OK, I had the kids get dressed up so we could try to take christmas pictures... after all of the fighting, and shoving, and pushing this is what we got... 

OK, see we got this dog not too long ago, and she's kinda hyper, and she can be a real pain sometimes. BUT she does stuff like this, and she's just soooo cute I can't help but like her. We had her fixed a few days ago, so she was moping around, but as you can see tonight she's back to herself again!!! :)

I took the kids Trick or Treating

OK, so I get home, and the kids had these pumpkins that they wanted to do something with. SO, I gave them the kid safe pumpkin cutting stuff and let them have at it. What you see to the left is the result of the hard work of two of the kids. The other two could not be bothered. :) 

A case for natural selection.

OK, a catagory 4 hurricane is heading your way, the water around you looks like hell, and your S T U P I D enough to ride your bike over the pier where this is happening??!?!??!?! If this idiot isn't making my case for natural selection being a "good thing" then I don't know who is. I mean Just HOW bad does it have to get before some common sense kicks in and you decide NOT to do something?!?!?!? SHEESH!!!

Chocolate Face

Now THIS is a chocolate face!!! She looks like just an inocent 5 year old enjoying a treat. But hidden behind this lovable chocolate face is a tantrum throwing, foot stomping little monster. Now don't get me wrong, I love this face... BUT I could do without the tantrums in the middle of Wal Mart, or Target, just because she doesn't get to buy anything, or because I ask her to hold my hand to keep her from touching EVERYTHING in the store!! SHEEEESH!!

I'm Sorry, I don't Speak Mumble.

What is it about the current economy that so many companies, especially IT companies are outsourcing help desk jobs to foreign companies?? Last night I had trouble with my DSL connection and I needed to call the ISPs help desk. (I hate calling these $7.00 and hour guys as a rule) As soon as the tech answered the phone I knew I was in trouble. The typical foreign (heavy indian accent) help desk person asked if he could help me. It was bad enough that he insisted on asking me to run through BOGUS windows troubleshooting issues, and settings even though I TOLD HIM I was a networking engineer and that the DSL modem was not syncing up with the ISP. I know they have a stupid list of things they are supposed to say, but COME ON NOW!!!! And the thing that makes it even more frustrating is that these people are so hard to understand, and they insist on running through mundane attempts to fix things that are not related to the issue at hand, and all the while insisting on using my first name OVER AND OVER again. AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGG! Do AOL, Earthlink, DELL, and other companies really think that they can provide decent levels of customer service by using these foreign help desk centers? NOPE!!! It all comes down to dollars and cents. They don't care if they alienate the customer, afterall they ALLREADY SOLD stuff to you... Didn't they.

What do you think???

Saturday Mornings

Do you remember Saturday Morning Cartoons when you were kids? Whatever happened to the GOOD quality cartoons that used to be on? Remember Superfriends, Batman, and Scooby Doo? They've been replaced by CRAP like Yu-Gi-Oh, and Pokemon. I try to do the "Quality Time" thing with the kids on Saturday mornings, but what they want to watch makes me sick. I mean even the cartoons that helped with learning like "Conjunction Junction" and such are nowhere to be found anymore. It's sad. So what can we do to improve childrens programming?

Mr. Scott's last beaming

Today we bid a fond farewell to Mr. James ‘Scotty’ Doohan who has passed at the age of 85.

He will be missed.

There are some things I did not know about Mr. Doohan:

1. He was a World War II veteran of D-Day.

2. He was shot 6 times on that day as a result he lost his right middle finger.

3. In a classic movie/television stunt, his life was saved by his sliver cigarrette case.

Thanks you Scotty, for all of the years of entertainment you provided for us. The Enterprise won't be the same without you.

Gas Prices

OK... So what the hell is with Gas prices again?!? $2.33 is insane!!! I realize that I'm old enough to remember prices around $.75 per gallon but this is nuts. ALso, why haven't cars gotten more fuel efficient over the last 20 years. My old man's car was a 1965 chevy. It got 18/24. My new Hyundai is a four cyl 5speed that gets about 27 mpg. That's not a great increase in Mileage. So wtf?!?

Finding the Happy Medium

Sometimes it is so hard to find a happy medium between trying to provide discipline for the kids and trying NOT to be too strict or stern. I do NOT beleive in "Spare the rod and Spoil the child" I do believe that a certain amount of discipline is needed to raise a centered child. But A perfect example came up last night. My oldest son can be such a space cadet sometimes. I tell him to do something and he just totaly spaces it. I don't get it. Is it me, or do kids just naturally try to test their parents to see at what frustration level they'll blow?!?!? :)

KIDS

OK, so I have 4 kids. Sometimes life isn't easy, and sometimes it's downright hard. At times like tonight it's damn frustrating. See I was at the pool at my Mom's apartment the other day, with the 4 kids. Naturally as kids tend to be, they were just being kids, having a good time in the pool when apparently they managed to P/O some old fart who wanted to have the pool to herself, and on this evening my 4 kids, and two other families' kids were in the pool so it was packed with kids just having fun. WELL... if there's ANYTHING old people can't stand it's kids having fun being kids. So they complained to the management and now anytime I'd like to take the kids over we have to "Call First" and let management know, so they can "keep an eye" on them to make sure they're not being rowdy. I swear, sometimes I'd like to just scream!!!

Not welcome in my own damn house.

Did you ever get the feeling that no matter what you do you're not welcome in your own damn house?!? I swear, I don't know what it is about being marrried for more than just a few years that makes spouses treat each other like crap?!?

So I came home with the kids from swimming, and naturally the wife is ticked off about something, some mess the kids made before we left for swimming. SO... She waits the whole time we're out, stewing it over and sand bags us when we walk in the door. Nothing I can do or say is right at this point. SO... After I post this thing, I'm going out. It's better that way...

...For now.

Talking overated?

OK... so who was it that said that Women always want to talk?!? I don't know about most Women but talking to my wife is like pulling teeth. It seems that the older we get, and the longer we've been married the less we Talk and the more we find ways to ignore each other. What is it about long term marriages that tend to pull couples apart? Jobs, school, kids all take their toll.

Since all we really have in life are the personal relationships we have with each other, why is it that we tend to focus the LEAST amount of our time on these relationships, and most of our time on things that have no true meaning??

I may not always be right, but I'm never wrong.

Ok here's my thing... I just turned 40, and I've been married for 20 years (Half my damn life) I'm tired, and I'm feeling old. This SUX! It never fails, no matter what happens in our lives it always comes down to the fact that (according to my wife) I have failed in some way. "it's your fault" Well, I'm tired of that too!

So, I may not always be right, but as my grandfather used to say "I'm never wrong" It's time for us poor slobs to wake up, smell the coffee and take our lives back into our own hands. So, that's what I'm going to try to do. Who's with me?!?!