2008 First tirp to the Current River

If you're into the outdoors and "floating" in Missouri, (by canoe, raft, or tube) you've probably been to or at least heard of the Current River (info) in southern Missouri. The Current River is a spring fed river with headwaters starting at Montauk State Park (info) and moving south towards Arkansas. This area is part of the Ozark National Senic Riverways. There are a lot of small rivers to float in south Missouri, but the Current is my favorite of all the ones I've floated over the past 20 years or so. Clear cold water, excellent landscape scenery, and lots of trout to fish. At the headwaters at Montauk there's a fish hatchery run by the state where they raise trout. It's amazing seeing these trout in the tanks. They're separated by size and eventually released into the Current River to go where they please. When it's feeding time you can't even see any water between the fish because they feed so aggressively. I read somewhere that trout were first introduced to the Current by railroad workers coming from the west. From what I understand, most trout in the Current are from the hatchery and not "wild", but that some decendents from the original stock may still be reproducing outside the hatchery.

One of my best friends of more than half my life, Morgan, and I headed down two Fridays ago for the earliest float/camping trip I've ever done in Missouri. The weather can be very volitile this time of year and a strong storm can change things for the worse very quickly when you're around a river. Flash floods are a real concern- it rains heavily upstream, you're downstream where it may not be raining at all. The runoff water from the rain upstream builds and a wall of water heads downstream while you sit on the bank considering your next trip to the cooler for another "coldun" (cold one) with your fishing line in the water. Next thing you know the river seems to be getting strangly bigger and you move back a bit to keep your feet dry. Suddenly you realize what's going on as the river rapidly rises and you grab your cooler to head for safety. You make it to higher gound as the rest of your belonging are swept downstream along with trees, brush, cattle,and the occassional human.

Well, none of that stuff happened on this trip- although we were very aware of the possibility. In normal conditions the Current runs about 2' to 2.25' above Akers Ferry (One of the landmarks of the upper Current). 4' is considered "flood stage". On April 10th the Current was at 12' at Akers Ferry. That's a lot of water. Luckily, the water was pretty much back to normal when we got down there. We camped right near the river at a federal campground that is not widely known. I hope it stays that way because it's much better than most of the outfitter campgrounds which consist of a big field that's been overused. At those places you tend to be surrounded by people, loud music, yelling and cigarette smoke. This federal spot is pretty much hidden, quiet, senic, and non-comercialized. No one even works there. You just put $5.00 in a box and choose your spot.

We arrived about noon and set up camp. Morgan likes to really get things set up quickly when we camp. He says it bothers him until it's all done. I think that must be some primative instinct. We knew the possibility of heavy storms was in the forecast. Luckily, Morgan brought his weather radio. After setting up we headed to the river and started fishing- no luck- the water was still too high in this spot and fast with no cover for the fish to hide behind. Morgan tried to start a fire by rubbing sticks together for about 10 minutes. Then I got out the firestarter block and got the fire going. We were visited by our neighbors from about three camp spots over. They were a couple of guys from Kentucky visiting for turkey hunting. I only have two things to say about their visit. One: First impressions make a difference and the size of one of the guy's shirtless beerbelly was enough to worry me a great deal- it was awful. Two: When I say, "Well, we better get dinner started." that's your cue to bug out instead of poaching another coldun. Anyhoo, Thunder began to rumble in the distance and drew closer. We cooked dinner, (chicken with tomatoes and black beans) and just as we sat down to eat- it began to rain. Luckily Morgan has set up a lean-to with an extra wall blocking the direction the wind was blowing from so the rain couldn't blow in on us. It turned out to be a full on storm as we sat under our lean-to staying dry. As we listened to the computerized voice on the weather radio warning of the severe weather headed our way we came up with an emergency plan that consisted of Morgan running for higher ground and leaving me to grab what gear I could since it was pretty much all mine- bastard. Luckily, the storm came and went in about 20 minutes. After the storm, Morgan thought we better put a water mark stick down by the river so we could see if it started coming up. He notched it for reference and we felt slightly more secure. Turned out to be a nice evening and the sky even cleared. It got calm. But still I wondered if the river would come up and get me in my sleep.

The night was filled with me waking up thinking I could hear the river roaring as it rose to drown me. It turned out to be the wind blowing through the trees that surrouned us. It got fairly windy since a cold front was coming though. And as it does when a cold front comes through- it got cold. Down to about 40 degrees. I got up once to check the stick and see if the water on our marker was coming up. As I peered down the beam of light from the mag lite onto the stick I could see I was worrying for nothing and slept better the rest of the night- until our neighbors rolled in from a nearby bar at about 4:00am. They kind of hinted at us joining them on a trip to the bar, but I didn't bring my banjo and this wasn't Deliverance.

We got up the next morning and got the fire going again, ate a pound of bacon, and broke camp. We saw one of our neighbors staggering to the outhouse about 8:30 and I was thinking he didn't make it up for the morning hunt. Morgan also discovered he had a tick on him in a real bad spot. I'll let you use your imagination on that one. We drove to Akers Ferry, about 9 miles away, and got picked up for the float by the outfitter. We were the first customers of the year. We put in about 9:30 and started our float by going right by the place we had camped before. Luckily, the river never came up whatsoever. It actually dropped a little. So much for the lost sleep over worry of a flash flood.

Something to keep in mind when going on a float. There are two kinds: Kind one: Float, drink, swim, and be rediculous. Kind two: Float and fish, have a couple but keep your wits about you for when you snag your line in a tree while getting turned around in a riffle. The main thing to keep in mind is that it's either a fishing float or not. Don't try to mix a couple of people wanting to fish with others who don't. It just doesn't work- sort of like socks on a rooster.

Turned out to be a great day for a float- sunny and 70 degrees. The trout were very active too. I think between the two of us we caught close to 10 fish. It took us a while to find out what they were hitting on, (rooster tail) but once we did it got pretty fun.

So to make a long story a little longer, it was a good first tirp of the year. I'm planning on heading down at the end of this month to do it again. It's good for your mind. Kind of clears your head. Here's a shot of Morgan reeling in a trout. Next trip- more pics.

Gardening at Night

We've been very busy in the yard between cold spells, planting, trimming, and mowing. It kind of becomes a part time job this time of year. That's alright though, it really beats winter.

Leslie just had to get the pots done on Thursday evening. Then it became Thursday night. We needed light and it made for a couple of interesting shots.

People who should stop telling others how to live- the short list

I just read an interesting article about this guy. Here. If all the facts in this article are true, I'd be looking for advice elsewhere. I'm not reallly surprised by what I read. I just find it irritating.

And here's his buddy who is apparently disin' him now that his rep is sliding.
She spends a lot of time talking about marriage. Funny, she's never actually been married herself. Tell Stedman I said hi.

Most of you don't know this guy. Try to keep it that way. He's a self proclaimed "slave" for Jesus. He always reminded me more of Mr. French from "Family Affair"

Oh wait, this one's dead. He can't do much harm in that state. HaHa.

Let's end on a positive note. This guy is worth listening to. Ohh yeah!

Elements of my life

I'm kind of a vehicle guy. I've had seven vehicles since I started driving: 1 Volkswagon, 1 Ford, 2 Toyotas, and 3 Hondas. Big whoop, I know. This post is just about one (or three) of them- the Elelment. If you've never ridden in an Element or at least taken a close look- you should. You might even be among the majority that think it's ugly. Well, all I can say to that is that you're ugly if you don't love my Element.

Here's the family album of my "E" family.
This is the E I got in 2005 after riding in a friend's and loving it. Four speed automatic. At the time, this was the best E you could get- the EX. It had all wheel drive, waterproof seats, big stereo for a stock stereo- even had a subwoofer. I loved this E. Hauled everything in it- deer, wood, concrete, bricks, bikes (one time I had four bikes and three people in it), and anything else I needed. The E has over 75 cubic feet of cargo space. As a comparison, a Honda Accord Sedan has 12. So you really can put a bunch of stuff in it. I did a lot of bike race trips in this E. One of my favorite things about all Elements is that they have NO carpet. So it doesn't matter if you have muddy boots on or a dirty wet dog after a trip to the dog park. But I digress. On with the family album.



Another shot of my first Element.



Oh, #2... kind of a redheaded stepchild. This one was an '08. In 2007 Honda made some nice changes (upgrades) to the Element. More horsepower, five speed transmission, standard painted quarter panels, traction control, airbag front to rear, and some other cool trim stuff like blue back lit gauges instead of standard green. I was able to sell my first one for a profit and pick up this one for a basic flip. It was like getting a brand new car for less than what I still owed on the first one. It was a good deal. I didn't go with the black this time because I wanted something that would look cleaner longer- black is really hard to keep clean. It was kind of a boring color- but it was different. Then, after a few short weeks of driving, I started noticing a strange noise. To make a long story short, Honda's change to the transmission made this one "drone" loudly when at cruising speed. The exact speed I travel 250 miles a week for work. It got really annoying. So it went to the shop three times. Finally, it was discovered that ALL the new ones with the automatic 5 speed tranny do this. My solution- get rid of it. I only had this brown cow for about three months. Kind of a skeleton in the family closet.


Then one day, this one showed up from Chicago on special order.
Pretty. My favorite of the three. 2008 EX AWD 5 speed Manual. Like the one before it, this one is an '08 but since it's a manual transmission it's geared differently and doesn't make that noise that I couldn't stop listening to. It's much more fun to drive and the black is black. I also got splash guards and side steps with this one- nice touches. Since I've had it I also added a hood deflector (great for all the highway driving with semi traffic throwing crap up all the time) and a custom grill guard. At some point I'm going to get a short ram intake, torque dampener, and fog lights and bull bar. I plan on keeping this one for quite some time.


Where are they now: The 2005 lives in St. Louis and belongs to a nice family that does a lot of triathlons. The brown bag '08 also lives in STL and belongs to a guy who works in film. I made sure he knew about the sound- but it didn't seem to bother him. He was very excited about getting an almost new Element for a great deal.

Other Element facts: two power outlets (front and rear), front and rear seats fold down to make a bed (yes, I've used it), rear seats fold up into the sides of the vehicle or can be taken out completely to leave you with the practical equivalent of a 5 foot truck bed.

Mr. Fix-it

"We know what to do when it rains." That's a quote applicable to this situation. A few weeks ago my wife and I noticed the dryer wasn't doing it's job- drying the clothes. It was running, just not drying. We thought it might be time for a new dryer- so I started researching and didn't like what I saw- high prices. We have a big dryer, and I couldn't see downsizing. So I start "experimenting". I thought it had to be something simple. I took apart the dryer until it didn't look like a dryer anymore, I check electrical connections, I put it back together, I turned it on, it ran- but it didn't get hot. Luckily, in my autopsy of what I thought was a dead dryer, I found a folded up piece of paper located behind the "control panel". It turned out to be an assembly drawing of the dryer with all the parts numbered and labeled. I looked over it briefly and set it aside thinking it wasn't worth trying to fix this dryer anymore- it is about 10 years old and it came with the house when we bought it.

A few days went by and we shopped for dryers. I really didn't want to buy one. I looked over the assembly drawing again and came up with one possible solution- heating element. The dryer ran, just didn't get hot. So I called up Sears and ordered the part. It came, I installed it, it worked! I was really excited since it had only cost $60.00 instead of hundreds for a new dryer. The dryer actually worked much better than ever before now. Upon examining the old element I could see it had actually caught on fire at one point from all the lint built up in the floor of the dryer over the years. Now here's some advice- clean your dryer out occasionally. On ours there's a panel on the front that you can take off and expose the inside of the "box" I vacuumed three or four loads of lint from the inside of the dryer. Taking apart the dryer also let me clean out the parts individually. I found money and a gym ID card from the previous owner of the house in the compartment that holds the lint screen. It really helps the efficiency of the dryer to have it all cleaned out too.
So all was good again...for about three weeks. Suddenly, while drying a load the dryer just quit. This was bad. Could be anything I thought. I again took the dryer apart and started tinkering. I thought I must have knocked something loose while working on it before and the vibration of the dryer released some connection completely. No luck- must be time for a new dryer I thought again. I went back to the assembly drawing. There were two fuses listed: a thermal cut-off, and a thermal fuse. Apparently, these are safety parts that shut the dryer down if it's getting too hot. You can't tell if the fuses are blown by looking at them- they don't even look like fuses. I ordered the parts again hoping I wasn't wasting my time. When they came in I installed them and immediately the dryer worked. I was really happy. I was still only up to $100.00 total investment for the new parts. The satisfaction of repairing something I previously knew nothing about was very cool.
I'm not certain, but my theory about the fuses blowing is that the new element wasn't a good match with the old fuses. The fuses/thermal cut-off were worn out and the extra heat of the new element just pushed them over the edge.
It was a great learning experience that I hope to not have again for a long time.

29 days to go

Time moves slowly when you are bored and detached from what you're doing. That's pretty much the feeling I've had for a while now at work. I am cooked for the year. Next week is the second part of the MAP test (math portion), and after that I think I'll feel even more done since that test is the pressure cooker of the schools today. Somehow, someone along the way decided that the MAP is a good way to judge the quality of job teachers are doing. As if student performance is a direct reflection of the job I do. Yeah right, and every kid who wants to be a pro football player will be as long as his coach is good enough. I'm just ready for this year to end. I wouldn't recommend getting into education to anyone. Sure, you get the summer off. But I assure you, you'll do 12 months worth of work in the 9 months school's in. You are tied down for the school year. I've been doing this for eight years now and I'm very efficient at what I do. I don't take work home and I don't come in extra early to get caught up. It all happens between 7:20 and 3:20. At the end of the day though you're lucky if you have the energy to use the few hours you have free before going to bed at 9:00.

Yes, this is a rant- which I rarely do on this blog because I just don't want this blog to have that vibe. I don't like to read constant complaining on other blogs, so I try not to do it here. Since this blog is mine though, I'll choose this time to leave it as a rant session.

old and new

Photos of before and after a meal and a shave.
The meal...






The shave...

Revelation and Disfunction

I just realized how much our building principal and the President of the US are alike. Amazing...

Not much going on. Just here in ISS again. One kid is in here for making a "shank"- or is it "shiv"? Either way, a stabbing weapon-you know, like they use in prison to kill each other. You just take whatever you can sharpen and sharpen it. You might also tape it to something else to increase it's length. Whatever. I'm over these issues. I'm over people thinking my work output is directly reflected in student grades. My job is to lead horses to water- you can probably finish that thought. Mostly I'm over all you parents who should have used stronger protection or just kept it zipped up. I'm no parent, but when you're asking me advice about what to do with your 12 year old (and I'm not talking about how to do math) I think that proves there's a problem. Quit reproducing and dumbing down the species. McDonald's is going to have to quit taking applications at some point if you don't slow down.

Don't worry, I still have good students and students who want to learn. My guess would be most of them have two parents at home who are at least semi-hardasses- meaning they do the job of parenting even when it hurts. The rest of you so called parents need to get a clue and take some responsibility. I'm not a babysitter and this isn't daycare. You don't work and learn- you get a "F". Deal with it. That's how life will be in the future- may as well learn it now. "Why does my kid have a "F"?" "Why don't you ask him?" He or she might tell you something interesting like, "Well, you don't seem to give a F*^K, so why should I?"

Now that's an editorial.

Frozen Toes

For the non-locals who don't know about the bike racing scene in BOCOMO, this past Sunday was the formerly know as "Froze Toes" Frozen Toes bike race. I'm not sure when the name was switched- perhaps when the president of the local bike club started calling it "frozen toes". Anyhoo, it's about a 60 mile race (two 30 mile loops) in some of the most boring land in central Missouri. Anytime you can see more than a mile up the road (or in any direction for that matter) it's more than likely boring terrain.
I didn't race this year, or last, and probably not "next year" either. Just not my kind of race. What I did do was volunteer to be a follow vehicle driver for the race. Kind of help create a "rolling enclosure" and try to keep racers from abusing the yellow line too much and winding up as a hood ornament on Farmer Brown's daily commute to give the cattle hay. I was glad to do it and I got to watch the race.
Two years ago I think there were about 140 people in the race. This year- only about 50. I guess a bunch of people thought the weather was going to be bad- as it should be- this time of year. So I guess you could say it was a more "intimate" group. Lots of guys helping each other out. You know, like when you have to pee and ride a bike at the same time- kind of hard to pedal. So what do you do? You get another rider to push you while you're peeing- or trying to pee as appeared to be the case for several guys who seemed to have some accute stage fright keeping them from relieving themselves. Or maybe they just couldn't find it in the cold weather- not sure. Nonetheless, this was probably the most entaining part of the race for Prozenberger and me to watch since the rest of the race was fairly boring and slow this year. At more than one point I looked down at the speedometer to see we were going 14MPH. It was more like a ride than a race. But hey, that's easy from me to say from the drivers' seat of a warm dry car and only pushing the gas pedal to move.
It was an interesting perspective to stay behind the group the whole time. I did see a crash and one of the guys landed squarly on his face while still holding onto the handlebars. That was ugly. It was fun pacing a few people back up to the group when they got gapped off because of the wreck. One guy had the nerve to complain about the quality of the pace he got after the race. Sorry, but I don't think the officials who were watching would have been real happy with you getting any pace. I was happy to do it for whomever I could. I know Buttsmackers was appreciative.
As ususal...no chili left after the race. I think that makes five years for me now with no chili after. At least I did get to see Jimmy again. I almost couldn't resist hugging him- but I didn't want him to get too excited and put on the goloshes and get out the tacklebox.
If you don't get a lot of this post- I apologize- lots of inside jokes.

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day. It's an interesting day here at school because you have three types of kids coming in: Those who are into it (wearing pink or red, giving and getting gifts and cards). They know they're loved either here or at home. Those who are not (eh, just another day at school). Probably don't know what day of the week it is either. And then there are those who are depressed (no gifts, cards, or candy and a feeling of loneliness). Maybe very alone even when everyone's around and not many hugs in their life. It's interesting to observe who's who today. I feel bad for the depressed kids. I'm wearing a bright pink/coral button up. That's my contribution to the atmosphere. I've heard already twice today, "Real men wear pink." "Yeah, I know, now get to work changing that fraction to a decimal before I take your candy and eat it in front of you." Just kidding- The kids actually get a kick out of me playing with them like that and it keeps the mood a little lighter. I knew what I was getting into wearing this shirt. It's amazing how in this small town pink is still seen as a female color. In my whole life I've never attached gender to color. Color is color and they're all cool in one way or another. So I'm going to start changing my blog colors on a regular basis- just to keep it interesting. Speaking of interesting, if you haven't checked out my wife's blog yet (yoga gal)- I recommend it. Clickit And hey, hug somebody today- even if you don't feel like it- you'll feel better afterwards for sure...unless of course they are stinky- then you'll just want a shower.

Disaster or Sign from God

Waaaaay back in January, New Year's day to be exact, and after a long night of celebration, I woke at 6:00am to the sound of water. I listened to it for a while trying to figure out what it was. "Is that one of our fountains? No, it's Zak splashing in his water bowl. Wow, he's really splashing a lot." I tought. "And so rhthmically". "Wait a second...something isn't right." I jump out of bed and open the door to the room where the sound is coming from. The same room that has my two aquariums set up. One is a 30 gallon and the other a 60 gallon. My first step into the room was a wet one. I know immediately what's happening- aquarium leak! I'm not ready to deal with this considering the previous night's activities. But trouble doesn't usually come when you're ready for it. So I flip on the light and luckily there's only about a quart of water on the tile floor. I'm thankful for two things at this point even though my mind is still a little fuzzy from the Southern Comfort. Thing one: we have very little carpet in our home. Thing two: we were home when this happened.

I run downstairs and out to the garage. I grab two five gallon buckets (very handy to keep around) and head back up. Very luckily, the water was dripping (flowing is more like it at this point) in a way that I was able to catch the water in the bucket. The leak was getting worse and the water coming out faster. There was nothing to do really except go downstairs and make coffee. I spent the rest of the morning letting it drain out and emptying the buckets when they were full. Towards the end I kept one bucket of water and transfered the fish into it. They were donated the next day to one of the local pet stores. The 30 gallon tank found itself on the curb and is now part of the landfill.

Here's the interesting part to me. First of all, I don't recommend ever having an aquarium on the second floor of a home. If that tank had drained out while we were away that would have been a major disaster for the first floor ceiling and walls. Probably would have cost thousands to repair. Second, just the day before this tank began to leak, I had set up my big 60 gallon tank. After the close call of the first leak I decided it was a sign that I shouldn't have 90 gallons of potential destruction set up to blow. So I drained that tank with a vacuum tube out the window and put that tank up for sale at the same local pet store. No more fish in our house.

ISS Post

It's been a long time since I posted from ISS. Mostly because it's changed a lot for the worse. It used to be a place where kids would come and have to do their school work for the day and then read. Well our new asst. principal, who has never actually worked in the ISS room, changed some things about it and now it's a constant struggle of paper pushing to and from students. It makes the poor choices of students who get into ISS the ISS supervisor's problem. But that's the way things have been going around here. Instead of teaching the students responsibility, it's taken off them and put on the teachers. I'm not subscribing to this.

But yesterday was interesting. Keep in mind this is middle school- 6-8th grade. Five students. By the time I get there, a lot has happened. One kid has given prescription meds to two other kids. His backpack was searched and they found pot. Two girls had to be separated because they are lovers. And one girl's backpack was searched and razor blades found which she uses for cutting herself. "Oh, my dad knows I've done it before." Uh, I would classify this situation as "ate up". What happened to the good old days of fights and running the halls? If you think you have any concept of what middle school and high school is like now based on your experience from 10 or more years ago- forget it.

P.O.S.- Bissell Pet Hair Eraser

Don't buy this. We've had ours one month and it's now broken. It's still running and sucking, but not without issue. First,one of the attachments ( the pet hair eraser mechanical brush) quit working when it allowed hair to accumulate around the belt and wheel that makes it a mechanical attachement. Luckily, I was able to take it apart, clean it, and put it back together. Then yesterday I was just cleaning the floor and noticed the the vacuum getting louder and louder and starting to vibrate. "Something's not right!" I yelled over the scream of the hearing eraser... uh, I mean pet hair eraser. I turned off the vacuum and noticed my hearing has now been notched to the certain frequency of one said double cyclonic action vacuum. Patiently, I examimed the PHE and cleaned every part I could find to clean. I turn it back on and still the vibration and volume comparable to that of the space shuttle take off is blasting from our living room. Even Ziggy, our cockapoo, (and yes that is a dog breed not a bird) won't come near as he usually likes to do to investigate and try to dominate. He's sure the situation is about to become very dangerous and takes shelter in the other room. I can only imagine how his hearing was effected. Anyhoo, I examine the rotating brush located at the front of the PHE and I can tell something isn't right. It's pivoting instead of just spinning. This causing the vibration and noise. I take the brush off and examine it. One of the bearings is jammed down into the bar at and angle and the plastic is warpped. I take it all apart and try to rebuild it, knowing full well that this will be a temporary fix at best. I put it all back together and try it out. This time only about 150db roar through the house. But by the time I make it upstairs it's back to full throtle-up and ready to make the final push into orbit. So I must get a new rotating brush. Really, that will solve the problem, but who wants to deal with that after one month of use. On the other hand, this vacuum really does suck! Pun intended.

Is it winter or is my life just boring?

I have to laugh at myself for thinking my life is boring- because it's not, never has been, and probably never will be. I think I just get kind of bored in winter and blame it on my life. It's like every thing's on hold for about three months- which is really about as long as winter really lasts around here as far as I'm concerned.
I've just been working- lots of geometry lately- I love that stuff even if it's challenging to teach to kids who'd rather be playing Guitar Hero. But they like it when they get it right- so that's good enough on a daily basis.
I've also been going to the gym a lot and getting huge. I'm so massive I barely fit in my already gigantic ego that is starting to feel as if it's about to explode.
I did a lot of hunting for the elusive whitetail deer the past few weeks since the season was coming to a close. I wound up sticking one last Friday evening just before dark. But as fate would have it my worst fear came true and I didn't find it. It was kind of a weird shot. The deer was almost under me and facing right to me. I was about 20 feet up in a tree. I shot and stuck it right behind the shoulder in what should have been a spine severing shot- dropping it right there. But as the deer ran away with about 12 inches of arrow sticking in and about the same sticking out, I wondered what the outcome would be. It got dark, came back with a light, found blood, but no deer. Came back the next morning, looked for two hours and found the broken end from my arrow about 1/3 of a mile from where I had shot- and that's it. It is the worst to hunt and mame. Especially when you see some of the animal interaction I've observed while hunting and you start to see the qualities in these wild animals that we see in our domestic pets that make us love them so much. But that's the way the season ended for me pretty much. It was still a good season.
Sooner than later, the bike will come off the hook in the garage. That's the next adventure I suppose. Until then I guess I just try to keep it on the sunny side.
Oh yeah, I linked a couple of new blogs you should check out. One about breathing, one about a coyote.

Christmas Around the House of K.

So now I'm just inspired. Here's some shots from around the house this Christmas. Everything was designed by Leslie or by Leslie and her mom. I did the outside lights. Reminded me of National Lampoons Christmas Vacation getting up there on the roof. Last year, the first year I ever put up Christmas lights in my life, I had some "Witnesses" come by and preach to me while I was hanging the lights. The irony made me laugh.

Empty Hands

I've been sitting here with my hands on the keyboard for a couple of minutes now waiting for the words to start appearing on the screen. It would seem I have blog block. I try to write to an audience sometimes and tell interesting or personally funny stories. Those things keep happening- I just haven't been writing about them for some reason. Maybe it's because I compare my blog to KAL's. His if first class in my opinion. But I'm not trying for the same blog. I guess I should just let it flow.
I could talk about the verbal slap I gave another teacher today. I got pretty angry. The principal walked up, stood there for a second listening, turned about, and walked away. I'm finding it's better for me, and the other party involved if I just go ahead and confront them about whatever I'm pissed about. I'm the kind of guy who holds onto stuff for a long time inside. It's not good for one to do this. I don't like to upset people though so I often don't say anything. I just boil inside and lay sleepless thinking about the problem. I think I solved this issue- and I'm over it. I'm not mad anymore- nor am I holding a grudge. So that's that.
I could also talk about hunting. It's not going so good at this point. Oh, I killed another deer. Unfortunately, it had been shot twice about two weeks prior to our meeting. It was a mercy killing as it turned out. I knew something was wrong as soon as the deer appeared. It looked like the fur on it's back was turned up. I shot and killed the animal. When I approached it, it had a huge chunk missing from it's back and another from its chest. Someone had not been a good shot. It's amazing the strength of these creatures to carry on with such wounds. I have great respect for them. I left the deer where it lay because there was no point in trying to salvage any meat- infection was obvious. I returned to where I shot the deer last weekend. There was nothing but a bare white skeleton left.
Oh, I got a new Element. Very nice and this time Galaxy Grey Metallic! Woooweee! It has some really nice performance upgrades from my '05, and some nice trim upgrades. One thing I'm a little disappointed with is the new five speed transmission. It's nice and smooth but it has a bit of a shift drone just before upshift that bugs me. I've been talking to some folks about it on theeownersclub some of them noticed the same thing. Maybe there will be a recall. I've been making a stink about it to Honda.
My wife started a blog. I'll suggest it to you now. Heretis Good thoughts.
I'm pregnant. No wait, that's not right. I'm not pregnant. Many people are though, so I better get back to saving the universe. Tata.

If you are a dog AND cat owner

you'll find this hysterical. Leslie and I have two dogs and two cats. The parallels of this read and our reality are just too close. I was laughing so hard I was crying.

*The Dog's Diary*
8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 PM - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
1:00 PM - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 PM - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 PM - Dinner! My favorite thing!
7:00 PM - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 PM - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 PM - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

*The Cat's Diary*
Day 983 of my captivity.
My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are Fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an Attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their Feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates my capabilities. However, they merely made Condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. Bastards!
There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was Placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.
Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow, but at the top of the stairs. I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and Snitches.The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released, and Seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird must be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now......

Easy Hunting

This summer my wife's uncle came up with an idea to build a hunting blind that his son (and anyone who wants to stay out of the weather) could hunt from. He asked me if I knew anyone who'd be interested in helping with the project and I came up with one name- Meathead. So I asked Meathead and he agreed and we started planning. I was the middle man going between Rick and Meathead (Eric) planning the project. The I got a supply list, took it to Lowe's in Eric's truck, filled one of those big lumber cart things until it was so heavy I had to push on it for about two seconds before it started to move, and then headed it out to the truck to find Eric's truck wouldn't start. About an hour later and figuring out the problem I drive across town and Eric and I build the base for this blind. Weeks later we take the base and the rest of the lumber out to Rick's farm and start putting this thing together. We prebuilt all the walls up at the shed and quit for the day. The next week we came back and put the walls on a trailer and took them down to the spot for the blind and started getting everything in place. We worked until dark that day and got the roof on while using the lights on the tractor to see what we were doing. Then we came back again and set the windows (which are Andersons) and put on the shingles. It was quite an ontaking but it turned out great. the actual "box" is 5'X6' inside with 7' high walls. The platform is 8'X6'. There is a trap door in the bottom of the box with a ladder going to it. There is also a ladder going to the 2'X8' landing on the backside of the platform. From the landing you can take the third ladder to the roof and hunt from there as well. Each window has been offset from the one across from it to prevent wildlife from looking straight through the box. The screen over the windows is screen that you can shoot through either with a bow or gun. Not all the screen was up when the pictures were taken. The inside of the box is painted black so it's nice and dark. It's almost impossible to see into the box with the combination of the screen and black interior. It was a big project that turned huge. The finished product is really cool though- so it was worth it. I don't know that I'll ever hunt out of this blind, but you could spend the coldest day hunting in it very comfortably. I need to take some pictures of the view from this blind. It looks out over a field that stretches for about 300+ yards. The blind is backed up to a small wooded area and hills are on both the left and right sides. Maybe I'll get some pictures of that this weekend when gun season opens.

The morning after State Cross-Country

I really wasn't planning on hunting this morning. When I went to bed I was pooped. The state Cross-Country championship wore me out- and I didn't even race. Those kids have a lot of energy. It's funny how they can just ride up and down an elevator like it was Space Mountain. Anyhoo, I figured if I woke up and felt good- I'd go. I haven't had very good luck the past couple of years. Some of it has been my fault, some of it has been just bad luck. Like yesterday when my historically top two runners had major issues and the worst races of their season. You have to keep trying if you want something though. So I went and it paid off. Right now deer is becoming jerkey. Funny how your day can change quickly. One moment you're chasing a doe trying to get some action- next thing you know you're soaking in soy sauce.

Honda should sponsor me.

State Bound

In about 3.5 hours I'll be leaving for Cross-Country state Championship in Jefferson City. It's pretty cool to think we made it this far our first year out with a sport we haven't had here in about 25 years. Even if we hadn't made it to the championships, I'd still be very satisfied with this year. Everyone worked hard and improved over the season. Next year will be even better.
Although we didn't have a full girls or boys team, we still qualified 4 of 7 individuals for the championship. That's a nice percentage.