AVP in Atlanta

The AVP Tour is in Atlanta this weekend and Adam's wife Taylor (hmm, it's still feels a little odd to say that!) has VIP passes because her company is a sponsor of the tour. Friday is the opening day and so I used the pass to go see the action.

The crowds were small as to be expected on a Friday, but the play was great. I got to see the top Women teams compete (and win) and most of the top Men. The #1 men's team didn't play until Friday nite so I missed them, but saw most of the rest.

It's amazing the skill, athleticism, strength and stamina these athletes possess. It's like in any pro sport, the players are the best of the best, but when you get to see them live and up close and personal, you really gain a new perspective and appreciation for what it takes to be the best.

Anyone that has ever played around in the sand knows how hard it is to run and jump in sand, so you can imagine the strength and stamina it takes for a player to make a diving dig for a ball in the sand then have to jump up quickly to take the return pass from their partner for a spike. Yet they do it a hundred times a match, each time jumping out of the sand to hit a blazing spike against the opponent. It was great to watch.

I hope to get back down to the finals on Sunday, if I do I'll post some more photos. Maybe this time of some of the men.

We'll see how much press this guy gets!

Czech President Klaus, an economist, has written a book. Blue Planet in Green Shackles - What is Endangered: Climate or Freedom?
His answer? "Our freedom and, I might add, our prosperity"

Speaking in Washington, he said he opposed the "climate alarmism" perpetuated by environmentalism trying to impose their ideals, comparing it to the decades of communist rule he experienced growing up in Soviet-dominated Czechoslovakia.
"Like their (communist) predecessors, they will be certain that they have the right to sacrifice man and his freedom to make their idea reality," he said.
"In the past, it was in the name of the Marxists or of the proletariat - this time, in the name of the planet," he added.
Klaus said a free market should be used to address environmental concerns and said he oppposed as unrealistic regulations or greenhouse gas capping systems designed to reduce the impact of climate change.

Do you think he or his book will get much press in the US?

The Goodness of Man

My air conditioner didn't turn on when I flipped the thermostat. Boy, did that make my day!

I had been hoping to make it to June 1st without having to have air, but with high 80's and the humidity climbing I figured I better turn it on to get a good nights sleep. So about 6 o'clock this evening I turned the thermostat and nothing, nada, zippo. Ugh!

The A/C I have was installed about 5 years ago by an A/C man referred to me by one of my customers. He'd been servicing my old one for years and when it finally gave up the ghost he gave me a really good deal on a new one. You see, my A/C man does this on the side. He actually works for MARTA full-time but started doing A/C work on the side years ago. The great thing about him is he is fast, very knowledgeable, and very fair in his costs. I don't mind paying a person for doing a job, especially one as important as an A/C man. But I hate paying the A/C companies and the trainees they send out that get paid on commission and for up selling you. So that's what I love about Wade, the A/C man. All he asks for is an honest wage for an honest job!

So that's what happened tonight. I called him about 8 tonight, once I had exhausted trying all the tricks I knew, which weren't many. He answered the phone, as he usually does, with no receptionist to deal with, no call backs, no telephone tag. Just Wade. I told him who I was, what the problem was and he said he was at a customers and would call me back when he left. About 9:00 he called back. Probably in his truck heading home. I didn't ask. We went through the symptoms and he quickly had narrowed it down to the thermostat. I took the cover off, shorted the red and green wires like he said and Bingo, there's the air! So now all I have to do is go to Home Depot in the morning, (they're closed now) and get a new thermostat. Then I'll have A/C.

That's great, but what's amazing about this story and why I titled it the Goodness of Man, is this....... If I had gone to Handy Ace the Air Conditioner man, he wouldn't have walked me through the way Wade did. He would have made me wait at least 2 days before he got to me, then charge me a $100 service call fee and then probably would have charged me $200 to install a $39.95 thermostat. But not Wade, not someone like him that does it the right way, with integrity, honesty and plain ol goodness! He tried to help me first, before he even thought about what he could or would charge me. Then when we got it figured out and I offered to pay him, to send him a check, he just laughed and said he'll catch me later!

There aren't enough out there like Wade the A/C man, but I'm thankful that I know at least one!

Angela's Birthday

Monday was Angela's birthday. This year, instead of a birthday dinner, she wanted to see Medieval Times, the dinner theater show with Knights, jousting and horses. She had seen it years ago in Myrtle Beach and had wanted to attend the show again once they opened a theater in Atlanta a couple of years ago. So we made reservations for the Sunday evening show and took her and Adam and Taylor.

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the event and the show itself. (If you exclude the obvious hustling of Medieval souvenirs, flashing swords for the kids and charging you for photos with the costumed actors. And of course the Burger King type hats you had to wear to designate which Knight you rooted for and which section you set in. Some people looked better in them then others. Thank god I was the one taking photos and there's not much evidence of how foolish I looked!)

But like I said, the event itself was well done. The costumes and staging was very colorful, the sword play and jousting was very realistic and the blows dealt from one knight to the other was seemingly full force with sparks a-flying. The choreography had to be well rehearsed to keep anyone from serious injury. The Andalusian horses were amazing in their abilities and the falconry show was interesting with the hawk flying so close to your head that you could feel the wind from his wing flaps as he swooped past.

So while I have no desire to see the show again anytime soon, I do recommend it for an interesting and entertaining event. Angela loved it, (our Knight pitched her a rose) so that's all that mattered anyway!

Memorial Day - 2008

Seems like we've lost touch with what Memorial Day is all about. It seems that for too many Americans it's just a three day weekend, the first of the summer, the beginning of summer. And for so many, not a thought about what this holiday is about or what it signifies.

Memorial Day is a day to honor and mourn those that gave their lives in service to this country. What started in the South as Decorations Day, usually May 30th, was officially made a holiday in 1971 as part of the National Holiday Act. It then went to the last Monday of May. Recently there have been attempts to increase awareness about the significance and history behind the holiday. A "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans "To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to 'Taps." Seems like the least we can do.

And if you are out and about and are offered a Red Poppy from Veteran, make a donation and wear it. In 1915 Moina Michael wrote this poem:


We cherish too, the Poppy red

That grows on fields where valor led,

It seems to signal to the skies

That blood of heroes never dies



From that poem came the adoption by the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the Buddy Poppy Program to raise money for verterans and widows.

Indiana Jones - The Fourth

Well, we just saw Indiana Jones, the Fourth. Something about a crystal skull.

Not bad, not great, but then again I never thought any of the Indiana Jones movies were great. Entertaining, sure. Action packed? You bet. But none of them were in the class of an epic like The Lord of the Rings or Star Wars. So, given that, we still enjoyed it and it was nice to see Harrison Ford still able to knock'em around. I did notice that he seemed just a little stiffer than the last one, but hey, he's 65, so you have to expect a little of that.

The movie had a few unexpected twists that added to the enjoyment and interest factor. So all in all I'd give it a 4 star rating. Definitely worth seeing, but you don't have to rush out to see it unless you're just itching to go to the theater.

Looks like a Green Egg weekend

Looks like it's going to be a great Memorial Day weekend to fire up the Green Egg. Weather in Atlanta is supposed to be in the low 80's with small chance of rain.... perfect grilling and sipping weather. For those not familiar with the Big Green Egg here's a shot of mine. I have it set up in a table I built. The Green Egg is a 200lb grilling and smoking wonder. I cook everything from steaks, ribs, fish, pulled pork, pizza and even now and then a bundt cake.

You can set it up for a slow smoke, put a pork shoulder on it, close it up and come back 24 hours later and have the best pulled pork you've ever eaten. Same with a beef brisket. It comes out tender, moist with the perfect pink smoke ring around the edge. And it's sooooooo easy! Everyone thinks I do a great job grilling and smoking, but it's not me, it's the Egg. They're pricey, but if you're into grilling and smoking, put this on your wish list!

An Amazing Photo

Do you know what you are looking at? It's rows of skyscrapers, most over 70 stories, emerging from the fog. That makes the shot neat. What makes it amazing is that the photo was taken from the Worlds Tallest Building in Dubai. It's currently 141 stories and still not finished. To put that in perspective, it's estimated to be 2684 feet when completed. The BofA Tower in Atlanta, our tallest building is 1,023 feet. WOW! This place is on my Bucket List.

I want to go to Dubai in a few years once some of the crazy construction is completed. Like the manmade islands shaped like the world or palm trees, that can be seen from space.

Remember tho, This is where your oil dollars are going!

What you can't say about Obama!

Rush Limbaugh has a great commentary on what we're not allowed to say about Obama!

When Obama started out, we couldn't talk about his big ears 'cause that made him nervous.

Now we've gone from that to this: Not only can we not mention his ears...

We can't talk about his mother.

We can't talk about his father.

We can't talk about his grandmother unless he does, when he brings her up as a "typical white person."

We can't talk about his wife, can't talk about his preacher, can't talk about his terrorist friends, can't talk about his voting record, can't talk about his religion.

We can't talk about appeasement.

We can't talk about color; we can't talk about lack of color.

We can't talk about race. We can't talk about bombers and mobsters who are his friends.

We can't talk about schooling.

We can't talk about his name, "Hussein."

We can't talk about his lack of experience.

Can't talk about his income.

Can't talk about his flag pin.

When this started out we couldn't call him a liberal.

It started out we just couldn't talk about his ears.

Now we can't say anything about him.

Iron Man

Recently saw the Iron Man movie. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Robert Downey, Jr. does a very good job portraying the playboy industrialist turned gold alloy titaniumed clad super hero (it's not really iron!) The CG effects were good, not requiring too much suspension of belief to buy into what and how Iron Man could perform his feats. Jeff Bridges played a good role, as did Gwyneth Paltrow. Paltrow, as the super-efficient assistant to Downey had the best line of the movie when confronting one of Downey's condescending one-night-stands the day after. I won't give it all away, but suffice it to say that it had something to do with Paltrow's job of disposing of the trash! Zinger!



Take it in if you can, you won't be disappointed. It's going to be interesting to see how it stacks up to the new Indiana Jones movie coming out tonight. Looks like we may have a few good movies to see for a change.

Celebrate Your Life

Denna is attending the Celebrate Your Life weekend event in Chicago May 30-June 1. Sponsored by Oprah and Friends, the country's top new age authors and speakers will be there. Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, Neale Donald Walsch, Gary Zukav and James Van Praagh, among others.

Recently, James Van Praagh contacted Denna after seeing her work on US Air. He said he was very impressed with her work and wanted to talk some more about possibly collaborating on future works. He also asked if he could use her videos as a backdrop to his presentations at the Celebrate Your Life event. So this could be a big weekend for her as this is one of the premier events of the year and to have her work play as a background to a keynote speech would be huge. She's worked very hard on this project and I'd love to she her get a boost from this.

Greennecks!

Heard a great single-word description for those environmentalist wacko, greenhouse-warming nut cases - Greennecks. It fits perfectly, the rednecks of the environment! This is courtesy of Dennis Miller. He came up with the word as an alternative to "deniers", the word the Greennecks use to describe all of us that don't buy into Al Gore's doomsday dribble - "The Earth is Warming! The Earth is Warming!". I love it!

Kudo's to Dennis. If you haven't heard his radio show, check it out. He has great guests, isn't afraid to call it like he sees it, and has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of movies and sports. Quite the modern Renaissance man.

Drill here, Drill now, Pay less!

Newt Gingrich just sent out a piece in which he spoke of the real reason for our high energy prices. It's our No We Can't Congress and their refusal to allow environmentally sound production of US energy. One economist says that's equivalent to a $150 Billion tax increase on the American economy from higher energy prices.

Last week the Appropriations committee voted to block development of oil shale in Colorado. There are estimates of 1 trillion barrels of oil trapped in shale in US and Canada. But instead of voting to allow environmentally sound development of those reserves, they decided instead to sue OPEC for high oil prices! Yeah,that's going to really lower energy prices!

Boy, shades of Jimmy Carter and the '73 oil crisis! Combine the impotent, beholden-to-the-loony-left No We Can't Congress with Barack's defeatist weak attitude that we need to give up our SUVs and eat less in order to appease other countries, and you have a recipe for more slogan driven, worthless plans that will only serve to emasculate America.

No, the real way to lower energy costs in America is to have our own oil supplies. By doing more environmentally sound drilling, by building more refineries, to Drill here, Drill now, Pay Less

I'm telling you, it's just as important who we elect to Congress this fall as it is who we elect President. We need some good fiscal conservatives running the place, or at least running interferance against the No We Can't Congress we now have!

Patch Adams

I just watched a great movie, Patch Adams, starring that incredible talent, Robin Williams. This is a true story about a non-conformist student doctor that believed in the power of laughter and love to help cure the human condition.


There couldn't have been a better actor to portray Patch Adams. Interestingly enough, the real Patch Adams is still out there with his Gesundheit ! Clinic, serving up humor with holistic medicine. That's him in the photo. He's fund-raising right now for add-ons to his clinic in West Virginia. Kind of makes you feel like there are some things that are right about this world when you hear about people like Patch.

Classmates

I recently sent a note to one of my high school classmates. It's nice to reconnect with folks from (boy I hate to say it!) 40 years ago!

When you're in high school the whole world revolves around your friends, the activities you're in, who's saying what about whom, who likes who, who hates who. The actual classroom stuff is secondary. For me I had the added focus of basketball. Ol' Coach Pennington saw to it that very little else got in the way. (I guess that's why we had such a powerhouse team.) But then, after high school, as life starts moving along, those days seem so far away and almost meaningless.

But anyway, it was nice to hear from some classmates after all these years. I recently exchanged emails with Ed Babcock, one of my best friends in Jr. High and then into High School. He mentioned how after all these years he's developed some nostalgic interest in his classmates and I guess the same goes for me. There's a 40th Reunion next summer and I hope to attend.

Obama the Messiah?

What's up with Obama and the almost religious fervor he's evoking in his followers? This is getting scary. Folks aren't really listening to what he's saying and the implications his ideas have on America. Did you catch his statement over the weekend - "We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK."

This whole Democratic attitude that America is at fault for the worlds problems, that we have caused most of them and we must therefore sacrifice to cure these problems is getting out of hand.

I'm really concerned that not only are we going to have a Democrat for President, but also a blindly supportive Dem. majority Congress that will bring 2-4 years of ruin. We can only hope that we'll have a quick backlash like we did when Clinton was first elected and have a more moderate Congress elected at the first congressional elections 2 yrs later.

It's a Dog's Life

Those of you that know us and have been around us lately, well at least the last year, have seen how the dogs, The Boys, as we call them, have taken control of our home, and I'm sorry to say to a large extent, our lives. We'll here's photographic proof of how Eli enjoys a nice quiet peaceful evening at home. It's a rough life!

First day on the Blog

I just helped Denna set up a blog for her new HTML site and it was so easy I thought what the heck I'll just set one up for me and have a place to post some thoughts and photos and etc about what I'm doing, have done and want to do. Sort of a public journal.

So bear with me as I get the hang of this and try different ideas and stuff. Hopefully I can make it interesting to you as you rummage through here. But then again it's really for me and a place for me to put down what I'm interested in, so I guess in the big scheme of things it doesn't have to be interesting to you. That'd just be an added bonus.

SO...... here's my first story....

A few weeks ago I came across a site where hikers, mainly thru-hikers, keep journals about their trips. One caught my eye and I started following his adventures. His trail name is Stumpknocker and this journal is about his current thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. He started on Jan 1, 2008, got near Roan Mountain, then took off a couple of months to go on a cross-country bike ride from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Now, he's back on the trail somewhere in southern Virginia and posts tales and photos about his hikes, people he meets, adventures he has and the food he eats. It really makes for great vicarious reading. And it REALLY makes me want to be on the AT!


Saturday nite Denna went to a girlfriends all-girl slumber party so that left me and the boys batching here at the house. As I contemplated what to do that wouldn't take a lot of money or get me in trouble I decided to act on my itch to hit the trail.

So bright and early Sunday morning, about 5 am I left the house and the boys, (couldn't take them on the trail by myself as much as they'd like it. That'll come later) and headed for Blood Mtn. My plan was to hit the trail just after daybreak, hike up the AT to the top of Blood, over to the other side, then back around the base on a side trail. I've done it many times and it usually takes about 4-5 hours. So that'd put me back at home early PM, which given Denna's probable condition after her all-nighter, would be about the time she'd show up.








The plan worked great. It was a beautiful day in the mountains. A little cool, even for May. About 45 degrees. But with the pretty strenous hike up Blood, I heated up fast. It wasn't too bad except my glasses kept fogging! The forest was still the bright light green of spring and the flowers were spectacular. Here's a few shots of the native azalea's, some form of a trillium and a flower in a fascinating pinwheel form. The hike was kind of nice too in that I could take my time and get the shots I wanted without having to worry about someone getting antsy.





I started seeing my first hikers coming down off Blood about 8:30. They were some young folks with small packs, blankets wrapped around them and they looked pretty miserable. The cold hard reality of a night on the mountain can quickly douse any romance you may have felt. The rest of the hikers I saw were in better shape and were better prepared. Saw one group with a dog that had a pack on it's back, carrying it's own food. That's definitely something we'll do with Bogey if we ever take them on any extended overnight hike.



On the trail across the base of Blood Mtn I stopped to take a shot of a flower when I noticed a snail. Stooping to take a closeup I had taken a couple of shots when I heard someone coming down the trail. I looked up and started to stand, but when I moved my foot back it caught a boulder and I stumbled backwards! Next thing I know I'm on my back sliding down a boulder off the trail, my long legs and feet

sticking straight up in the air! It had to have been a hilarious sight, but the hiker was cool about it. Didn't even laugh out loud!. Boy if Denna and Angela

had been there to see my fall they'd still be laughing!. Anyway, it wasn't a bad fall, just a couple of scratches and a really bruised ego. God I hope I'll never see that hiker again! Here's the damned snail that caused it all..


Well, other then the small tumble it was a great outing that somewhat quenched my urge to hit the trail like Stumpknocker. I'm starting to check out a possible 2-3 day hike from Springer to Neels Gap sometime this summer. We'll see how the work situation turns out and if I can make the time. Will keep you informed.