework to take home, and worked very hard at making that happen. however. i really believe that it has hurt him more than helped him. ultimately he will be fine. he knows it. and so do we.

during the year, i was also able to hear from my oldest son ian. he seems to be doing fine. there were some bitter moments in our initial conversations, but we seemed to get through them. i miss him. there are times, when i find his early pictures, that i can think back to the fun times we had when he was younger. i soured those times by trying to get him to follow a more traditional path. i know what it is like to not follow that path, and i didn’t want his life, nor jon or devins, to be like it has been for me. but. he is his own man, and for that, i am thankful. here’s to you, ian. i hope things are going well.

my dad is doing terrific! he turned 79 this past october. i always feel bad for him in the winter because owning a miata makes winter drives more like skating with sheet metal. but he’s doing fine and is a pleasure to have around. when ever i think about it, i realize that he has seen everything. from the beginnings of sound and video, to blue ray disks, the internet and our first african american president. he is, without a doubt, a wealth of information. and i cherish every moment we have.

barb and john were able to visit us a couple times this year. they are influenced by the ‘grandchildren’ effect. that’s when the grandchildren use the powers of their minds and cause you, as a parent or grandparent, to have a need to see you in person, instead of on a skype call. it’s always a good time. and we are guaranteed to eat browns chicken (though. as of this writing, browns had filed for bankruptcy protection. bummer.)

the year itself was full of surprises. we elected a new president that is working hard to help get the country back on it’s feet. the whole experience has taught me that as much as you can wish for change, one man can not do it alone. it takes far far more. i hope that some more of our fellow countrymen and women learn that lesson. i am still a strong supporter of our president, but i admit to being a little bit sour of some of his attempts at change. i believe that his voice should have been much stronger during the health care debate. though i understand the idea of allowing the congress create the bill, it is his leadership that should have helped keep the fox and friends gang from becoming a detrimental voice in its creation. if i have a wish, for 2010, it is that any nmuber of fox folks become unable to speak. its not that i don’t believe in the ability to speak freely. it is that fact that when you speak, the truth should be what is spoken, not the twisting of words to fulfill your own agenda. glen, rush, michele and the like do that almost constantly. and their stirring of the pot can only do harm instead of good. that is just a pity.

it’s like the bears. at the beginning of the season, with the addition of a new and previously successful quarterback, it seemed that the bears would be almost unstoppable. yet. it proves the point that it takes more than a single change to reach the outcome that you want. i think that the addition of cutler to the bears showed the other, previously hidden holes, that weren’t visible prior to the addition. that we need receivers. that our offensive line is old yet also young and less experienced. yet. i don’t blame the coach. i think he did, and does, a fine job.

work was ok. i have lots of respect for most of the people that i work with, and for. reiling is there from back in the comark days which make the sap part of my job bearable. and i also work with a very bright group of ‘techies’ which makes the day go by well.

past that, the year went by pretty much like i expected with all the things that have happened. the economy sucks. the value of our house isn’t what it was. nor are any of the other houses that we have lived in, with the exception of the house in elgin. but. i believe that will change over the next year or two, yet i hope that the changes are gradual and are not the same as they were before.

but. i am thankful that my family is healthy. my job is secure for the moment. my friends are all in pretty good shape. and coffee hasn’t been outlawed!

i hope that this is a great year. i believe that it will be.

i hope that all is good for you as well. that your world is full of happiness and that all goes well for you.

thanks for reading. enjoy your day!

http://oftheseends.com

see ya there…