Count your blessings, and say a little prayer.

Over the past couple weeks I've become aware of two very unfortunate situations. One involves an acquaintance, another a good friend.

The acquaintance, a waitress at our favorite greasy spoon, has basically dropped from sight. She'd work at the Diner, and another restaurant owned by the same folks. As of late I'd assumed I didn't see her because she was either working the other restaurant, or it was her day off. Now I've found out she was fired, and is possibly on a downward spiral that involves drugs and alcohol. As best I can tell this woman is truly a good person on the inside, but has been forced to deal with other than ideal circumstances in her life........... an example being an abusive foster home environment. I hope she shows up and can get it together.

My friend, whom I've known since the early 80's has just been "let go" from his job. He's a great guy with a good heart. He's been a bit less than lucky with jobs over the years. However I thought this latest endeavor, working as a technician at a North Carolina company doing medically related nano research, ......well I thought he'd found a real home. Evidently I was wrong as they are doing some internal "refocusing" and let him and some other folks go. What makes it worse is that he moved from Maryland to North Carolina, and even bought a house there. I hope he can find alternate employment...... and soon.

For both the acquaintance and friend in my life I'd ask that you say a prayer, maybe the one thing that might help these folks regain their footing.

Four Minute Trip to the Beach.

I've been busy, I've been tired, I've been preoccupied.... with WAY too many things on my mind.

So I took a 4 minute vacation. You can take it too...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhztQ4D8XhI

The First Day of School.

.............. And it begins......................

First day of school for the kids. The big guys (7th grade and 9th grade) were already gone when I woke up. Still have to get Mr. 7 year old to the bus though. Sooooo we get out the door and:

1) Whoaaaa....looook..... we spotted POOP by the driveway!!
2) "We're gonna' be late for the bus" !!

3) At the bus stop, waiting for the bus.


4) Still waiting for the bus.


5) STILL waiting for the ...... whoa...... is that the bus ??

6) It's the bus !

7) The bus arrives. "Only" 15 minutes late!

Ahhhh..... a day in the life.....

Trummerfrau

Sometimes things you see cover a lot of bases. At a minimum this one falls under the categories of "Deja Vu" and "Must be in the genes". Struck me as funny for sure.

We (me and 3 of 4 kids) just returned from a trip to Dayton, Ohio. While visiting I took the kids to the Air Force Museum. ( a MUST SEE if you're ever in the area.....just a top notch facility)

Now amidst all the planes, jets and rockets I spotted the following display.


I found it interesting..... certainly didn't know this before. But I just kept getting this nagging feeling of familiarity.

And then it hit me..... I've actually seen something similar before! -My- wife, at our house....


So there you go..... I've been married to a Trummerfrau all this time and didn't even know. I guess it makes sense. After all, she is part German.

As an aside, re-using brick worked pretty well for us. Below you can see it being removed from an existing wall, and it was re-used (after recovery efforts by 'mein Trammerfrau') on the area above the new porch.

Who is Ohighway ?

Who is Ohighway? Here are the facts, in no particular order:

* Born in Gary, Indiana and spent his first 11 years of life in that area. Lived near Dayton, Ohio from age 12 through 18. Located in the greater Baltimore-Washington area since 1978.

*Educated in Catholic school grades K through 8. Public High school graduate, college dropout.

*55 on the outside, 35 on the inside.

*Married, for the second time.

*Has four kids. Three boys ages 13, 11, and 7. One girl 3 1/2.

* Aerospace Engineering Technician, employed for the last 30 years at your favorite Government Space Agency.

* Is an INTP or INFP depending on which day he takes his Meyers-Briggs test.

* Has big ideas, but is not so great at implementing them. Often plagued by lack of self motivation, and/or procrastination.

*Can get along with nearly everyone, unless they're overly rude, loud, or pushy.

* Is Caucasian and proud of it. Believes that "white guilt" perpetuated by minorities is a scam and a shakedown and that anyone who falls for it is a sucker.

*Favorite color is green. Purple and Orange are a close second and third.

*Believes in a higher authority, or God if you will. (as evidenced in children and dogs, a blog for another time) However does not buy into "organized religion" .

*Has a love of most things technical. Understands and appreciates logic and technical concepts. Is good with his hands. Good at fixing things.

*Has a huge distaste for politicians and politics.

*Believes that violence, not sex, is the ultimate obscenity.

*Appreciates the female form, and makes absolutely no apologies for doing so.

*Has an interest in style, art, design and music. Inherently knows what he likes, doesn't need any so called "experts" to tell him what is good, bad, or what he SHOULD like.

*Likes a wide variety of music, with exceptions. Country= no. RAP/Hip-Hop = HELL NO. (RAP is missing a letter , should be spelled "CRAP")

*Has a preference for Streamlined, Modern, Art Deco, Mid Century Modern, Shaker, and Mission styles. Basically anything that exhibits simple elegance and simplicity of line.

*Appreciates architecture, including interior design.

*Dislikes the media in general. Is disappointed in the fact that most people allow the media dictate what they should think, like, etc., rather than think for themselves.

*Loves vintage automobiles. Fears that environmental issues and ridiculous fuel costs will kill the hobby.

*Believes that , whether you think global warming is fact or fiction, that we cannot take chances, and need to clean up our act.

* Likes tinkering with vintage audio equipment, clocks, and other "practical" vintage items.

* -Refuses- to get a tattoo.......... one way of showing his individuality. >:~)

Cuil !! ( Or should I say "cool"?)

MENLO PARK, California - A start-up led by former star Google engineers on Sunday unveiled a new Web search service that aims to outdo the Internet search leader in size, but faces an uphill battle changing Web surfing habits.

Cuil Inc (pronounced "cool") is offering a new search service at http://www.cuil.com that the company claims can index, faster and more cheaply, a far larger portion of the Web than Google, which boasts the largest online index.

The would-be Google rival says its service goes beyond prevailing search techniques that focus on Web links and audience traffic patterns and instead analyzes the context of each page and the concepts behind each user search request.

Paradise Bites Back.....

Ask me about where I live and I won't hesitate to bore you with stories of how wonderful it is to live in the woods. I enjoy my home and my property ....... a true paradise.

But there is a downside, and it has hit home. I found out from my doctor this morning that I have Lyme Disease.

This all started around 3 to 4 weeks ago when I noticed an area on my upper thigh that was slightly tender to the touch. When I finally examined it, was a dark purple (looked like a bruise) circle, with a red ring around it. Now, being in the woods bug bites are not uncommon. However this one would fade away, and just when I thought it was gone , it would come back in a slightly different form. The second iteration was a red circle with a red ring around it. The third was just a large, red swollen area. At that point I visited the doctor, and he ordered up the blood tests.

I will note that, to date, I've not had any symptoms like fatigue, weakness, lethargy, memory impairment, aching joints, etc. that seem to be common with Lyme disease. At least that's the story as of today. I'm quite aware from the little reading I've done on the subject that this could change. Or not. Evidently about 25% of the folks who get Lyme Disease don't ever exhibit any symptoms. Some don't even know they have it.

In any event, wish me luck with this.

OTOH, there was some good news today. My cholesterol levels look great. Considering my eating habits, I view that as nothing less than a miracle.