Happy New Year!

I thought I would wish everyone a very Happy New Year, peace to us all, prosperity and health, and mostly, love in our lives!

Guac-A-Mole Update for 20 December 2011 ...

I actually started and finished a task in one day on this project! I only had to make one extra trip to Home Depot! I built the display board frame! It took me awhile to get it square, but I finally got it close. I made the frame out of 2X2s. My idea was to make it 30" X 30" and attach it to the Guac-A-Mole with hinges. I bought the hinges but i didn't mount it yet as I need to do work on installing the score board and the clock. Cheryl's idea was to mount then on the right side of the board, so that's what I did.

I used "Handy Panel" for the covering. We will decorate it with drawings on poster board and then glue the pictures to the display board.

Slowly but surely it's coming together ...

That was too close ...

I went to Harbor Freight yesterday, and I'm in the store about one minute -- I hear pandamonium outside: A woman was carjacked at gunpoint right outside the door! Before I understood what was going on, the perp was turning East on Fletcher in the poor woman's blue car! She's OK and the sherriffs were there pretty quickly.

I always thought that I would fight back in a situation like that -- which is a stupid idea. I have second-guessed my not jumping into my car to try to follow the goons in the lady's car. I have since reasoned that they would have given me the slip pretty quickly. Yeah, that's the ticket ...

Guac-A-Mole Update ...

Well, I have six days off in a row! Woo-hoo! I don't go back to work until the 21st! I have been doing a little soldering on the scoreboard circuit, and I bought the wood for the display board.


I also ordered some hardware from McMaster-Carr. Some things that should be found anywhere aren't! That really pisses me off!


I hope to have more of an update soon. It's getting too close to Caiden's birthday!

'Pokes Smash Sooners

Well, that wasn't good! It was 44 to 10.

But the Sooners had a pretty good year. We were Number One for awhile. As it turned out, the sports writers were correct in down-rating us in mid-season.

I hope that the injured players heal, and we come back stronger next year.   Maybe ... maybe ...

A Little Progress ...

Well, I made some progress today. I was hoping to finish one of the characters so that I could test the air compressor and its installation. It turns out that the right-angle brackets I bought are too long. Also the 4-40 1" screws for the two switches are too short. I found some 1 and 1/4" screws, but I had to drill extra holes to make everything line up. I found two wood screws to mount the air cylinder to the top plate and I have everything together on that first character. I ran out of time though because today is Thanksgiving and I have to help Cheryl cook. So we took a nap, and overslept about a half an hour. We got it all done though -- just Cheryl and me! We did the same salt brine technique on the turkey and it turned out great! It wasn't "wangy" to Cheryl (she pretty much hates turkey) and it wasn't too salty for me. Before we ate, I called Marty and Brian. Brian didn't answer (he's a busy guy) and I spoke with Marty for a few minutes. She did the cooking this year and it turned out great, as I knew it would! Then I called my sister Judy. They had a great Thanksgiving meal! She is making progress on the Guac characters! This year Cheryl added Grand Manier to her CBS (cranberry sauce) and it is a keeper! Her dressing and gravy turned out fabulous as usual. We got done with supper and had it all cleaned up by 2100. Cheryl is fast asleep on the couch. I don't know how I would live without her! She is my everything! I have to work tomorrow, so I'll try to work on the project on Saturday. Later ...

Guac-A-Mole ...

As I mentioned earlier, I'm working on a variation of the classic "Whack-A-Mole" game for my grandkids. I got the idea from the Instructables site here. He uses the "Veggie-Tales" characters. We're calling our version "Guac-A-Mole" -- it's going to have peppers, onions, and other vegetables as the "moles."

Although I'm supposed to finish it in time for this Christmas, I'm way behind. More updates to follow.

Boomer Sooner!

Way to Go SOONERS!!!

That's right! The Sooners looked awesome tonight! Rest up guys: Florida State in two weeks!

First Sooner Game of 2011

All right! It's finally here! We are up 30 to 7 on Tulsa at the half! Cheryl is asleep on the couch, and by yells of "Boomer Sooner" are not bothering her at all!

I have started working on "Guac-A-Mole", which is our version of Whac-A-Veggie."

More on this later this weekend. GO SOONERS!!!

Now What?

Well, I have left the band "The Time Of Our Lives." We parted due to professional differences. I wish them well: They will do great without me.

So, now, I guess I'm lookin' for a new music gig ...

This is the first picture of my new 2011 Mini Clubman S!

We bought this yesterday.

I was going to have more pictures, but it rained today. More soon!

I Have Just Said Goodby to an Old Friend -- Hello to a New Friend ...

Today, Cheryl and I traded in the 2003 Jeep Liberty for a 2011 Mini Cooper S Clubman! We bought the new MINI from Ryan George of Foerman MINI of Tampa Bay in Palm Harbor, FL. Ryan is a great salesman: No pressure, funny, and very informative. I love my new Mini Cooper S Clubman! More later ...

CHERYL PASSED THE BAR!!!

After three and a half years, the results are in: Cheryl passed all parts of the bar!!!


Oh happy day!!!

I'm Not Skeptical about Skeptico ...

I just found another great site. If you're a seeker, you don't want to miss this site: Skeptico.

I Just Found a Great Blog!

You have got to check out Stonekettle Station!


He has a lot of great things to say, and he's great at saying them!

Dang! No Rehearsal Tomorrow ...

AJ and CC are down with the crud, so we will be taking a week off from rehearsal. This will give me time to help Cheryl with some CMS website stuff, and will also give me time to catch up on some chart creation.


More soon!

Happy Birthday To Me (Yesterday) ...

Cheryl suprised me by taking out to supper last night for my birthday! We went to the Toasted Pheasant." Now I didn't see any toast, or pheasants, but it was great! I had the Beef Bourguignon, and Cheryl had the Grouper Niçoise. It was great!

We sat at the "Chef's Table," a nice table in an alcove that is adjacent to the kitchen. The chefs and sous-chefs worked their magic right in front of us: It was awesome!

There was a great guitar player playing standards last night too. He had a computer set up with some tracking tunes with which he played; sometimes he played a capella too. He was the quietest guitar player I have ever heard! I thought perhaps he forgot to turn on his amp at first, but it turned out that he is just a tasty player! Awesome!

The Time of our Lives Band is Off and Running!

We played our first gig this afternoon. It was at a great pizza place called DeLosa's Pizza, located at 4110 Henderson Blvd, Tampa,FL 33629. Check them out, their pizza is great!

Before we went on, the crowd was treated to "Monday, Monday", a band that does the Mama's and the Poppa's to perfection! Their drummer is a good friend and great drummer named Jim Wegener. Super guy! It had been a couple of years since he and I last played together. That was with "Vic Thompkins and VTO."

The gig was for AJ's birthday, who is married to CC. I'm looking forward to many more gigs!

It's Over!

What a long strange trip it's been! We stayed at the Embassy Suites in downtown Tampa for the two days of the Florida Bar Exam. I took off on Wednesday so that I could check out of the room, gather all of the crap we took with us, and be ready to pick Cheryl up at 1630. That part went off without a hitch (one-in-a-row!)

Cheryl thinks she did "OK" -- I think she did fine! We'll see on 11 April when the grades are posted ...

On a lighter note, the new band I'm, The Time of Our Lives Band in plays its first gig tomorrow! It's a birthday party for AJ, one of the founders of TTOOL, and we're only doing four tunes, should be a lot of fun! We rehearsed together for the first time last night! We are already sounding awesome!

There is AJ, who plays guitar, bass, and sings; AJ's wife, CC, who sings her ass off; Phil on lead vocals, guitar, bass guitar; John on drums and vocals (great voice and a very solid drummer); and me. I'll be playing saxes, flute, some bass, singing, and perhaps keys.

But it's great to have Cheryl back "home!"

We bought several plants at Home Depot today, so the yard will look nicer, and Cheryl will finally be able to get some dirt under her nails!

Also, I heard from an old 2nd Armored Division Band mate! Larry Biring, who was the saxophone section leader and an all-around great guy found me on FaceBook! It was great to hear from him!

Well, more later ...

It's Getting Close To Crunch Time ...

Well, there are fewer than two days left for her to study her ass off for the Florida Bar exam. She reminds me of an infantry soldier trudging forward with very little sleep, through mud, barbed wire, artillery rounds exploding all around the place -- yet onward she marches.

If she survives, there will be nothing left ... just some charred remains, a shock of blond hair, and smoldering law books.

OK, maybe I'm exaggerating just a little bit. But she has been through the ringer over the last five years. It was a couple of years at USF getting her Bachelor's degree in Economics (Economics?!? -- Yikes!)
The past three years at Stetson University College of Law (bar & grill), graduating Summa Cum Laude, and the past two-plus months studying for this damned bar exam, all the while working full time, has been totally exhausing!

Ya know, I bet she would love a foot rub right about now ...

Found a Great Blog!

This blog is really funny, and is written by a good friend! Check it out!

It's Friday Night ...

Cheryl is once again passed out on the couch. She is studying so hard! Tonight I did most of the cooking. We had catfish, corn-on-the-cob, and a salad. Cheryl cooked the fish and I did the rest.

It turned out really good! We watched a little bit of Rachel Maddow, then the day caught up with her: She's out like a light.

This weekend I'll once again do most if not all of the chores. I don't mind, but I'm getting behind on making Caiden's birthday present. I'll do the best that I can this weekend.

The Florida Bar exam is the 22nd and the 23rd. After that, things will get back to normal (I hope!)

The Time of our Lives

I have just joined a new band named "The Time of Our Lives!"

I'm very excited about it; however, I'm still trying to help Cheryl get through the Florida Bar exam, so I don't have much time!

More later ...

Cheryl Graduated Summa Cum Laude!

We just learned that Cheryl was number one out of 81 Stetson law school students in her graudating class!

-- Various Quotes --

"She is definitely one of the most fondest people I'm of ..." -- Chunk King


"Well, she was the best one in her class!" -- Miss Dottie