March 2007 Archives

I managed to sit back the other night and watch this DVD. I've seen the movie before - just never from start to finish and almost never the complete, un-edited version.

Several of the actors are some of my favorites. Even my wife ( who isn't really a big fan of watching TV and movies at home ) decided to watch it with me. She was dozing off from time to time about two-thirds of the way through, but woke up in time to see the end. I find it difficult to express how I really feel about Fargo. It's a bit of a strange one in that, for me, it has real appeal besides the excellent character acting. I imagine that this movie is one that you either really like or really hate.

It's 8:27 in the morning and the sky outside is getting to be a dusky gray. In the Western half of the state ( as well as neighboring states ) last night they had some pretty rough weather. I guess we're going to get a bit of it today and into the night.

While I'm not particularly worried about it, my son is. Growing up I lived in several states that often carried the threat of tornadoes during the spring and early summer seasons. I don't remember ever being as afraid of them as my son. I do remember, when we moved to Utah from Nebraska, asking my teacher if they had tornadoes in Utah and she explained that they couldn't make it over the mountains around Salt Lake City.

I was pretty young so that made perfect sense.

I wish I could use that explanation for my son but he is way too smart to buy into that. Honestly, I think it is the fear of the unknown that drives his fear. He's seen the shows on the Discovery channel and the Weather Channel about how tornadoes form and the breathtaking footage of the massive destruction they can do. But he's really never seen one first hand. Last Spring, I thought it might help to take him to one of the Storm Spotter classes that are held by the National Meteorological Society and offered free of charge to the public. It was pretty informative. Even I learned a few things I did not know. However, I can't say that it helped his fears that much.

The one thing that does make them scary is the fact that they are so random. You never really know when and where they will happen. Although all kinds of radar and other scientific instruments are developed to better forecast and track the weather, there's no single way to really predict and identify them better than human eyes. Which, as anyone can figure, works best when the sun is up. So, going to bed at night during a severe thunderstorm can be pretty scary for a kid. All those blinding surges of electrical light followed by booming thunderclaps powerful enough to shake the windows and the fierce, howling winds that seemingly threaten to rip the roof off of the house even cause me to sometimes get out of bed and turn the local news station on.

I've nothing profound to say today so I thought I would post this photo.

A blogger friend of mine went to Mall of America and took this picture in the underground aquarium. Thanks Aleah!

Fortunately I emerged unscathed after telling my wife about the new laptop.

She found it quite humorous - my momentary weakness at controlling my impulsive desires. I showed her a camera that I was looking at on Friday night. She figured I was going to come home with a new camera on Saturday. The camera, however, would have ended up costing me more in the long run with all the new lenses, flash accessories, etc . . . so maybe I did control my impulsive desires.

Who knows?

In other news . . . I went to an interview for a new job today. I feel good about how it went - a little choppy in a couple areas - but overall, I think I did pretty well. I should hear something by the end of the week. Funny thing is that I applied for this job way back at the beginning of January. More news on that as it happens.

The only thing really on the agenda today was my son's soccer game at 2:30. After taking my wife to work this morning the kids and I went back to bed and I slept until roughly 9:30. I woke up with a dreadful headache that I still haven't really shaken . . . even after multiple doses of Advil and Excedrin. It's a little more bearable, and I think it might be fading.

It's always this way for me at the beginning of spring. Sometimes I wish I lived some place where the weather was a little more consistent. Call me crazy, but I really do like the rainy days that we have had the last few days. Often I think I'd probably like it somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. But then San Diego has an incredible climate that I would probably appreciate just as well.

Perhaps some day . . . Getting back to the point . . . My wife called and asked me stop and get her some new pens. She bought a bunch of them ( she loses them faster than the weather changes here ) the other day and upon trying to use them at work she found she did not like them. We had to make a little stop after the game to get some cat food and with Office Depot right next door to Petco I figured I could knock it out no problem. Strolling past the laptops on my way to the pens, one of them reached out to me, grabbed me right square by the eyeballs and pulled me in. I ended up walking out with a Sony Vaio. It's a nice laptop.

I'm wondering what my wife is going to say as I sit here typing out this post. I'm trying to come up with a perfectly reasonable explanation for my lapse in frugality. Very rarely do I make these kinds of purchases. Part of my plan is to say the blinding pain in my head had an adverse effect on my ability to fight off impulsive behavior. Think it will work? If I don't post by tomorrow night I've been bound and gagged and thrown in the storage closet in the garage.

Someone please come help me get out.

I've created two posts, two days in a row, about American Idol. As much as I hate to do it, I'm going to post again - about American Idol. But this post isn't going to be a prediction of the outcome, who did what and how well ( or poorly ) they did it, or who should be sent home.

I think it's time I moved beyond that and open a discussion of what is driving this season's decline from what started as a great idea to the beacon of mediocrity it is quickly becoming. I suppose that's an unfair statement. It isn't that the producers made a conscious decision to drive the show into the ground. And perhaps, as demonstrated by the popularity of the show, it isn't really being driven into the ground. But it would appear that there is a concerted effort to invalidate the integrity ( well, I'm using the term integrity very loosely here ) of the show.

American Idol has willingly fallen victim to the stupidity of the mob. Let's face it . . . there are people making gazillions of dollars off of the show. As consumers, is it too much to expect that there is at least some semblance of an attempt to remove any air of impropriety? Or are they merely basking in the riches that the publicity is giving them? Allow me to explain . . .

If it wasn't raining I'd probably break out the mower.

Has America lost it's mind? Chris and Stephanie in the bottom two? Clearly, Phil and Sanjaya should have been there instead.

I'm beginning to believe there is something to a website I came across - Vote for the Worst. Could it possibly be that Sanjaya will hold on to the very end?

Please, please say it isn't true. Don't let this travesty continue. Although I will add that Stephanie hasn't been the best, she didn't deserve to go home this early on.

She should have been in the top 10.

Gotta say. Most of the American Idol contestants were really giving it their all. For me, there were quite a few that really shined tonight. A few of them did stand out, but I did have a few favorites and picks for the bottom three tomorrow night. Lastly, I have a suggestion that may or may not be all that popular - but then again that's never stopped me from speaking my mind ( or what's left of it ) before.

• Haley Scarnato - I think she's done the best I've seen from her this season. What's more . . . she looked really hot.
• Jordin Sparks - What can I say? This girl can sing. In my opinion, she'll go home with the American Idol title.
• Blake Lewis - Definitely a top three contender. This guy pushes the bar every time with his individual style and creativity.

The rest did what I believe is what they are really capable of doing. I suppose that could be taken a couple different ways so let me clarify.

• Phil Stacey - Vocals were nothing to write home about. He was pretty much on par with what he normally does. He'll be in the bottom three again next week.
• Lakisha Jones - She did her regular awesome singing, but didn't really bring anything new. I doubt she has anything to worry about for at least a few more weeks.
• Chris Richardson - He can sing really well, but I'm not impressed by the songs he sings.
• Chris Sligh - Nothing to rave about, but another good performance.
• Stephanie Edwards - Great Singer, but again, it was pretty much what I expected.
• Sanjaya Malakar - Why are you still here? Go home already.
• Gina Glocksen - A rocker is really at a disadvantage in the American Idol competition. I really think that she pours her heart out in every performance, but she might be in the bottom three this week.

I'm going out on a limb here . . .

My last point - and then I promise . . . I'll shut up and go to sleep. Melinda Doolittle needs to go home. Wait . . . please, don't throw that at me. Hear me out . . . She's in too much of a league of her own for this competition. I think her performance tonight really proves that. Up until this point I believed her only vocal competition was Lakisha. But Lakisha kind of missed her mark tonight and Melinda shined. But she shined so brightly that she eclipsed everyone else - vocally. But then again, she is a professional singer. So I think she should have eclipsed the other performers that are high school students, hairstylists, and other professions.

I think she should be voted off much in the same way as Chris Daughtry was voted off last year and go on to make her own album without the assistance of the American Idol title. She doesn't need it the same way that some of the others do. She could leave tonight and most likely be awarded with a recording contract. She doesn't need a stepping stone. She's had enough exposure that proves she deserves to be out front instead of being a back-up singer. I know this sounds a little off, but then again it's my take on the whole thing.

Who's your favorite? Who will go home and who will stay?

Simply Successful Secrets The Internet is truly this incredible thing. A single topic can spread like a flowering vine ( or a festering rash ) with great speed and touch a huge number of people.

As is normally the case, there is a new meme traversing it's way across the Internet and ( surprisingly ) I've been tagged by Mig to participate. If you haven't stopped by one of her sites I highly recommend doing so. She's a fantastic writer and I find many of her posts though-provoking and informative. The question, quite simply, is, "What little secrets do I have that have helped me to be successful?" Personally, I think every person measures success differently. Some people measure their success based on money, some on their accumulation of material possessions, some only by the happiness they feel. I imagine that each person's secrets will reflect how they measure success. Regardless, I have to come up with 5 - 10 secrets, so here goes . . .

1. Read every day - I filter through a plethora of blogs every day to get a feel for what's going on in the world beyond my doorstep. It's also very helpful for the next secret.
2. Write - It doesn't really matter if it's an email, a personal and private journal, or a blog. Besides speaking this is the next, most important way we communicate. Practice makes perfect ( or at least close ).
3. Be cynical - I try not to believe everything people tell me. Sometimes people have motives that they would prefer you not know about.
4. Learn something new - There is always something new and interesting to learn. The field in which I work ( technology ) is constantly changing and it requires that I either learn about new things or become extinct.
5. Don't be late - Nuff said.
6. Treasure your family - At the end of the day these are the people who treasure you.
7. Spend time doing absolutely nothing - Down time is good.

So that's my list - or at least what I could come up with. Now I have to tag a few people. Let's see . . . how about:

• Paula
• Jenny
• Coach
• Beth

Have fun with it.

It doesn't take too much to start trouble in this booming metropolis called Topeka.

According to the local newspaper a state employee has a bumper sticker on her vehicle that states, "F*CK WAR." Although I prefer to replace the appropriate letter to complete the "F" word with an asterisk, the bumper sticker leaves no letters out. The state employee parks her vehicle in the statehouse parking garage. Evidently House Majority Leader Ray Merrick came across the car in the parking garage and he found it rather offensive. From there, he registered a complaint.

The owner of the vehicle was reminded:

. . . a research department policy restricting employees from participation in partisan political activities.

What does a bumper sticker that portrays that message have to do with partisan political activities? There's a bit of controversy brewing here as well. According to some sources, the owner of the vehicle's job was threatened if she did not remove the bumper sticker. However, Merrick denies that he suggested that she be removed from her position. So, who's not being 100 percent honest?

The Governor has come out in support of the employee's right to free speech. And clearly this is free speech. While I may not necessarily agree with the way the message reads, it is entirely non-partisan and the opinion of the owner. It could be phrased differently, for example, "WAR SUCKS" could send the message just as effectively.

If you would like to read this article, follow this link. However, this newspaper doesn't seem to understand just yet that people don't really want to have to create a login just to read one piddly news article. So, here's a link to bugmenot.

A good friend of mine, Aleah, asked me to review this DVD. I admit, this isn't a movie I would have originally put into my queue. I've watched a couple movies this week that I would have been more likely to review.

For example, I watched Freedomland. Now that was a strange movie. I also watched Lady in the Water, an M. Night Shyamalan movie. More than likely, I would have selected Lady in the Water to review. But, the way I see it, if you're going to review DVDs you need to step out of your comfort zone and expand your horizons.

So, it is with mixed emotions that I must reveal that I secretly enjoyed this movie. Read on to find out why.

A bit of a dilemma here in fortywhat?! land lately. We recently ( about a couple months ago ) acquired a new pet - a dog named Precious that we adopted for my son. She's a cross between a Chihuahua and a Jack Russell Terrier. Essentially, she has the face and ears of a Chihuahua and the body of a Jack Russell. She's a pretty decent dog. She's very affectionate and loves to be by your side at all times.

My daughter has a cat. He's a mix with quite a bit of Siamese and something else. He's big, lazy, and loves to eat. I like him because he's pretty laid back and content to sit in the window as long as no meals are missed. He's kind of a cross between Patrick ( of Spongebob Squarepants ) and Garfield. His name is Mr. Whiskers.

My wife has a cat of her own named Ms. Kitty. Her cat his a purebred, Oriental Shorthair. She has a beautiful, tortoise-shell coat and great big ears that make her look kind of like an alien. If you didn't know better you would believe that we starve her. She's very, very skinny. But that's how Oriental Shorthairs are. As a matter of fact we have to take her to a special vet that is familiar with the breed because they have to treated differently with various medications. They have very little body fat and the vet has to be careful not to overdose them. I'm not absolutely sure, but I think Ms. Kitty gets her shitty attitude from the long lines of inbreeding through her lineage.

Don't get me wrong - Kitty is an ok cat. She's very affectionate, playful, and loyal to a fault. But man does she have an attitude.

Getting to the point . . . I was concerned about how Ms. Kitty and the new dog would get along. Well, they aren't. I don't mean that little squabbles are breaking out. Ms. Kitty is starting major fights - big time, major fights. For example, I'm sure you may have seen an episode of Animal Planet in which a lion or tiger stalks, attacks, and subsequently kills a gazelle or something. That's what happened the other night. I was putting the dog on the leash to take her outside and from out of nowhere Kitty pounces on the dog's back and tries to bite the dog's neck as if trying to sever the poor dog's spinal cord. It really was just like an episode of Life on the Serengeti or something.

The dog managed to get away ( Kitty has no claws on her front paws ) and a skirmish broke out with the dog seeking refuge under my wife's desk. I managed to break them up and get the dog into her crate where she was safe - kind of like protective custody for canines. My wife called the vet. After going through a bit of 20 questions the vet finally concluded what we already knew. This is much more serious than a simple difference of opinion. Someone's going to get hurt - badly. His first recommendation is that we try catnip to hopefully mellow out Kitty so she will be less interested in trying to rip out the dog's throat. If that doesn't work the vet has recommended ( I laugh every time of think of this ) anti-depressants!

Of course both of these in the event we are not considering finding a home for either Precious or Kitty. So far today I have tried some catnip. The dog has been on the Lazy Boy with me ( even as I write this post ) and the sock that I coated the inside with catnip has been the object of Mr. Whisker's affection since I first introduced it. No skirmishes have broken out . . . but the day is young and Kitty seems to be in anti-social mode right now.

If anyone has experienced this kind of problem . . . any suggestions are certainly welcome. I don't want to have to pay for anti-depressants for my wife's homicidal maniac cat, and I don't want to ask my son to give up his dog. But then again, I don't want anyone to get hurt trying to break up a fight or worse . . .

Any thoughts? ideas? recommendations?

I missed a couple days posting here. I've been in "react mode" due to an announcement at my job. You see, my employer depends on revenue from government contracts. One of these contracts has been reduced. Another contract that my employer normally enjoys without being forced to bid on may or may not be awarded to my employer. In a nutshell . . . people are going to lose their jobs.

Unfortunately, that doesn't mean a couple people. It means quite a few people. And, in the months to come, there may be another round of layoffs if we are not awarded the other contract. The scary part, from all the speculation and gossip floating around, is that it is widely agreed upon that the first round is going to be pretty close to the bone. If we do not win the other contract, my employer may be forced to cut off a leg or an arm.

I've dodged layoffs here before. Since I have worked here ( just shy of five years ) there has been one layoff. This time, I am fairly confident that I will dodge any bullets. But, the coming months are very iffy. If we don't get that contract ( which I directly support ) I am confident I will be voted off the island.

Since I have developed a desire for food, housing, and clothes and I have a family who depends on me for the same, I decided to be a little proactive and start trying to find something else. In the words of another person I work with ( and I'm paraphrasing ), "We never really know when the axe could fall." My wife finds it very ironic that we moved to a place she has come to despise as the result of me being layed off only to be layed off again.

We tossed the idea of relocating elsewhere around a little bit. I'm against the idea. Not that I have come to love where we live, but it is a decent place to raise kids without the crime and drugs that are so prevalent in larger, metropolitan areas where jobs are plentiful. Besides, my kids do have friends here and I would hate to take that away from at this time in their lives.

For me, it's a difficult decision to which I really don't have any answers. So far, I have an interview on Wednesday. I had already applied for this job back in January. I visit their website on a fairly regular basis. A couple weeks ago I saw that the posting was removed and assumed that the job had been filled. They never called or sent me one of those gracious, "Thanks for applying but . . . blah blah blah," letters. At first glance I assumed that they decided to go with someone cheaper or less experience than I have. However, much to my surprise, I received a call from them on Wednesday.

The upside to all of this . . . the job that I will be interviewing for is much more appealing to my interests. I may have to take a small pay cut, but I don't know the whole compensation package just yet. The benefits may outweigh the small pay cut I will face. We'll see what happens. In the meantime, I'm pretty open to any suggestions. I'm certainly not in, "Oh My God I've Got To Do Something!!!!" mode. I have time to make any changes that need to be made.

Another installment in the random photo series.

Yesterday, sixteen years ago, a couple of young knuckleheads woke up one beautiful, March day.

It was spring break and the only thing that was really required of them was to go to work later that day. They decided to play hooky from work and talk their best friend into it as well. The three of them piled into a car and set out for Denver, CO. On the way they stopped in Julesburg.

Once they arrived in Denver it was a flurry of activity. Since they decided to act spontaneously it wasn't going to be easy for them to find what they were looking for. However, they did find what they were looking for in Denver. At roughly 11am, on a sunny, Colorado morning in a beautiful park with the Rocky Mountains overlooking, the two were married.

Wow! Sixteen years, two kids, two cats and a dog later ... now I'm really feeling old.

I've come across a few blogs this year that have individually tried to address the question, "Why do I blog?" Although I don't have the links that spawned this post right at my fingertips this very second, a simple search on Google for the term, "Why I blog" turns up approximately 278 million hits.

So, although I didn't bookmark each thoughtful post, you are welcome to find one that suits you. I've come across posts on forums and other websites that effectively suggest that blogging is a self-indulgent act that adds nothing to the Internet. I've read that blogs, serving no purpose other than providing an outlet for the author's own interests, pets and family, do nothing but consume bandwidth and storage space. Many times, I've read statements, primarily from technical people, that they would never stoop to building and maintaining their own blog. I know the reasons that I blog - as much as I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat to read them, I will get to those later - but first I'd like to look at some of the reasons that others blog.

After all, blogging is not an intra-personal act. It's inter-personal in nature. The author, generally speaking, puts their thoughts - good, bad and otherwise, out there for anyone and everyone to see in the form of images, video, audio and words. Sometimes a blogger's communications can be anything from pictures of their cats to words so intimate that many people would find excessively private or offensive. Regardless, blogging is inter-personal. Not only do bloggers express their thoughts and feelings, many expect some sort of response - and welcome it. It's a two-way street. It's communication. As I sat down to write this post I searched for a few posts that answer the question, "Why I blog." Here are a few answers from others:

Friday night I finished watching Failure to Launch. In keeping with my goal to review one DVD a week, I ( for lack of another DVD to review ) decided this movie would suffice for my weekly review. I had originally planned on reviewing another movie, but I had some problems with three out of the four I received in the mail.

I imagine they are using some sort of machine to clean their DVDs. Only one of the DVDs was watchable in it's entirety. There were scuffs, or something, that caused the movie to freeze up terribly. Being the reliable service I previously mentioned, DVD Avenue sent replacements within a couple days.

Failure To Launch is about a thirty-something guy, Tripp, ( Matthew McConaughey ) still living at home with his mom ( Kathy Bates ) and dad ( Terry Bradshaw ). He has everything it takes to move out from under his mother and father's roof, but appears to lack the ambition to move out on his own without a push. After mom and dad go to a friend's backyard bar-b-que, they learn that their neighbor's son had recently moved out - with a little help.

Enter Paula ( Sarah Jessica Parker ), an entrepreneur, an . . . interventionist . . . if you will. She specializes in convincing young, capable bachelors that it is high time they vacate their parents' homes. With a few simple steps, like becoming their girlfriend, creating an emotional situation to draw out sympathy, and allowing them to teach her something, she gains their trust and builds their confidence. Little does Paula know, but she is falling for Tripp and the two fall in love.

In a simple twist, one of Tripp's thirty-something, slacking friends catches Paula with one of her other clients. Tripp eventually finds out that Paula was hired by his parents and is not the true love he thought she was. However, the two are re-united with the help of Tripp and Paula's friends and the two live happily ever after - but no longer at Tripp's parent's house. Failure to Launch is definitely a date movie. The corny, predictable humor was funny at times, but not all the time. I truly prefer Matthew in other roles such as Contact and Two for the Money.

It's actually just one tree - the tree in my front yard. It's old and big.

Another Friday is upon us.

Most people would agree that Fridays are something to look forward to. For me, it usually is the beginning of a hectic weekend of chauffeur responsibilities. Somewhere, I hear someone saying, "James, bring 'round the limo . . .."

This weekend it'll start at 5:30 am Saturday morning. I'll take my wife to work and then come home. My son's soccer game isn't until 11:30 am, so I get to take a little nap. The rest of the day is wide open, but I imagine the remaining agenda may be subject to the kids' whim. Then, around 10:30 pm or so, we'll all go pick up Mommy from work. Sunday, it'll start out just the same - take Mommy to work. My daughter's soccer game got canceled, but how fortunate to be able to fill that slot with volunteer work at my son's BMX track from 1 until 4 pm.

We'll finish with an hour to spare until my daughter's soccer practice at 5:30 pm ( and a 20 minute drive away ) before heading back home, getting ready for the next week, and then going to pick up Mommy again around 10 pm.

And the season of outdoor activities is just getting started. I can hardly wait until soccer practices start overlapping, the kids have soccer games at the same times on different fields, or we have to make a choice between a soccer game or a BMX race.

And CEOs think they have to make tough decisions.

So far I know that my daughter's soccer practices are Sundays and Tuesdays at 5:30 - 6:30. My son's soccer practices are Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4:30 - 5:30. My daughter's flute lessons are Thursdays at 7:30. Pretty soon, my son will want to go to open BMX practice at the track on Wednesdays around 7:00 ( or so ) until 9:00.

A daddy's work is never done. The upside to all of this. Man I'm glad that I can provide for them to have a life beyond home, school, and television. They both give 110 percent at everything they do. At the end of an exhausting, hectic, logistical nightmare of a weekend I can say:

I'm so damn proud of my kids.

After picking the kids up from the bus stop today I pulled into Great Clips to get my son a much needed haircut.

I've pretty much gone to the same place to get my haircut since we moved to this Midwestern-hell-on-Earth. The biggest plus is that it is within walking distance from where I work so whenever I want I can get my hair cut and be back to work without anyone ever knowing I slipped out. The other part is that it is right on the way home, so it works out well.

This particular Great Clips is located in the Foxcross Shopping Center on 29th Street just East of Wanamaker Drive. For those of you not acquainted with Great Clips it's one of those shops where you go in, give them your name, and then sit for any varying measurement of time until your name is called. We were fortunate and had to wait only 15 minutes. I had hoped that the girl who generally cuts my hair was available. Unfortunately we were destined to face the luck of the draw.

The person who cut my son's hair was, by far, the least likely person to win a customer service award. What's more, she single-handedly has guaranteed that I will not return, ever. Just so this post doesn't come across as a rant or a total bitch session, I'm going to highlight the points that pissed me off and give some suggestions that may help you if you rely on the gratitude of customers to pay your way through life.

Honestly, the guys really need to raise the bar a bit.

Despite the fact that my wife tied me to my chair and forced me to watch, I struggled to keep my attention on the contestants last night. I continue to wonder what the judges, and now the people voting, even begin to see in Sanjay.

Are there a bunch of dysfunctional, 10 year-old girls out there voting for him because, "He's just soooooo cute." Or is he getting the popular votes from, uh, guys that think he is just soooo cute?

He obviously can't sing. Furthermore, does anyone else think he bears a strong resemblance to Michael Jackson? Phil, in his stupid little hat, really looked like a dork. And his big ol' dorky ears made him look incredibly stupid besides the fact that his rendition of the song really stank. I think my grandfather had a hat like that once upon a time. But then again, he was 67 years old and it was ok for 67 year old men to wear dorky looking hats.

Take one part Sundance and one part Pearl Jam and what do you get? A really bad rendition of a really cool song. Chris Daughtry could have pulled it off, but you didn't Sundance. They should change his name to Sundown and give him a plane ticket home.

Brandon needs to make a decision. ( I'm paraphrasing a bit ) He said last night that he wanted to come out on the stage and have fun. Well, he needs to pick . . . Does he want to win or does he want to have fun? Perhaps both can be done but I don't think people are voting on how much fun he's having. They will vote on how much they like you, the songs you sing, and how well you entertain. I really believe the girls are considerably more talented than the guys this season. Hopefully they'll live up to my expectations tonight.

If you registered for the Do Not Call Registry when it was first implemented as I did it is now time to re-register. Click here to get registered. From the Do Not Call website:

The National Do Not Call Registry gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home. Most telemarketers should not call your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days. If they do, you can file a complaint at this Website. You can register your home or mobile phone for free. Your registration will be effective for five years.

The registry started in 2002, and registration only lasts five years. In other words you have to re-register every five years. I don't know who thought people would want telemarketers calling them, but I'm not surprised that there are 1.4 million phone numbers on the registry. It seems to me that if enough people signed up they'd outlaw telemarketing for good. I didn't even know there were 1.4 million phone numbers required in Kansas. I'm quite certain that it doesn't reflect that each person in Kansas has a single phone because I hardly believe it's possible that many people are crazy enough to want to live here.

Don't read me wrong . . . I haven't suddenly stumbled into unexpected riches.

A long, lost relative didn't die and leave me a gazillion dollars.

I bring it up because this morning as I sifted through the feeds I subscribe to, this one kind of jumped out at me. The headline read, "Why I quit my six figure job." The author points to this article that was the inspiration for his post. I'm sure anyone would want to read that. I mean, what normal, red-blooded person doesn't want to quit their job? But, to quit a job that pays a person six figures? Certainly that person has to enjoy the money. Of course, there's always someone so satisfied with everything in life and are more than happy to point out, "Money can't buy happiness." Well, either they are brain dead, on dope, or just rich and have always had money.

Perhaps it can't buy you happiness, but it sure can help.

The article documents a guy that was a vice president at a huge corporation. One day, after pursuing something that gave him a kind of satisfaction that he wasn't getting through his job ( acting ), he quit. No severance - he just up and quit. He did something that he had wanted to do for a long time. He became an actor. Now it isn't the part about becoming an actor that is most surprising. Certainly that is a profession that is glamorous and can be lucrative. I can relate to the guy in the Men's Health article. I'm not a vice president. I don't have a six figure salary or an expense account. I don't play golf. By all measures, I'm probably a pretty ordinary guy who gets up and goes to work so that my family can have food, clothing and shelter. I don't get a huge amount of satisfaction from the work that I do. Like the guy in the article, I expect that most people do hate their job. However, I do believe that I could enjoy my job. But, I'm not going to go into that today. I do envy that guy. I'd be more than happy to wake up tomorrow morning and not have to go to work another day for someone else. Although I haven't put any ads on this site ( yet ), that doesn't mean I'm not hoping that one day this is what I will do instead of my regular job.

Something new - something different . . .

Since I really don't want to make this place of mine specific to any single topic, but yet, I want any loyal visitors to be able to rely on me doing something regularly. And as you may know . . . regularity is something us old folks really favor. I get DVDs from a service called DVD Avenue. They're a great service and they rent movies from all genres ( including adult ) as well as games ( Playstation, Xbox ).

I think their rates are very competitive and have no complaints about turnaround times between movie return and getting a new one in the mail. They work just like Netflix. Since I have this stream of movies coming and going I thought it would make for a great opportunity for regular posts in the form of movie reviews. Some of the movies you might have heard of - or seen - but I'm going to do it just the same. With that said . . . on to the first review of Idiocracy . . .

A good friend of mine, Aleah, took this picture somewhere between Topeka and Paxico in Kansas Thursday morning. Wednesday the temperature got up to 71. By 7 pm we had thunderstorms breaking out across the state and, obviously, snow on Thursday morning.

Thanks Aleah.

As a parent of two kids over the years I've had to write several notes for the kids to take to school. Sometimes, if I can, I'll just call the school. Eventually, however, some kind of note will have to be written. Usually, and almost without fail, I get reminded in the five minute window between the time I'm scrambling to get everything I need to take with me in the morning and the time we actually head out the door. So, you can imagine that I don't proofread the notes. I just scribble something on a scrap of paper. I can only hope that the end result that is read by someone at the school doesn't find my scribblings as illegible or stupid as the one's I found today. A few hilarious examples:

• Please exkuce lisa for being absent she was sick and i had her shot.
• Carlos was absent yesterday because he was playing football. He was hurt in the growing part.
• Please excuse pedro from being absent yesterday. He had (diahre, dyrea, direathe), the sh**s. [note: words in ( )'s were crossed out] .
• Sally won't be in school a week from friday. We have to attend her funeral.
• Gloria was absent yesterday as she was having a gangover.

Laugh till it hurts.

We spent the day searching for a new car on Wednesday. After test driving a few cars we ultimately decided that we get the cool toy rather than the sensible, family wagon.

We've always been the type that swims against the current.

This is the second Jeep I've owned. Our last one was a Grand Cherokee. I have to admit, I'm a lifetime Jeep owner. Thankfully the weather was great and we took the top off. The kids flipped when we picked them up at the bus stop. I wish I would have taken a picture Wednesday because it was all shiny and stuff. However, it snowed Wednesday night and I didn't get to take the picture until this afternoon after the snow melted and my brand new Jeep got dirty. Part of the deal was running boards that have yet to be installed. I'll take another picture once they get put on. I love this Jeep. It rocks!!

2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited X