Scientology?

 

Well, this is going to be an odd one for sure......

 

I'm sure everyone has noticed Tom Cruise showing up promoting War of the Worlds on all the regular shows for the past week. I usually like this guys movies, but the weirdness he's been displaying in interviews has made me do a little studying on his "religion".

I've got to say that I'm in slack jawed awe over what folks will follow. And what freaked me out further was the list of celebs that follow this weirded out cult. I must post a disclaimer...this same thing happened when I studied a little on the Mormons last year; and I'm not really what you would call a devout Baptist either, so this is my opinion only...feel free to bitch at me if you wish. It won't get you anywhere...but feel free anyhow.

I started checking this out the same way I did the Mormons...with much the same results. Some of the basic views seem to make great sense. For instance, Mormons are vary family centric. That's cool in my book. Scientologists don't put much stock in the mental health profession...neither do I. Both religions have some familiar faces...not kooked out like the Jonestown gang, or Branch Davidians.

But damn, how in the hell do you even start getting anyone to believe that some freakin' space alien took a bunch of other space aliens, put them on earth, then nuked them? Oh, wait...the best part is that now their (the nuked aliens) spirits are supposed to be in my soul, causing me to look at porn on the net? Wow, well at least the perverts amongst us have someone to blame.

Ah hell...that is enough on that tangent...I had to unload after reading for 5 hours about this stuff. This little read journal seemed to be as good a place to do it as any.

A week already?

Wow, that week went by pretty fast. I've been all over the country trying to gets loose ends tied up before our vacation. I'm damn sure ready for it this year.

I've got a two man team going around to all the WalMarts in our territory installing their HDTV kiosks, and I had to go to each one to get pictures of the installs. I was kind of fun for a change of pace, but I sure put in some miles. I ended up helping them out because I didn't feel like they were getting paid enough for those jobs.

Lyndsay decided she wanted to learn some songs to sing, and I was to teach her. That is the reason Merle is in the CD player. I know nearly all of his songs from when I was a kid, and since he only has a one octave voice, I can sing most of them fairly well. This kid picks up lyrics very fast...maybe it is genetic. I can't remember what I had for lunch yesterday, but I can remember some off the wall lyrics from 30 year old songs. Anyway, she has about got Daddy Frank down pretty well now.

I don't have any good pictures from this week at all...unless someone wants to see a non-penetrating roof mout satellite dish on top of a walmart store! I stopped by Greg's this morning and there were actually guys working on getting his tin on! So, by the time I get back, we should have a nice shed to work in.

I packed for vacation last night...at least, all of the packing I ever do....which is one large range bag full of pistols and ammo! I'll let Deb worry about clothes.

 

A fine fathers day for me.

When I left the house this morning, I didn't even know it was fathers day. I had a guy that needed help on a job, so I left before the girls were out of bed. Deb was working, so I planned to head off the Greg's after the job anyway. I got a voice mail from Christyn (who NEVER forgets these things...b'day, fathers day, etc.).

The plan was that Greg was borrowing a bobcat for me to play with...oops, I meant move some dirt around the foundation of the new building. That fell through because the guy loaning us the bobcat was sick, but he had plenty of stuff to do. I didn't leave there until 7....but I came home to a helluva feed. Rib eye steak, smothered in onions (purple, my favorite), shrimp, and cheese.....followed up with some stawberry shortcake. I can barely move now.

I planned to have more shed update pictures, but the contractor is still missing in action...no progress since my last shed update.

Now I'm going to have some coffee, and wait for the replay of 6 Feet Under that we missed last week. It seems the only series that we watch are the HBO ones...Soprano's, Curb You Enthusiasm, Deadwood...I love those shows.

Yep, it was a pretty good day.

Shed update for dad.

Well, it is Greg's turn to play "find the contractor". Nothing has happened with our new playhouse since last week. It is driving him up a wall, but being a contractor myself, I'm well aware of how balancing a few jobs can turn into a mess.

Happy Birthday Dad. From the pictures it looks like you had a pretty good day of it there. Sis did a fine job of explaining why your a great dad, so I'll ditto her entry. I use lessons I learned from you every day. I do usually act like they are my ideas, but I'm well aware of where they came from..."It's just an old Indian trick", right?

Life of Leisure.

Man, my girls really got it rough. I come home this afternoon, the truck was in the drive, but there was no-one to be found inside the house. The above pictures are what I found in the backyard.

 

The free pool.

Our friend Bobby, the photographer that also has a band that we go see sometimes, upgraded to a larger pool. As always, I was standing by for the hand-me-downs. He IM'd us Sunday night at around 7p.m. and by 8 it was in the back of the truck. Level is of utmost importance with these things, but I didn't want to tear up the back yard, so we had to move the swing down some. It still wasn't perfect, but as you can see in the final pictures, it come out pretty darn good. This was one project that I had plenty of help on hand for...the girls wanted that thing up....NOW!

In other news, finals are over, projects are turned in, and I'm officially graduated from the Columbus Tech. welding program.

Also, for dad....Gregs pad is poured, and the red iron is up. The shed should be finished next week sometime, but we still will have to run electric and all that. I did go by and check out the welder he bought for me...oops, I mean for the shop...and it is very nice..A Miller 210. Now I've got MIG capability.

Mondays ride...

I spent the better part of my day around Perry and Warner Robbins. When I left it was completely clear and sunny and was that way all morning. I arrived at a job around 11:30 and while I was wrapping it up, I heard thunder. Me and the old man who lived there looked at one another as if to say, "Here it comes again." I got the first picture as I left his driveway.

While heading off from there I seen a guy jump out of a big John Deere, look at the sky, and head for his pickup. Whatever he had planned, it would have to wait 'til after the storm.

About 20 minutes later is when it all let loose...you can tell from the picture that these are not just minor showers.

I was late to school, and found out when I arrived it was finals night! I'm sorta happy to have this quarter winding down. I graduate from the welding program this quarter, and just in time...I'm ready for something new. The machine shop will be my new hang-out starting next quarter.

Todays ride pictures.

Taking a cue from mom, I thought I would start taking some pictures while on my daily "ride". I do see some pretty cool stuff riding around middle Georgia, cool to me anyway.

Today I was mostly in between Atlanta and Macon, and had a service call in Juliette, GA, the town that "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe" was filmed in. Now I've got to be honest, I haven't watched the movie, and don't plan too. But I figured ya'll had, so this may be of interest.

The last picture was just odd to me. I'm driving along a dirt road, not far from Juliette. As I round the corner having just dodged a deer, there are these two huge cooling towers for a nuclear power plant. They actually looked much more impressive than in the picture. I'm using my work camera that doesn't have much zoom, but to me the cool thing was it was just so out of place. I was literally in the middle of nowhere. I drove around an extra 30 minutes trying to get closer for a better picture, but as large as those things are, the Georgia pines pretty much had them hid from all directions except that one spot.

Oh, and one last thing, I took some of those from inside my "steed", like mom does. So you may see the reflection off the windshield....not horse ears like in moms.

Saturday Six

1. Who is the last performer you saw live in concert? Tracy Lawrence. What is the last film you saw at a theater? The Patriot. Which was more worth the money you paid? Both were very good, probably a tie. As you can tell, we don't go to the theater very often!

2. What do you do more of in a typical day:  work, sleep, eat, exercise. watch TV, surf the web? Right now, work wins hands down...usually work and sleep would be about the same.

3. Your office brings in a new drink machine and it's your job to fill the eight selection slots.  What drinks (non-alcholic, of course) do you select? The first three slots would be full of Diet Dr. Pepper, because I can never find it in a machine around here. Then, Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Coke, Diet Coke, and the last slot I'd ask around to see what else is popular.

4. Take the quiz:  What is your expression number?  9 Do you agree with the description it gives you? I guess it is sorta close. What do you disagree with most? "If you are not able to help people, you tend to shelf your talents."

An idealist and humanitarian, you strive to make the world a better place.
You do your best when you follow your feelings and sense of compassion.
Deep down, you dream of being loved by many.

You are capable of much human understanding and have a lot to give to others.
While you are very ambitious, you never lose site of perspective.
You have an abundance of creative talents... you just need to tap into them.

Although you are a giving person, you can become selfish if you are ignored.
If you are not able to help people, you tend to shelf your talents.
Without others, you become aloof and start to lack sensitivity.

5. Counting all light fixtures and lamps in yourhome, how many bulbs do you have in place, and how many of them are on right now? 22, only one is on.

6. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #55 from Laura: What is your favorite movie line ever and why? Wow, this is a hard one, I've got so many I spout off all the time. The first that comes to mind for some reason is from Col. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, one of my favorite movies of all time. Yes, it is a long one, and I almost know it word for word...I cheated here just to make sure I got it right. "I've seen horrors... horrors that you've seen. But you have no right to call me a murderer. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that... but you have no right to judge me. It's impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means. Horror. Horror has a face... and you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies. I remember when I was with Special Forces. Seems a thousand centuries ago. We went into a camp to inoculate the children. We left the camp after we had inoculated the children for Polio, and this old man came running after us and he was crying. He couldn't see. We went back there and they had come and hacked off every inoculated arm. There they were in a pile. A pile of little arms. And I remember... I... I... I cried. I wept like some grandmother. I wanted to tear my teeth out. I didn't know what I wanted to do. And I want to remember it. I never want to forget it. I never want to forget. And then I realized... like I was shot... like I was shot with a diamond... a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I thought: My God... the genius of that. The genius. The will to do that. Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure. And then I realized they were stronger than we. Because they could stand that these were not monsters. These were men... trained cadres. These men who fought with their hearts, who had families, who had children, who were filled with love... but they had the strength... the strength... to do that. If I had ten divisions of those men our troubles here would be over very quickly. You have to have men who are moral... and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling... without passion... without judgment... without judgment. Because it's judgment that defeats us."

Quickie entry..

Well, mom is wondering if they are going to get any rain, and I'm rained out! It has rained everyday since Sunday, and it is supposed to continue. My tomatoes are loving it, but I'm tired of working in it. Also, I worry about the sweet corn because it is the one thing I like to eat, but it doesn't like to much rain. We shall see....

I've only got 4 jobs tommorow, so I think I'll head out early and get them knocked out...that is as long as the PM people are home in the morning. Usually on Saturdays folks are happy for you to show up early so they can get on with their weekend.

It is getting close to vacation time for us...time to head north for a week or so. At the rate I've been going, just having a few days off will be nice. My bro-in-law has got some "loot" waiting for me up there, and I can finally shoot a bit without all the planning that is involved to shoot here at home....where to go, when to go, etc. At dads, you just head off over the hill and let some lead fly. I've not figured out how I'm financing all the diesel fuel needed to get there, but I've been told by the boss not to worry about it, so I won't. All I can say is I'm glad I'm not the one trying to balance our checkbook when I'm pretty sure I'm making less than we are spending. I'll be happy to get back to work in my own area where I can get my side-jobs going again. I've got voice mails stacking up that all think they are priorities, but haven't been around to tend to them.

All in all, things are normal as can be.....