The B-52's!

You're NEVER going to believe this! I won two VIP passes to go see the B-52's on Friday night!!! Theresia and I are going. My sister Patti is going to watch Lexie and Logan for me. I'm so excited! I NEVER WIN ANYTHING!!!

Louisville Scooter Group

It's semi-unofficial. I have met with three different people concerning getting a group of like-minded scooter riders together, so I guess we have a club.

Check out our Yahoo Group Page. Like it says on the main page... If [your vehicle] has 2 wheels (or perhaps 3) come join us. If it runs too, come ride with us!

CheFirst ride is tentatively scheduled for May 10 or 11 depending on which day has non-suck weather.

Conquering Pet Peeve #2

My first pet peeve was (of course) gas prices. I've done some major damage to that with the purchase of my scooter (henceforth known as The Excalibur 260 or simply Excalibur). The other thing that really eats me up is $15 to 20 per week at the coin laundry. This Heier 6.6 lb clothes washer was less than $200 delivered to the store for pickup on Wal-Mart.com. It came in today and the kids and I went in to get it. Also Lex had a pair of shoes and a pair of earrings to switch out. First load...seems to take a long time, but it seemed to do a good job. It spun enough water out that I think they might dry overnight. We'll see. Lexie and Logan were thrilled to see it because they get pretty bored sitting at the laundry.

My fisherman

Before fishing

during fishing

after fishing

Note: Steak and green beans on gas stove. What he caught would not feed a mouse.
Fatherly advice: always ALWAYS have a backup plan (actually this was the plan A)

He cannot yet set the hook. The only fish the little guy can catch are those poor unfortunate underwater souls who accidentally bump onto his hook. Well, that's natural selection for you...

Get me off here !

I told him that termites made this huge hole in the log. He was scared they might crawl on his butt. It took me 3 shots to get him to smile, but you can see it still in is eyes. The get-me-off-of-this-thing-before-termites-crawl-on-my-butt look.

The bigger bridge

Here we are on the bigger bridge. This is as far as we went. Why?

A. It's rickety as hell.

B. Some wierd lady has my camera.

C. The other end is COVERED in what might be poision ivy.

Logan on the little bridge

See in every picture how he's squinting? No, he's not Chinese. Its just really sunny and bright. For two days I thought "how did my lips get this d*mn chapped?!??!" Now I think that it's possible they are sunburned...

Logan at the bat cave

This is the same area as what Logan called the "huge sand box". I.e. they're building a volleyball pit.

Since I was taking plant pictures

I don't know what made me take pictures of plants, but I guess because I took the ivy pictures, I wanted some naturey goodness to go with the skulking evil of the poison ivy.

These are (I believe) dogwoods.

These are the cliffs over and around the Gray Bat Nursery. [the Gray Bats are an endangered species--no, I didn't get any pictures of them.]

Purple flower trees (what!??!? I'm not a friggin botanist!)

Here is a big-*ss tree at the camp site. I just liked the way that sunlight was filtering down through the branches.

Poison Ivy/Not Poison Ivy? POISON IVY!!!

So I got my hand into this crap and I was freaking out a little bit. I asked one of the other dads "Do you know what poision ivy looks like?" He said it was definately poision ivy. I was thinking "Great. I did just about everything but scratch my privates." We set the corner of the tent up RIGHT ON THIS CRAP!!!!

So later, I was thinking to myself...wait, isn't poison ivy supposd to have 3 leaves??? Well, I asked somebody else and they said no, THIS....

...is poison ivy. Note the waxy 3-leaved tree hugging b*st*rd! The waxy look comes from the malevolent oils it produces that makes you scratch holes into your body. IT WAS 3 FEET FROM OUR TENT! I think the other dad was just having a joke at my expense. I washed my hands like 17 times in the bathroom after I touched that first plant. Ha! Very Funny!

Stupid tent!

This is our gimpy little 2-man tent I bought for $30 at Wal-mart. I thought it would be easier for us to put up.

Well, it was MORE DIFFICULT to put up. It's a good thing it's smaller and lighter than the other tent. If it was both more cumbersome AND harder, then $30 would have been just the right amount of happiness I would have gotten from burning it up in the camp fire. You can see all the Boy Scout tents packed in there behind us.

Logan can now cross his eyes!

I'm so proud of Logan! He can cross his eyes by carefully using his finger. Next thing you know, he'll be blowing bubbles with gum, riding a bike with no training wheels, and crossing his eyes WITH NO FINGERS!!!

If you play with Fire, you'll pee the bed...

Where there are Cub Scouts, there will be Boy Scouts. And everybody knows where you have Boy Scouts, there must absolutely be FIRE!
There were no reports of any little Cub Scouts peeing the bed, so I believe that is pretty much just a myth.

Camping with the Cubscouts this past weekend

Logan and I went camping with the scouts this past weekend. It was really cool... Friday night we set up camp. That night one of the dads passed out glowsticks he'd gotten off of Ebay. Man, I wish i'd thought of that!!! Here's Logan playing with the glowsticks.

These shots were taken with the night setting. They are really cool, but you can't see Logan.

Lexie getting practice

This picture was with MY camera, but she was taking pictures with hers too. Lexie took this of her guests (and brother).

Patti

Here's my wonderful sister Patti. She's been there a lot for me. She volunteered to watch the kids while I ran out to get the pizza. She loves Lexie and Logan to death. They love her too...and her cat...

I think I am lucky to have a sister like her. She is strong, witty, intelligent, beautiful...and she suffers from back pain like me. She is a lot more like our mother every day--in all the good ways of course.

Take for example the back pain. If you didn't know her, you would likely not know how bad she is suffering. Like our mother, she has never been one who needed sympathy or extra attention because something was wrong. She's the BEST sister money could not buy. To Patti, I will say the same thing our mother said to me "I would not give a plug-nickle for you, but I would not take a million dollars for you either." (whateverthehell a plug-nickle is)

Static Cling

Lexie was sliding down the slide at the park and she got a massive static charge built up in her hair. I could almost imagine her channelling it into a bolt of lightning so she could fry her brother with it.

Monkeys

Here's my two little monkeys. They were climing trees before the guests arrived for Lexie's party.

The Cake

Lexie picked out this triple-chocolate cake from Wal-Mart. Any cake they have there they are happy to write on it for you.

Chessera

This is Lexie's friend Chessera. She was in Lexie's class last year but is not this year. Same for her brother Kysephon. He was in Ms. Pass' class last year with Logan.

Katie

I think this little girl's name is Katie. I hope I didn't get her name mixed up with somebody else!

Kysephon

Here's a picture of Kysephon from Lexie's birthday party.

Lexie's Birthday Party

We had the usual cake, ice-cream, presents. The kids seemed to like playing at the park. The forecast said it would NOT rain, but man it sure looked like it was going to POUR, and it was pretty chilly. We only had 3 kids show, but Lex was happy with that. We had one little boy who's mom said he would be there after church, but he didn't show up. Also, I didn't figure the day right and Rachael and Theresia couldn't go because they had YMCA relay that Rachael was participating. I was feeling very disappointed, but I'm fine now, after-the-fact. Lexie was happy, and that's what counts. This is Lex opening up the present I picked out for her. It's a 4.1MP digital camera I got from someone on craigslist. I didn't want to get her a new 8.0 or something until she could prove that she could take care of a less-expensive one. She has taken some pictures and movies and is posting them up on the web.

Political Choices

First off, let me say up front...I claim to know very little about
politics. This post may give some insight to that...

Regarding the Presidential Elections:

What are our choices this year? I think its still either a
politician, or…uh, a politician. This Obama guy frightens me. I
think it would show that there is something very wrong with the system
if he gets elected. I know there are some rules…like you have to be
at least 35 years old, born in the United States, but isn't there
small print saying that you need to be a model patriot to hold the
office of frigging president of the U.S.A.??? I will admit to hearing
mostly 2nd hand information on Obama, but…sheesh.

My friend Patrick subscribes to a popular conspiracy theory: He
thinks that before they will elect a democrat, Bush will fuel the
Battle of Iraq so that he can invoke some sort of rule that says they
can't put him out off office in the middle of a war, thus effectively
making the U.S. a dictatorship.

I was like Yeah, but they would have to remove the 2nd amendment
first. Because presidents are assassinated, and that's wrong, but a
dictator??? SOMEBODY is going to shoot his ass. And it would never
work anyway because the minute they take guns away from Americans, we
will elect Charlton Heston for president. Posthumously if necessary.
CIA, FBI, and Secret Service, please disregard. On the other hand,
please wait until I have some paying sponsors for this blog before you
arrest me. Think of the hits!!!!

Why the hell do kids do this??

Typical conversation:
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LEXIE: Daddy, which shoes should I wear?
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ME: Your tennis shoes.
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LEXIE: (very upset) I don't want to wear my tennis shoes! Mommy hasn't seen my flats yet! I want to wear my flats!
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ME: Ok. Wear the flats.
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Is it just for torture, or is there some hidden exercise going on here? I say "if you didn't want my opinion, why'd you ask??? *scratching head*

Cloverfield...how could this happen to me???

I pride myself in being a fan of certain types of movies. I like horror--not so much the blood and guts (although that doesn't bother me) but edge-of-your-seat and tingles-up-the-spine (different than down-the-spine) stuff. Supernatural horror and zombies are probably my favorite. Little Dead Kids really freaks me out bad...The Ring was creepy as hell for me. The other thing I really love is sci-fi/fantasy. I had a half brother who could sit down and watch any movie, no matter how bad it was, if it had cowboys, horses, and gunfights. I'm the same way with most horror, sci-fi, and fantasy. I do draw the line. There are movies that sucked, and even the genre was not going to save it, but rag me all you want...I liked Battlefield Earth. Yes, despite it was giving my money to a Scientologist. Yes, despite it had John Travolta with an (even more) unimaginably huge and (even more) distinct forehead.

I'm getting old. 41 this year, and the kids suck up a hell of a lot of my concentration most days. I'm not regretting it...I'm only using it as an excuse. I almost totally missed Cloverfield as a new sci-fi movie. I am almost POSITIVE I was about the last person to hear of Ironman. Also I blame Netflix and Blockbuster. NEITHER OF THEM TOLD ME ABOUT IT! I might cancel both subscriptions (I am definitely canceling Netflix because my postal working can not seem to fit them into my tiny mailbox). It has been two plus years since I have had cable in my house. Maybe I need to consider it...
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Nawww....not while Insight still has a monopoly on the cable business in Louisville Kentucky

Louisville Scooter Group

Myself and a couple other guys have been kicking around the idea of starting a scooter group. The concept being that people could meet up online and communicate about group rides, get togethers, rallys, whatever. Heck, I've only been into this about 1200 miles... I just know the two rides I've taken were really nice with some good scenery, and it would be ok to meet other guys who could ride along. There is another major scooter group but they don't welcome people unless they ride Vespas or other classic scooters. I want to start/join a group that doesn't discriminate based on your make and model. There are already enough reasons in the world to call someone different and not get along. I would even welcome motorcycle and trike riders...hell, who cares? There are good people in any walk of life. Right now, I started a simple yahoogroup. You can check it out at http://www.louisvillescooter.org

UPDATE: Did this fall off my car or scooter?

Answer: no. It is some crap that somebody threw down. Whew. You know I've had the thing up to 65-70MPH. I am happy as h*ll to know that it was not a manditory item.

Work is...uh...work

There is this woman here who is a real b*tch to work with. I think I've finally hit her Nail on the head:

She expects a much greater level of perfection from other people than she is willing to demonstrate herself.

Now I will have to keep everything anon, because I have two kids to support on my own and I like this job...cannot afford to get fired.

There are a few other personalities here too. Most of them comprise the retail sales. The head of it all is neither stupid, nor unambitious. He's a decent guy sometimes, but when you have to ask him to make a decision, and it takes a long time (read: months) to give you an answer then SOMETHING is WRONG. The first stupid thing is this...he sold a product that we do not make, do not sell, do not offer to a customer. It is a competetor's item. I have been thinking WTF? Are you going to be selling televisions and MP3 players next week??? It sounds like some serious back-street-out-of-the-trunk-of-my-car sh*t to me. I think he needs to be fired, but then I don't (and should not) make those decisions. I get the impression that he is just horrible at details, and followup. Sounds like crucial components for the HEAD of RETAIL SALES!!!

Scouts

I'm disappointed with myself about scouts. Lexie missed swimming badge on Sunday. Logan missed his regular meeting tonight. I need to find a way to have us a little more organized.

no, sorry...

Lex loved this shirt. but it is too tight-fitting for a 10 year old. Its not happening. I owe her a couple shirts. I will take her to some other places next weekend. Also, she got a pair of earrings that have to go back because the posts are too short, and a pair of cute little flats that had 2 right feet. *grrrrr*

Lexie's Razor

Lexie's Razor Cruiser Scooter

She liked it, and had a good birthday party. Right now she is going through the house with her digital camera in movie mode "We are going through the house...looking for Logan, a rare beast." She is cracking me up. "Now we are watching the boys down in the field playing football." Cracking me up!!!

Birthday Party at Highview Park

Its a little cool and very overcast today, but the weather report says 0% chance of rain until 7pm, then its only 10%. We are set up, so I hope it holds out. Logan got Lexie a Razor Cruiser Scooter, and I got her a digital camera and some clothes. Its not what I would call a beautiful day, but I hope she has fun anyway.

who doesn't love the smell...

Who doesn't love the morning smell of bacon? It reminds you of mom or grandma, walking around feeling bloated and sweaty, blood tests for cholesterol count, and bad gas. I alway assumed the saying "you can feel your arteries clogging" was just comedic banter, but this morning I heard a squeaky noise coming from my chest...like something that needed WD-40...

Apparently we had an earthquake

So I am told, we observed a 4.5 on the richter scale earthquake this morning about 5:30 am. That would be the time I hit snooze. The kids and I slept blissfully undisturbed throughout the entire experience. *yawn* Time for Java One.

a possible family addition

I stopped over at the KY Humane Society shelter off of Strawberry Lane after work, just to check around and see what they had, and how much they ask for adoption fees. Its between $135 and $195 for mutts! It seems like a LOT of money, but its hard to complain when its going to pay your (potential) pet's vet bills and to keep the others alive just one more day... Still, this is a big deal. I will also have to pay a pet deposit and pet rent to the apartment folks. This just means it will certainly be May after we get our "economic stimulation" from Uncle Sam. I thought about "free to a good home" but then you can end up paying MORE on the vet bills for a dog that may need all its shots and fixed, etc. The irritating thing is that on petfinder.com they list all puppies as small dogs--even if they are St. Bernard or Great Dane mix.

Did this fall off my car or scooter?

I live in an apartment complex and admittedly share my parking spots with other people, but I found this on the ground between my scooter and my car last night. Its probably nothing, but still...you just gotta wonder...

10 years old!

My little girl, as of yesterday, is now in double digits. We are having her party at the park this weekend. If it rains, we switch to McDonalds on the corner of Hurstborne and Stonybrook.

Rises gas prices fuel scooter store :: Business :: Post-Tribune

I believe we're going to see a lot more of this as time goes by.

Rises gas prices fuel scooter store :: Business :: Post-Tribune

My Scooter Tour Today

I took quite a tour of Southern Indiana today. Click this hyperlink to see the pix:

Weasel's Scooter Chronicles-Tour 04/12/08

HP 2133 Mini-Note PC (KX869AT) specifications - HP Small & Medium Business products

This would be really really cool...
HP 2133 Mini-Note PC (KX869AT) specifications - HP Small & Medium Business products

reportonbusiness.com: Game changer

This was interesting to me. It's the story of that $2500 tata car made in India, and the reason why the guy wanted to make a cheap car. For once, it's not just "to make a buck" Game changer

Floyds Knobs

Scooting around Indiana today--getting out of the Thunder Over Louisville madness. It is a bit colder and more windy than I like, but it supposed to rain tomorrow.

Psychologists. The root of the world's problems.

I just realized what is wrong with the world. I have a co-worker who
always laments to me about her boys (one in particular) who always
mis-behaves. I have told her like 16 times to spank him. I'm not
talking to beat him with in and inch of his life or anything. I just
mean a little punishment so he knows for damn sure what he did was
wrong. She say that she does not spank her kids. She says "A
psychologist will tell you that you should not spank your children and
spanking is not a good way to punish them." I'm sitting here thinking
that well, my mother (occasionally) spanked me. She also took things
away as punishment. She never did time out, because if that existed
at that time, she a. had never heard of it b. would have been
considered some sort of freakish new-age-hippy way of raising your
kids and c. never needed any alternative methods because everything
she was doing was working pretty good for her.

I always get compliments on how well behaved Lexie and Logan are.
They are not Stepford Children—they misbehave. Mostly for me and only
when it's just me and them. They are good kids, they both have a want
to please and make other people happy. They know beyond a shadow of a
doubt that I worship them, and think of them foremost above and beyond
anything else in the world. They know that I think they are very
intelligent, and beautiful. They know that I am proud to have them as
children. I have always given them the respect and consideration I
would an adult. I always explain things to them though sometimes the
explanation might not lay bare the wonders of the universe. Yes,
sometimes, it's "because I said so."

But, I will admit it to anyone. Occasionally, they get a spanking.
Not a wooden-paddle beating. Not a switch off of a tree. Just the
hand. My mother always said the reason is that if it hurts your hand,
you know how much it hurts them—and you would never hit a child hard
enough to bruise your hand—a built-in safety mechanism. I usually
save it for something they have been told about and punished for a
couple times. It is a last-resort to cement the negative in their
little heads. Now, I'm not saying they're perfect. Of course
not—they're just kids! But you put mine up against some other kids
whose parents do not believe in spanking…I bet an independent study
might show that 9 out of 10 people would prefer to spend time around
my two ankle-biters as opposed to the non-spanking parent's kids.

Psychologists need to seriously re-think the "non-spanking" advice and
stay with the "whatever works for your individual child" advice.

and this would be the A-hole...

this scumbag nearly killed my ass with his SUV. "I didn't see him" would no doubt be his excuse for almost putting me into the curb. Ah well, I was geared up and most likely would have survived to kick his ass if he stopped and came over to see if I was alive. Fortunately for him, the little scooter is pretty nimble and small. A Harley would have been toast.

I wish I could buy this dog

This dog has been at Feeder's Pets for several weeks, and I wish I could buy her. She is 8 years old, and seems like a good-tempered dog. Plus, she is the prettiest dog I have seen in a long time. Unfortunately, she is bigger than the apartment allows you to have. The adoption fee is only $50 which tells me nobody wants her and she'll probably end up being put to sleep. Somebody needs to take this dog home!!!

Saturday 4/4/8

I took the kids to Veterans Park in Jeffersontown, KY on Saturday for a couple hours. I actually took them to Home Depot first. The have a thing the first Saturday of every month where the kids can come in and build something. Its free too! When we got there the lady told us she only had one project left (and me with three kids), so Veterans Park was sort of a consolation prize.

Spring Break - Mad at CEP

I just talked to the kids mother about switching days. I'm not
serious, but the reason is because they miss out on ALL the fun stuff
that they do (field trips) at CEP. They missed out last summer, and
the are missing out this week--Spring Break. I pay so much for them
to go, but they never get to do any of the stuff that the other kids
get to do. That's really bothering me--it's not fair. I almost wish
they would be to charge a lower rate, and then extra for field trips.
At least then I could save some money and make it up to the kids by
doing something on the weekend. This week they miss out on Actor's
Theater, and Incredible Dave's. Another thing is they charged me the
full amount for the week. I'm supposed to get a 35% discount (which
helps, but it is still hard to bear when it's for a full week or 3
days). Also they were supposed to charge me the registration fee of
$25 for each child and that comes off the total amount, but instead
they just charged me the whole amount all at once. Hope I don't get
overdrawn!

Aunt Linda and Great-GrandPop

The kids got to see their Great Aunt Linda and Great GrandPop today. Plus his new dog Mickey. The dog is really cute, and I never seen two people so happy to see the kids. Joe and Dana were also there and it was really nice. Linda must be the youngest of their Great Aunts. She lives in Washington State I think. She was not too thrilled because all the rest of her family (mainly her sisters) pretty-much ignored the fact that she was down. Always some drama and infighting going on there.

We went to see Aunt Patti

We went to visit Aunt Patti on this day, and see her new digs. She's living in the Highlands here in Louisville now. She seems to really like the area. We walked down to Qdoba and got some queso and chips.

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Logan was asked to pose a couple times on the way back.

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This was a day that sister was busy with the girl scouts



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