Friday, April 29, 2005

Things that make you go 'Hmm'

I was reading Barton's blog today and his entry reminded me of something which happened last week (like I said,I'm still a beginner.)

Anywho- we were on a business trip to a smaller town in Missouri, complete with factories, a town square surrounding the courthouse, and a state college!
Population: 10,000.

Now, being prone to quick judgments (and living in a city of 200,000+) one immediately thinks 'Nashville Star' as opposed to 'MTV's Cribs'. I mean, after all, society has trained us that 'small town' = 'Walmart' while 'Big City' = 'DKNY', right? My point being: that you wouldn't expect to find 'Club Scene'-- even Rural America's version of 'Club Scene' --in this place. 10 gallon hats and day/night cowboy boots, maybe. Country music, definitely.

The kicker about this little hamlet is there's not one, but three bars playing urban faves. Two of 'em are complete with DJ's and hangers-on, of all things. You've got all the 'Big City' treatments: doormen (who also know how to slaughter meat, bale hay, etc.,) cover charges, ladies nights, beautiful people, Red Bull,vodka and Jäger Bombs. It's almost surreal: walk out of the watering hole on the corner (replete with stainless steel piss troughs, shuffleboard, pool table and plenty of beer)and walk next-door where you enter through a darkened tunnel into a thumping, pulsating, sweaty mess. But when you wake up and look out that motel window it's back to the rolling, windy prairie.

So, my work mate is quite a toned fella, master playa, OTH 5 nights a week keeping his liver in fighting shape. He lives to party, and does it well. Let's call him Man Dibbles, or MD for short. We were quite tipsy by 11, having had an extremely early 3-hour dinner with the higher-ups (who we promptly ditched just after arriving at the motel.) At about that level of inebriation, MD gets into ho-dar mode and stealthily circles the perimeter of the dance floor, searching for a lockable target. I usually am leaning by this point, observing the master at work.

On this particular evening I saw something which I had never seen before: a quite-openly gay lad. Of course, the girls he was there with were drop-dead gorgeous so MD was lurking in the shadows, focusing ho-dar beams in their direction. At some point I look over at MD and there's QOGL talking to him like they're old pals. "Hmmm" I says to myself. "This ought to be interesting."

In no uncertain terms, I could never have imagined that their conversation would go on for so long. When it finally ended, curiosity got the better of me and I just HAD to know. It turns out that QOGL wanted to know if MD was there with me. ME! Like I was MD's bitch or something. QOGL wouldn't take 'NO' for an answer, either. He was quite the persistant fellow; I was waving the golden-ringed left hand in front of him/her and shouting "I'm married!!!" QOGL was undeterred at first, but my will was strong and eventually QOGL got the hint.

It was hil-f'ing-arious, so funny that when the ladies finally showed up (they took a very late flight,) we had to share the entire story with them during the afterglow back at MD's room. It was repeated in detailed fashion, and unfortunately these ladies don't keep secrets. (Clueless man-question: Do they ever?) By the time we arrived at the factory office the next morning, the story of QOGL had flashed through at a speed heretofore unseen outside of wildfire season during the Santa Ana winds. We were the butt of many, many good-natured ribbings that day. I guess ya' had to be there.

Good Times, good friends.

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Step One: Think Positive

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Today's image is another oldie, a lovely Iris poking out from the bricks which formerly surrounded a pool in the backyard (may the beast rest in peace.)

Still a bit down about Michelle's passing, I thought I'd post this to symbolize something positive. I could get all poetic about humanity's struggle to overcome, how beauty shines through all the crap, blah, blah, blog! That's not it. I think I was just glad to see the sun shining brightly today. We had a terrific March, very warm, no snow, no storms, and then BAM! As soon as spring break was over it got brutally cold for the rest of April. There was a nice snowstorm over much of the state last weekend too, but thankfully it avoided my own private Idaho. Still, it was not even 40 degrees, and we had a good three days of nasty wind. You'da thunk this was Nebraska or sumthin'.

Not very convincing, am I? I agree, but hey, it's a start. Thinking back to Theodore Guisel's brilliant work, I'm going to borrow a line from 'Horton Hears a Who', then flip it and reverse it: A start's a start, no matter how small!

Take it or leave it, but if you take it, how's about, y'know, a little something for the effort?

That's about as naughty as I get, (well, OK. Not really......)Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us So I will try my best to be on my bestest behavior from now on. Scout's honor!


Thanks for stopping by-

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Think pink -aka- I don't know what this shrub is, do you?

Just testing a new toy, "ImageShack".

This picture was taken a few years ago after an April snowstorm in Michigan. A late-winter surprise, if you will. This was taken with my first digital camera, an HP C200 1MP. Ugh! It was difficult to work with (see how it focused on the branches in the back?,) sucked the juice faster than a T-ball team after a game, and could only handle a CF card up to 32MB. Woo-hoo!

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Test completed! Close your blue books and set your pencils down.

Sunday, April 24, 2005

An Angel Returns


Is this Heaven?

Monday was an incredibly sad day. That morning, as I entered the office, I was informed that a co-worker's step-daughter had died after an accident while riding a PWC on a nearby lake. This was such an incredible shock, she was 18 years old and getting ready to graduate from high school, and literally had blossomed into a wonderful, dynamic young woman.


Mourning a loss is seldom easy. Regrettably, I barely knew Michelle and somehow that makes it harder to get through this tough time. Over the last few years I've been to their home a handful of times and had the typical brief exchanges you'd expect (Hi, nice to meet you, etc.) I guess it had been at least 2 or 3 years since I last saw her. At that time she was still outgrowing the awkwardness so common to a teenager, but the things I remember so vividly about her were her smile (it was always there) and her bounce. She seemed to bounce when she walked, the telling bounce of a person both confident and truly happy.

All of us at work were invited to their home one evening to share some time together with them, along with their family and friends. They had gathered some things and set them on and near the hearth. There was a number of formal dresses, a collection of her favorite shoes, her JV and varsity letters, baby shoes, a large print of her senior portrait. I was shocked, she had grown much!

As many had already arrived, her step-father was explaining how he was fortunate to be home when the call came. He was on a trip to Japan and wasn't scheduled to be home for another day, but decided to try and come home a day early. The airline didn't sound too confident, yet for some reason he embarked on the 2-hour trip to the airport anyway. Everything seemed to come together in a manner so perfect, the bus left just after he boarded, as did the train. When he arrived at the airport, the ticket counter was just opening up but they had already arranged a seat on the flight for him. He was home less than an hour when the phone rang. The circumstances certainly make you think about a higher power, but it truly was fortunate that he was able to be there for his wife as they hurried to the hospital, waited for the airlift helicopter, the hours while the ER team did their best to reviver her, and finally when they made the decision to give the gift of life.


The newspaper story
The obituary
The on-line guest book

Sunday, April 17, 2005


Aren't they precious?! The little gems!
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Saturday, April 16, 2005

Folks back east R thinkin' "Now why don't he write?"

OK! I've been a very bad boy. I get a new toy, play with it twice and then leave it on the floor in the basement to become spider bait. Nice!

I must admit, I've been visiting a few blogs lately but haven't felt the creativity to dive-in and take the plunge. (Easy now, two cliches in the same sentence. I feel an intervention coming.......)

So, on to the visits: Barton's, Michele's, Mrs. Darling's

Today was a major down day. It started out beautifully, clear blue sky, temps warmed quicky into the 60's, things were looking good for Little League field day. Then it happened. Squish......the laundry tub had overflowed. Mrs. Jim was less than pleased: laundry is on the main floor, and storage rooms are below in that area of the basement. Lots of cardboard down there. So, we spent hours sopping up the mess of water mixed with dust bunnies from under the washer and the stove. Not to mention the basement was an abomination as the kiddies have a perrennial mess down there, so we cleared that out too. Due to this, we (the kids and I) missed attending the field day, they were really looking forward to it.

So, the good news is the basement has been restored to some form of order. The bad news is wifey's hopes for a productive day of restoring life to the flower beds were dashed. This means I've got more bills to pay. Great!