A Christmas Wish

Thanksgiving Family Portrait

This is a family picture Dan Maddox took of us on Thanksgiving day at Joyce Buswell's home.

Navy vs Maryland Football Game

Took my brother Paul and his wife Yoko along with Maureen, Jenna and Nephew Zachary to the Navy vs Maryland football game today.
It was a great back and forth game. Navy really outplayed Maryland and pretty much gave the game away with 2 fumbles inside the 5 yard line.
Here's the recap:


BALTIMORE -- Navy dominated the time of possession, outgained Maryland by nearly 200 yards and made 15 more first downs.
None of this lessened the enjoyment the Terrapins derived from their 17-14 victory Monday.
Kenny Tate stopped Ricky Dobbs at the goal line with 34 seconds left, and Maryland stunned their in-state rivals to break a seven-game losing streak that began last October.

"Perseverance. That's all we've been preaching all summer," Terrapins linebacker Alex Wujciak said. "We knew we were going to face adversity in a game like this, we knew there would be plays when they gained a lot of yards. We just had to overcome it."

The Midshipmen (0-1) held the ball for nearly 19 minutes longer than Maryland (1-0), amassed 485 yards and collected 26 first downs. But in a game influenced by untimely turnovers and huge penalties, the outcome was decided by a gritty goal-line stand.
Trailing 17-14 with a fourth down at the 1, Navy decided to go for the win. Dobbs took the snap, went to his left and was met by Tate, who would not relent to the momentum Dobbs brought to the line.
"We should have kicked the field goal to send it into overtime," coach Ken Niumatalolo said. "In hindsight, we should have just kicked the ball."
Earlier in the drive, Dobbs was stopped on a third-and-8. But Maryland's Adrian Moten was flagged for grabbing the facemask on the play, and the Midshipmen advanced until Tate's big play.
"I thought I was going to be able to get it outside," Dobbs said. "I felt 100 percent confident that we were going to be able to punch it in."
Coming off a 2-10 season, the Terrapins came in as underdogs against a Navy team that went 10-4 and beat Missouri in the Texas Bowl.
But Maryland raced to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and then held on behind a defense that repeatedly excelled after Navy got inside the 20.
The Midshipmen had a 7 1/2-minute edge in time of possession in the first half, yet trailed 14-7 after coming up empty on drives of 52, 63 and 66 yards.
In the second half, Dobbs lost a fumble at the Maryland 1 and was stuffed by Tate on the game's pivotal play.
"We had a lot of opportunities," Niumatalolo said. "We left 31 points on the field."
Dobbs ran for 63 yards and a touchdown, but the senior quarterback fumbled three times -- losing two of them at the Maryland 1.
"I take sole responsibility for the occurrences here today," Dobbs said. "I didn't get the job done."
Niumatalolo said, "He's human. He's done some great things for us and won a lot of games for us. We all make mistakes. I made one at the end of the game."
There were plenty by both teams.
"Both of us turned the ball over when we wouldn't want to," Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen said. "Last year, we probably wouldn't have won this game. We found a way to hang in there. Hopefully, this will build confidence and be a positive experience for them."
Maryland never trailed despite allowing the Midshipmen to amass 429 yards rushing.
"I can't remember a time when we rushed for 400 yards and lost," Niumatalolo said. "There's no consolation in moving the ball."
Navy didn't punt until early in the fourth quarter, and the short kick was returned 57 yards by Tony Logan to the Navy 16.
Maryland promptly fumbled the ball away on a missed exchange involving backup quarterback Danny O'Brien -- his only play of the game.
"We wanted to get Danny in the game," Friedgen said.
The Midshipmen pulled even at 14 with 1:52 left in the third quarter when Dobbs scored from the 1 on a drive that began with wide receiver Greg Jones running 53 yards on a reverse.
A crowd of 69,348 showed up for the second meeting between the teams since 1965. There's no telling when the next matchup between the two will be held.

Jimmy Buffett 2010

Went to see Jimmy Buffett this past Saturday at Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow Virginia.
We invited Jamie and her friend Jackie along with us.We left Crofton around 11am an spent the day at the pool of the Quality Inn near the venue with a bunch of friends. Had lots of fun and meet some interesting people. A charter bus picked us all up around 6pm and drove us over to the show. Jamie and her friend sat on the lawn while Maureen and I had a couple nice pavilion seats. Show was great. Here is the Set List:

1  Nobody From Nowhere (with Sonny Landreth)
2  Piece Of Work (with Sonny Landreth)
3  Knees Of My Heart
4  Wings
5  It's Five O'Clock Somewhere
6  Bama Breeze (with Sonny Landreth)
7  Window On The World (with Sonny Landreth)
8  Volcano
9  Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes
10  Where The Boat Leaves From
11  One Particular Harbour
12  Brown Eyed Girl
13  Brahma Fear (Jimmy acoustic)
14  Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw (Jimmy and Mac acoustic)
15  It's My Job (Jimmy and Mac acoustic)
16  Mexico
17  Creola (featuring Nadirah Shakoor)
18  Gypsies In The Palace (with the poem)
19  Son Of A Son Of A Sailor
20  Come Monday
21  Cheeseburger In Paradise
22  A Pirate Looks At Forty
23  Back Where I Come From (featuring Mac McAnally)
24  Woman Goin’ Crazy On Caroline Street
25  Southern Cross
26  Margaritaville (with the Lost Verse)
  
   First Encore
  
   Band Intros: Tina Gullickson, Nadirah Shakoor, Ralph MacDonald, Peter Mayer, Sonny Landreth, Doyle Grisham, Mac McAnally, Roger Guth, Jim Mayer, Robert Greenidge, Johnny Lovell, Michael Utley
  
27  Scarlet Begonias (with Sonny Landreth)
28  Fins
  
   Second Encore
29  He Went To Paris 

Golf at The Pointe

Played a round of Golf today at The Pointe Golf Club in the Outer Banks.
Was paired with an interesting fellow from Canada. We had lots of interesting conversation about various number of topics. When I asked what he did he told me that he did the national weather for the Weather channel in Canada.

After a brief career as an actor, Patrick de Bellefeuille joined the Weather Channel just before the wave in the grafted chain specializing in 1988. Already passionate communication he soon developed a great interest in weather and climate change. In a competition of weather presenters in Paris in 1996, he met a group of scientists and weather presenters of the 4 corners of the world who dedicate themselves to the disclosure of information on climate change among the general public.Over the following years he won at the competitions, 3 in 4 equity prices and the price of Presenters (1996) and 2 times the big prize of the event (1997 and 2003)
For over 10 years Patrick has annually participated in international conferences on climate change either as participant or a speaker. He also spent several weeks in two years, first from the Amundsen icebreaker Canadian who is studying the impact of climate change on the Arctic, to produce over 20 shows and over 30 capsules daily calls on the subject, broadcast on the Weather Channel. It is also thanks to him that the chain has the mandate to popularize, for viewers, various weather phenomena in the context of a capsule called Weather 101.

Disgruntled Teamster Kills 8 in Hartford

MANCHESTER, Conn. (AP) — The warehouse driver who fatally shot eight co-workers and himself at a beer distributorship apparently targeted managers who had hired a private detective to tail him and forced him to resign because he stole beer from work, police said Wednesday.

Omar Thornton's girlfriend, meanwhile, told The Associated Press that he had complained of racial harassment and had shared evidence of it with her: photos of racist bathroom graffiti and a surreptitiously monitored conversation allegedly involving company managers.

Thornton carried two 9 mm handguns to Hartford Distributors inside his lunch box Tuesday and left a shotgun in his car, police said. At a disciplinary hearing, he watched video that showed him stealing beer and then resigned after being asked whether he wanted to quit or be fired.

He then asked for a drink of water and went to a kitchenette where his lunch box was, Manchester police Lt. Christopher Davis said Wednesday. He took out his guns, walked out into the hall and began shooting immediately, Davis said. All the weapons were registered, he said.

The first people shot were managers or executives involved in Thornton's firing, Davis said. It's not clear whether every victim was targeted or whether some were shot randomly, Davis said.

Thornton left the office area and went into a large section of the warehouse where more victims were found, Davis said. He chased one or more of them outside into a parking lot, shot a locked glass door to get back into the building and continued shooting.

One man who was fatally shot tried to evade Thornton on a forklift, which crashed into an electrical conduit and started a small fire, Davis said.

Thornton also passed by at least two people and did not shoot them, Davis said, including one woman in a wheelchair. In all, Thornton killed eight people and wounded two others.

Finally, Thornton called his mother to say goodbye, said his uncle Wilbert Holliday. Thornton, who is black, had complained of racial harassment for months to family and friends and indicated he did target people — but because they had harassed him.

"I shot the racists that was bothering me," he told his mother.

Police found Thornton dead in an office.

Davis revealed Wednesday that the company had hired a private investigator to follow Thornton outside of work for a few weeks after becoming suspicious that he was stealing. The amount of beer Thornton took wasn't clear.

Holliday said his nephew told his family that he was the only black employee at the company. None of the victims were black, Davis said.

Friends and family of those who died said they couldn't imagine their loved ones doing what Thornton said, and the company and union said Thornton never reported any harassment.

Among the people shot were several in positions of responsibility at Hartford Distributors.

Steve Hollander, 50, was a member of the family that owns the company and met with Thornton at the disciplinary hearing. Hollander was shot twice but survived.

The dead also included Bryan Cirigliano, 51, of Newington. He was the president of Teamsters 1035 and had been Thornton's representative at the hearing. Another slain worker, Louis Felder, was operations director, according to The Stamford Advocate.

Other victims were Doug Scruton, 56; Bill Ackerman, 51; Francis Fazio Jr., 57; Edwin Kennison, 49; Craig Pepin, 60; and Victor James, 60.

Jerome Rosenstein, 77, was wounded and in serious condition Wednesday at Hartford Hospital.

Kristi Hannah, 26, Thornton's girlfriend of eight years, said he had told her months ago that he was racially harassed, and he showed her photos he took with his cell phone. One was a drawing on a bathroom wall of a stick figure with a noose around the neck and a racial slur, she told the AP. Another scrawl said the writer hated black people and had Thornton's name on it, she said.

One day, Hannah said, he called her from a bathroom stall and held up his phone. She said she could hear a company official, apparently unaware Thornton was in a stall, tell someone else that the company was going to "get rid of this dumb n-----."

Brett Hollander, who also works at Hartford Distributors, has denied any charges of racism.

"I can assure you there has never been any racial discrimination at our company," he said.

Said Hannah: "He was being racially profiled and no one would listen to him."

Hannah said Thornton gave her a long hug and kiss goodbye on the morning of the shooting. He looked dazed and confused, so she asked him whether something was wrong, but he said no.

"I think he did it because of the racial stuff," she said, adding that Thornton "said he was very hurt."

One driver at the company who was killed, Kennison, had mentioned Thornton before but never in a derogatory way, said Mark McCorrison, a close friend. Kennison was not the type to make bigoted remarks, he said.

"I can tell you right now: Eddie is not that person," McCorrison said.

Pepin, also a driver, was never angry, let alone someone who showed any hint of racism or bigotry, said a neighbor who knew him for 25 years.

"Craig, who was active as a coach in town with all kids — all races of kids — for years, he didn't care. He just worked with the kids," Ted Jenny said. "There was no way Craig Pepin was racist."

Steve Hollander told the AP on Tuesday that the people Thornton targeted appeared to be "absolutely random."

"He killed so many good people today for absolutely no reason at all. People who've never said an unkind word to him," he said. "He was just shooting at anyone that was near him and just cruelty beyond cruelty."

Hartford Distributors never had any complaints filed against it, the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities said.

The company was meeting privately with employees on Wednesday, Brett Hollander said. He said other beer distributors had offered to make deliveries for Hartford Distributors while the warehouse is shut down.

A funeral for Felder, who is Orthodox Jewish, was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Stamford.

A Mass to remember all the victims was planned for Wednesday evening at St. Margaret Mary Church in South Windsor.
___

Christoffersen reported from Enfield, Conn. Associated Press writers Mark Scolforo in Hartford, Conn.; Lynne Tuohy in Concord, N.H.; and Eric Tucker in Providence, R.I., contributed to this report.

Racial .... Are you kidding me... Did his race cause him to be a thief? Did his race cause him to murder someone... If his realtives felt he was becoming a nut case, then they should have done something to get him some counceling. Typical deadbeat trying not to accept responsibility for something he did and pull the perverbial "Race" card and blame it on the white guy....
He was nothing but a thief and now a murderer.
Prayers to his victims families.

One of the dead was a Teamster Shop Steward.

This is exactly why when we do termination meetings we insist that the company never give the final decision across the table. I find it much easier to give a member bad news over the telephone.

The Kindle

After the release of the Apple I Pad, Amazon cut the price on the Kindle to $189. I found one on Ebay for $139. Recently they were selling refurbished ones on Amazon for $109. At 10.2 ounces, Kindle is lighter than a typical paperback and as thin as most magazines. Barely a third of an inch in profile, you'll find Kindle fits perfectly in your hands. Kindle is as easy to hold and use as a book. We designed it with long-form reading in mind. When reading for long periods of time, people naturally shift positions and often like to read with one hand. Kindle's page-turning buttons are located on both sides, allowing you to read and turn pages comfortably with one hand from any position.

The page-turn buttons now flex inward to prevent any accidental page turns when picking up or handling Kindle. Kindle has a new easy-to-use 5-way controller, enabling precise on-screen navigation for selecting text to highlight or looking up words. Kindle is completely wireless and ready to use right out of the box--no setup, no cables, no computer required.
I really like the Kindle. There are plenty of free classics to download and bestsellers usually only cost $7-10. You can also play audio books or music through the device. The first book I'm reading is "Unplugged" My Journey into the dark world of Video Game Addiction, By Ryan Van Cleave. I'll review the book once I'm finished.

Saturday's Yard Sale Finds

Not a bad week hitting the yard sale circuit. Actually we have been staying out of Bowie and focusing on Anne Arundel county. The only drawback is that there is much more driving involved. This week we put about 100 miles on our car. Not pictured are a bunch of plants we picked up at two different sales early in the day. There were about a dozen pots ranging from .50c to $2. Maureen planted most of it in the afternoon.
Here are some of the finds.

• Windows Server 2003 has to be one of the best find ever. Free. Resale value of $100 +
• Windows Commerce Server 2002 Free Resale value of $80-100
• Frontpage book Official Microsoft one Free
• 2 John Grisham Novels $1 each
• 4 Disney Movies .25c each
• Targus wheeling Laptop Catalog legal bag. $2 resale 50+
• 3 laptops HP and 2 dells. Bought all three for $12 Can resell for 25-40 each for parts
• Altec Lansing computer speakers. My set took a dump last week. $5
• Took another chance on DVD player for Jamie. This time it was only $3
• Dell keyboard $1 Need spare

• John Deere shirt. Brand New $1 Looks to big resell
• Nice Gore-Tex North Face Jacket $10 should resale for $30-40
• 3 Boy Scout Shorts $1 each these go from $5-10 each
• Backgammon $2 We'll leave that at the beach next weekend
• Livescribe 4gb Note pen set. $30 resale of $150 +
• 6 pairs of shoes $1-2 each 
• Maureen bought the flat screen HD TV for our guest room. She did real well talking the lady down from $25-18

Saturday's Yard Sale Finds

We found this Oriental Rug in a Golf Course Community in Severna Park. There was a $199 price tag on the back. Only a couple years old very good condition. I needed soemthing to replace the nasty rug in my computer room. They were asking $50. I got it for $30.

Found these 2 nice dresses for Jenna. She has many formal events coming up in a few weeks. As well as homecoming in the fall. Black dress was never worn had $79.99 tag in it. Purple was worn once. They were asking $40 and $8. I got both for $20.

2 pair of Levis Ladies Premium Denim Jeans 2$ pair
Vera Bradley tote bag and wallet $1 Used I can get 10 for it.
DVD player for Jamie. Took a chance here. $5 Didn't work.... Trash
Windows XP Home edition. 2$ Never used. resale value of $40-50
2 Frontpage 2003 Books $1
Blackberry curve. $2. Took a chance here too. Have it listed as broken. Should get $10-20
Timex Ladies Ironman. $1 need battery.
Bag of nice sunglasses. 7 pair $5
New baseball cleats $2

17 Pairs of Shoes. Never pay more than $2 for shoes. The exception was the 3 pair of size 16. Red wing boots in the back, and the 2 pair in front of them. I paid $10 for the 3. Hard to find size might sell good. Many of these were had for a buck.

Love - Cirque du Soleil - Las Vegas

Maureen and I went to see Love at the Mirage during our stay in Las Vegas this week. Glad I bought the cheap seats because when we got to the theater we were told that the balcony was closed and our seats were being upgraded. They moved us into nice seats 5 rows from the stage.
This is not your typical "Cirque" show. They are pretty mundane in relation to this one. Not an "all eyes on 2-3 performers" kinda thing, but rather a myriad of performances occurring simultaneously, all playing a part in a bigger picture. This show basically does a montage look at the Beatles through the years. With back story (abstractly) for the songs they have written and performed. It is a "magical mystery tour" of the best the Beatles have to offer. Starting with the War years in England all the way through the 70's. Seats have built in speakers so you get a wonderful musical experience as well as a visual smorgasbord. The orchestration between music and choreography is delightful. The show keeps "the music" as the star attraction. There was never any specific performer that completely dominated the stage area for any given time. Everything that was done, was done strictly in accordance to the music and the legacy of the Beatles. If you are a fan of the Beatles, as I am; then you will THOROUGHLY enjoy this show. No doubt about it.

D.C. Council to Consider Soda Tax

D.C. Council Member Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) has proposed a one-cent tax per ounce of soda and other sugary beverages sold in the District. The expected $6.5 million in tax revenue would help fund the Healthy Schools Act of 2010, which comes up for final vote on May 4. The Act seeks to improve the nutrition and health of public school students by providing more affordable, healthier meals to students, establish farm to table programs, and fund wellness and physical fitness programs.

This tax has the potential to go far in helping both D.C. school children as well as D.C. residents. Cheh suggests in her proposal that Center for Disease Control studies show a tax of 1 cent per ounce on soft drinks -- or approximately 10 percent per 12 ounce can or bottle -- would be the "single most effective measure to reverse the obesity epidemic." Research shows that the consumption of one soft drink a day adds approximately 10 pounds of weight a year. 

The measure comes to vote on May 25. Would a tax like this deter you from consuming as many soft drinks as usual, or would you continue to pay up? Would you drive to Maryland or Virginia to get a cheaper fix?

Teamsters Local 67 is opposed to any soda tax. We will be down at City Hall this Friday voicing our objections when this measure comes before the city council. 

The city cut all but 45 minutes per week of physical education from DC Schools and now that many of the kids are overweight they want beverage distributors to absorb the cost of getting these kids back into shape. It's laughable. If this is to get through the loss of jobs in our Pepsi shops will be significant.

West Virginia Mining Accident

In a horrific tragedy, 29 miners were killed this month in a mining accident in West Virginia.
 
Without missing a beat, Rush Limbaugh hit the airwaves, spewing bold-faced lies. Get this: Rush is claiming that the mine was operated by union workers and that “the union” bears responsibility for what
happened! Here's what he said:

"Was there no union responsibility for improving mine safety? Where was the union here? Where was the union? The union is generally holding these companies up demanding all kinds of safety. Why were these miners continuing to work in what apparently was an unsafe atmosphere?"

The tragic truth? There wasn’t a union at the Upper Big Branch Mine where the tragedy occurred. Why not? Because the CEO of Massey Energy, Don Blankenship, exploited our broken labor laws and repeatedly sabotaged his employees’ efforts to form a union. If Blankenship had allowed his employees to form a union, this tragedy might have been prevented. Unions provide safer working environments. And there's a way you can help make sure more workers have unions looking out for them:
Tell your Senators to pass the Employee Free Choice Act!

So why are unions critical to making mines safer? Union miners can refuse unsafe work and fight for better conditions. Non-union miners, including the miners at Upper Big Branch, can’t do those things without fear of being fired.These miners deserved a union. And they tried to join one three times. SEVENTY percent of Massey’s miners signed cards saying they wanted to vote for a union. But the workers never succeeded in getting their union. Thanks to our broken labor laws, Don Blankenship was able to get away with threatening his workers. He told them he would close down the mine if they voted for a union.

We can’t let CEO’s like Blankenship continue to get away with this kind of dangerous intimidation and continue to risk lives.  And that’s why we won’t stop fighting to fix our broken labor laws, no matter how
long it takes.

Tell your Senators: Pass the Employee Free Choice Act and help prevent tragedies like the one at the Upper Big Branch Mine.

Earlier this year, corporate interests knew how close we were to passing the Employee Free Choice Act. They poured millions of lobbying dollars into trying to defeat the bill. And because of that, momentum has slowed. But our fight isn’t over. Not by a long shot! If we want worker safety in mining and other industries, we need to give people the right to join a union without interference! As long as CEOs like Don Blankenship prevent workers from standing up for themselves through a union, companies can get away with ignoring their safety and well-being.

Saturday's Yard Sale Finds

• Stihl 017 Chainsaw Head $20 Resale Value $100+
• Mizuno Catchers Mitt $3
• Set of 2008 Taylor Made R7 Irons Plus Putter $40 resale Value $150 +
• New HoMedics Clock Radio also has soothing Nature Sounds $2

•  Golf Club Travel Case $2 Resale of $20-30
• Dickies Denim Overalls $3 I thought nice for working around the house. Maureen says I must resell them. Probably get $15-20
• Surf Fishing Rod and Reel $2

• 6 Pairs of shoes $8. I buy used shoes for $1-2 if we don't keep them I resell them and generally make $10 to $15 per pair.
• Gucci Italian sunglasses $5 The lady said she paid $175-$200 for them I'm looking to make $30-$50 on a resale.
• Ipod Nano with case a cable. Also has 300 songs on it. $10
• 15inch View Sonic LCD Monitor. I picked this up as a gift for my Aunt Kathy. I'll ship it to her sometime this week.

• 7 Pars of American Eagle, Gap and Old Navy Shorts. Cargo Style. $7
• Not pictured are some Other Shorts and a nice Swann Point Golf Shirt. $2 Each

Saturday's Yard Sale Finds

We found this lovely Cast iron outdoor fireplace this morning. I like the chimney feature because once the fire is going the smoke will be directed up in the air. One of the reasons we haven't been using our fire pit is because when the wind blows the smoke gets in your eyes and can be bothersome at times. Looking forward to a chilly night so we can fire this baby up. Asking Price was $50 We got it for $40

Remember if you click on the pictures you'll get a larger image and a better detailed picture.
Anyway, here is what we found today.
Brand New pair of Brown GBX Oxford Shoes $5
Not pictured because I was wearing them were New Brown Rockport Boat shoes $5 FYI Both of these shoes were purchased from a lady who lives on Eileen and Jim's old street in Millersville.
New Ladies Reebok Walking shoes $2
Hohner Melodonic Keyboard and Case $2
PartyLite Candle Lamp $3 Maureen says this stuff is really expensive.
Cast Iron Fire Wood Stacker $3
3 Xbox 360 Games $4
3 PS2 Action Games $3
4 Country Music CD $2
Nice Heavy Duty Wood Table $15 Purchased for Jenna's room
2 25lb Dumb Bells $1 each
Some kind of Dish $1
New can of Tennis Balls .50c
Under the Cabinet Sony CD Player FM Radio $3 for my garage. Put it in today. Works Great.....
Assorted tops for Jenna 50c each
New Nike Dri Fit Woman's Shirt $1
Jimmy Buffett Concert Shirt From 2006 $1 We were there!! Glad I didn't spend $38 then.....
New Levis Juniors Sz 11 $1
Three Girls size 0 Abercrombie and Hollister Jeans 3 for $5

Saturdays Yard Sale Finds

Not much to report this week. Besides finding the computer we didn't have much luck. There were a couple community sales in Cape ST Claire all the way past Annapolis which didn't result in finding much of anything. Anyway here is what I found.

• Craftsman Floor Jack in a carrying case. $10 Been looking for one of these
• Coleman electric Smoker $3 I here smoked chickens and other meats are tasty.
• Targus laptop Bag .50c resale item
• Golf bag Umbrella $1 This covers your clubs when it rains. 
• Complete book of golf History .50c
• New Izod Golf Shirt $2
• 3 Pair of work Glove .25c
• Exacto Knife and screwdriver .25c each
• 3 pair of Nike air and 1 pair of Rockport shoes $1 each

New Computer Found at Yard Sale

I've been using a computer at the Local 67 office that is very slow. It has been around the office for about 8 years. I've done some tweaking to it but recently it has been giving me fits and I've been contemplating convincing the boss to allow me to purchase something a little better for the office. Anyway, this weekend I found this machine at a yard sale and felt the $100 asking price was too good to pass up.

The Specs are:
Pentium 4 2.6 MHZ Processor
1 Gig pc3200 DIMM Ram
2 X 250 GIG SATA Hard Drives
2 Plexar 48 X DVDR Drives
PNY 128 MB Video card
Built in Memory card Reader
4 port firewire card
HDMI output for movies
800 Watt Power Supply
All in a Beautiful Antec See through Tower


I installed Linux Ubuntu 9.1 without a hitch. The used an application called crossover to install some of my windows applications like Office and Frontpage. I'm new to Linux and am learning more each day. The system seems very stable and fast exactly what I need in my office. I purchased an additional gig of ram this morning for $29 so my total cost for the system is 129. Awesome!!!!! After playing around with this machine for a few days I have decided to keep it at home. I'll be selling my XP machine to the Union.

Squirrel Infested Chimney

We have a fireplace insert in our front room. Last week we began to hear what appeared to be a squirrel in the chimney above the wood stove. It's not the first time a squirrel has gotten in there. In the past I just lit a fire and either they died in there or they were smoked out. Anyway, I lit a fire Saturday morning in hopes to get rid of the squirrel. But later that evening we hear him going crazy inside the chimney again. Of course the cats are freaking out, just standing guard in front of the wood stove. So the next morning I decide to pull the stove out and see if the squirrel will come out. Sure enough after I have about a 4 inch gap out comes this little baby squirrel. I gather him up in a basket and put him outside. About 5 minutes later another one comes out. Know we have 2 and we can here another still in there. The last one didn't come out so I pushed the stove back in for the evening.

Today when I got home the cats were again standing guard. I pulled the stove out and went outside to do some yard work when I came in a couple hours later the cat was chasing the squirrel around the house. I finally managed to shoe it outside but it is still hanging around. I've scheduled the chimney guy to come by next week and repair the chimney cap so we can keep animals out.

Yard Sale Season is Here.

This is my second Saturday I have gone out visiting Yard sales. Here are this weeks finds.

This is a trunk Maureen bought that is for American girl Dolls and all there accessories. It's very solid and heavy with leather handles on the sides and flower material lining. The top section lifts out and clothing can be stored below. $20

• 3 new Polo and Nike golf Shirts $5
• Piere Cardin Black Leather Jacket $5
• 2 Trumpets. One is missing the mouthpiece $5 Each 
• New Leather Backpack with Umbrella $2
• Palm Folding Travel Keyboard $1
• Stanley construction 1 Quart Thermos $1
• Bushnell 10x50 Field Glasses $4
• New Military issue Dessert sand storm Sunglasses $8 These babies retail for about $100
• Dale Junior Nascar Lot Cup, Beads and Stickers $3

• Army Issue dessert Boots $3
• Chuck Taylor High tops for Jenna $2
• 3 pair of Asics running Shoes $2 Each
• Brown Leather Bates Shoes $1
• Very nice Imported and made in Spain brown shoes $2

Happy Easter

I always eat the ears first. How about you?

The Coolest Guy in the World

 Check this guy out. Pretty amazing video here......

Pffffttt… I can do that

First Round of Golf 2010

Yesterday, I played golf for the first time since I had the surgery on my ankle.
The weather has been spectacular all week and I have really been looking forward to a day of relaxation on the golf course. I've been anticipating using the new Scotty Cameron putter I received for my birthday as well. I went to the driving range earlier in the week in an attempt to readjust my body to the feel of the golf swing and have been practicing putting in the house.
I went in to work early around 12:30 and finished my day around 6:30 the tee time wasn't until 8:30 so I stopped at IHOP for breakfast. I arrived at the course around 8. I was playing with Doc and Bob Herrbert a 76 year old Canada Dry retiree.  Anyway, we had a good time. The golf was ok. I opened the season with an 84. Included 1 birdie quite a few pars but 3 dreaded double bogeys. Overall I was pleased with my play but most definitely have a few things to work on. We're going back today to play with the group. Tee time is around 8am. Stevie's will be here at 7 and ewe will head over. Hopefully, I can get a couple birdies and win some cash.

More reflections on turning 50

We don't stop playing because we get old, we get old because we stop playing. ~Herbert Spencer

After 1 week of being 50 years old I have found myself reflecting on the upcoming decade and what I might have to look forward to or not.
It's funny, as we get older the older "old" get. When I was 30 I thought 50 was old. Now that I'm 50, 70 is old. I suppose turning 50 is when we catch a glimpse of our morality and it becomes a life review of what is important and what isn't. I've heard that the 50’s maybe the best decade of your life – the kids are grown and you have about as much money as you’re ever going to make in your life. Probably, true for me the money part but my kids aren't grown and the next ten years most likely will be the most financially burdensome years I will ever face.
Some days I want to keep on fooling myself and the world. I want to hang with the 30 year old's, party like a college student, and live with reckless abandon. Other days, I want to embrace 50. I want to enjoy where I am...as I am...and not worry what anybody else thinks. I want to slow down and relish the things that I truly enjoy. Maybe it is true, "50 is the new 30."
I look back on my thirties with such fondness of those years. My kids were so young and we were so happy. How I long for those days again. I see my 60's as when those care free no worry days may appear again.

Windows 7

I have been running windows 7 ultimate on the new computer we purchased back in December. It is a beta version of Windows 7 Ultimate. I thought it was activated and was going to be able to continue running it indefinitely. As it turns out early last week I kept getting messages that windows must be activated in X days. I tried for days to figure a way around this message but was unable to get this version activated. So as hard as it was I actually trudged up to Best Buy this morning and purchased a copy of Windows 7 for my computer.
I had to do a clean install and reinstall all my programs but I feel good about having a genuine version of Windows 7 running on our computer.
The more I use it, the more I like it. There are a lot of little simple nuances that make me think that Microsoft is moving in the right direction.
Examples:
* Right-click on menu item and you can simply “pin” it to either the start menu or task bar.
* User configuration is now in a folder called users/userxxx
* It’s even aesthetically pleasing.
* Installed most of my programs without a hitch. If they were older programs I can run them easily in XP mode. Overall I give Microsoft an A+ here.

2nd Blizzard in days takes out 100 year record

We are living through some of the most extreme winter weather we'll ever experience in the metro region this morning. Heavy snow, winds exceeding 40 mph, and true whiteout conditions have paralyzed the entire region. It's not often we witness a 100-year-plus record fall. Perhaps it's fitting it went out in such extreme fashion today. National Airport's preliminary (2 p.m.) snow total of 54.9" for the 2009-2010 winter thus far puts D.C. above the previous high mark of 54.4" set way back in 1898-1899. Baltimore has also broken its all-time record with this event.
Snow will gradually diminish through early evening as the precipitation shield slowly drifts to the north and east, but strong winds gusting to around 50 mph will continue through the evening causing ground blizzard conditions and drifting snow.
Several suburban D.C. school districts, which had already canceled classes since Monday, simply ran up the white flag Wednesday and told students to stay home until Feb. 16.
All the three major regional airports — Reagan National, Washington Dulles and Baltimore-Washington International — shut down only a day after fully re-opening from the first major storm on Saturday.
Not that anyone was eager to travel. Entire neighborhoods in the District of Columbia, Virginia and Maryland — including some still without power from the last storm — were effectively isolated for lack of snow plows even on major arteries.
The latest wintry blast pummeled most of the northeastern U.S., producing heavy snowfall into New York and New England. But its impact was felt most in the mid-Atlantic region, which was in the bulls-eye of last weekend's blizzard.
"It is something that really is unprecedented for the mid-Atlantic states and certainly Washington," said Bob Ryan, a meteorologist for NBC4-TV.
Even by Canadian standards, the pair of fierce storms — dubbed Snowpacolypse and Snoverkill — would be considered severe.

Turning 50 Years Old

I turn 50 later on this week. Where do I fit in life now, why has it changed so much, and what will I do in the future? Can reaching 50 really change things that much? No, it is just a number but it does make us stop and think about what we do for the rest of the time that we have. Nevertheless, no matter how you cut it, 50 is a big deal. I don’t know why-I do not want any big celebrations.Rather than dwell on the depressing aspects of turning 50, I'm going to list 50 things, people and or accomplishmnet's that I'm grateful have been part of my life these past 50 years.
The List is in no special order.

1. My wife Maureen has to be top on my list. 21 years of marriage and we're still best of friends.
2. My Mother always there to listen. Another best friend.
3. My Father gave me encouragement, work ethic  and helping hand when I needed it.
4. Brothers and Sisters where there to share the normal family experiences.
5. Growing up in Bowie, MD. That was a great place to be a kid. Not so now....
6.  My mother-in-law Joyce Buswell and her extended family.
7.  The Ruyter family with 11 kids who lived behind us. Still friends with some of them today.
8.  8 years at St Pius X School. I know now the difficulty of funding private education
9.  Walking or riding a bike to and from there everyday. Wish kids could do that today
10. Teachers - Sr Richard (2nd), Mrs. Devany (5th), Mrs. Lee (6th), Sr. Margret (8th)
11. For good or bad my First Kiss, Smoke and Drink--7th Grade
12. Friends Steve, Joe, Roy, Bob, Pete and Michael.
13. Sledding at the Mansion for hours. Then hot chocolate at home.
14. Ice Skating, playing hockey on both Foxhill Lake, Allen's Pond, and the Front Lake in Crofton.
15. Day trip on my bike to places like College Park and Annapolis and home by dinner.
16. The Boy Scouts --- 3-4 years of Scouts. Every boy and girl should join Scouts
17. Scout Leaders Mr. Shea, Mr Napolitano, adn Mr Knestout.
18. Summer Camp. Twice at Camp St Charles in Southern Md. First time away from home.
19. Vacations with the family, especially times at Cacapon State Park.
20. My one year at Arch Bishop Carroll and riding the bus there.
21. Met the Crossed family that year and we've been good friends to this day.
22. Taking guitar lessons and playing rock music. Instilled appreciation of music I still have.
23. Building Bicycles with parts I accumulated from various trash and Recycling places.
24. Summer visits to NJ and hanging with my cousin Michael.
25. Delivering both Washington Post and Baltimore Sun. Taught discipline and order.
26. My friendship with the Jones family. Each of them has meant something to me.
27. My Uncle Bob and his endless stories. 
28. Met my dear friend Marty Wielert and became friends with his entire family.
29. Mitchell, Malcolm and Terry Wielert, have all been helpful to me at certain times in my life.
30. High School parties, hanging at the Pitt, Belair Liquors, J-mart, the tracks, Fletchertown Road.
31. Used cars. Cars, 1st --- 71 Chevelle, VW's and working on them.
32. First Job at McDonald's- Lied about my age so I could work late.
33. Hitch hiking to Ocean City. Did that numerous times. Meet some characters on the way.
34. Earnest Osti -  Worked for him for about 3 years. He taught me a lot about hard work.
35. and Trust.  Learned how to drive big split axle trucks, fork lifts and front end loader while there.
36. Robert Collins. Learned how to drink with him. Saw him blow his hand up when a tire exploded.
37. 1982 first got first hired at Canteen. interview and hired by John Fowler and Art Beneke.
38. Become friends with Wally Scott, Scott and Mark Weaver, Burek and Kassabian.
39. Take up golf in 1984 and have enjoyed it ever since. Still Waiting for hole in one.
40. My Wedding Day December 10th 1988. Made me a better man. Changed me forever.
41. The birth of my first child. Jack, born on April 21, 1989. Another huge milestone.
42. The birth of my first daughter Jamie, born February 20, 1991.
43. Bought a single family home in 1996. This was a 3rd house but now really felt like home.
44. The birth of my third and final child Jenna, born on October 14, 1996.
45. Became Shop steward at Canteen Vending in 1998.
46. Putting all three of my children through Catholic School for 8 years.
47. Elected President of Teamsters Local 67 in January of 2004.
48. Watching both Jack and Jamie graduate from South River High School.
49. Attempting to put Jamie through College. It's very difficult but a solid investment.
50. Still be able to exercise a little at age 50. I have my health and family.

Wow, after I wrote this list I see there are quite a few things I have left out. Seems I have had a very eventful life. When I reach 100 I'll come up with another list and maybe it will be more complete.
You can only perceive real beauty in a person as they get older.

The Blizzard of 2010

	It finally finished snowing around 6pm lat night. On Friday I went out and shoveled every 2-3 hours in an effort to stay ahead of the storm. Needless to say, when I awoke on Saturday it looked as if I had done nothing. Saturday was the same deal. Jenna and I went out every few hours and attempted to clear our walkways and driveway. The final accumulation must be around 33 inches. I measured it and got 25 inches but that was after it had compacted. The snow is halfway up my eight foot fence. I've never seen this much snow.
This was a heavy, wet snow that has caused numerous problems in the Mid Atlantic. The National Guard has been called in but has yet to show up on our street. Hopefully, a plow will appear sometime today. I would just like to walk up the block and visit the neighbor's. My trees on the side of the house don't appear as if they are going to survive this storm. They took a beating back on December 19th when we got 19 inches. This will just do them in. I'm sure I'll have to remove them in the spring.
	I've done so much shoveling this weekend that my entire body is sore. I guess it is from using all the muscles that don't get used to often. I'm dreading when the plows finally come. The mountain of snow a the bottom of my driveway that will need to be removed is crazy. It most likely will amount to a couple of tons of snow.

My snowman is bigger than your snowman.

I didn't actually build this snowman but the snow we had earlier this week was perfect for building a nice snowman. I can't imagine how this guy built this one. He probably just shaped it out of a huge pile of snow. Anyway, I'm in the snow frenzy once again. They are calling for 17-22 inches of snow here in the Baltimore Washington area. Supposedly, it will start around noon tomorrow and continue all through Saturday. After work today I ventured to the grocery store to stock up for the weekend.

I think every crazy in Crofton was there. The shelves were close to empty. I can't imagine what the shelves will look like later on this evening. I glad I got in when I did. I'm actually looking forward to being snowed in this weekend. I have plenty of booze and food and as long as we don't lose power, what's not to like. Sunday, we'll venture out and see if we can't build a snowman to match this one.

Why do some men (boys) wear earrings?

To rebel. Many men wear earrings to show that they are non-conformist. In our society it is becoming more and more difficult to separate yourself from the masses - to be an individualist. I think earrings and tattoos fall into the same category. People want to be different - to stand out from the crowd. But the more people that adopt a fad, the less the more the actually conform. In the end, I think the best way to stand out is to simply be your own unique self. But a lot of people have trouble just being themselves. They are afraid to be totally transparent, therefore they resort to other means to try to stand out.

Many men also wear earrings to rebel or stand out in the crowd. People like to do things which they are instructed not to do. Many also tend to think that wearing it would separate themselves from the masses
- to be an individualist.
The truth is as much as you want to be in the humans who wear earrings category the truth is you're not. You're in the males who wear earrings category. This is slightly abnormal in our society, it won't hold you back at work as much as wearing high heels would, but it won't help. This is unavoidable because people make subtle judgments of everyone they meet constantly and it's mostly unconscious. It'd be nice if no one was discriminated for having bad taste in fashion or something like that at work but it's unavoidable. Feminism is able to tackle the issue of gender discrimination because it is such a wide sweeping issue that we can work hard to retrain people. But you can't retrain people to not discriminate at all. People need to know that the guy coming out of that dark alley with his hand in his coat probably isn't going to be your friend, and those sorts of judgments will inevitably continue into the rest of your life. Basically unless Donald Trump starts wearing earrings you're screwed. The image out there is that being an earring wearing male is unprofessional and that judgment would be nearly impossible to change. This is true in the same way a guy not wearing suit is considered unprofessional, or a guy wearing an 80's sport jacket. People need ways to try and figure out who cares more about the job and while they aren't always accurate, it's not changing. Its' pretty clear to me that men and earrings are going to have a tougher time advancing in corporate America. Just don't do it.

Stealing it all From the Future until there is none.

Obama doesn't get it...none of "them" do. You do not spend money that you do not have!!!! You cannot spend money that you do not have!! And if you do manage to spend money that you do not have you have done so only by teleporting yourself into the future and robbing the wealth of those yet to come. Even worse!! Another 100billion is being printed up (borrowed) with interest, to send unemployment checks to those unfortunate enough to be without a job. What productivity comes from this? What return on investment does this 100billion get? Nothing!!! It is total plundering of the future for a totally non-productive feel good, keep the masses quiet program that leaves behind only massive debt w/interest and the undigested bits of food the unemployed @#$% out. Nothing was made, nothing was improved, nothing built. Millions of people get free money donated by you and borrowed by your government and we get absolutely nothing in return. Poof!! Gone!! 100's of billions gone to money heaven leaving a debt tombstone with rip carved on its stoney face.

During the depression we created work programs for the jobless millions. They lived in camps, ate like kings, reclaimed farm land, built parks, bridges, roads. These programs built self worth as the men and women gave an honest days work for honest wages and something valuable was left behind. Massachusetts had over 100 such camps and programs. Every state had them and they used the borrowed and tax dollars to make their homelands a better place.
How did we survive the great depression? There was no social security, no unemployment, no social welfare, no hand outs only hand ups!! We didn't treat the nation as a population of entitled, we treated ourselves as a nation of doers and shapers who held work in high regard. We pulled together as a people not whine and protest about our special interests and right to free slop at the expense of our neighbors. We didn't subsidize car purchases, home purchases, appliance purchases. We didn't steal from our children and grand children to support our delusional entitled lifestyles.
If for no other reason than the fact that we deserve all that we get from the coming @#$% storm by being so arrogant and blind, we deserve it because we are collective thieves of the future. We want it all, we think we deserve it all, we demand it all even if it means that no one who comes after us has a damned thing.

UGH: More Snow!!

The Washington-Baltimore area was preparing for 4 to 8 inches of snow as the storm approached. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for parts of Maryland and Virginia and the District of Columbia. About a foot of snow was reported in the Richmond area in Virginia, the weather service said.
In northern Virginia, the weather caused several muti-vehicle crashes along Interstate 81in Shenandoah County, Virginia State Police said. Four people were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.
Transportation officials were urging drivers to stay off the roads.

The weather also cut short a farewell celebration Saturday at the National Zoo in Washington for young panda Tai Shan, who will be flown to China on Thursday to become part of a breeding program. The storm left roads icy and snow packed across the South, and thousands were without power as ice accumulated. Although police said they had to clear hundreds of wrecks overnight, there were no deaths or serious injuries reported.

Will Kimbrough in the House

Went to a friends last night and saw Will Kimbrough perform. He played 2 hour and half long sets. What a great time. Will Kimbrough has written and collaborated on a number of songs with Jimmy Buffett. Most recently Buffett recorded Nobody from Nowhere on his latest album Buffett Hotel. Will opened the night with that song and then proceeded into how he came about to write the song. Awesome song. Check it out.
Here's a version with the full band.

Will Kimbrough’s upcoming full-length studio album is his fifth solo offering, and delves into subject matter that most professional musicians deal with at one point or another--the conflict between family and career, love and work, parents and children. Kimbrough easily related to the theme and realized its universal condition with listeners and their lives. He played a cut off this album, Three Angels last night. Here is an accompanying video of the song on you tube.

Quote of the Day

I'll promise to go easier on drinking and to

get to bed earlier, but not for you, fifty

thousand dollars, or two-hundred

and fifty thousand dollars will I give

up women. They're too much fun.

Babe Ruth

Quote of the Day

The secret of concentration is the secret of

self- discovery. You reach inside yourself

to discover your personal resources, and match them to the challenge.

Arnold Daniel Palmer

A pig can run faster than me

I think I am now the slowest human on earth. My treadmill time is about 9.5 minute mile for about 45 minutes. Afterward, I'm somewhat tight and like to do my elliptical machine for 15 minute cool down. Hopefully, if I can manage to continue this routine 2-3 times a week for the next few months, I'll be able to actually run or play some tennis in the spring. It's hell getting old. These achy bones are not like they used to be. It seems the abuse of my job has finally begun to catch up one me. 50 in 2 weeks.

WVU vs MD Swimming

The West Virginia University swimming and diving teams split dual meets today with Maryland at the Eppley Recreation Natatorium in College Park, Md.

The men defeated the Terrapins, 136-107, while the women fell, 133-108. The Mountaineers had nine athletes record at least one win in the efforts with seniors Kayla Andrews and Brandon Robinson, sophomore Brad Eichenseer and freshman Rachael Burnett all recording two wins apiece.

The was the first time we had gone to an official college meet. A college meet is so much more enjoyable than the club swim meets the kids have gone to for many years. The facility is beautiful, the events had only one heat and the meet was superbly run, so everything went right as scheduled. The team spirit was also on display on both the deck and in the bleachers. "Lets go Maryland" and "Let's go Mountaineers" were heard throughout the couple hour long meet. Diving is also included. After a number of swim events they break for diving. These kids can really dive. Flips and twists executed mostly to near perfection.

Jamie only swam the 200 Breastoke event and swam a nice race. She went out very fast to see what she could do in the first 100. She is attempting to get a qualifying time in 100 Breast for the Big East Championship meet in February. We're so proud that she has been able to experience the team spirit and everything that goes along with swimming for WVU. I hope her back holds up and that she can continue to work as hard as is required.

This Cold Sucks

I have a cold and it sucks. I hate having a cold. I went to bed Friday evening knowing I was going to have a cold the next morning. You know when you have that itchy feeling in the back of your throat. Once my throat begins to bother me I know I am going into a full blown cold and life will suck for at least a week to 10 days.I spent the entire day blowing my nose. A pocket of tissues doesn't cut it. I've gone through half a roll of paper towels and my nose looks like a tomato. Tylenol Cold and Flu is worthless! Tylenol is great for fevers and headaches, but they should really stay away from trying to help out with other symptoms. I've been using DayQuil and that has been helping out somewhat. I'm really old school and don't take much medicine I just let things run their course. I went to the dentist this afternoon and when they saw I had a cold they sent me home. They claimed that when doing fillings all the water vapors in the room are very contagious.

Crescendo Team 2009

This picture was in last weeks edition of the Bowie Blade. Click on image and you can read the caption. Each year at the Bowie city meet, a meet where all the pool in the city compete against one another, there is the climatic crescendo relay. Each relay team is made up of 1 girl and one boy from each age group. Naturally, the coaches uses the fastest kids in each age group. This is the winning Belair Bath and Tennis crescendo team from last summer. Jamie is on the far left.