Wood Family's Southern Command Post.

My 12 second pass.

2008-11-26T06:56:00.001-08:00

I've already posted this on facebook, myspace, and every forum that I'm a part of, but just in case you missed it........

You might say I'm pretty proud and happy about this run...you'd be right.

Halloween '08

2008-11-02T10:49:00.000-08:00

Here are the pictures from the Halloween. As usual things went off well and as a first for me in a LONG time I even had to get in costume for a friends party.

Another toy back from re-finishing.

2008-10-16T20:01:00.000-07:00

This one is familiar to Kevin and dad. I bought it on the way north in July for a good deal, but the idiot before me had let it sit and rust in places. I sent if off two months ago to get refinished in hard chrome, a process dad is familiar with as I believe he used to work at a place that did this procedure. It finally arrived back home today. I came out great and there is hardly any sign that the pistol had been neglected. The only way I could afford this one is getting a fixer upper because you don't want to know how much one in good condition goes for. (Over $1400)

Latest toy

2008-10-14T16:42:00.000-07:00

Well, I've moved as you can see. I'm sure this blog will be just as busy as the old AOL one was....not very. This one doesn't have my font either, which sucks.

As promissed, here are some pictures of my AR15 I've been building piece by piece for the past month. Actually some of the parts have been in the safe for years wating for this one to come together. There are only two pieces of the entire rifle that were bought outright, the rest were traded/wheeled and dealed into.

The laser and sight are both infrared so when I get some night vision I can kill zombies in total darkness.

Not quite as scary now.

2008-09-24T19:23:00.000-07:00

Mega changes around here job wise, though things are still going pretty normal around the base camp. I think Deb worried quite a bit, and probably still is worrying, but is hiding it well. I just keep saying "I feel so alive" because the shake up has got me liking this line of work again. The old company had turned a job I once loved into just a regular job. Now I'm running things, so if it's not fun it's my fault.

Lyndsay is doing well in school, though needs to work on her handwriting a bit. I went with her to open house yesterday and was able to compare to the other students in her class and talk to her teacher. That is the only problem the teacher had, so we are working on it. She writes a lot on her own, mostly songs, and the teacher thinks it will work itself out in the long run.

It's the nicest time of year down here and we are enjoying the 60's at night, 80's during the day. I've been able to get a few bike rides in lately too, though I really don't have to stop riding here for very long during the winter.

I'll have some gun porn to post soon as I'm building an AR-15 and my little HK is off getting hard chromed to get rid of the rust damage the last idiot inflicted on it.

We are back on Atkins and I've lost 13 lbs. already. I started back to the gym today, but then got pretty damn sick this afternoon. Deb had the same sickness over the weekend, and I don't know what it is but it seems to move on pretty fast. I'm doing a helluva lot better right now than I was a few hours ago.

Ok, enough. Will type more another day.

Scary times ahead.

2008-08-03T19:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I'll start by saying we had a pretty great weekend spent in Perry, GA with a bunch of car club friends, in what amounts to an air conditioned airplane hanger full of cars. We started off Friday with night of drag racing, then all day Saturday was the car show. LOTS of fun. I won a door prize worth about $700 in billet aluminum dress up goodies for the interior of our car.

Now the not fun. From the looks of things the company I've been employed with for the past 8 years has been taken over by DirecTV. On Friday there was a conference call that only higher ups were on, and shortly afterward we were called explaining that hiring packets with applications had been Fedex'ed out and if we still wanted a job we'll show up Monday morning at 6:30am to talk to the DTV hiring person to apply for a job. The pay is supposably "comparable". I think my team will keep their jobs, but I'm not real sure about middle management....namely me....and Al. So basically the last 8 years has been a waste as far as working toward retirement, or anything else for that matter.

I don't believe this was something the company was trying to do, but was forced. We were employee owned, so I'm not really sure how they did it without leaving themselves open to lawsuit. Oh, and I had right at $100k in stock options that according to the paperwork I was faxed is in jepardy. The old company is talking to, get this, "outside experts" on what to do about ESOP holders.

Lucky I have that nest egg to get us through these hard times....NOT.

Yeah, this could get ugly real quick.

Kathy, if you happen to read this, I'm not sure if I've got a check coming in the next few weeks. I'd rather stay out of jail during this "transition". From my computations I'm nearly done, but contact me before you call the state or anything, just so I know it's coming.

Back to Geocaching.

2008-07-29T15:50:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've hit the woods, so I thought I'd return from Montgomery today through Tuskegee National Forest. I didn't find the cache, but found this cool firetower.

Police ass whooping public service announcement.

2008-07-13T08:08:00.000-07:00

Morgan video

2008-07-12T07:31:00.000-07:00

Nope, we didn't forget about the requested videos...however, Deb's vids were to large to put on photobucket so I've got some editting to do. Here is a Morgan vid that makes the size cut. You can tell she hasn't been around in a couple weeks and is used to running things at her house.

Happy Birthday Mom!

2008-07-07T08:39:00.000-07:00

First things first. Happy Birthday to my mother today. Both Lyndsay and I had a great time up there, and really appreciate how much extra work you put in to make our stay fun. I'll be paying for all the food for weeks, but it's worth it to me. Most of the folks that will see the following video are coming from Mom's blog and I want ya'll to know that even though I don't comment over there much I read it daily and love my mom very much.

July trip.

2008-06-18T17:37:00.000-07:00

Ok, I've put off talking about this because I was unsure if we could do it or not. I've put in vacation from June 28 to July 6. There is no way I can afford to drive our car up there as the gas bill alone would be around $350 round trip. Tonight Deb's mom offered her new Camry for the trip that would basically cut that in half. No way Deb can come because if she doesn't work for a week, she doesn't get paid...no vacation days in the hairstyling biz. Without her check, we ain't making it even in a Camry. Lyndsay has been counting down the days, so I'm going to try to make this happen.

The plan is to be there Saturday night, and head back the next Saturday. If this doesn't work on your end let me know. My vacation days aren't locked in stone.

My DVD arrived.

2008-06-10T16:27:00.000-07:00

We got the DVD from the SRT track experience that I blogged about here. I made a few youtube vids of it for the car club, and thought I'd share here.

First is the little turbo 4 cylinder Caliber. The funny part in this one is the lady getting kicked out of the instructor car when she tells him she gets motion sickness!

Next up is the first run in the SRT Magnum. You can see Deb sitting on the pit wall when I return.

This is the last run in the Magnum, this time Deb is in the car I'm chasing with the instructor.

Up late on a work night.

2008-05-22T21:49:00.000-07:00

I'm not a big fan of going out when I have to work the next day. I'm not much of a fan of going out at all really, though someone who didn't go "clubbing" would probably think we are quite the bar fly's.

We try to support any of our friends who are in local bands by going to see them when they play. We actually know a lot of musicians, but mainly just our close friends draw us out. None of them do a lot of gigs, and they really like to see a familiar face in the crowd. My mechanic/welder buddy Mike is a drummer at night. The bands he joins very seldom stay together long enough to get an actual paying job, so when he called today saying he was playing this evening I knew we had to go. He is very talented, and so are most of the folks he hooks up with, but those band types just don't get along to well. Anyway, we went to see him this evening.

Deb and I are actually pretty ruthless on the folks that hang out in these bars. It is pretty much a freek show anywhere you go anyway, but the type of people that go to bars on Thursday night was worth the price of admission just for us to make fun of them. Just tonight we saw Charlie Manson, Bob's Big Boy, a cro-magnon cavewoman, a very fat girl who didn't know she was fat and had her ass hanging out, some women that thought they were men...well, you get the picture. The music was not really our taste, but Mike did a great job for the band.....and we made fun of folks for a couple hours.

Another video.

2008-05-16T06:58:00.000-07:00

I won't say where I got the link for this one, but let's just say it wouldn't look quite right on My Country Life....just sayin'.

I like!

2008-05-14T15:30:00.000-07:00

2008-04-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

Still alive and kicking.

2008-04-27T09:37:00.000-07:00

Just when you think this blog is dead, I show up with a post. Top story of the day is another grandchild and the first boy of the group. Celeste had Skylar this morning around 9am. I haven't even been to the hospital yet...me and Monk are waiting for Deb to come pick us up.

We've been running crazy lately. You sure wouldn't know just how broke we were if you were trying to tail us in traffic. We had our car clubs birthday party at a diner in Atlanta two weeks ago.

This weekend was highly anticipated by both Deb and I. When you buy an SRT of any type, part of the price is a driving course voucher that you have one year to redeem. They set up at tracks all over the country, and you just sign up for one that's close to you. I'm doing a cut and paste from my car club forum on this one, because it pretty much is the short version. If you click the link there are several videos to give you the general idea of why I'm worn out and sunburned today.

Just a week short of our vouchers expiring, Red07SRT and myself made the trip to Atlanta Motor speedway yesterday to take part in the SRT track experience. I thought it would be a cool thing to do, but I had no idea just how cool it would be. From the opening briefing when they said to drive these cars like they were rentals I started to get the idea.

The road course was my favorite portion of the shindig. Two cars follow the instructor who gauges from his rearview mirror just how fast to lead. There were a couple problems with the ESP systems freaking out when exiting the infield onto the banking. If you hit it too fast the car thought it was flipping over and pulled all throttle. I first went in the Charger group and we went fairly fast, nothing I haven't done before though. The second run was in 300's and the trail car had the ESP problem so it wasn't very fast either. By the time I got in the Magnum I figured I'd went as fast as they would allow....WRONG. I can honestly say that we drove them poor bastards as hard as they would go. I made sure to get back in line for the Magnum instructors group a couple more times, and each time we had the station wagon drifting through every corner, and flat footed on the back stretch.

I won the drag racing portion in our group and found out that if I had the Jeep I wouldn't have to worry if Silver Dollar preps the track or not. At the end of the module I was 7 and 1, then went on to beat the instructor 2 out of 3. As you can tell, they didn't short us on runs, although each of three groups had over 25 people.

Autocross I ended up in forth for our group, but way down the list in the totals. There were a couple ringers in the groups, SCCA types. The guy that won the day was turning better times than the instructors. Oh, on that subject the little Caliber runs pretty darn good if you keep the turbo spooled up. Blow a corner and have to hit the brakes though and you may wonder if the motor is still running when you get back on the gas.

The Viper driving was also an autocross event. Again, I didn't fair so well, ending up mid pack. The part the suprised me was how close everyone was in the Viper. The times were so close it was hard to tell who had won each run. Deb probably had the most fun at this one because she rode out with the instructors a couple times who drifted the entire course.

At the end of the day you go back onto the road course to ride with an instructor to see what "maxed out" feels like. Through the entire thing I was sitting there thinking "we were going this fast this morning" until one sweeper heading from the front straight back into the infield road couse section. It turns out the guy was holding back a bit in the morning section because we hit that way faster than I thought the car would stick. I do understand why we were "shorted" when we were driving though...it was probably a 100mph sweeper and had concrete on one side and aramco on the other. The instructors basically drifted through the entire corner. Not Fast and Furious style, but a wonderful 4 wheel drift right to the edge of the track.

When we headed up I was thinking "hey, it's a free day of driving and we get fed". Now we are both talking about next year.

Snow? Again??

2008-03-08T07:07:00.000-08:00

This is the view out my back door this morning at about 10. It was 70 yesterday, and will be in the 60's tomorrow, but today it's snowing. It's not going to amount to anything, and I may head out to Silver Dollar Raceway to watch a friend run his car anyway, but it's windy and cold. 37 degrees. And to think I was planning to ride the bike out there all week.

Another car club entry.

2008-03-03T05:16:00.000-08:00

What a week. A lot happens in a week lately. This time it was job related. I found out Thursday that I'm now in charge of our contractors. Something tells me it may be a bit harder to get private contractors in compliance as opposed to company employees, but we shall see.

We had another car club meet, this time in Atlanta at the Varsity which is a very popular drive-in restaraunt down town. The place is huge, but the food isn't what I'd call healthy. In fact, I wish I had some Lipitor after eating a chili dog. Anyway, it is a great place for this type of thing. Both Deb and I got quite sunburned while we were up there, and the temp was around 80.

I did get a visit from the local rent-a-cop after this:

It was all in good fun though.

No excitement weekend.

2008-02-17T15:08:00.000-08:00

No earth shattering news from this end for the weekend. I "worked" (see last entry) last Sunday, so I got a three day weekend....and no babysitting duty either! (thanks Christyn)

Friday I waited around until it got over 60 and hit the road for a long ride. It was a little cool riding the ridge of Pine Mountain, but still a nice day for a ride. That evening we were invited to dinner with some old friends to Ben's Chop House where I discovered Tiramisu a couple years ago. Like every other place around here the price goes up, but food and service don't. I was ok, but not great...the company was though, so I'll not complain about it.

Saturday I sent Deb off to work and headed for the gym. We missed our normal Friday evening so I wanted to catch up. It's not nearly as fun by yourself. Then I spent a few hours cleaning up the yard. We had sweet gum balls everywhere from dropping the tree a couple weeks ago. By the time I finished that it was pushing 70 so I hit the road again. I didn't stray to far this time, basically riding all over Columbus.

Today...well...we didn't accomplish a damn thing. Had brunch at IHOP then went to a couple Dodge dealers looking for the latest SRT's. Don't need one, just wanted to check out the new colors. We topped off a wasted Sunday with a stop at Ranger Joe's coffee shop.

Yeah, I worked harder typing this than I did at anything all weekend, other than the gym. Deb has us signed up for another car club get together in Atlanta in a couple weeks, so there's something to look forward too...more car pictures!

Car club meet and greet.

2008-02-11T07:15:00.000-08:00

What a nice weekend we had. (Although waiting for you mother to post an update when she's traveling the world is a bit troubling)

Our main car club, Georgia LX Car Club, had a meet and greet in Columbus for a change. Usually we end up having to drive to Atlanta. This meant I could finally have a truely clean car without brake dust and bugs. I sent Deb to work Saturday in her moms old car so I could spend the day getting the car cleaned up and doing a couple of modifications. The biggest job was installing the tail light "halo's" seen here:

That was no small task, but they look great in person. We met at the local Mellow Mushroom because one of the club guys runs the place. The parking lot is being redone, so we did fight dust because of folks rolling through checking out all the Chargers (and one lone Magnum). After we ate we hit the road for a cruise around town and also to find a place to take some pictures. Only six of us went cruising because the folks from out of town wanted to get home before it got to late. One fella drove all the way from South Carolina! Debbies brother Donnie recently bought a Charger and showed up too. He's the second car in the picture below.

We followed it up with a BBQ at Celeste's house. That was a nice change of pace because we usually do that sort of thing over here.

Tags: GALXC, Charger, Magnum, 300, Georgia, MOPAR, car club

Big project Sunday.

2008-02-03T17:30:00.000-08:00

Damn, I forgot I was going to do a "new van" entry. I guess it will have to wait, because we had a rather large project to take care of today...

Sweet Gum trees are a pain in the foot due to the prickly "balls" they leave in the yard. To make matters worse, the rather large one we had in the back yard had been struck by lightning years ago taking the top out of it. So, it was rotting from the top down, dropping rather large limbs.

You'll notice we are pretty far into this project when the pictures start. I didn't think about the camera, and Deb didn't want to see the scary part.

I had the help of son-in-law Tim. One very large limb was handing over the shed, so we tied it off over another limb. He had a harness on in the tree, cut the limb, then I lowered it. The rest were just dropped straight down. The tree was tall enough to reach the house, so I had to notch it about 20' up to section it down some. I cut the notch from the ladder, then had Tim stand on the shed with the pole saw to make the back cut. We also roped the tree to Tim's truck to provide some directional assistance. I fell right where I wanted it, which is good because neither of us is an arborist by any stretch of the imagination.

Now the yard is cleaned up, I've got quite a pile of brush for the city to pick up Friday, and the stump has a pile of charcoal smoldering on top of it. Debbie is really happy to have this project done, not because she wanted the tree gone, but because there was no damage to people or property.

Thanks to Tim, for the help, and the extra saw.

1st day trip of the year/ SNOW??!!

2008-01-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

We planned to attend the International Motorcycle Show every since we left it last year. It is a huge show with every manufacturer represented (even some I'd never heard of) and all kinds of aftermarket vendors as well. Sort of a nice way to kick off the '08 riding season.

Speaking of riding season, when I got up yesterday morning Weatherbug was raising hell about a "snow storm warning". Well, that wasn't going to stop me, and before we left it had been cancelled anyway. So off we went.

At first it was just a nasty day...cold and rainy. But before we even got 20 miles from home the snow started. The pictures tell the story, but it snowed pretty hard in Georgia yesterday. Of course, it's all gone now, and pretty much was when we headed back south last night. It is pretty cold out there, but sunny as can be.

We made it to the Georgia World Congress center just fine. For my kin it is pretty much like a large Bartle Hall. It's right in downtown Atlanta beside the Georgia Dome and CNN Center. We ate at CNN which is a very cool place to check out.

All in all, a fun day. I will go on Sunday next year though...to many damn people there on Saturday.

Oh, and I heard Ron Paul placed second in the Nevada primaries. I'm sure this won't stop the media from ignoring him, but at least some folks get it.

Weekly update.

2008-01-13T17:25:00.000-08:00

I suppose I'm due to type an update since it has been a week. My excitement for the week was getting a new work van! We've been told for the passed six months that we were getting new laptops and for good reason. The one I had was over 3 years old and SLOW. We were also told that the supervisors were getting the first four new vans that came in. When I left Montgomery on Wednesday I was informed that I should be there Thursday morning because the IT guys were showing up with the new laptops. While enroute I found out that we were also going to pick up our new vans! Hell, I've been living in that thing for over 3 years, I've got a lot of stuff to transfer. The laptops are quite nice, Dell widescreen with a wireless card....not networking, but wireless internet! Now that part is great, because the way I've always done it when I needed to email was cruise around a development until I came across someone's unsecured wireless connection. NO MORE. I can be on the net wherever, whenever. I got the important stuff setup at the office, and threw the rest in the back of the new van....then spent Friday and Saturday getting things right. I'm actually happy with everything about the new one, other than the DirecTV billboard on the side. That was one thing I didn't have to deal with in the old van. Now I can't stop anywhere without someone wanting to ask a question. SO, I got it waxed up, installed my XM, center console, and several other non-approved accessories that make my life easier. Now tomorrow I shall go to work in the thing. I'll get some pictures also.

I did get a ride in this afternoon, but had to cut it short to get back and head to the gym with Deb. We joined the YMCA before Christmas, and have been hitting it pretty regular. I notice she's cut off my food supply a bit as well....hmmmm, I think it's a conspiracy of some sort.

For now this is the only picture you get, from my Sunday ride

.......

Summer stopped by today.

2008-01-06T20:11:00.000-08:00

What a nice day we had here today. Weatherbug says the high was 70, I'd have guessed higher. It was above 60 in Missouri, but yet one of my guys who transfered to north Georgia sent me a picture this afternoon of a frozen waterfall and then called to tell me how cold it was up there. Weird.

We started the day by cleaning vehicles. After that I was put to work picking up leaves and cleaning up the yard. Of course, it wasn't that bad of a chore....the Walker just sucks up anything in it's path. It was my Sunday on call, so I couldn't really hit the road on the bike because I've got to answer the phone when it rings. Deb was passing through the living room when something was mentioned about geocaching on some show on Discovery channel. The next thing I know, Celeste was picking up Morgan and off we went. Lyndsay spent the night with her Aunt Angie last night, and they tracked us down in the park to drop her off, so she got in on the action as well. It was a good walk, but we only found one cache. Two straight days of treasure hunting are catching up with my feet right now, that's for sure.

Oh, the phone never did ring.

1st Saturday of the Month.

2008-01-05T16:56:00.000-08:00

Well, Lyndsay and I had a pretty full day of it. Since it was the first Saturday of the month, we started at Home Depot for the Kids workshop. After that is was time for some more geocaching, or treasure hunting as she calls it. We hit another Columbus Park, Cooper Creek. There weren't as many caches as Flat Rock, but we still got a good walk out of it, 2.99 miles total.

Tags: geocache, geocaching, Columbus GA

Welcome 2008!

2008-01-01T18:45:00.000-08:00

2007 wasn't all bad. I sold some toys, bought some toys. Got some things accomplished, left some things undone. And, it is another year gone that I can't get back. But overall, I'm not sad to see it go. Not that I really look at today as being much more than yesterdays tomorrow, but the new year is a "reset" of sorts, right?

While talking to Dad on Friday I told him I was going to catch a bike ride while it was warm. The cold front was headed this way fast, and it's done nothing but rain lately, so I was going to strike while the iron was hot, so to speak. Well, as our conversation was in progress, I noticed that son-in-law #2 was trying to call me. Son-in-law #2 is also my employee, so I figured it was work related. After I hung up with dad I called him back...he had been given a "scooter" by one of his customers, and had already dropped it off at son-in-law #1's house. Well, I figured I'd better go check it out, right? Well, I did end up getting a bike ride in....just not on my bike.

It's a Honda Ruckus. It's got 49cc's and 3.9 screaming horsepower. I figured I'd better ride it now because those two will probably jump it off a house or something and trash it pretty quick.

We were supposed to head to Montgomery last night for the new year celebration, but due to unforseen circumstances that didn't happen. We did stay up, Lyndsay through some "poppers" in the driveway at midnight and my neighbor unloaded a pistol in his backyard. It was very "Georgia". We all slept most of the morning away. The cold front made it, and it was windy as hell, but not real cold, so I did get my new years day ride in. I road over to son-in-law #2's house in time to catch him filming son-in-law #1 sliding the poor scooter in circles until he wrecked several times. I knew I'd better ride it while I could.

Mom, I could use a few pictures of the upgrades that dad has added to his bike please.

Happy New Year to everyone. See ya when I see ya.

Motorcycle Madness!

2007-12-23T19:33:00.000-08:00

I suppose you were expecting a Christmas enty, right? Well, tough shit.

This entry is about motorcycles. But, not about my current one. I read a few message boards, and contribute as well. If you search google for WoodMotorsports you'll find a few message board entries here and there. (I just did it, just to make sure nothing to bad shows up... in the first few pages anyway). Well, tonight someone on Supermotojunkie.com posted a link that brought back a lot of memories....

Honda Trail 70 is a site dedicated to the bike that started it all for me. I really hadn't thought about it much, even though it was the first bike that put me in the hospital and I revisited a similar scene this year. I remember riding in circles around a pasture on that bike. Hell, I remember riding it before I knew how to stop without help. I remember dad riding wheelies on it. I don't remember that damn thing ever being broke, but at that age I wasn't doing much of my own wrenching. It's kind of funny how the motorcycling thing has come, gone, and come back again over the years. I just about always had wheels in grade school, started on two, then went to three for a while as well (ATC110 Honda). I remember dad getting ready for a big bike trip, but don't remember when or what bike he was taking. I remember Uncle Don having those freakishly fast two stroke, three cylinder street bikes that we had to pull with a car to get started once.

The first bike I bought for myself was a Honda Hurricane 600 when the sport bike craze was just getting going. I didn't have it long because lower enlisted Army guys with families have been known to sell stuff to pay bills.

Dad didn't have a bike for years either. I think what drug me back into it was him buying a Goldwing a couple years ago. I should have never got on the damn thing. Now I've got a Suzuki DRZ400SM that has more aftermarket parts than factory ones.....and wouldn't it be cool to track down a trail 70 to fix up?

Just some crap.

2007-12-19T15:38:00.000-08:00

We had our Christmas breakfast at work today. I guess that's nice of them to spend my profit share money on cold eggs, but since my entire team is based 1.5 hours away from the office, and we loose an hour going into central time zone getting there, it sure screws up the routes for the techs right off the bat. In other words, by the time my crew actually started the first job of their route, it was after 11:00. Somehow I don't get how nobody higher up can't understand the math involved. I also think that if one of them sat down and figured out how much wages plus gas for 20 vans is costing the company for a single trip to Montgomery, they would see how fast a Columbus office would pay off.

Speaking of wasting company money, here was my side trip of the day. I want to get a few better pictures of that railraod bridge that I posted a couple weeks ago. A quick check of the GPS got me much closer to it. I didn't have the camera with me, but I was passing through the area so I did a recon. As you can see in Google Earth I can cut through Omaha and there is a dirt road that follows the tracks to the river....

Here is a closer shot.....

The dirt road basically runs straight into the Chattahoochee River, and it a great angle to get some closer/better pictures of the big bridge. That damn thing really intrigues me for some reason. Anyway, I could probably get right up to it walking the tracks, but believe it or not, out in the middle of NOWHERE, there was a crew of convicts cleaning up the vary spot where the dirt road meets the river. SOOOO...that hike will have to wait until another day. I'm thinking I may take the bike and ride it right down the tracks, but I've got to see how rough it is first. I couldn't believe the convicts were down there though...I'm here to tell you that even downtown Omaha is small enough that you don't usually see another car on the road....even smaller than Wellington...by a long shot. Well, you get the idea. I'm thinking I may do my first geocache stash somewhere down there though. There are not any others anywhere close, and the bridge is a cool sight for folks willing go off the beaten path.

Well, so goes it for another day down the tubes. Christyn has both Lyndsay and Morgan while Deb and Celeste are grocery shopping, so I'll spend some time surfing the net in quiet while I've got it.

Tags: geocache, motorcycle, Omaha GA, GPS

What a wasted weekend!

2007-12-17T04:57:00.000-08:00

Well, I didn't get much accomplished this weekend, other than breathing in a bunch of oxygen that someone with more go-power could have used. The plan was for Lyndsay and I to go "treasure hunting" Saturday, but other events screwed that up. Between techs stopping by to get equipment from me and friends dropping by it was noon before we had a chance to escape...then the rain started. And it rained pretty much all day and night. Then the roof leak started! It turns out that the rubber seals that surround our vent pipes had pretty much dried up and fell out. It had been that way for some time, but we didn't know because for the most part it didn't rain this past year. I used Bishops tape and rigged them for now.

Oh, also it is sort of like winter here now. As I type this Weatherbug is showing 26 degrees outside. It's supposed to make it to 52 today, so it isn't quite like winter at mom and dads, but at least it's making an attempt to get cold.

Here is a couple pictures from last Thursday. I was off due to working last Sunday and went for a ride and found a couple geocaches.

I've gained a couple readers lately, so I thought I'd better warn them of my "on and off" blogging. This isn't exactly a blog that will be running your email full of alerts. Sometimes I do a few a week, other times a couple per month.

A few pictures from today.

2007-12-03T17:03:00.000-08:00

Mom asked who sets these caches out. Pretty much anyone that's into it. What's in it for them? It's sort of like a blog...you watch the page to see who visits it, see what they left, and see what they took. I'll be setting some out eventually. It's not just about the hunt, though that is what I really like about it. It's also about finding things that you normally would pass right by every day......

That's the Bacon Motel. At one time it was the only motel close to Plains, GA. It's actually out in the country a couple miles, and it's not very big. It sure doesn't look like any motel I've ever seen. A cache brought me here. I found another Travel Bug with a small tank attached. It was set in motion by a WWII vets granddaughter after he died. The idea is for this one to make it to the WWII memorial in Washington, D.C.

I also stopped to snap this picture while on the road today.....

Dad mentioned a cool bridge they had spotted on a motorcycle ride, and this one came to mind. It's a RailRoad Trestle across the Chattahoochee River close to Omaha, GA. I'm on the car bridge for this picture basically stranding on the state line of AL and GA. The trestle hasn't been used in some time, and the car bridge is actually quite a bit lower....larger boats no longer come up the river to Columbus like they did at one time.

If anything this hobby makes you notice things that have always been there. I found two great places for a picnic today that we'll be visiting very soon. My leg is getting more rehab than it has since I left the hospital. All in all, this is a pretty cool thing to me.

Tags: geocache, geocaching, travelbug

A fun, unproductive, weekend.

2007-12-02T20:16:00.000-08:00

Well, me and Monk hit the treasure trail Saturday. We were in Flat Rock park, the same one Mom, Dad, and I road through on our short motorcycle ride. It was a wonderful day, and we did some major off road hiking. Probably the best therapy I've had for my leg yet. I'd say we did 3 miles or more, but some of the terrain was rough! We found more than we didn't, but there were a couple that we didn't track down. We also found a couple "travel bugs"....trackable tags that you attach to an item, then it gets tracked online as it moves from cache to cache. Each travelbug has it's own page, with instructions in some cases. That's what the one of Monk with the Disney stuff is about...that one is trying to make it to Disney. I'll be helping it get about 50 miles farther south. Oh, and I seen that I got a comment from a fellow geocacher...I may be hitting her up for some tips, because the micro-caches are hard to find!

We went to Macon for a day trip to visit friends. On the way back I even had Deb scouring the brush looking for some I couldn't find last week. She is pretty good luck because we found all but one that I couldn't turn up before. I really didn't think she'd give a rats ass about my latest time killer, but she jumped right in. I guess we are both friggin' crazy.

Geocaching.

2007-11-27T16:50:00.000-08:00

I may be putting the cart before the horse on this one, because I haven't even tried it yet.

Geocaching is a hobby that involves folks hiding things, then going to a web site and giving the coordinates for it so other folks can go find it. From what I can tell, a lot of these aren't easy to find even when you have the coordinates. You just input the data in your GPS, and go for a hunt. I wouldn't even be posting this, as I'm sure it seems like a wild waste of time to most, BUT.....if your going on a motorcycle ride to no-where in particular, why not have a few things to look for while your out? I've been sitting here this evening entering Caches in my Garmin, and most of them are in public parks and old cemetaries....just the type of place you might want to take a hike through.

Anyhow, just passing it on. I think Lyndsay and I just found something to do, when there's nothing else to do.

Another vid...this one ends better.

2007-11-19T10:05:00.000-08:00

Corvette killer:

A day at the drag strip.

2007-11-18T18:25:00.000-08:00

No pictures from todays run as I went by myself this time. Deb was busy buying groceries and cleaning house in preparation for visitors this week.

I went out with a car club called Musclecar Evolution. It is a very large club and this was one of the last open drags of the season so the turn out was great. Lots of fast street cars, and the track was prepped nicely for a change. I was able to stomp it rather than baby it out of the lights. I improved everything but my elapsed time! Part of the problem is 200 pounds of subwoofer enclosure that wasn't back there before. I also had WAY to much gas in the tank. But anyway, it was a lot of fun and I only lost one run out of five. I beat a Corvette, a GTO, and a Superbee which is basically a yellow version of my car. It's probably the last chance I'll get this year, so I made the most of it. There was a lot of video taken, so if I make the edit, I'll post a link to it.

"Edit":I should have known the first video posted would be the one I lost!

Today's ride.

2007-11-04T17:56:00.000-08:00

Well, don't get your hopes up about the ride pictures. I couldn't for the life of me figure out a way to take pictures while under way. It's a shame, because it was a pretty route. Of course we were running at about 8/10ths the whole time which required a bit of concentration anyway, but I couldn't have ran the camera even at a slow pace. I'm going to figure a way to mount it so all I've got to do it push the buttons.

There wasn't a big turnout at the track, but there was enough to make it exciting. Round trip door to door was exactly 130 miles, and the padded biker shorts helped quite a bit.

Considering the bikes in our group my little ride did quite well. I had the smallest of the four with 400cc, the next was the Aprilia at 450 but it's a twin cylinder race bike with about 65 HP. The Husky was a 610 thumper, and the lone sport bike was a CBR600RR just like the one I was riding last summer. He had his son riding, so he didn't mix it up with us in the curves. It was enough fun that I'll not go into details for my wifes sake. She still freeks out every time I ride anyway.

Getting back to normal...I think.

2007-11-03T17:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, things are slowing back to normal I think. I've got a ride planned tomorrow to Barnsville, GA with a couple other Supermoto guys to watch a race at the Black Hills Circuit.

I'm still having tailbone troubles from my mishap, so I stopped at Mike's Bikes and got me some bicycle riding shorts with the padded ass. That should help, and since one of the riders in the group is on what could basically be called a race bike with tags, we will be taking fuel stops pretty often. This is what his bike looks like:

I guess I could put up with constant fuel stops if I was on the sexy beast anyway, but it should give my tailbone a rest too. It's about an 80 mile ride one way, but the route is nice and curvy and mostly all county road rather than boring 4 lane. It should be great, and I'll take some pictures to share as well.

Just writing for writings sake.

2007-10-30T18:34:00.000-07:00

Last night Deb and I went out to Ft. Benning to get her step dad a uniform to be burried in. Of course, this one isn't anything like the one that he wore back when he was in. He retired in '65 but we made sure to get the correct rank, ribbons, and awards for his service in WWII. Of course there are a few vultures involved as there always seem to be when someone dies. His children from a previous marriage are sort of kicking up a fuss about certain funeral decisions that Deb's mom has made. She is taking it pretty well since Deb is "handling" the conversations with them. She's actually doing pretty well mediating, I think my buddy Jimmy Carter would be proud. The viewing is Thursday and funeral on Friday.

We just got done dealing with some social worker who had to come "inspect" the house to see that it is fit for Morgan to live in. It's funny that it takes them forever to take a kid from an unfit parent, but then they act like nobody is good enough to care for them afterwards. I think it went well, but you can never tell with those folks. I found out the hard way that sometimes they are two-faced, but the judge can see through the bull when it comes right down to it. I made sure she knew that I wasn't above hiring counsel if needed to make this a smooth transition, and that we wouldn't be jumping through hoops for them either.

I'm jealous that SOME PEOPLE are taking motorcycle rides, and I'm not...I shall have to rememdy that hopefully tomorrow afternoon.

Oh, and I can't help but notice that nobody ever comes south to visit, then I thought that maybe I hadn't invited anyone either. All my readers (the both of you) are welcome to come join in my madness whenever you like. I won't have any vacation myself until it resets in January, but don't let that stop you from coming down here. Don't forget, I'll still be riding a motorcycle two months from now....can you say that much?

Anyway, have a nice day, whatever your doing. We try to do that even with all the madness going on.

What a week (end).

2007-10-29T16:53:00.000-07:00

New baby...Christyn had her baby. Allie was born at around 2:30 am Saturday morning. Healthy, all is well, and is now at home.

Death in the family....Deb's step dad past away last night at around 3 am. We spent this afternoon getting a uniform together for him to be burried in on Thursday.

Sister in Law Angie in bad accident...this one actually happened last Saturday night. Basically destroyed her foot, and has several cracked vertabrae. She is going home on Wed, but has a big surgery ahead of her.

While visiting her on Thursday I lost a filling from back in my teen years. I had to go the whole weekend with a rather large hole in my tooth...got it mostly fixed today...only it will need to be capped. At least insurance pays half, because caps aren't cheap.

Debbie hasn't slept a full night in three days. I feel like I've been in a fight and lost. Oh well, it can only go up from here, right?

Notes from the front.

2007-10-24T17:24:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been raining here for a few days. Not hard, but enough to help with the shortage I would think. It's been a busy week for me because Al had a couple days off. I'm taking tomorrow because we all have to work Friday and Saturday due to the roll out of some new software that pretty much changes the way we do everything but the actual installs. Routing, opening and closing, inventory....everything.

It looks like Morgan will be living here for a while...I seen this one coming before she was even conceived, so I'm not going to act suprised or anything. She's better off here for sure, and a two year old shouldn't have to worry about anything but being a two year old. Don't know how long, but for now she resides here....not mother, just daughter....State mandated....you get the picture.

Speaking of pictures, there is no story to the above album. Just a days worth of pictures from Sunday I believe. I hope my loyal readers are well. Here's wishing Brett Brady a happy birthday. Have a good evening.

Rainy day off.

2007-10-19T07:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I see AOL gave one of my lost entries back. I'm leaving it in case they decide to take it back.

Of course the only rain we've had in months shows up on my day off. It does look like it will pass in the next couple hours, so maybe I can get an afternoon ride in.

I got the mirrors for my bike, but the pictures I took suck because it was dark out, so I'll do some more when the sun comes out.

Greg is back in town for a week, then he's off to Idaho for 9 months. It's been pretty busy here this moring. Jerry and son Geraldo from New Orleans came by at 7:30(!), then Greg, followed by AL. Lots of visitors. I'll probably head out to Gregs this afternoon....with a shop the size of an airplane hanger I should be able to stay dry.

I'm liking Ron Paul, mainly because he seems to actually hate the IRS. He'll never get the nomination, but he's my guy at the moment, followed by Romney who'll also be out of luck because he's Mormon. Rudy may as well be a Democrat and is anti-gun so screw him. What a mess this one is shaping up to be.

Well, back to surfing for a while. Have a nice day.

Third try at this entry.

2007-10-16T10:40:00.000-07:00

No explanation this time...third try for this entry. AOL sucks.

Some pictures from the weekend.

2007-10-16T05:08:00.000-07:00

Second try at this one as AOL ate the first...........

Like Rachel, we come across a cheapo digital camera as well. Mine was free but required a charger, so thanks to ebay I've got an entire $18 tied up in it. I'm really amazed at what a couple megapixels do for quality. My before and after pics of the bike really make the newer free camera show it's stuff. Because it was free we've been letting Lyndsay use it when needed, so you'll see some of her photo's mixed in, as well as before and after shots of her first haircut...Yeah, 1st. I wasn't to wild about it, but she likes it...so what the hell?

Bike pictures, before and after.

2007-10-13T16:48:00.000-07:00

Ok, here are some pictures. I was sort of putting off getting back on the bike until I knew my leg was working somewhat normal. My plan was to keep it torn apart doing different things to it, so I didn't give in and hit the road to early. During that time (the last two months) I set about making the bike mine like I do most of the vehicles that have come and gone. I'll not do a breakdown and the parts, but I'll mention the notables. The Corbin seat turned this thing into a comfortable ride, something it really wasn't before. It was fun as hell, but not comfy...it is now. I replaced the 15 tooth front sproket with a 16. This small change is huge on the hiway as I'm not wound up so much at 70 mph. They gear it from the factory to do both on and off road...I'm not going off road, so a hiway gear was in order. The exhaust pipe is one of those things you just have to do....it's in a rule book somewhere I'm sure. Now it would be hard to sneak off without anyone knowing I'm leaving, that's for sure. I got the graphics from a place in Kansas City, and I'm really happy with the way they come out. If you look close there are a bunch of little aluminum guards and things that replaced the plastic stock counterparts. Anyway, I've got a different set of mirrors still enroute along with a shorter street front fender and I'm calling this one done. I'm very happy with it, so it's time to ride!

2007-10-12T21:34:00.000-07:00

I worked last Sunday, which gave me two days off in a row this week, a pretty rare thing for me. It's been a pretty fun couple of days. Thursday was spent waxing the car and working on the bike. The bike has changed since you last saw it, and pictures are in order but I haven't taken any yet. I was waiting on one last part that arrived via UPS at 7:30 pm last night. I figure that if I wasn't able to ride it, I may as well be working on it, right? Anyway, I got it back together by 9pm and took my first ride in over four months today. My only problem is getting on and off because I transfer all my weight to the broke leg when doing both. Riding was not a problem, and I put in around 50 miles off and on all day. I'd take a short ride, come home, then go ride again later. All is well.

Tonight we took another ride out to the drag strip for another try at improving my skills. I'm still having a time launching without smoking the tires, but I did improve from last time....13.398. This is a 12 second car, I've just got to do my part. While there I met another guy that is in our car club and raced him twice. He beat me off the line both times, but the second I didn't smoke the tires to bad and got him. In the picture we are lined up at the lights, ready to rock.

A picture fix for a nose problem.

2007-10-03T14:50:00.000-07:00

Well, here are some pictures to fix dads "nose problem". I think the last person I heard use that term was Grandma Wood. Anyway, Deb took a lot of pictures, so here they all are.

I hated to see it drive away, but it was doing nothing here but sitting in the yard. They guy paid what I asked without trying to barter me down, so I guess that's a good thing. Now we'll see how long I'll go without needing it for something. The only attachment that I didn't get rid of were my pallet forks/carryall because I had to much time and labor in making them and they can't be bought when I get my next tractor......whenever that will be.

My 9/11 entry.

2007-09-11T19:24:00.000-07:00

I suppose I'll do a 9/11 entry. I don't look at it the same as most, but that's not much different than any other time.

9/11 is Deb's birthday so before I left I told her that if anyone tried to screw up her birthday call me so I could kick their ass. I arrived at our office to see everyone circled around a TV getting the information on what had happened. My first instinct was to go buy ammo...so I did. It was good to see that I wasn't the only one thinking this way, but it wasn't a mad rush either. Other than listening to talk radio in the truck all day, it was a work day like any other. There was a weird "feeling" in the air, but I'm at a loss to explain it. Sort of a cross between impending doom and marshal law...I prefer the latter. In some ways I hoped that this would wake people up to the fact that the government can't protect you, no matter how much taxes they take, and how many freedoms we give away each year in the name of said protection....quite the opposite, most blamed the government for the attack, then promptly sit by while more rights were taken away..."to keep this from happening again." Yeah, right.

So, we go to war. I went the first time, when there was a clear cut reason and mission...get Saddam out of Kuwait. It was none of our business, but we made it ours, did the mission and got out. Somehow 9/11 has given our leaders a license to stay in the hell hole indefinitely with no clear mission or reason for being. Osama is now called "impotent" by our White House....right, because if we got him you have one less reason to be there.

What is the answer? I really can't dream one up. Both parties are the same. Both will present another talking head, voter turnout will be less than the weekly American Idol votes. I actually may not vote this year, because I don't like anyone. I liked Bush...back then. At this point I'd be happy to see Democrat control of everything just because the Republicans have ran things like the mob for the last 8 years...I mean really, how could the Dems screw it up? OH, how about a joke ticket...Woman and a black guy that's a Muslim. Good Lord, do they just not want the job?

Anyway, there is nothing where the towers once stood because NYC politics are as screwed up as the nations. The big hole in the ground is a tribute for the terrorists to visit. Superpower my ass.

Oh yeah, Deb did call me.

Lyndsay's Birthday Party

2007-08-23T06:34:00.000-07:00

Here are the pitures from the festivities Sunday. There was all a BBQ too, but I think all the photographers must have been hungry because I didn't get a single picture of the food.

Ramblings of a cripple.

2007-08-21T17:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back to work for sure. Tonight I believe is the first time I've gotten home before 8 p.m. since being back in the saddle. We've got way more work than we have guys to do it, and the "upper level" bosses basically have let everyone know that it's on us to handle it. Well, there is no way to handle it so I've just told them to do all they can, then go home. It amazes me how this company stays solvent with all the "managers" in the middle trying to justify a job while not giving a damn about the only people that make the company money, the installers. It is quite nice to be back out in the field with the fellas though.

I'm nearly walking without a limp now, but my leg is still pretty weak. I tried to do some attic work last Friday, but jumping from joist to joist didn't work out to well so I called in my backup...Al. I'm getting there pretty quick though, and maybe the 100 degree days are close to going away.

I can't believe dad sold his bike. I've not talked to him about it yet, and at first I thought it was all about an upgrade to the latest model. Now I'm beginning to wonder. I've still not ordered the last part for mine as a safety net. I figure the day that I think I'm ready to ride, I'll order the taillight thus forcing another week of recovery time for the leg. I could ride now, but I really want my leg closer to 100% in case I get off balance at a light or something. I'd say by the end of next month I should be riding.

We had a huge party here on Sunday for Lyndsays birthday. It went very well, and there are lots of pictures sitting on this camera waiting for me to upload them. I won't get into detail since I've got to do another blog for it, but a good time was had by all.

Back to work.

2007-08-09T16:30:00.000-07:00

I just returned from the surgeons office with permission to return to my van on Monday. He was very happy with progress so far and I've only got to see him one more time in six weeks.

This is good news for a number of reasons, the main one being no more $150 per week gasoline bills. And I get to sleep until 7 am in the morning instead of 5. I was getting pretty tired of watching the soap opera that is our office anyway.

More drag racing goodness.

2007-08-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

Kevin wanted to know what kind of cars I was running against Friday night so I'm dropping this youtube link so you all can get an idea. About half way through this video you'll see me get beat by a black Charger.....but that was also my best run (see timeslip below). In my defense he had threw quite a bit of money at his.

So, I did four runs. I raced a tricked out SRT Magnum first, then the Black SRT Charger, a VERY tricked out new GTO that ran 11's, and finally the R/T Magnum that I beat in Deb's video.

I was a helluva fun weekend.

Charger SRT at the track.

2007-08-04T15:18:00.000-07:00

The above time slip was of my best run, not the one in the video. Although I did get beat bad in this one. I'm car #2 and this was my second run of the night.

I'll have more on this later, but here is a teaser for now. Notice the commentary from the videographer. She acts like it's the worst thing ever, but she is still driving around town with the numbers on the side window like a teenager.

Charger SRT at the track.

1st week back to work.

2007-07-08T07:20:00.000-07:00

I've got no pictures for you this week, and if I did they would be boring anyway. I started back to work Tuesday, going to Montgomery early every morning and holding the office down. Luckily Al has an "extra" vehicle we could borrow, so Deb has been driving his Explorer and I've been taking the gas hog Charger. Actually, I've kept my foot out of it and been getting 20 mpg so I guess I won't complain to much, but it's a 90 mile trip one way, so the gas bill does add up. I use crutches while I'm up there and still hate them but have gotten somewhat used to them now.

I'll be happy to get back to normal and I'm sure Deb will be glad too because she's been getting up at 5 am fixing my lunch and getting me out the door every morning.

I go to my first physical therapy appt. this Tuesday. Also my school starts back up this week, so it looks like this will be a busy week.

Doctor visit...latest.

2007-07-02T20:09:00.000-07:00

Well, the doc is happy with progress. He was really happy with the amount of extension I have with my knee already. I didn't tell him it's because I haven't worn the brace much in the past week and a half. Then he suprised me by saying I don't have to wear the damn thing anymore. By his timeline I've got another month with no weight bearing, then I start 25% per week 'til the fourth week and I should be walking.

Soooo...if you break your leg like I did basically write off three months.

I going to work in the morning in Montgomery and will be doing that for a while. It's better than not making money sitting at home.

Thanks mom and dad for the "extra".

Call from a President.

2007-06-25T19:31:00.000-07:00

Me: "Hello"

President Carter (Pres.):"James? This is Jimmy Carter, how are you?"

Me: "Not bad considering I'm laid up on the couch with a broken leg."

Pres.:"Did you fall off a ladder or something?"

Me: "No sir, motorcycle accident."

Pres.: "Oh, um, your not to old for that sort of thing?"

LMAO...and so went my latest conversation with Jimmy Carter. I was really happy he called because since I'd talked to him last I seen a special on Discovery Channel about 3 mile Island and his part in it. To say it impressed me would be an understatement, and I had been hoping I'd get to talk to him about it. The funniest thing was when he told me, "Before I got back into farming that was my field, Nuclear Submarines." I knew that, but what a drastic jump in careers. Farmer, Nuclear Physicist (no joke), leader of the free world, then back to farming. Yikes.

Anyway, we got his DVR problem fixed over the phone, and had a nice conversation.

That's pretty cool.

Staples removed.

2007-06-25T07:28:00.000-07:00

Deb's mom came by Saturday so I put her to work taking staples out of my leg. It was three days early, but it was obvious that it was past time, the wound is completely closed. The leg pictures look a little gross because she had me put ointment on it after taking the staples out.

It was a pretty slow weekend around here. Since there wasn't anyone here on Saturday to watch me fall down, I didn't do a damn thing. Yesterday we put together a new bike for Lyndsay, then didn't do much else. I did get to screw around in the shed a little bit. We also went out to eat, then visited at a friends house until damn near midnight.

Starting to move around here.

2007-06-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

Well, things are looking a little better here each day. I think my ass bone is finally getting better. I'm able to move around quite a bit and not turn white and scare everyone into thinking I"m going to pass out at any minute.

We got the car back from the body shop Tuesday, so since yesterday was Deb's day off we spent most of it waxing it. It's quite a pain to hop around, but it's better than sitting still all day. I'm using a new wax system that takes several steps, but when it was done it was worth the trouble. I did find a couple of spots of orange peal (hidden) and a spot of overspray that isn't hidden at all. I hope they can do something about it. It looks as if the tape wasn't stuck in one spot to the paper, and quite a bit of paint got through. We'll see what they say.

Anyway, I won't complain today. I think things are turning to the better for a change.

A couple pictures.

2007-06-18T09:40:00.000-07:00

We had a pretty good fathers day here. The Formula 1 race was in the US this weekend, so I had better coverage than usuall. F1 is the most popular motorsport in the world, but as is normal, here in the states it takes a back seat to racing series that go in circles. I mean really, who would even think of turning left in a race, right?

Anyway, Deb built a nice BBQ and had most of the gang over. I had my brace off most of the day. Debs mom said the more it is exposed to air, the sooner the wound will heal. I'm not bending it or putting pressure on it, so don't worry. My ass has yet to quit hurting, but I've sort of just learned to ignore it for as long as possible. All medication is done, so no more giving myself blood thinner shots...YYEEAAAA!

I'm not as depressed now either. There really isn't any point in it after all. I think Lyndsay is having a better summer vacation actually because she gets to stay here and swim and play with her stuff rather than stay with her mom at work or grandma and be bored. She does a fine job of fetching things for me too.

I've started doing a couple of my normal weekly reports to take the pressure off right hand man Al. He did the same for me while he was out, and I can sit at the computer for short lengths of time now.

Ok, that's enough for now. I'll just sit and wait for pictures of Dads new garden tractor.

All gear, all the time.

2007-06-14T16:18:00.000-07:00

About two weeks before my accident, Deb and I had a conversation about motorcycle gear, and did it need to be worn all the time. I think I started it by bitching about how hot it was at stoplights with my jacket on. Anyway, I went on to tell her that when you didn't think you needed it is when you would need it. Truthfully I was as much trying to set an example for all these boys with their bikes as anything. Of course, I'd had the "$50 helmet for your $50 head" conversation with all of them several times as well. (For the record, my helmet lists for around $500, but I got a deal on ebay.)

Anyway, for some reason after that conversation I did take a couple rides without my jacket. Usually just down to get cigs, and short runs. I wasn't wearing it for the accident. Lost quite a bit of skin on my right arm too. You can bet I'll be wearing it from now on.

What brings this up was a comment that buddy Greg made the day he came to visit me in the hospital. "You should have been wearing Alpinestars bubba." Yep, I should have been. I'm not absolutely sure it would have saved my bones, but I'd about bet on it. These are Alpinestars:

Now there are a lot of company's that make sport riding boots, so it's almost like a "velcro" thing to call them Alpinestars. They were the first, and are still at the top of the heep when it comes to motorcycle gear. Also, it's one of those things....they are not comfortable to walk around in, they are sort of "geeky" looking, but you can bet that when this is over I'll be wearing the damn things, and my jacket, and probably the kevlar riding jeans as well. This hasn't scared me off of the bike, but it has made me painfully aware of the saying from one of the web sites I frequent: All Gear, All The Time.

A little better mood today.

2007-06-14T09:30:00.000-07:00

Well, things aren't so gloomy this morning. I was able to get 6 solid hours of sleep, in my bed....without the leg brace, but good sleep anyway. My leg doesn't really hurt very often, so I took it out of the brace and put it in a foam "channel" support that we took when I left the hospital. That way I couldn't really move around enough to get things in a bind, but could lay flat and comfortable enough to sleep in my bed. What a wonderful thing that was.

I tried out some crutches yesterday. I was amazed at how quickly they wore me out, but I'm much faster on them. This damn walker is a slow way to go outside the house. It hurt my arm pits a little as well, but I'm planning to use them a little each day to get used to them. If I do talk work into letting me come back crippled, there is no way I could do it with a walker.

Deb's mom is coming by this afternoon to change the dressing over my staples. She will also be the one to remove the staples in a week or so. The doctor was going to set up home health care to come by, but insurance wouldn't cover it because it wasn't called for when I was released from the hospital. No mind though, I'd rather she did it anyway.

Anyone that wants to send me some info on a Missouri family law attorney that would be willing to work with me through email and phone, I'd apreciate it. We've attempted a few contacts, but no bites yet.

A trip to the doctor.

2007-06-13T07:46:00.000-07:00

Yep, still frustrated.

The doctor seemed happy with my healing process. He took an X-ray to show me what's going on in there.....a hell of a lot of screws! I couldn't believe how many screws are in one area; it looked like a kid got ahold of a screw gun. There is also a long plate going down the outside of my leg with a few more screws thrown in for extra measure.

It was the first time I'd been out since leaving the hospital, so that was kind of exciting, but I don't think I did that well. I haven't been taking pain pills since Sunday, but I should have took one before we left.

He tells me that there is no way I'll even be moving my leg for three more weeks. No weight for six. Hmmm....I've got a max of three weeks of vacation money left. I'm not sure how I plan to make that work. Man, of all the times I wish I had AFLAC.

Sleeping it probably the one thing that bothers me the most. I'm not one to have a problem sleeping.....ever. Well, I'm not coping to well with sleeping in a chair. I did make if for about 4 hours last night in bed....so that was nice.

As I type this Deb is on the phone with my insurance lady, and a fax is coming in with more paperwork to fill out. I do believe she's got a handle on it. From the sound of things I'll owe the hospital $500....when Celeste checked it last my bill was at $32,000.

Alrighty...enough belly aching for today.

Update from the front.

2007-06-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm still living. I'm trying everything I can think of to be able to sit in front of this computer without pain. I'm only a week in, and very frustrated at my own helplessness. I'm not taking any pain medication right now, and haven't for two days. My leg very seldom hurts, and the little pain I do have I can live with better than be forever constipated.

The main source of my frustration is my tailbone. There is just no way to get comfortable in an upright sitting position right now, and I can't say that I notice it getting any better. I've got an appointment with my surgeon tomorrow so I'll know more about how long I'll be this way then.

I can't knock my support team, that's for sure. Deb has done everything possible to make me comfortable. Lyndsay has been stepping up to the plate as well, getting my lunch and hooking up my "leg cooler" when mom is at work. Friends and family have went far out of their way as well.

This is a bummer entry, but maybe the coming days will see some improvement, eh?

woodmotorsports's AOL Pictures Public Gallery

2007-05-20T20:46:00.000-07:00

woodmotorsports's AOL Pictures Public Gallery.

Here is a way to see the pictures in order with my wonderful comments. Well, sort of in order...from bottom to top.

Demolition Day.

2007-05-20T20:04:00.000-07:00

Another big project got scratched of the "to do" list today. Deb had the camera going most of the afternoon, so there is quite a few pictures here for your enjoyment.

The pictures start after quite a bit of work had already been done. Cullen came over Friday and we got the roof and front wall down, then I worked on it some Saturday evening.

I'm not really wild about the way AOL is now forcing the "artsy" photo albums, but I couldn't see a way to disable it. These are pretty self explanatory anyway, though I noticed Deb did throw a couple of the car in, I guess for good measure. (Edit: I seen Rachel is having the same problems. If they wouldn't "randomize" the damn things it would flow better. According to mom's link, this should be fixed this week then I'll go back and put some captions in to explain all this)

I do need to publicly thank Cullen and Tim for the help. They both made this project way easier than it would have been alone. I'm used to doing the things by myself and won't ask either of them for help, but they pretty much volunteered their time and it is appreciated. When it was all said and done Tim left quite a nice gift behind that deserves extra credit thanks. I don't think I've ever had help that left me gifts at the end of the day. Deb was great keeping us in cold water, lunch, and documenting the entire ordeal digitally.

Powered Up!

2007-05-15T18:51:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally finished pulling power to the shed. Now that it's on, I can't believe I waited so long....but of course, the 6/2 cable isn't cheap! I've got 60 amps of 220 out there, so I should be covered for most anything that I could cram in the little shed.

I've rearanged things for more space, and it worked out much better than the way I had it in Waverly Hall. It looks cramped in the pictures, but it's really pretty roomy now. Any LIGHTS! I added all the lights that I've picked up along the way...from Dad, Kevin, Rachel, Greg, and wherever else I found them. I've got enough light in there to do surgery now. It was actually quite a project. I ran conduit months ago, but had to pull the wire through it, into the attic, and down into the panel in the house. And speaking of panels, the shed now has it's own panel thanks to one of my team members, Trae. He gave me one that he bought for a shed and never installed then moved into an apartment. Anyway, now I can get a lot more "stuff" done in style.

A good birthday.

2007-05-11T10:13:00.000-07:00

I think Deb has figured out how I like a birthday. As anyone reading this knows, our family didn't make huge deals about birthdays. You get a cake, you get a present, and you move on. Deb's crew on the other hand, tend to blow things out of proportion with parties and all that.

I headed to Montgomery as I do every Thursday, but when I got back to Columbus, I didn't do much more for the company. In fact, I left on the motorcycle for a quick ride. We had the entire gang over for pizza, they sang me Happy Birthday, gave me some birthday cards, and gave me a very nice humidor. It is sitting behind me right now with a wet sponge in it getting seasoned so I can fill it with some nice smokes. Speaking of which, Deb got me a couple of my favorites that I don't usually get because they cost to damn much. My birthday cake was a tiramisu with a 4 and an 0 on it. Very good call there babe!

I got my blog from Mom, a call from Dad on he break at work, and a call from Rachel's gang with another rendition of Happy Birthday.

Yeah, that's about just right.

2007-05-06T08:51:00.000-07:00

One more for now...I've been talked into going with the gang to the Cotton Pickin' Country Fair with the girls.

Cat's out of the bag.

2007-05-06T08:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I had several pictures ready to slowly reveal the new car, but then I let the cat out of the bag in talking to dad this morning, so I guess I'll go ahead and start posting them anyway.

The hood scoop is functional.

More vehicle changes.

2007-05-06T06:03:00.000-07:00

It seems like things stay the same around here for months at a time, sometimes a year....then changes abound. I've not got to ride a lot in the past week, but have "personalized" my little bike some. I installed aftermarket "3 finger" levers, an entire replacement for the taillight/fender thing, and handgaurds with blinkers in them to replace the monstrous stock items.

Wednesday was very busy. I had wanted to go to the Motorcycle safety foundation class which would have took the place of my riding test for the motorcycle license. Unfortunately it had been cancelled at the school closest to me and the rest of them were to far from home. So, I headed up to take it the regular way...no problem. I went from there to home to get the van and headed off to trade in my broken cell phone. No charge, and they just gave me a brand new phone...gotta love that. From the NEXTEL store I headed up to get my van aligned and get new tires installed. Two hour wait she says....every other time I've heard that it means at least four hours. But, it was Debs day off so I called her to come pick me up so we could run for a smoothie and hang out. While "hanging out" Deb was talking about trading the truck in, and how she didn't know how it all worked. I tried to explain it, but I guess if you've never been through that whole thing, maybe it would seem mysterious, so I said let's go up there and see what your wanting.

Well, now I've got a trailer I can't tow. Here is the clue:

Yeah, things happen. I would say I should have sit and waited for the van to get fixed, but it ended up staying the night and wasn't done until 3pm the next day.

Two hours my ass.

Natalie, my little bike will barely top 100mph, and it is a handfull at that speed. BUT, I've got one I can get whenever I want that will do 172mph....just not with me on it.

Dad, it is a new one, and if you look closely there are passenger pegs there, but Deb ain't getting on anyway. She's holding out for a wing.

Supermoto!

2007-05-01T17:43:00.000-07:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Supermoto (also called Supermotard due to its strong foothold in France) is a cross-over of motocross and road racing. Races are commonly held on road racing tracks with an off-road section in the infield; approximately 70% tarmac and 30% dirt. The motorcycles used are frequently custom-created combinations of off-road motorcycles and road-racing rims/tires. Riders also wear a combination of road race and offroad equipment, normally leathers and a motocross helmet and boots. Unlike normal motorcycle racing, the emphasis lies on slower (<100 mph / <161 km/h), short and twisty tracks, where skill matters far more than outright machine performance.

Ok, so that's what it is, and here is what it looks like:

It is a Suzuki DRZ400SM (supermoto) and it's quite a riot. This was taken at the dealership when I picked it up, and I've since replaced that ugly assed tailight/fender thing. Anyway, this is the reason I've been skipping school lately....well, that and trig.

A motorcycle riddle, of sorts.

2007-04-30T22:10:00.000-07:00

Deb has been worrying me to do this entry, so I guess I'd better get after it. It's a riddle of sorts, but don't try to hard to figure it out, I'll post a picture or two tomorrow.

I consider myself a Honda man, but this is a Suzuki.

It's not a touring bike, I just can't afford what I want in that arena, so it will have to wait.

It's not a cruiser, those really aren't my style.

Nope, not a sportbike. Having several here all the time have made me realize I'd end up in jail or dead if I'd have bought one. They are just not fun when going slow.

It isn't a dirt bike, though most would mistake it for such. Ah...you think you've got me....Enduro/dual sport? NOPE.

It does have passenger pegs, though I doubt the passenger would be very comfy back there.

I will say that it's the most fun of anything I've ridden lately....and I've ridden a lot of bikes lately. It doesn't require 12,000 rpm to reach it's horsepower peak, but hell...it doesn't make a helluva lot of horsepower anyway. Insurance is dirt cheap. I've gotten 50 mpg out of my first two fill ups. NO, it's not a damn moped!

The kids I ride with think I'm crazy and keep asking if I'm still happy with my decision...I am.

That's it. I'll unveil tomorrow evening.

And even more rock moving the hard way.

2007-04-13T20:56:00.000-07:00

And even more rock moving the hard way.

And finally, some views of the nearly finished project.

More red neck landscaping.

2007-04-13T20:55:00.000-07:00

More red neck landscaping.

In this one you can see that between posing for the camera, Lyndsay does do her job...she's brushing off the forks so we don't trail gravel everywhere.

Mother-in-law landscaping.

2007-04-13T20:52:00.000-07:00

Mother-in-law landscaping.

I figure it's been a while since we've posted a video, so I'll be posting a few from my "day off." As you can see, I did have some help with this project. My trailer is to low slung to make it up her steep driveway, so this is how we moved it....1 and a half ton of it.

My second day with the President.

2007-04-11T20:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I always think of a million things to write in this journal when I'm out and about, but then somehow it never makes it to print. What follows are just a few things I encountered during the couple of days I've now spent at Jimmy Carters home working on his DirecTV.

First, to answer Rachel’s question, the Secret Service folks were not in suits. They were dressed pretty much as the president was in jeans and button up shirts. They did however, have the earpieces and chatted on them quite often, considering that there really wasn't much going on. They would constantly relay our position as we moved about the house and out to the dish which I actually appreciated. I don't really want to startle one of these guys. One might think that these fellas have an easy assignment considering they have a very easy going boss who basically lives out in the sticks. BUT, what most wouldn't count on is the fact that he pretty much goes out hunting every day for whatever is in season. This morning he was turkey hunting. Monday was a fishing trip. I found this out because I asked why they had a winch mounted to the front of one of the black Suburban’s in the drive. The agent explained that a LOT of the president’s excursions are not on paved roads. While telling me about his hunting trips he said "the President is a very patient man" and this was said more than once. Reading between the lines I don't think this young man was real wild about hanging out in the woods so much, but he didn't say it that way really. They all talked very highly of their charge.

There are three full shifts of agents that cover the man at all times. I'm guessing that there are at least five agents per shift, maybe more depending on the daily activities. They have about a three year tour of duty, and of course none of them are from South Georgia. In some ways this may be best because they wouldn't have the distractions that being at home brings. There really is very little to do in the part of the country where theyare stationed. I found out yesterday that one of them was reaching the end of his tour and today heard President Carter tell him that he would be missed and that he was glad he got to see him before he moved on.

It is very surreal to be sitting on the couch with a Nobel Peace Prize winner explaining his new remote control to him. What I didn't really count on was the speed at which he picked it up. I've had harder times giving my "spiel" to middle aged computer programmers. Oh, and I think his eyesight is better than mine, even with contacts in.

Most customers I meet now as a supervisor are normally upset about something or at least feel they are owed something. It's part of this job and I'm pretty good at putting out fires. But, I also deal with a lot of very self-important people that for some reason or another think they are above us mere ham-and-eggers. It did my heart good to know that this man, once the leader of the free world, appreciated the fact that Raymond and I went out of our way to make this little upgrade a rewarding experience for him.

It is very odd to have a president’s secretary’s number stored in my cell. It is even odder to know that the man himself has my cell number....he asked for it. Debbie said that if he uses it, I'll have to get a "hail to the chief" ringtone.

Oh, although I haven't mentioned it yet, Mrs. Carter was there and was just as nice. She didn't really seem to be worried about any of this gadgetry though.

It is hard to address anyone as Mister President. I'm sure if you had it to do everyday it wouldn't be a big deal. I found myself pausing before I said it each time, so I mainly went back to my Army ways and used Sir most of the time.

And one last thing; All DirecTV techs have "The Story". The one or two customers that never leave your mind…. Pro ball players, actors, writers and that sort of thing. Up until now my "go to" stories mainly involved the Auburn sorority houses and the wonderful things I've seen there. Well, to all the other installers in the world....top this one sucka!

Me and the President.

2007-04-10T20:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm not going to even justify anything about political leanings or anything else concerning the above picture. Besides, I've got a picture of mom and dad with the same guy. But, I will say that it is rather odd to be working at President Carters house and have him there engaging in normal conversation with Raymond and I the entire time. I was a little freaked out actually, to the point that I had to google some things about how to address him before I headed that way. It was actually wasted time, because he is as down to earth as any other customer I meet daily....but I don't have to get a background check to get into most of my other customers homes....nor have I ever been followed by secret service into an attic before. The other guy in the picture is Raymond, my tech that lives down that way. He grew up in Plains, basically right across the street. The lady that runs the house is a family friend of his.

Anyway, two of my best friends in the world are democrats...dare I say even liber...lib...naw, I won't dare say it.

Oh, and I'm not going to justify that gut either....there is simply no exuse for that.

Music player.

2007-04-01T09:42:00.000-07:00

Well, I tried to add a player with the songs listed below, but of course AOL doesn't want to use the html code. So, I've added it to my myspace page if you want to check it out.

Tagged by mom.

2007-03-29T17:49:00.000-07:00

It seems I've been "tagged" by my mom. For this I'm supposed to list seven songs or CD's I've listened to recently and the tag seven other people. I'm skipping the last part because I don't think that seven other people read this, and the two that do have already been tagged!

Anyway, here goes....

Everyday is a Winding Road by Cheryl Crow. This is part of some commercial recently, and I catch myself humming it constantly.

Vermillion by Slipknot. This is the default ringer on my cell phone, so I here the first verse of it several times per day, but I still end up singing with it.

Down with the Sickness by Disturbed. This one is Al's ringtone on my cell, and it scares folks to death when it goes off in public places. Last week in the bank line I thought folks we going to bum rush me after it went off.

Into the Mystic by Van Morrison. The song I want played at my funeral...I listen to it at least weekly.

Enemy by Fozzy. Who would have thought a wrestler from the WWE would be a good singer?

The Ecstasy of Gold by Ennio Morricone. This is the most well known song from "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" but it is also the intro song to my favorite radio show on XM, so I hear it daily.

Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash. I've been catching a piece of this one on one of the XM commercials and usually have to finish up the verse that he begins in the commercial.

Ok, there ya go.

Hard work weekend.

2007-03-25T17:19:00.000-07:00

As you'll see from the pictures, we've had a busy weekend here. I finally finished the paver project in the back. Some of these pictures suck because the stupid camera wasn't on auto as it should have been, but you get the idea. I ran out of daylight so I can't retake them at the moment.

The next big project will be tearing down the old shed. I've got the rent a dumpster and then I'll get some help over here to rip it apart.

Life it good...and short.

2007-03-24T20:03:00.000-07:00

Ok, so we are on the subject of mortality. That's a good one, and something I think about often, though not in frightened way.

I've been "fortunate" enough to have been involved it things that will wake you up real quick to just how fragile life can be. One minute your a bunch of bad assed MF'ers that can't be touched, and the next your trying to keep your buddy from bleeding out even though it's obviously a lost cause. Damn, we were supposed to play cards that night.

I will say that I've been pretty far separated from every families members death. The Army seen to it that for most of them I was at least 700 miles away, and in Grandpa Allen's case I was on another continent. As mom says, "they won't know your not here." Well said. I did go to a bunch of funeral's a couple years ago. The one that saddened me the most of Brother Jack Fryer, the pastor of the church that we lived beside. The main thing that got me at that one was his poor fragile wife Joyce standing there and my knowing there was a bunch of useless vulture kids waiting to pick his bones. Of course my buddy Rooster didn't have a funeral, he just had his son come pick up his ashes, which now sit on a window sill in Phenix City, Alabama. I can actually see him when I drive by the house.

Dad has always warned me that time picks up speed the older you get. I'm getting to an age that I'm starting to notice exactly what he's talking about. Because of that, I will err to the side of fun rather than work if we come up with a weekend getaway or adventure to tend too. Whatever needs done will surely be waiting on me when I get back, right?

I spent most of last Sunday on a motorcycle ride with son-in-law Tim. A more glorious day has never been wasted so thoroughly. Here is the catch though...while enjoying life we both temped fate on several occasions. For one 20 mile stretch I'd say the average speed was pushing 120. And of course there was the last leg home where we both topped 150. All it would take is a flat or a dog in the road to ruin that ride rather permanently.

Oh well.

No one here get's out alive.

WWild Weather Evening.

2007-03-02T04:52:00.000-08:00

When I left for Montgomery at 6 am yesterday morning, Weatherbug said rain with a chance of thunderstorms all day. By 1 pm the sirens were pretty much going off non-stop. Both Al and I were working on a project at the warehouse and couldn't leave until around 5 pm, so the ride back from Motgomery to Columbus was about as heavy a rain as I've ever drove in. It actually lightened up a bit when I got closer to Columbus so I thought the storm had passed me......NOPE, I had passed the storm. By the time I got home the sirens were going off here. Either a tornado or some bad assed winds tore down several buildings less than 2 miles from where I sit typing this. Half the town is still withough power this morning. School is out because several roads are closed with trees across them. Our power went out a couple times, then finally staid off 'til around 2 am this morning.

I can't say it was a rough night for us. Deb does tend to get excited running around in the dark with a flashlight in one hand and a scanner in the other. We ended up crashing on the couch for a while, then went to bed.

Today calls for sunny and 70. I'm off. I guess I'll go survey the damage on a motorcycle....yeah, that sounds like a good plan.

Poor photography.

2007-02-26T20:11:00.000-08:00

I'm really piss poor at remembering to take pictures of our adventures. These few shots show that even an expensive phone doesn't take very good pictures....these were the few times in the past week I happened to think to take a picture. I think it's time to get one of the newer "slim" camera's with the nice big preview screen...one that actually fits in my pocket so I'll have it for these occasions. The canon we've been using was bought 3 years ago as a Christmas present to ourselves. It still takes pretty good pictures, but you damn sure know you've got a camera with you.

Soooo....you'll just have to take my word for it that the past week was a very full one for me and Deb. I started on Monday with a trip to a pretty sorry excuse for a casino in Mississippi. The meeting was ok though, with me getting an award for being around longer that just about any one, and winning a surround sound system as well as a cordless drill...neither of which I needed. I think one of the kids will end up with the surround sound.....more than likely the kid who's motorcycle I possess. I'm thinking the drill will go to one of my newer guys that is trying his best to make his numbers, but doesn't have a lot of disposable income yet. Yeah, time to give for a change.

Both Deb and I knocked off early on Saturday and headed to Macon to hang with some friends. After breakfast on Sunday we headed north to Atlanta for a very large motorcycle show at the World Congress center in downtown, right next to the Georgia Dome. I did find out that the underground parking is NOT suitable for dually trucks, but we made it in and out with literally inches to spare and the only casualty was the cell antenna on the roof, and a few days off Debs life from being nervous. It was worth the drive, and we will be going next year for sure. We went with some Harley riding friends of ours, but luckily all brands were represented so everyone came away happy. Both of us tried out the new Gold Wing for a bit, and I got to drool on a few unobtainable bikes like the entire Ducati line as well as the new model Triumphs.

After the show we headed back south a ways to drop in on a friend who lives in Locust Grove, a suburb of Atlanta. We only stayed about an hour because our faithful babysitter, Debs mom, had certainly done her part and didn't really need to be up late waiting on us. We got home around 10 pm, and I was back out the door this morning at 6:30 to head to Montgomery to train a big crop of new guys.

We may be working hard, but we are taking time to do fun stuff in between. Dad always reminds me that I'm not taking any of this shit with me to the grave, so we are doing what we can to have a good time every once in a while. Yeah, I'm listening Dad.

What's going on at the Command?

2007-02-18T18:34:00.000-08:00

Well, as usual, I'm not keeping up with the journal worth a crap. The current excuse is work has been keeping me VERY busy. I did steal enough time to extend my fence around the side of the house so I have a place to stash all the tractors and stuff without taking up the entire back yard. I'll take a picture of it eventually...but probably not soon. It's dark now, and I'm heading to Philadelphia, MS. to a managers meeting in the morning. We'll arrive at an Indian ran casino tomorrow afternoon with a meeting for about half a day on Tuesday, then head back. I think the main reason they have us field supervisors going is because they have put us back on salary so they want to "bring us into the fold". I've been with them long enough that I've been through this before, but it will be good to see some of the guys from our other offices that I know.

We had our friends down from Atlanta this weekend so I didn't get much done other than cheat on the diet a little. We ate at Texas steakhouse for dinner last night. The food was really good but the waitress sucked. I didn't have desert, but the baked potato was cheating. We had IHOP this morning and I had a damn tasty egg sandwich, and of course the bread was cheating, but we've sent Tina and Billy back north and are back on track now.

This afternoon this arrived....

It was pretty cold by 5:30 but I still managed a quick ride using a borrowed helmet. Yeah, it was fun.

Flash! Motorcycle found.

2007-02-09T06:03:00.000-08:00

Here's an update to the update. I'll have a motorcycle to use very soon. Lany and her man live in an apartment complex and he hasn't been comforable leaving his bike parked there...because someone had already knocked it over once. It has been parked at his dads out in the country for the past couple months. My idea was to pay him for the use of it while I got comfortable enough with it to take the test. His idea is to take the money I was going to give him and fix the few things that got damaged when the neighbor knocked it over. Now that's a plan I can live with. I'll get some pictures up when the bike arrives, but I will give this hint....although it's a Honda, it isn't exactly what one would call a touring bike...or a cruiser. One last hint...CBR F4.

Oh, in other news, me and Deb are back to dieting. I'm down 10 pounds and motivated....hell, I've got to catch up with dad! He's weighed less than me for serveral months.

I hate to jinx things, but all is going pretty damn well here.

Small update.

2007-02-08T15:56:00.000-08:00

Ok, I got the hint. Last night I read through the motorcycle test book, then I went down and took the written portion of the motorcycle test this afternoon between jobs. I missed 1 out of 40 questions and could have missed 10 and still passed. Now I need to find a motorcycle to practice on before I go take the ridden part. The "learners" permit will allow riding during daylight, without a passenger. I had planned to go re-new my conceiled carry permit too, but duty called and took up the rest of my day. I'll have to do it next week as tomorrow I'm heading to south Georgia on my day off to do some side work for a contractor that sends me work from time to time. I've got to get my CCW renewed though, because what's more American than riding a motorcycle around with a gun on your side?

Sunday dirt work.

2007-01-14T13:54:00.000-08:00

Sunday dirt work.

Once again I didn't take any before pictures, so you get an "in progress" video instead. Deb did a good narration job explaining the whole operation, so I'll leave that to her.

Not tagged, but here it is anyway.

2006-12-31T06:33:00.000-08:00

I wasn't tagged, but it's raining outside, I'm bored, and I haven't posted in a while...so here it is.

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought? Damn, I need to fix that mirror. (it's hanging a little crooked)

2. How much cash do you have on you? $63. Hmm, I'd have sworn I had more than that.

3. What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR? Gore....the global warming freak.

4. Favorite planet? This one is working out great for me...yeah, I think it's the favorite of all the ones I've been too.

5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone? Any missed calls have long since been "bumped" off the bottom of the list. I don't miss many, unless I'm out of coverage and then it wouldn't show up on the missed calls list anyhow. I answer this stupid thing around 25 times a day, not including calls I make.

6. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone? Vermillion, by Slipknot.

7. What shirt are you wearing? I'm not...yikes, I'd better go find a shirt!

8. Do you label yourself? Yes, I do. I label myself "Frank Booth". (from the movie Blue Velvet)

9. Name the brand of the shoes you’re currently wearing? I'm not...damn, I'd better go find some shoes.

10. Bright or Dark Room? Dark

11. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you? She is like a mother to me. Oh yeah, it is my mother...hi mom.

12. What does your watch look like? Just like this. It is my favorite watch of all time, given to me by my loving wife.

13. What were you doing at midnight last night? Watching Tito Ortiz get his ass beat by Chuck Luddel on pay per view.

14. What did your last text message you received on your cell say? I've already deleted it, but something like this: Cheer up, you could be a conjoined twin who's other side is gay and has a date tonight, and you both share an ass.

15. Where is your nearest 7-11? I can't remember seeing one down here for a long time...so, not close.

16. What’s a word that you say a lot? Bubba...I call everyone bubba. It's kind of a trademark now. Damn you Rooster.

17. Who told you he/she loved you last? Debbie, after our conversation about both of us forgetting our aniversary again.

18. Last furry thing you touched? Yikes...never mind.

19. How many drugs have you done in the last three days? Caffeine and nicotine. I'm fresh out of heroin.

20. How many rolls of film do you need developed? Two, Lyndsay got a camera for Christmas from her sister, and now there they set, on the table, waiting for someone to drop them off at CVS.

21. Favorite age you have been so far? 16

22. Your worst enemy? Good ole Ben...I'll be glad when this next quarter is over so you can carry your ass on to another area....micro managing, piss poor idiot.

23. What is your current desktop picture? A still photo from the upcoming movie "300".

24. What was the last thing you said to someone? "Cocoa, get your ass out." Dogs don't like to go out in the rain you know.

25. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly what would it be? Cash, no doubt.

26. Do you like someone? Sure.

27. The last song you listened to? Hurt, the Nine Inch Nails version. I think I heard the Johnny Cash version yesterday as well.

28. What time of day were you born? No idea.

29. What’s your favorite number? I don't think I've got one...what the hell would make one better than another.

30. Where did you live in 1997? I'm pretty sure right here in Columbus, GA. Maybe Lubbock Tx.

31. Are you jealous of anyone? Yep.

32. Is anyone jealous of you? Yep, no doubt.

33. Where were you when 9/11 happened? At our old office in Columbus. Then I went to buy some ammo.

34. What do you do when vending machines steal your money? Kick the shit out of it.

35. Do you consider yourself kind? To some.

36. If you had to get a tattoo, where would it be? That question is one of two reasons I don't have one...the other is "what would it be?"

37. If you could be fluent in any other language, what would it be? German.

38. Would you move for the person you loved? Oh, I have already.

39. Are you touchy feely? I'd say no.

40. What’s your life motto? I don't have one.

41. Name three things that you have on you at all times? Cell phone, watch, wallet.

42. What’s your favorite town/city? I don't have a favorite. There are several I like for different reasons, some not in this country. Nancy, France was by far the prettiest, though the people suck. Wellington, MO is still home, though I don't live there. Hattiesburg, MS was a lot of fun, as was Lubbock, TX.

43. What was the last thing you paid for with cash? A six pack of Tecate beer for tonight, and a 12 pack of Bud in case someone else want a beer...they aren't getting my good stuff!

44. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it? I made a note for the guy that was threading the barrel for my 9mm to tell him what I wanted him to do. This was a while back, and the funny part is that since then I've gained the skills to do that job myself.

45. Can you change the oil on a car? Yep, and actually it needs to be done now.

46. Your first love: what is the last thing you heard about him/her? It's been a long time...so long I don't remember.

47. How far back do you know about your ancestry? Grandparents.

48. The last time you dressed fancy, what did you wear and why did you dress fancy? Chrystins wedding, the first time I'd wore a tie since leaving the Army.

49.Does anything hurt on your body right now? Yep, I can't remember the last time something didn't.

50. Have you been burned by love? I don't think I'd call it burned, no.

Requested video for mom.

2006-12-25T20:55:00.000-08:00

Requested video for mom.

Here is the video you asked for mom. Enjoy!

The little tractor that can.

2006-12-02T18:34:00.000-08:00

I started to name this entry "The little tractor that could" but I think "can" makes more sense. I worked the poor thing relentlessly all day, but as you can see the mission was accomplished.

The day the shed was delivered (Wed.) we got quite a bit of rain and the back yard is still pretty moist which made things harder than they had to be. I didn't do the lawn any favors at all, but the shed is in it's new home. For most of the move I pulled the shed with a tow strap like I did it in Waverly Hall a could years ago. When things ground to a halt I decided to try pushing it by backing the forks into it, lifting, and shoving it around. This worked much better, but the poor tractor sure got a workout. I was the only one home today, so no action shots, but you get the idea. It was quite a challenge, and I'm sure glad it's done. Now I've got to get my power wired up and I'll be back in business.

More from Halloween night.

2006-11-14T18:00:00.000-08:00

I kind of went off on a tangent on the last one, so...back to Halloween.

After I returned to the house Halloween night, everyone was getting prepped for trick or treating. Deb's hand was swelling rapidly, but I don't think any of us knew how bad it was. The girls were out for a couple of hours, came back for a bit, then went to Deb's moms house. She is a retired nurse, and when she seen the hand she basically ordered Deb to head to the emergency room.

I'll say at this point that Deb doesn't "do" pain very well, so it's very hard to tell if something is a real problem, or if she is being a wimp. Evidently the doc decided to err on the side of real pain, because he gave her MORPHINE! I couldn't believe that. And I doubt Deb will want any again either, because she go pretty ill when she started coming off of it. X-rays were taken and a few hours later (it was the emergency room after all) she was sent home. The two oldest daughters took turns staying with her, and I was home with baby Morgan. We usually have Morgan on Tuesday nights because Debs day off is Wednesday.

Well, when they arrived home I was glad that I sent Morgan home with her parents at around midnight, because it was pretty obvious that Deb wasn't going to be able to use her hand for a few days. She was off work through the week, but is back now and her hand is nearly back to normal now.

And so went Halloween 2006...I could have used a bit less excitement, but it is what it is.

Goodbye Rosie the Rot...sorry it ended this way.

2006-11-13T19:55:00.000-08:00

I've been putting this one off for a few days. To tell the truth, I've lost sleep over it, which sort of surprises me. I'll start with the story that kicked it all off.

First I'll start by saying the only pet that we've ever had that was something I wanted was Gina the prairie dog. Other than that I've never been asked, or listened to, when it comes to what animal picks up residence around here....so it was with Rosie the Rottweiler....

She was brought to the house by Arick during the time he was staying and going to school down here. I put up a fight, and as usual, I was the only one that noticed. Short version of this part is that Arick headed back north, Rosie stayed here.

I liked Rosie just fine. She was a great watch dog but had shown some aggression towards a kid once prompting me to spend a fortune in money and time erecting a fence. The problem then was that she was strong enough to get through it, so then I enlisted dads help to electrify that fence...fixed that problem. We had a small house dog that ended up dead that I think Rosie probably killed, but I'm not sure about that. She had bit my buddy Al, but I think she was just doing her job at the time....NOBODY that didn't belong come in the back yard with my stuff without me being there. She did listen to any order I gave and acted immediately if I told her to do something....which is why she lasted as long as she did.

I knew when it was obvious that we were moving back to town that there would be a problem, and I stated so. Of course once again, I was the only one paying attention....

And I sure didn't think the problems would arise so soon...

The first night at the new house she broke out once. The next morning she woke me up early barking. I was mad enough then to kick the shit out of her.

That evening Deb was at the fence warning the neighbor kids to stay away from the fence, and apologizing for the barking that morning. Somehow Deb's useless house dog got into the back yard with them and Rosie decided she was a snack. At that point Deb intervened and pretty much got her hand mangled for her trouble....the pictures tell the story. I can only say that I wish we had still been in the country at that moment so I could have popped her right then and there while I was in a rage....instead I got to take a thirty minute ride to the country to do what had to be done. That thirty minutes made things very hard for me at the trips end. I think it also made it hard to quit thinking about it several times a day every since. I've shot men and not felt as bad afterwards...of course, they were shooting at me.

Who I blame:

Me for even having her in town in the first place.

Deb for not listening when I said it wasn't going to work.

Cocoa the idiot biscuit eater for going back there knowing the Rosie wanted to eat her.

I can't blame Rosie, though she had to pay for it. We all knew how she was, and what she was capable of. We put her in the position to do something like this.

I'm sorry Rosie, I did like you.

Some pictures for the gang.

2006-11-09T19:10:00.000-08:00

Ok, here are a few pictures. As you can imagine, things have been pretty busy, but not to bad. These are a few pictures from the past couple weeks including some from Halloween. There was more excitement Halloween night but there is enough there for another entry, so I'll save that story for now. Things are coming together here at the new place and we get a couple things done each evening. I've still got equipment to move and store, along with the shed move which hasn't happened yet.

Roast Beef sandwiches, concerts, and still moving.

2006-11-02T19:07:00.000-08:00

Well, the girls are at a concert tonight leaving me to my own devices for dinner. That happens very seldom around here, but I don't mind because there was leftover roast beef in the fridge. I'd rather have a roast beef sandwich that eat it with a regular meal.

I've finally got all the computer equipment in and running here at the new place. My desk will need some modifications because the new room is about 1 foot wider, but my right hand man Al already has a plan to fill in the gap created in the center. I was able to install extra electical outlets before bringing everything over so that is nice to have in an office. The phone finally got turned on, and my fax line is working. I'm loving the speed of the cable modem over my old DSL. I will need to run my XM radio antenna to the south side of the house because I'm not getting good signal from the desk like I did in the old house. I've still not downloaded any picture but wonder if it's even worth while. After all, how exciting is pictures of our almost moved into house? I've still got to get all my "heavy equipment" moved up here this weekend, and really need to use the Walker mower here to clean up the leaves in the back yard. The big shed move has yet to happen, and I can't afford to pay the guy to move it anyway. It's fine where it is, but I'll be happy to have all my stuff handy here.

I've completed my surface grinding project at school, and will start heat treating on Monday. This is sort of a boring quarter, but still good stuff to know in the long run.

In other news, John Kerry is starting to be one of my favorite politicians....in an election month that looked pretty grim for the republicans, he is managing to turn things around for us with his stupid assed comments about how dumb soldiers are. Keep talking you friggin' idiot!

See ya'll later.

Moving update

2006-10-31T17:13:00.000-08:00

Ok, here is where we stand at the moment. All of the big stuff has been moved and we are living in the new house. There have been pictures taken, but I have no idea where the camera is, and the girls are out trick or treating. I will say that my new internet connection is SMOKING fast. The only utility left to be connected is phone. I'll send an email with my new email address once I have a phone number to send with it. It has been a hell of a past week.

House pictures.

2006-10-19T20:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, Deb got some pictures of the new place. We've been working over there every evening. More to come.

What's up down here.

2006-10-08T08:14:00.000-07:00

As usual, I've been slow with the updates here. The laughing baby video has seen over 3500 views which is probably the most popular thing I've ever had on the net. It was on the AOL most popular list for a week, and may still be there now. That's pretty cool.

There is a lot going on here. Christyn is getting married this afternoon and Deb is currently in the kitchen doing "up-doo's" in an assembly line manor. This is going to be a big deal, but thankfully isn't costing us much, other than our own outfits.

We've got a gentlemans agreement to buy a house in Columbus. I'm torn on this one because it's a great house in a nice neighborhood and the end of a dead-end street....but it's in a sub-division. We are getting a great price because the people tried to do a "for sale by owner" and couldn't get it sold, so they've been paying a couple of months for two house notes...that's got to hurt. There is no doubt that I can do like the DIY channel says and "Flip This House" thus making some money. We've already got it worked out with them to get in and do some painting and the like before move in at the end of the month. No matter what it's better than renting again. My little tractor is going to be useless though, so it may have to go north to do some yard mowing duty until I'm in a place where I need it again. At least I know there it will be taken care of and not out in the elements.

Anyhow, that's the latest from here. I should have some wedding pictures along with some house pictures this week. Oh, and this quarter in school I'm doing a double class....heat treating and surface grinder.

Have a nice day.

Laughing Baby...Caution. addictive laughter!

2006-10-01T19:34:00.000-07:00

Laughing Baby.

This is grandaughter Morgan laughing at her Aunt Celeste.

If it works, it works.

2006-09-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

Somewhere Monk had seen someone wearing one of these masks and decided she needed one. I figure it's a waste of money, but not much money, so what the hell...get the kid a mask. Well, that wasn't quite as easy as you would think because Deb couldn't find a place that sold the silly things. Finally Deb's x-sister-in-law (and our realtor) suggested Target and we were in business.

Well, the picture above is from the first night with the mask...about 5 minutes after she hit the bed. I would think it was a fluke, except she has worn the thing to bed every night since. Hell, now I'm thinking I may want one!

The best party ever?

2006-08-26T08:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm a week late with this one, but better late than never.

The place where Deb now works specializes in children's haircuts, and they are also set up to do birthday parties...mainly for girls. They have dress-up clothes, and paint the girls nails or fix up their hair. That sure came in handy when it was time for Lyndsay and Catelynn's birthday this year!

I was told afterward by Lyndsay that it was the best birthday party ever. She made quite a haul on gifts too.

Just playing along.

2006-08-21T20:10:00.000-07:00

1. If you could vacation anywhere in the world, where would it be? Australia, but damn what a plane ride.

2. If you could vacation anywhere in the United States, where would it be? Hawaii

3. If you could vacation anywhere in your home state, where would it be? Mom and Dad's

4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Coast of Spain. I really like the coast of France, but who would want to live among the French?

5. If you could live anywhere in the United States, where would it be? Texas, I love that state. I've lived several different places in Texas, and had a good time at all of them.

6. If you could live anywhere in your home state, where would it be? Wellington.

7. If you could send your worst enemy anywhere in the world, where would it be? Iraq, friggin' hot hell hole.

8. If you could send your worst enemy anywhere in the United States, where would it be? Ft. Drum, NY, friggin' cold hell hole.

9. If you could send your worst enemy anywhere in your home state, where would it be? Anywhere in the "Boot Heel"...it's just a regular hell hole.